Nomad 1

Yes, I really am making an effort to get back into drawing and painting. Unlike a lot of people, I like to draw. Always have. To the extent that, as a kid, before sidewalk chalk, I would draw on the sidewalk with an ice cube wrapped in a wash cloth. My mom's idea of cheap drawing tools. With five kids, it was the best she could do at the time. I didn't mind, and it was really fun on a hot summer day.

Anyway, I have been thinking about a series of drawings/paintings on nomads and gypsies, with a bit of fantasy thrown in for fun. Not too much of the fantasy element in this piece, because I am trying to feel my way back into things, using colored pencils. So, this is basically a practice run. However, it turned out better than I thought it would.

So, I thought I would share the stages it went through.

The two sources I used, both found on Pinterest, and the pencil drawing. 

Here is a little bit better one of the drawing.

 

The next one is after I inked the drawing, using a dark grey Pigma Micron 05. I usually ink drawings in either dark gray or warm brown, rather than black.

And here is the finished drawing, using Prismacolor and Karet colored pencils. The spot on her cheek is a tribal tattoo, similar to the one in the old postcard photo.

Two of the design features I really want to play around with a lot more, are the silhouette of buildings against a sunset sky, and getting a bit more outlandish with the costume. Anyway, I thought for my first dive back in, she didn't turn out too bad.

Only big thing I will change will be doing the drawings on illustration board instead of on paper. The Karet colored pencils are watercolor pencils, but I didn't dare use them that way on this paper, which was just some Strathmore sketch paper.  It would have crinkled up like crazy. Crinkles = NOT good.

This last photo is just of my work table, showing the finished drawing, the source pictures, and the scratch paper with color tests, which I do as I go.

So, that it. Can't wait to start on the next one.