Artists
Related: About this forumA new drawing.
I've been going out with my little sketchbook most mornings this summer and drawing for twenty minutes or so before work. But a few weekends ago I decided to set up my easel on this little-traveled side street with some larger, better paper and take more care with a drawing. I worked on this over a couple of mornings and finished it up today.
I'm happy with this one! I think the sketching practice is paying off.

Ocelot II
(131,193 posts)I haven't had time for much painting, but I'm really enjoying drawing humble urban landscapes.
pandr32
(14,307 posts)I feel like this is my natural subject matter, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it takes me.
pandr32
(14,307 posts)sinkingfeeling
(58,023 posts)femmedem
(8,564 posts)peasant one
(171 posts)I had to scroll down on this picture and when I saw the first half of it, I thought it was a photo from the 40s or 50s (I love old photos from that era). Once I scrolled the rest of the way down I could tell it was a drawing-very nice. I like the subject matter too. Keep up the good work.
femmedem
(8,564 posts)One of my favorite artists, Charlie Hunter, paints old barns and train tracks and forgotten industrial places with a monochromatic brown palette, and he aims for that kind of old, sepia photo feel. I bet you'd like his work as much as I do: https://www.artworkarchive.com/profile/charliehunter-art?general_filter=2
rainy
(6,323 posts)For a long time, my drawings have been exercises to learn various skills--figure drawings, self-portraits--but this one feels as if I've found my subject matter.
Bristlecone
(11,182 posts)Your lines, perspective, hatching, all just exceptional.
femmedem
(8,564 posts)I took a three-day workshop in May with Dan Thompson, and learned a lot from him.
LoisB
(13,423 posts)femmedem
(8,564 posts)Definitely a step forward for me.
ZZenith
(4,475 posts)And atmosphere.
Thanks for showing us this!
femmedem
(8,564 posts)The sketching I've been doing this summer has been teaching me how to think about composition.
Karadeniz
(24,759 posts)femmedem
(8,564 posts)Your reaction and all the other responses to this drawing have gotten my morning off to a wonderful start.
Mr.Bill
(24,906 posts)Nice work.
Much appreciated!
herding cats
(20,055 posts)Your composition is very good here!
femmedem
(8,564 posts)Chicagogrl1
(669 posts)femmedem
(8,564 posts)Most of my drawings are piled up in my spare room but I think I'll frame this one.
Diamond_Dog
(41,006 posts)Your perspective is excellent and. I really like the hazy, almost dreamy quality of your rendering.
femmedem
(8,564 posts)I used a good handmade paper that I'd been saving for months.
fierywoman
(8,628 posts)usonian
(26,567 posts)It's soft and subtle but it also gives the impression of lots of detail. And the Subaru!
femmedem
(8,564 posts)I'm just a bumbley human like the rest of us.
Trueblue Texan
(4,599 posts)Hard to imagine you had to learn this stuff from zip and yet you draw so well! I have so far to go to get close to this level. I wonder if my brain will finally latch on to perspective without me having to turn myself upside-down, inside-out to get it right. Will it ever feel natural? I will keep working at it...but cannot imagine I will ever draw this well. Thank you for sharing this piece!
femmedem
(8,564 posts)Please don't get discouraged. It will begin to feel natural, I promise. Every once in a while, I refresh my memory about how to plot out perspective, but honestly, that makes my brain hurt. I'm just not wired that way. I don't plot anything out; I don't look for vanishing points; I just keep checking my angles against what I'm looking at.
Taking your time with some drawings matters, because it teaches you to keep erasing when you see that something is off, and to persevere when you feel like starting over. But also, frequent sketching from observation will help quite a bit. I think you might get comfortable with perspective by going out with a sketchbook and doing rough, 20-30 minute sketches of local streetscapes. Besides, what could be better than going outside and drawing on a beautiful day? Especially in the early morning or late afternoon, when the light is your friend.
Trueblue Texan
(4,599 posts)I take it to heart and will heed your advice! Looking forward to more of your work!
flying rabbit
(4,997 posts)femmedem
(8,564 posts)stage left
(3,351 posts)Really nice work. The perspective looks perfect.
femmedem
(8,564 posts)I just try to get the angles right through observation.
CaptainTruth
(8,251 posts)femmedem
(8,564 posts)Rhiannon12866
(258,572 posts)You really have a gift!
femmedem
(8,564 posts)I don't think it's a gift, though. Much more like practice and interest. I always try to emphasize that so that people know they can do it, too. It just takes a lot of practice and study. Fortunately, even if people can't afford to the time or money to study with someone in person, there's a lot of great information online.
diva77
(7,880 posts)Definitely original and gives a strong sense of mood.
femmedem
(8,564 posts)Something about that street captures me. It used to be a manufacturing hub for the small city I live in, but the buildings are all vacant now.