Ginger is a Dreamer

New sketch from Sketch Sunday on Inspirimint.

A Close Encounter at the Edge of the Woods [colored]

A quick coloring job for "A Close Encounter..."

Enjoy! =)

Sketch Sunday 2

I finally got my scanner, so no photo substitutes this week. :)

We visited my parents' house over the weekend and they have this wood burner in the living room. (It's so efficient that they don't need gas heating during winter.) The above is a 10-minute sketch using ink and no pencil.

Completely unsatisfied with the first sketch, I then did a 20-minute sketch of the same thing using the same parameters and a different pen. I think it came out better mostly because I was better acquainted with the details from the first pass.

Another ink sketch using a new fountain pen (no pencils). Thin, curly hair is fun but difficult to draw.

"Yours" as in "Hi, I'm Yours." Drawn using Lascaux Sketch at 2draw.net. Again, the curls were fun but difficult to get to look right.

The pen is my favorite medium for sketching, but I know there are many aspects of drawing that I still need practice with. In an effort to improve my weaker areas (like coloring), I will try to identify these areas and explore them in upcoming Sunday Sketches.

Sketch Sunday 1

A Close Encounter at the Edge of the Woods by spyra

Since this blog is used as a way to inspire artists, it's only appropriate to post some of my own work.

A Close Encounter at the Edge of the Woods was inspired by snowfall around the new year. In this drawing, a feisty young girl is caught off-guard by her encounter with a larger stranger, who, having the unfortunate fate of being a snowman, cannot retaliate. Aside from the facial expressions, I really enjoyed patiently etching out the patterned tree bark, probably subconsciously inspired by the beautiful forestscapes of Stephanie Pui-Mun Law.

Two Faces by spyra

After a period of not drawing, I find that sketching faces is the easiest way for me to ease back into the habit. Just two generic characters here, although the cap on the chap is inspired by the snowman's hat in the previous pic.

Random Poses by spyra

For me, drawing poses is a little harder than faces and takes a bit more effort. I usually don't use references for my drawings, so being able to imagine everything and execute it so that it looks natural is always a challenge. Here, I was just trying a variety of different things so I can get used to imagining the human body again. I felt like everything here is pretty incoherent, but I am hoping to get better with practice!

Have you ever taken time off from a hobby then decided you wanted to get back into it? What kinds of hobbies do you have? If you like to draw, what kinds of things did you start with?

If you have any sketches you did this week and would like to share, I would love to see them in the comments section.

First post

Today, I discovered this blog. I created it back in in 2001, but deserted it after about 2 1/2 posts.

Recently, I have decided to become more serious about the idea of blogging content that's positive and inspirational. I thought about making my own site-- even going as far as registering a domain-- but creating the template and actually making the site was holding me back from what I really wanted to create: content.

When I typed "spyra.blogspot.com" into my browser, I wasn't really sure what I would find. Upon second glance, I recognized that the foreign writing before me was actually a glimpse of myself from 2001. How things have changed since! (But at least "spyra" wasn't registered to someone else!)

It's interesting to reflect on what changes have occurred in the past 7 or 8 years. Aside from the obvious (graduating high school, graduating college), my personality has changed tremendously. I am more mature (as expected), and have become more aware of myself and my own being. Even though I've blogged quite a bit in the past, I have come to know that present knowledge is no indication of what future content will be like.

I have come to know myself as creative person who likes to be educated, entertained, and inspired.

Blogging has helped me along the path to self-discovery, and I will continue using this medium for that purpose.