25: Drawing Connections
Milkweed in Graphite, Corvids, Drawing Course begins March 23rd,
Hello friend,
I hope this return to winter is short-lived. I will put the summer tires on this week to induce a massive snowstorm or hurry spring along. Typically, it is the former :-)
I am excited about the start of a new graphite drawing course tomorrow, so I thought I would share some recent pencil work.
Milkweed in Graphite
We started raising monarch butterflies well over 15 years ago, and since then, I have been amazed by milkweed. You can now find these wonderful plants throughout our lot.
This piece is a nod to this wonderful plant that is so important to many insects, especially the monarch butterfly. We intentionally lay out the seeds around our lot to encourage their growth. They endure our sometimes harsh winters and still have seeds to share even after their leaves, which made them strong, are all gone. This piece was drawn using Pentel mechanical pencils (Graphgear 1000), blenders, and a kneadable eraser.
This would be my first subject if I ever did metal sculpture work.
Do you encourage plants like these for pollinators?
Two crows
I have drawn a few crows, but I have been saving this one based on a photo I took in our yard. We have many crows and ravens, and I am fascinated by their behavior. These birds belong to the corvid family, which also includes jays, magpies, and others. This was more challenging because they are just black, or are they? The trick here is to indicate the type of feather through subtle work with a pencil and a kneadable eraser. A friend of mine commented about this drawing with some corvid humour suggesting this piece was an “attempted murder”.
In this case, I decided to try a new sketchbook I just bought: the Leuchtturm 1917 120. The 120 indicates that the paper is 120 GSM, which is a much thicker paper. The book itself is thick, at over 200 pages, and has a nice hardcover and table of contents. The pages are white and buttery smooth for graphite work. I will test it for ink work, but I love this book. I will still run two books leaning on the Etchr Hot and Cold press books for watercolor and urban sketching.
The new drawing course begins on March 23!
My “Discover the Art of Animal Drawing with Graphite” course begins on March 23. I am super excited about this course, which represents hours of research, planning, and drawing.
I have had a few questions about the course, so I decided to include this FAQ. Also, you can check out the YouTube video demo (embedded below) last week which served as an intro to the course and a chance to draw a chickadee with me. This will give you a sense of pace for the other classes. The full course info can be found here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Saturdays at 10 AM EST don’t work for me, can I still attend?
Yes, all five classes are recorded. If you miss a class, it will be available the following day. The same is true if you want to watch it again and again.
I haven’t done much drawing, can I still take the course?
Yes, I designed the course to accommodate beginner and intermediate artists. Holding a pencil for the first time? Yes, you are an artist :-)
Is there homework and feedback?
Yes, homework every week, and if you post to the course site, I can answer questions. I will also comment on the “Etchr Fam“ Facebook group. After the 5 classes, there is a dedicated feedback session where I can comment on the piece you have chosen to do if you send it in advance.
I prefer drawing other subjects than animals. What can I learn?
The milkweed I shared earlier was thanks to everything I learned drawing animals. The snapping turtle skin on the outside of the pods and the bird beak texture on the stem are examples of previous graphite work, which is about rendering shape and texture. It is sometimes helpful to abstract the subject from the work directly under your pencil. The course will help you zoom in on the details and hover at 30,000 feet to take in the environment, light, and shape.
What tools do I need?
All you really need is a pencil, paper, a kneadable eraser, and a blender. Yes, you can go buy all the tools mentioned in the first class, but you won’t use them. The supplies are listed in the course materials but my core tools are the following. You can also find links to all of these on my supplies page.
Pentel Graphgear 1000 (.3 mm with 2B lead, .5 mm with 4B lead), sometimes a pencil with 2H as a “convenience“ pencil
Kneadable eraser (I prefer Blu-Tack)
Blenders (I use an assortment)
Smooth bristol paper (Strathmore or Fabrianno are good). I also like the Etch hot press sketchbooks as the paper can take anything you can throw at it but it is slightly more texture (tooth) than smooth bristol
Take care of yourself and each other, and keep drawing!
-Mike
I am so happy you will be able to make it.
I loved your milkweed! In the past 6 months we've added milkweeds to our Tucson, AZ, USA yard to encourage pollinators, especially Queen Butterflies & hopefully Monarch Butterflies as well. Watching the entire butterfly life cycle has been amazing!