Courtney Esperanza’s art blog

 Preliminary thumbnail sketches From my thumbnail sketches, I realized I liked the contours and lines from the middle image, so this will be my final large-scale drawing. 

  Here's my first quick thumbnail sketch using some contour technique to get an idea of how I'm going to lay my lines and shading down on this piece. I'm not going to lie, having to do two large pieces this week is very daunting! Thumbnail sketch #2 I’m not too wild About the business going on in this still life. The background is pretty complicated. The final sketch!

  Preliminary Thumbnail Sketches For this thumbnail, I experimented with my favorite sketch technique, contour lines. I enjoyed playing with the lines in the folds of the fabric. For this thumbnail, I played around with the more solid shading and some cross hatching to symbolize the waffle pattern in the fabric. Final Sketch

Thumbnail sketches The final piece in large scale: I again struggled with the darker background and making it look blended but it was a nice change to do some contoured shading on this one.

  The first step for me is laying down very light lines to map out the piece. Then I use a numbering system to help me sort out which shades of grey go where, kinda like a paint by numbers! Step 3 involves laying down layers on the darkest tones first... I’m still struggling with achieving a smooth homogenous texture and not thatched pencil lines... The final piece. While I enjoyed working with the lighter 2b pencil, I am not happy with how the darker tones turned out. 

  I mapped out what shades of grey I wanted in what areas using a number system.

  And here’s the beginning of the large picture. I like starting with the blackest tone.