Attempted Artist

A long time ago I followed an Instagram account called EquiLines (or something of that variation). The person behind the account would trace normal photographs and then erase the picture just leaving the drawing. It was really simplistic and clever and I really enjoyed seeing what she would post. Sadly the account no longer exists. I went looking for it recently and found a tag of it but unfortunately that was a dead end bc the account has been deleted completely :(

My little Gus Pony

When EquiLines was still active I tried to figure out how she did it. All the apps I could find at the time would allow me to draw on the pictures but I couldn't delete the picture underneath. So I put it in the back of my mind and forgot about it. Until a few months ago when I stumbled upon a new (or at least to me) free drawing app that would allow me to create layers. It's called Color and it does exactly what I need to do to create fun drawings. 

Chimi at the AEC's

Since downloading it I have created a few pictures, and even the new heading on my blog (look up) I have no claims of being an artist and have zero natural talent, but did spend my entire school career drawing pictures of horses on notebook paper and in the margins of my notes. However I can trace a line and this new system of drawing is exactly that- tracing lines. How easy is that? And for the most part it is. But there are a few tricky spots that my less than stellar artistic skills haven't figured out yet.

Friend and her old horse who has since passed away

Hands. Hands. Hands. I struggle with hands. Hands are to intricate and small to trace well and I'm struggling to find a better way to draw hands. Right now I sort of draw squiggle lines and try to blend them in with the mane, reins, etc and that seems to work well enough. But if there is a picture where the hands are more prominent… well it's awkward.  But I'm working on figuring it out. I think having a pen would help bc right now I'm tracing with my finger. It's really hard to get precision with my finger! I do zoom up on the smaller detail bits so it's easier, but I think I'll invest in one of those little pens with the rubber thing at the end. 

I drew this in the car so it's far from perfect. I was just playing with it trying to figure out all the greenery in this one

Greenery/Fill/foliage- flowers and plants are also very detailed and they end up looking like a scribbled mess.  Haven't done a lot of fill and so I'm hoping that I'll figure out and easier way to deal with this. 

Drawing in missing parts. This is part of why I attempt to draw the greenery or fill in the picture bc when I go freehand and try to draw the parts in the picture blocked by the greenery/grass/jump/water it never looks good. This goes back to the I'm NOT artistic at all and struggle at drawing. I don't know which will be easier- learning how to freehand or learning how to make the greenery look better. Guess we'll see what happens as I do more!

Jello!!!!

Attempting to do some shading 

Shading. Colors. Patterns. Texture.  I've drawn a few cats and dogs and they took ages bc I couldn't quite decide how I liked them. My first attempt at drawing my dog Jello went really well but then I tried to draw a friend's Jack Russell and I ended up redoing it a million times. The. I tried to draw another friend's cats and they sort of came out too. I have another friend who I'd like to draw her cat but I don't think I'm quite to figure out her cat's coat color. It is very detailed and there are tiny bits of color throughout her coat. I might attempt it soon but have low expectations. 

My friend's cat who likes to sit in sinks. I can't draw sinks so I put him in a bed instead

Overall though I'm really enjoying my drawings. It's a nice way to do something else besides watch tv, play games, or read a book when I'm inside the house after dark. I can cuddle with my creatures and sit there with my tablet while tuning out the football game my husband is watching. It's a nice way to relax and for now it's a fun way to think about my horse when I'm not at the barn :)