ACEO Flower No. 21 and experimenting on another way of rendering a drawing ...

 












 
 

ACEO Flower No. 21: Rose No. 16
(click image to see a large version)

Graphite and charcoal pencil on Canson Grain paper
Approximately 3.5 x 2.5 inches (9 x 6 cm)
US$15 - plus US$1 shipping via the post office
To purchase this drawing, please click here or,
visit my Etsy shop to see more available drawings.
For inquiries, please email me at: artistdavidte@gmail.com 


Life is so busy, but I have nothing to complain as life itself a wonderful gift from our Father in heaven. Anyway, I have grabbed some time to post something and update my blog to somehow make up for the time of posting inactivity. During that time, I managed to produce several ACEO flower drawings which I will share, God willing, in succeeding posts in the following days. You can see one now.

I also used the time to do some experimenting on various ways of rendering a small flower drawing like this one. I found a way that I really liked. Securing a Canson Grain paper on a drawing board with non-stick tape, I lightly apply several layers of graphite or charcoal powder to the entire surface like those on tinted papers with a round, loose brush. It doesn't have to be totally evenly distributed as it will be covered with varying tones later on in the rendering process. Most of the time I use this technique, I even skipped the basic outline of the subject altogether and instead go directly in the laying of the tones of the petals. I wouldn't recommend this technique or on my own in drawing portraits or anything symmetrical. Drawing portraits must be carefully executed, that is the outlines must be accurate otherwise it may not look anything like a person's facial features.

Then with a kneaded eraser pinched to a sharp point or edge, I carve out the contours of the petals and the entire flower. Tapping the eraser on portions of the paper lightly creates mid tones out of the powder tinted paper and a little harder produces highlights. It works like drawing on a scratchboard only you don't need to scratch.

ACEO Flower No. 20

ACEO Flower No. 20: Rose No. 15
(click image to see a large version)

Graphite pencil on Canson Grain paper
Approximately 3.5 x 2.5 inches (9 x 6 cm)
US$15 - plus US$1 shipping via the post office
To purchase this drawing, please click here or,
visit my Etsy shop to see more available drawings.
For inquiries, please email me at: artistdavidte@gmail.com


Continuing with the series of ACEO flower drawings, here's the 20th addition to the collection of miniature drawings. Lately, I have started using charcoal for these tiny drawings and even combining graphite and charcoal in some instances. 

Greetings from the country and a new ACEO...

ACEO Flower No. 19: Rose No. 14
(click image to see a larger version) 

 

Graphite pencil on Canson Grain paper

About 2.5 x 3.5 inches (about 6 x 9 cm)
US$15 - plus US$1 shipping through Registered Airmail  

BUY

For inquiries, please email me at: artistdavidte@gmail.com
drawingsbydavid.etsy.com --  click to see more of my available drawings



First of all, I'd like to greet all of you from our place here in the country. I'm writing this post not from our home in the city, as my family and I moved to the province to see if it will be better for my father, who some of you know, suffered a stroke last year. We will be here for quite some time where I will continue, God willing, to draw in my spare time.

This is my first post out in the province.... far from the boundaries of the metropolis. It's a new ACEO that I finished while we're still in the city. I only got to post it now as I was working on more of these small flower drawings, which I will post in the coming days. I hope you will stay tuned for them!

Rose No. 13 Completed and A Year-End Recap of the ACEO Flower Drawings...

Rose XIII

 Graphite on Canson Grain paper

2.5 x 3.5"

US$15 - free shipping worldwide via Registered Airmail

To purchase this drawing, please email me at
artistdavidte@gmail.com

I think I'll call it finish at this stage. I'll call this Rose No. 13, since I just learned that the previous one which is untitled is also a rose (Rose No. 12). I really like how this one turned out. This, along with the three previous drawings might well be another series, kind of a series within a series. Since I like how they have turned out, I may do a few more in this style next year. Meanwhile, I'm spending the rest of December working on a larger piece and planning a couple more bigger drawings - so I don't start the year off dry. This drawing is like a final examination, putting to the test all I have learned during the school year.

The "100 ACEO Flower Drawings" series was started in 2009 while searching for a niche that can easily make my drawings distinguishable from other works. I had been looking at other artists' works to give me ideas to incorporate into my art. Ideas I could combine into something unique and call it my own. I've learned a lot from these little drawings which would be handy to use in the larger drawings next year :D

Below are photos featuring all of the available ACEO Flower Drawings.

