Deborah Velásquez: sketches

Showing posts with label sketches. Show all posts

Thursday, May 9, 2013

May Flower Challenge Day Nine • Leaves and Stems, Forgotten Beauties

What is a flower without it's leaves?
What is a flower without a stem?

Sharing stylized leaf studies for day Nine of the May Flower Challenge .

In a sea of flowers we have the leaves and the stems, often forgotten, always there for support, balance and nourishment.

For the May Flower Challenge you can post your flower creation, whether it is a doodle, drawing, photograph, collage or painting. This challenge has been started by Lori Moon, fellow blogger, talented photographer and jewelry artisan. Sign up and join in on the flower fun. Can't wait to see what you create as well! Please note: You do NOT have to participate every day. Play along on a specific day each week or only once - whatever inspires you.

Join the challenge, here, it is going to be fun.

I love this challenge not because I have a love for drawing, painting and printing flowers but it is an excellent way to build up your motif library. It also keeps your drawing hand in motion and the creative flow becomes a part of your being.

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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Art Waits For The Artist

Decided on some pattern play with the cityscape from yesterdays post. I love the layering of the buildings.

My city scape waits to be painted. I do like the strength of the line work.

Let's see how many variations I end up with.

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This is "Where Art and Beauty Meet Lifestyle"©

Please do not use anything without permission or without making note of the origin on your blog or website.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Stuck on a Sketch

I have been playing with my lined city scape sketches today. I had drawn them a while back as warm sketches.
I have visited it may times trying to figure out how to bring it to the next level.
I thought about painting it, repeating as a pattern or adding other motifs to it.

When I am stuck on sketch I pull out my mini boxes which contain various shapes, motifs I have drawn, and color chips I collect. I also have an audience with my sketch books and pull from there as well. This is the exercise I do when in a creative funk. We all have our own style when we approach a creative hiccup. What's yours?

Some of what I have collected in one of my mini boxes.

Playing with color ideas for painting the cityscape.

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This is "Where Art and Beauty Meet Lifestyle"©

Please do not use anything without permission or without making note of the origin on your blog or website.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Tests Prints From A Photograph, A Pen, A Print Post

Hand printed test prints from yesterday's post and carving. The bulb onion shape was inspired by an allium-like plant. I created two type of prints. I wanted to do a line print and a shape print. Sort of playing with the positive and negative spaces of my drawings.

Sketches and carved blocks used for printing.

I used this pink rubber block and learned that it is not my favorite to carve on. I found it tough to see my cuts and keep track of my carved lines. When I started to carve on the putty colored blocks it was much easier to see my cut lines. The putty colored block when cut away left a lighter color in removed areas, so this made it much easier to see what you carved. The pink block did not have a difference in color when cut away so it all appeared the same making it hard to see as you worked. I have always preferred the blocks in lighter colors. I find the pink ones distracting to work on.

I find it so interesting that these two hand printed pieces came from the same plant inspirations.

Another hand printed test print created with carved blocks keeping the simple lines of the plant in mind. Now off to work on that curvy stripe inspired by this bulb, onion shape.

This is "Where Art and Beauty Meet Lifestyle"©

Circle Studies and Sketches by Velásquez

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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

A Photograph, A Pen and A Print

At my desk I have a work in progress, I am back to sketching and getting ready to carve. After a very busy few days finishing up some prints I am excited to create something new.

I found my inspiration in a photograph by my friend Lori Moon.

Lori, a fellow blogger, has a series called Shared Messages from the Universe on her blog. Lori is talented photographer and jewelry artisan. She photographs found phrases and words she comes across in her travels in the The City.

As a gardener I enjoy her plant and flower photography especially during these cold months as I wait for Spring. I had such fun sketching this allium-like flower with a beautiful flower pod in a lantern shape. I made loose and tight sketches looking for a direction to start carving in. I will explore the shape and line aspects of this plant, very much like the echinacea flower post, I will do two carvings and print one highlighting line and the other in shape.

To make things less confusing I put an X in spots I plan to cut

I call this my fun and discovery stage. I fell absolutely in love with this bulb, onion shape.

I cut the shape out and played with layout and layering ideas.

I kept seeing a curvy stripe happening, so I am going to explore this and cut a block in a stripe design. It's a must, I get goose bumps looking at the curved stripe possibility.

This is much like the stripe inspiration from my bird carving here, and I like how that turned out. I will work out the design in the next few posts. Stay tuned.

Plant Sketches by Velásquez

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Thursday, January 24, 2013

Revisting Echinacea Motifs

I have a thing for Echinacea, very graceful in its dance in the garden. My favorite flower as you know! I love to sketch it, paint it in ink, in gouache and I have also used the motif in a silkscreen but I have never taken the time to make a block print. I went into my sketch book and pulled sketches. I did manage to add a few new ones as a warm up exercise to before drawing straight on the block.

I drew on the block itself for the fun of it and it it helps to keep things looser than a transfer, for me.
Cant wait to start carving.

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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Watercolor...Where Red Orange Pink and Yellow meet.

I was inspired by a rich and warm color palette found in a scarf, pantone chips and my youngest sons memory game cards. I made a sketch of a thistle like flower during a morning drawing exercise yesterday. I brought them both together to make a lovely print.

Test prints of flower layered on watercolor background. They sit beautifully together.

Pencil, ink and watercolors proved to be great combinations.

Pencil and ink for the thistle like flowers to keep that hand drawn sketch and loose feel.

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This is "Where Art and Beauty Meet Lifestyle"©

Spice Flower by Velásquez©2013

All images and content belong to Deborah Velásquez. Copyright 2005-2013. All rights reserved.

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