Drawing of a polar explorer

I've been too so busy with other stuff this month ( well its Christmas !!)
 I've hardly had any time for drawing. 

This is a quicky I did today with some minen lead.
Its my impression of an early polar explorer braving the ice and snow.
Hopefully in the new year I'll have more time to work
Thanks for looking :)

Pencil study of details from " The taking of Christ"

This study was completed using Derwent pencils. This study is detail taken from the work "The taking of Christ" by Caravaggio. I'm going to get through as many of these as I can as the difficulty in transferring them to graphite allows me to learn more each time I attempt one. Like the others in the Caravaggio series this one was my fifth attempt before I felt I had arrived at an acceptable level.

All attempts bar the previous post have been consigned to the fire.

Pencil study of the face of Christ from Caravaggio's "Taking of Christ"

Study of the face of Christ from Caravaggio's "Taking of Christ"

for a larger work that I intend to start soon.

This was done with Derwent pencils and minen leads.

I also used one of my rough bristle oil brushes to

push the lead into the paper, this helps me get closer to the chiaroscuro

of the original Caravaggio.The jpeg in the blog here should 

appear at about the size this piece is in reality.

Study of a mourner

A scribble using the soft Derwent graphite pencils and finished off with Minen leads.
I have recently began to use minen lead alongside the derwents.
The minen leads are the mechanical pencil refill type and allow me to
quickly work out the main drawing lightly in a 2H before beginning.
The rest of the drawing then involves gradually increasing the weight of the
values until they arrive at their desired strength.

Pencil study from a work by Bernardelli

This is a study from a work by Henrique Bernardelli called Messalina of the woman of the same name who to this day still enjoys an infamous reputation. For this work I used Derwent pencils and Faber Castel Pitt Graphite pencils.

It measures 10inches x 8 inches.

A quick Plein air

This was a very quick plein air .... done in the light rain as the clouds were breaking

just trying to catch that moment that the sun shines out of the gloom.
The weather at the moment is awful but its still worth trying to
get some plein air work in.

Pencil Study of Caravaggio's "St Matthew and the angel"

Today I have drawn some details taken from Caravaggio's "St Matthew and the angel". I have changed my medium  to pitt graphite . This allows me to put several layers of shade over the original sketch done with Derwent Pencils where I need it to be darker. Pitt graphite pencils have a slightly grainy quality but help achieve those darks which I think reflect the chiaroscuro Caravaggio achieved more effectively. 

Pencil Study of Caravaggio's "Taking of Christ"

Here is a sketch I have done of detail from Caravaggio's "the taking of Christ".

I have found the darks values of the original quite difficult to achieve with pencil.

I think I may have to look for anothe medium to compliment the Derwent pencils

to achieve this.

Pencil study of Caravaggio's "Death of the Virgin"

My latest  Caravaggio study is taken from," The Death of The Virgin".

Right now I'm thinking the art of drawing is mostly about making a series of mistakes that are adjusted to eventually form a complete picture. You lay your marks on the page and leave them for a while until you need to adjust them, then you correct them with new marks and continue again until you need to adjust them again, on and on, mark adjust, mark adjust, until eventually the picture begins to emerge... It seems that no matter how bad it is in the beginning its still possible to drive the work towards where you want it to go by being willing to accept each mistake and rectify it..

This is good I think, because even a pencil mangler like me can hope to improve if all my drawings can be the result of corrected mistakes.

This was completed using Derwent pencils and some pitt graphite.

Oil painting of a beach near Clonakilty

Once again I was lucky enough to get my paint box out on a
 quiet beach near Clonakilty Co.Cork....
It was a beautiful sunny day with a nice breeze.

Study of Caravaggio's "Madonna of the rosary"

A pencil study of Caravaggio's, "Madonna of the rosary".
Derwent pencils 2h through to 9B were used on 150gm cartridge.

Thanks for looking :)

Study of Caravaggio's "Entombment of Christ"

This is my latest Caravaggio graphite study, it's detail taken from

"The Entombment of Christ" This was completed using Derwent pencils.
I picked them up recently while wandering around my local art store and find
them great to work with. 

Plein air at Achill sound

..another quick plein air, this time, the entrance to Achill Sound.
The channel here is quite narrow and so the racing tide whips
along with considerable fury. It is quite a dramatic spot

Plein air painting on a sunny day at the beach..

A plein air of a sunny day at Dugort, Achill
What a difference a day makes, the day before when I painted here
it was really showery and a little cold, but today its a nice warm
clear day. :)

Plein air painting at the beach

Quick plein air of the village at Dugort, Achill just before the rain..

Study of Caravaggio's "Denial of St Peter"

This graphite study is a study of details from 

Caravaggio's "Denial of St Peter,"

For this work I used mostly Derwent H, HB and 5B

and worked on 150 gm cartridge paper.

Graphite study of Caravaggio's " Raising of Lazarus"

This is the second Caravaggio graphite study

this is detail taken from "The Raising of Lazarus" 

The work was completed using Derwent Pencils

on 150 gm cartridge.

Study of Caravaggio's "Supper at Emmaus"

This is a graphite sketch of detail from Caravaggio's "Supper at Emmaus"

The work was completed using Derwent pencils on 150gm cartridge.

Starting today I'm beginning a series of sketches of the works of Caravaggio.

Here's a link to more details about the original

Tools in the garden.

Oil on canvas, 45cm x 30cm.

So I guess this is like a still life plein air?

I'm still not sure how to categorize this one..

Study of a work by Helene Schjerfbeck

This is a study of a work by Helene Schjerfbeck called Portrait of a man. The medium is Sennelier oil pastel on oil canson paper. Schjerfbeck was a Finnish painter who died in 1946 known mostly for portraits and less for landscape. I really liked this painting when I saw it so I had to reproduce it as an exercise. 

Plein air drawing at Achill island

This is a sketch of Keel Beach Achill Co. Mayo....
this beach is enormous and wide open to the elements

.... it was like drawing in a wind tunnel!!

Sketch of the water gardens at Doneraile

... a quick charcoal sketch

of the pond at Doneraile Court 

outside Mallow Co.Cork....

This is a graphite sketch I did of a Mucha that caught my eye...

Portrait of Paul Newman

This is my drawing of Paul Newman as "Cool Hand Luke".

The medium is derwent pencils and it is 

done on 150gm acid free cartridge paper.

The bridge at Puente Nuevo..

This is a drawing I did of the bridge at Puente Nuevo with a disposable pen.

This incredible bridge is just begging to be drawn.

Its surprising the tone and textures you can create with

cheap plastic disposable pens.