 

Here's a little something to wrap up the year 2010!

Best wishes to all for the Holiday seasons and a safe and blessed new year ahead!

ACEO Flower No. 18: Stage 7 and a Few of My Tools

Here the drawing is almost complete, just a little more at the bottom. Again, the background is done as a bokeh - seems like I'm getting addicted to it. I found that using a nylon brush with its bristles sort of dulled down from extensive use, like the second one in the picture below, produces rich darks making it perfect for creating bokeh.

From the top: a small, flat brush; dull #2 nylon brush; #4 Reeves brush; #2 Reeves brush; #000 Berkeley round brush and a #13 (I think - the number has faded out) Reeves mop brush

A couple of posts ago, I said I'll snap some pictures of my tools and share them with you here. Okay, here it goes: the one on the top is frequently used for general applications of graphite or charcoal, making it my main brush. The third, fourth and sixth are pony hair brushes which I use to lay initial layers of tones. The smallest one, I use to render small areas.

 

From the top: 8B Goldfaber Faber-Castell pencil; 8B Mars Lumograph Staedtler pencil ; 0.5 mm mechanical pencil loaded with 2B Faber- Castell lead; 0.5 mm mechanical pencil loaded with 2B Dong-A lead; Medium Faber-Castell charcoal pencil; empty felt-tipped color pen and two kinds of erasers, a kneaded eraser and stick eraser

I scrape the 8B Faber-Castell pencil to make the powder I use to apply to my drawings. In addition, I use powder from the Staedtler pencil to produce the darkest darks in graphite or charcoal drawings. Since it has very little glare compared to Faber-Castell's 8B, I also use it with charcoal to push the dark values even further. Two 0.5 mm 2B mechanical pencils loaded with the same grade of leads but different brands are for general detailing. Dong-A's 2B lead makes dark tones similar to a Faber-Castell 8B wooden pencil. Next is a medium charcoal pencil. I do the same with it, scraping it down to a fine powder. Most of the time I use a brush for blending, but for rendering edges or very small areas, I found blending with an empty felt-tipped pen works well. Finally, two kinds of erasers are in my drawing tools, a kneaded eraser which is quite handy to reach those edges or small areas that need highlights or erasing and a stick eraser in a dispenser which could be used to create larger and sharper streaks of highlights.

There you have it, these are basically all the tools I use for my drawings. Have a nice day!

ACEO Flower No. 18: Stage 6

Just a small update on the drawing: Worked some more on the same petals and using a kneaded eraser, create streaks of highlights on them. Some of the highlights and the lines of tones that were left between them suggest the veins on the petals. I'm about halfway done here.

ACEO Flower No. 18: Stage 5

I took a short pause on this piece to give my work table a much needed clean up. But back to the drawing, I started on the two petals applying initial layers of graphite powder. With an empty felt-tipped marker pen which I used as a blender, I trace along the outline of the petals lightly. This creates a shadowed line outside the petals that will add depth and sharpness to the flower.

ACEO Flower No. 18 - Stage 4

Here's the fourth installment. Started working on the three outer petals and added another drop of water. Again, a small mop and flat brush and a 0.5 mm 2B (Faber-Castell) mechanical pencil were used. The clutch pencils I use are just made of plastic making them really affordable, but nonetheless strong enough to withstand rough handling, that is including accidentally being dropped countless of times. Maybe one of these days I'll take some pictures of my tools and post them here.

ACEO Flower No. 18 - Stage 3

Not much progress on this update apart from the two water droplets. Before, I would usually shy away from drawing still life arrangements and flowers with dew or drops of water. I never thought they would be quite easy and fun to do.

ACEO Flower No. 18 - Stage 2

I'm in the second stage working on the inside petals with brushes and two 0.5 mm 2B (Faber-Castell and Dong-A) mechanical pencils. As you can see, I work on one or two petals at a time not all over the flower. I use a small mop brush to apply the initial layers of graphite tones. Then with a small, flat brush and the mechanical pencils, I applied the succeeding layers, smoothening them out as best I could. Using an 8B Staedtler Mars Lumograph pencil, a few strokes are applied to the shadows on the center petals.

