Back to my Thursday’s Drawing for 1/2 hour, continuing with Classic.
Today I worked the draperies adding more charcoal to darken them – they still aren’t as dark as I would like. Also using a charcoal pencil 3B, I worked some on the folds and drew in lost and found edging for where the drapes meet the floor. Perhaps I’ll spray the piece with a fixative before I remove the frisket from the ballerina giving more surface to darken the draperies a bit more.
The frisket was removed from the floor and using HB and 3B graphite began to work with the darks of both sides and the very foreground of the floor, then lightly began to draw in the spot where it will showcase the ballerina’s feet. Oh yeah, her feet and legs are missing because the frisket was torn while I was trying to affix it to the drawing paper, lol! You got to love it – nothing stops me from experimenting, can’t figure out how else I’ll learn and this was a first time using frisket. Hopefully I can pull off drawing in her lovely little legs and feet!
Here she is ~
Classic #5
Oil Pastels by Mary 
She is beautiful! ❤️
Thank you Violet, getting ready to begin working on her tomorrow!
Woah, you’ve progressed a lot. She’s almost alive. Good luck to you.
Thanks Evelyne!
it’s developing a lot of depth! she’s a magical ballerina, and she can fly without lets or feet!
Thank you Z, so funny somehow I got to get her feet firmly on the ground!
I think she’s perfectly poised to dance! Don’t see anything at all wrong! Love it! xx
Thanks Linda for your artistry eye – love your encouragement! Hopefully we’ll see her come alive.
She’s in the spotlight! You’ve captured the drama of performance, Mary.
Thanks Elena! I’m excited to start working on the ballerina.
Even if the feet aren’t realistically rendered, this already has a glow that passes on the feeling of the moment. She absolutely glows!
Thanks Leslie, I really appreciate it. I’ll be using graphite on the ballerina, although I think that carbon pencils would be a better choice, as graphite is a little too reflective for her skin – don’t have carbon and will have to be a drawing tool to purchase down the road. Thanks so much.
She’s coming to life through your talented hands!
Thanks Rhonda!
Hi Mary, I didn’t even notice her feet and legs were missing. She is great. I have a hard time with shading in my work. I just can’t get enough tonal differentiation going on. But I keep trying. What is frisket?
Hi Kerry, thanks very much. Frisket (comes as liquid or a film) that allows you to cover a subject to keep clean while you work areas around it. Then when you’re ready to draw your subject you remove the frisket and your subject is clean of any drawing medium. It’s an interesting technique that so far is working nicely in this piece.
That sounds fascinating. I’d never heard of this before. Probably because I was a textile artist until I started painting two years ago.
As you said you got to love experimenting, that’s the road to success and refining your artistic ability to evolve and grow as an artist! Studies, challenges, experiments the building rocks to get to the top and enjoy the view! Love, love your approach to all what is involving art, you’re inspiring for all of us to better our craft, go and take ourselves places where we never tried to venture before, so for that I owe you a big THANKS Mary!!! Have a wonderful day!
Eva, thank you! It’s comments and encouragement that you always provide underscores why my blog is one of the best things I could have done for developing my art in the open. You are a fabulous artist and designer, and to know that my little exercises/challenges might create an engaging burst of creative energy is awe-inspiring, I’m thrilled and humbled.
I’m thrilled and humbled too by your support and encouragement you give me Mary! You’re a wonderful blogging friend a wonderful human being and I’m happy that I met somebody with whom I can share my passion and love for ART!!!
Charcoal is a beautiful medium, Mary, your drawing is lovely.
Hi Elisa, thank you! I’m learning just how dusty and dirty charcoal is – oh you should have seen my hands!
Oh, this is beautiful!! 🙂 You are such a great artist! 🙂
Thank you very much Line for your beautiful comment and compliment. On days when things don’t work out as I had planned I’m going to remember your comment, it’s the encouragement that is really appreciated.