A Drawing from My Heart

An experimental drawing that I felt my way through.

Those familiar with me know I take a break from drawing my beloved live foliage during winter. I usually draw a shell or a dried leaf instead, but I’ve done something different this year. This drawing doesn’t represent anything in particular. I let my heart guide my pencil and make all the decisions. 

I found this drawing in a folder, incomplete and forgotten. (See the original here .) I’d changed my mind about arranging the grooves so many times that I’d exhausted the paper and set it aside. It had been such a long time since I last saw the drawing that I was surprised by how much I liked it, so I decided to recreate it.

I’m drawing this on Arches hotpress watercolor paper, which is smooth enough for fine details yet textured enough to hold deep blacks. I’m using Mars Lumograph pencils because they come in a full range of hardness levels and are always pure, free from unmixed clay bits in the graphite.

I carefully traced the outlines of the old drawing onto tracing paper using a lightbox. Then, I transferred the line drawing to watercolor paper again using the lightbox. 

I remember starting this drawing with the center oval shape because that was the drawing’s essential part, the seed. Then, the rest of the lines radiated out from there or surrounded the seed because I wanted to frame it and give it a home. 

After drawing each line, I erased it and redrew it until it looked right. I didn’t have a plan; I just drew what felt right. This process was not logical. I started from the middle and drew outward, building layers while keeping an eye on the overall form.

Using 2H and H pencils, I began the initial fill shading in the center of the seed area. Creating these smooth textures is more challenging than drawing my usual foliage. Leaves are excellent for concealing hatch marks!

The original drawing was made about ten years ago on Arches paper, and the paper’s texture has changed since then. It used to be more textured and a little ‘fuzzy.’ I must work harder to create smooth value transitions because every hatch line stands out more on the new paper. I love the sharp new texture, but I also think the older, “softer” looking texture had appeal.

I’m having trouble making my hatching as dramatic as the original drawing. By dramatic, I mean deep darks and vibrant highlights. My values look somewhat dull compared to the original; they need to be more pronounced.

Scan 8: I created these darker values using sharp B and H pencils. Working in short hatches along the edges of each shape, I carefully filled in the rest to an even gradated tone.

How I Create Smooth Values.

Using the tip of the sharp H pencil, I hatched over the entire area, paying attention to the slightly darker and lighter areas of the gradation as I hatched.

 I used the sharp point of the H pencil to fill in any tiny missed places in the hatch. Next, I cut a small eraser into a point and used it to ‘pick out’ any dark notes in the hatch. Then, I used the H pencil tip to fill in the erased spots.

The swirls of the shape where I’m drawing are getting complicated. I’ve put a lot of thought into how each shape’s end tapers. However, my tracing misplaced some of the smallest ends, so I had to redraw them. I want the swirls to have an interesting geometric progression.

 This is the tricky part. I’m working on the drawing section where I haven’t thought out the shading thoroughly. I’ll have to invent it as I work on one lobe at a time. 

The outer spirals are simple shapes; however, making their shading match as they swirl around the center section can be a problem. Because I learn the hard way, I can’t shade a section right until I’ve shaded it wrong, so I spend most of my time redrawing my work. I hope you have a better working process.

The spiral arms on the right side of the original drawing are the least complete, and their lighting is the most complex. I will closely follow the shading scheme of the original drawing while also drawing from my imagination. 

In my original drawing, I drew the right side and the middle darker than I’ve drawn them here. I wasn’t sure if I’d want to do that on this drawing, so I drew the center and the right side light. Unfortunately, I prefer the darker center and right side, so I must redraw them.

I started darkening the right side, and it did not go well. The paper’s grain is filled with graphite, and it doesn’t want to accept more, so darkening will be a struggle. 

The trick to darkening these heavily hatched areas is to use very sharp pencil points. The point gets into what’s left of the paper’s grain. And suddenly, I’m a coward. You see, the drawing looks pretty good as it is. I could stop now and be finished with it. However, I know that it would be better if I darkened the spirals, even though there’s a chance I might ruin the drawing by doing this.

Okay, here’s the thing: I can’t precisely replicate the shading of my first drawing because the papers are different. Since the paper I’m using is much smoother, I’m noodling with the shading on the new drawing until it looks similar to the old one. Whew. Art is hard sometimes.

I darkened the outer spirals to the right and a bit on the top, and I also darkened the inner part. I’m calling this one done. I’m satisfied enough with the outcome. Since this idea originated in my heart, judging whether it’s good or bad is difficult. I’d say eighty percent of me is content with the result, while twenty percent feels there’s room for improvement.

Thank you for indulging me. I promise to return to drawing foliage next time. 

Love to all, and Happy Drawing,
Carol

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Author: Carol

I'm an artist, an accidental author, and lover of life. I grew up in Yorktown, Indiana, and I've been writing (and drawing) this website since 1999. View all posts by Carol