Sketching Progress

Hi all, I do apologize profusely for disappearing off the face of blog-dom:) (Apparently when writer's block hits in one area it covers them all.)
  Anyway, I thought I might bring you all up to speed on my 365 Day Sketching Challenge.
  Three months in and I am a handful of sketches behind, but I have completed 89 of them to date! Yay! Of those two of them have been suggestions from my jar.

 This is Sketch Prompt #1 - A doe and fawn in the woods.

Now, seeing as I didn't have any reference photos (I did peek at one near the end because the doe's head looked more like a dog than a deer:) please don't look too closely because I don't do deer, and I'm positive there are a lot of things that aren't accurate, so all of you who hunt, or who have brothers that hunt, will be able to pick out all the inconsistencies right away.

Thank you K.J. for the suggestion:)

You know you've been watching too much FoodNetwork when this comes out as your daily sketch.

Not only does it make me hungry -

But it seems it is a source of inspiration as well!

*Note: It looks really crooked because I took the picture weird.

 This bird is the product of one of my Random Line sketches. Seriously, when I can't think of anything to draw I'll swipe a couple random lines across my paper, then proceed to see what I can make them morph into.
(For some odd reason most of them turn out to be birds, can't quite figure out why. . . .)
Most of the time it is a really fun, relaxing way to do a sketch. . . unless of course I try to get too technical with it and end up with something that looks like some sort of weird modern art.

That brings us all up to date on progress so far, though I did manage to do a fairly decent hand sketch last week (hands are hard!) and an angry dragon! (Yes. . . that's another story entirely:)
Until next time, I hope you all have a wonderful week!

365 Day Challenge: February

Round about the beginning of February I was doing my daily sketch when I discovered a really, really incredibly ghastly thing. . . . there was only ONE blank page left in my sketchbook!!! . . . . . No, seriously, this is a really bad thing for an artist, it's like looking in the fridge and realizing you don't have any food. (Okay, so maybe that example is a bit extreme)
So, being in such dire circumstances I went into complete and utter panic mode. What was I going to do?! This was a serious issue, we live hours away from any art store and, I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a paper snob. (Meaning I'll walk down the sketchbook aisles, ignoring the specifics printed on the covers, instead fingering all the different types of paper, turning up my nose at anything that doesn't pass the touch test, and anything available where I live would only get a disgusted sniff.)
Thankfully I was able to find a small, travel sized sketchbook to use until we made a trek to the nearest Big City, which happened to be a couple days later. Yay!

Image from searching Google Image

Another fun surprise was that the Art Store we went to was having a sale. Buy one, get one Free!

I do actually use this brand of sketchbook; I'm no expert or anything, but I like the feel of this paper and it suits my needs just fine. (The only thing I don't like so much is that it doesn't seem to erase as cleanly as I would like, but I run into that anyway so I think it might be pressure issues.)

I was so happy!

No doubt another stack will have to be purchased before the end of the year, but until then I have acquired enough blank paper to last me a couple months. . . .now, if I can just keep up with ideas. . . . .

Sketch #22 and #24

January is almost gone, and with it the first month of my sketching challenge. 

While I have not resorted to using my Prompt Jar yet, I did take a suggestion from a comment here on the blog.

This is Sketch #22
It does look a bit different in real life (because I can't quite figure out how to photograph drawings to the best advantage yet:). I used a #2 pencil for this sketch, as well as a blending stump to smooth all of my different shades together.
Thanks for the suggestion E. I don't do still life very often, so this was a good exercise for me:)

This is Sketch #24

Once again pencil and blending stump. (Pencil is my favorite medium so far, and I am addicted to the blending stump! I get such a kick out of running it over the paper and seeing all the harsh lines melt into one another.)

Originally this was to be of a person descending a flight of stairs, but I scratched that idea and decided to work on just the stairs instead.

Next time I might post one of my pen sketches or a graphic design (that will actually have some color:)

Did I Really Just do That?

What do these items: A blank pad, pencils, sharpener, eraser, a handful of bright, cheerful markers, and a black Sharpie have in common? . . . . . . . .

They are physical proof that I have, actually, gone completely insane.

Okay, I will admit, maybe not any more insane than usual, but sometimes I look at what I've gotten into and wonder, "What in the world was I thinking!"

As if agreeing to write a novel in a month wasn't enough, I've gone and joined another challenge. This one, however, is a bit different. It does not deal with words. It does not last a month. It doesn't hold the worry about writers' block. 

This challenge consists only of the limit of my imagination, the requirement of plenty of blank paper, well sharpened pencils, and a few ideas. . . . . and by few, I mean 365.

How did I get into this? 

Well. . . . therein lies the story. . . . . .

The bleakness of the outdoor world was beginning to grate on her nerves. Winter was long enough as it was, but to have the snow replaced by harsh, glaringly bare, brown landscape somehow seemed colder and more depressing than a blanket of fresh, glimmering snow would have been.

She felt restless, not an unfamiliar feeling, especially during this time of the year. Her family knew when it reached a rather critical point, for she would begin pacing about the house, bearing a forlorn expression.

The year was spreading out before her, fresh and new, and she found herself lacking plans. Finding something to keep her busy during the cold winter months was pretty much of a necessity, but what was that to be?
On the eve of New Years Day, as she was surfing some of her frequently visited websites, her eye was drawn to a particular thing she hadn't noticed before: 365 Sketchbook.  Hmm, intriguing.
Now, the title of the thread was pretty self explanatory, but did she listen to the little voice that was already buzzing with the sheer nervousness of such a large number? Did she stop to consider just how much work it would entail?
No, she didn't. She clicked on the link and was instantly sucked into a new challenge; to sketch a single drawing every day for the ENTIRE year!
Did she hesitate in joining this challenge? Did she stop and consider that that is a whole lot of paper and she is constantly in a state of "Oh no! I'm almost out of paper!!!!"
Nope, she didn't, she plunged right in with a growing excitement and overwhelming enthusiasm. Really, how hard could it be? Just one, simple sketch a day. . . . . .

Two and a half weeks in and the enthusiasm is still there, albeit a little bit dampened by the fact that I didn't actually take time to think about how many different sketches that actually is. I'm doing okay so far, but I know, at some point, the ideas are going to run out. So, to counteract inevitable Artists Block (apparently there is some kind of Block for everything. . .) a jar has been pulled out and set in a central part of the house. That way, when any of my family members (and even friends) have a spare idea for me they can jot it down on a bit of paper and drop it in the jar. When I simply can't think of a single thing to draw I'm going to pull an idea out of there and do it.
(I must tell you though, I've been having a hard time keeping myself from doing that, simply because I am so curious to see what kind of suggestions are in there!)
It is already helping me, in the sense that I'm forcing myself to step out of my very familiar zone and sketch things I'm not terribly comfortable, or good at, as well as showing me that I actually can pull off some fun sketches without a lot of frustration.

If you have any idea's at all please feel free to leave them in the comments, and I'll post them here for you to see! (If you do, please remember they are only sketches, not in-depth drawings, and therefore I'm asking for things that aren't too intricate:)