ACEO Flower No. 18 - Work in Progress

I thought I'd share progress scans of the 18th entry into the ACEO flower drawing series. The 13th rose in the line up. I forgot to scan it in the outline stage, but anyway here is the first stage.

Since the time I've started drawing seriously, roughly about eight years ago, my sister, artist Faith and I have gathered quite a handful of artist's pencils in a
variety of grades and brands - from 6H, the hardest to 8B, the softest. Despite all these drawing instruments, I often times use only two 0.5 mm mechanical pencils
loaded with different brands of 2B leads (one creates darker tones similar to an 8B grade pencil), graphite powder shaved from soft pencils like Faber-Castell's 8B and a variety of brushes for blending and applying tones.

A favorite tool of mine is an empty marker pen which, other than to blend, I use to apply graphite or charcoal powder on the smallest areas or edges that needs to have darker tones, like in this drawing, the inside petals.

ACEO Flower No. 17

Untitled

Graphite on Canson Grain paper

2.5 x 3.5"

US$15 - free shipping worldwide via Registered Airmail

To purchase this drawing, please email me at
artistdavidte@gmail.com

This is one of the few ACEO (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) flower drawings I did after my dad returned home from the hospital several months ago. Actually, I drew this about two weeks ago, making it the latest piece of the series. It's untitled for now, since I don't know what kind of flower this is.

Finished it off with a bokeh like the two previous drawings. I have always enjoyed looking at the paintings of artists I admire, hoping to pick up something
from their work to incorporate in my drawings. Maybe I don't apply colors on a canvas, but I like to think that some of the effects that is achieved in paintings can be applied in drawings too.   

I'm juggling my time between working on my next ACEO flower drawing and still life piece - my version of Challenge No. 4... taking progress scans of them so I'll have something to post for the next few weeks.

That's it for now, enjoy the rest of the week!

ACEO Flower No. 16: Rose No. 11

Rose XI

Graphite on Canson Grain paper

2.5 x 3.5"

US$15 - free shipping worldwide via Registered Airmail

To purchase this drawing, please email me at
artistdavidte@gmail.com

Here's another drawing with the bokeh background. Plus some water droplets. It's like putting some of the things I've learned to the test.

ACEO Flower No. 15: Rose No. 10

Rose X

Graphite on Canson Grain paper
2.5 x 3.5"
US$15 - free shipping worldwide via Registered Airmail
To purchase this drawing, please email me at
artistdavidte@gmail.com

Here, I experimented with a different background. I have always liked the effect and mood that a bokeh gives to a painting, so I thought I'd try it in my drawings.

ACEO Flower No. 14: Rose No. 9

Rose IX

Graphite on Canson Grain paper

3.5 x 2.5"

US$15 - free shipping worldwide via Registered Airmail
To purchase this drawing, please email me at
artistdavidte@gmail.com

ACEO Flower No. 13: Rose No. 8

Rose VIII

Graphite on Canson Grain paper

3.5 x 2.5"

SOLD

ACEO Flower No. 12: Rose No. 7

Rose VII

Graphite on Canson Grain paper

2.5 x 3.5"

US$15 - free shipping worldwide via Registered Airmail

Buy

(Clicking the link will bring you to its own page on my Etsy shop)

 

This one is also listed on my Etsy shop.

ACEO Flower No. 11: Rose No. 6

Rose VI

Graphite on Canson Grain paper

2.5 x 3.5"

US$15 - free shipping worldwide via Registered Airmail
To purchase this drawing, please email me at
artistdavidte@gmail.com

I was supposed to post this yesterday, but I got around to using the computer late so I'll catch up today. I don't know much about flowers, but I think (if I'm not mistaken) this is the kind of rose I commonly see in flower arrangements.

ACEO Flower No. 10: Daisy No. 2

Daisy #2

Graphite on Canson Grain paper

2.5 x 3.5"
US$15 - free shipping worldwide via Registered Airmail

To purchase this drawing, please email me at
artistdavidte@gmail.com

Another drawing of a daisy shown at its side.

ACEO Flower No. 9: Orchid 2

Orchid 2: Dendrobium Anosmum

Graphite on Canson Grain paper

2.5 x 3.5"

SOLD

My mom used to have lots of this orchid, but recently, due to my father having a stroke, they became too dry to bloom as we rarely have time to water them.