Tag: drawing

Sanguine & Charcoal Portraits

I love both sanguine portraits and charcoal portraits, I think there is something very expressive drawing a face in charcoal, maybe because of the simplicity of the black and white. Then there is the poetry of sanguine that creates a beautiful soft effect, with the loveliest earthy reds against the cream paper.

Here below is a charcoal portrait of Polly who is 20 years old.

Polly, charcoal on paper. 50cm x 70cm
Polly, charcoal on paper. 50cm x 70cm

These are four sanguine portraits on heavyweight Arches cream paper (30cm x 40cm (A4) just a little bigger) of four siblings commissioned for a special present. All with lovely faces to draw. When I use sanguine I like to also combine the red with graphite pencil, this gives the colour some depth as I find the colour can become too saturated. I have also brush-washed over large areas with water and sanguine. It is a lovely generous medium and great fun to work with.

Willow, sanguine. 30cm x 40cm
Ned, sanguine. 30cm x 40cm
Monty, sanguine. 30cm x 40cm
Tiggy, sanguine. 30cm x 40cm

The sanguine comes from the art shop Zecchi in Florence, Italy. It has a selection of quality art materials to feast your eyes upon and the sanguine is bought in rock form. No fancy pencils here just a big prehistoric rock of iron ore! At the end of this post I have made a short video of the process from my cave-man sanguine rock to ready to use bespoke pointy pencil for these detailed portrait drawings.

Below are the drawings side by side.

Thankyou for looking. If you are interested in any drawing portrait commissions please contact me on:

annadennisart@gmail.com

COMMISSION A PAINTING

A brief video on how I made my sanguine drawing sticks.

I made this video starting from the block of red oxide which I ground on a heavy piece of glass using a glass muller, once it was ground into a powder which took about five minutes, I gradually added water until it resembled a thick paste that could be easily rolled into pencil thick sticks that fit inside my charcoal holder.

I made my sticks a little too thin dor my charcoal holder so I had to wrap a piece of paper towel around the stick so it would hold well in the holder.

I sharpened the sanguine sticks firstly using a sharp knife to get the pencil shape, and then perfected the point with sandpaper. The sanguine is quite brittle so I had to treat it carefully but I liked its colour and softness as a result.

Frogs, a cat ‘n dog and a fairy. A few sketches.

When I draw or paint a subject outside from life that doesn’t move much I find the painting process can sometimes give to longer sessions which in a way is a good advantage but then again also a disadvantage.  Things can start to get fussy because areas of the painting get rubbbed out to be seen in a different way and then painted over again, and so loosing the first impression.

Sketching moving things is a good exercise because your brain only has a short amount of time to memorize and decide on how to tackle the subject before putting it down in paint. There is no going back after the first brush stroke because there is probably no chance to do it again.  It’s a take it or loose it situation! These are good and fun exercises in learning to be more spontaneous with the paintbrush and in finding quick and simple compositions.

Painting the frogs was really interesting, even though they are not my favourite reptile I did get to respect and learn alot about who there were as they swam about in their habitat.  At the moment it is mating season and rivers and ponds are full of frogs and toads, they are not shy at this time of year and some can keep still for a quite a bit. These two who didn’t have hot dates were sulking at the bottom of the pool, giving me enough time to paint them.

frogs
Sketch of Two Male Frogs in a Pond. Oil on wood, 20cm x 25cm.

daisychain
Daisy Chain. Oil on wood, 20cm x 30cm.

catanddog
Cat and Dog Sketch. Oil on wood, 15cm x 17cm.

Summer Evenings…

Winnie Drawing. Oil on board, 20cm x 30cm.
Winnie Drawing (with Gwen and Lenny). Oil on board, 20cm x 30cm.

My favourite time of day for painting is in the early evening, around 5pm when the light is softer and the shadows a little longer. I am glad to show my daughter that painting or drawing nature is a valuable lesson and it is helpful for her to notice the small and simple things as well as all the wonderful colours that it offers which can sometimes go unoticed. P.S. My dog Gwen who is a retired sheepdog likes to keep watch over the cat now that she has no sheep!