Lots of us are dealing with COVID isolation by sketching our backyards and stuff in our kitchens. We’re no longer locked down and it’s pretty safe to move around because people are reasonable and we’re all wearing masks. Still, I’m reluctant to spend much time sketching on the streets.
I took advantage of the fact that I have a collection of Schleich animal figures. If you’re unfamiliar with them, they are very detailed and well-painted figures and each if beautifully proportioned, unlike so many of the animal figures made for kids. I’ve bought many of mine from art stores but the satisfying ones I got for pennies at local flea markets. Here’s a batch that Chantal gave me for Christmas.
I was about to watch a baseball game and so I grabbed my panda bear and drew him while the Blue Jays played baseball. A great combination. This is in my Hahnemuehle Capuccino notebook and rather than using watercolor I grabbed a black and white colored pencil to add some “color.” Pandas are very accommodating when it comes to color.
What a cool collection of animals! I’d not heard of Schleich … they look very realistically detailed. Also, I’m tickled to see you using colored pencils. 😉
I realized that I didn’t put a link to the Schleich website. Their figures are extraordinary in their detail and attention to proportion. It may not be evident from my post but you can get pretty much any animal, including farm animals birds, dogs, cats. The one “problem” is that the dogs and cats are small, being proportioned somewhat near that of their cows (grin). That said, my rooster is nearly as tall as my sheep.
As for colored pencils, I’m more a fan of watercolor pencils and use them in museums. I wanted to try straight colored pencils in this Capuccino notebook because I absolutely love drawing on this paper but less thrilled with how it handles watercolor. And, are black and white really colors [gd&r]
Oh…while I’m talking, you might like to check out this link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHwm_3NYCU0&t=18s It’s a sketchbook tour by Jess Karp and at about 11 minutes she shows a “100 hand challenge” she did. Lots of great ideas here and I thought of you.
I realized that I STILL didn’t provide a link to their website 🙂 https://www.schleich-s.com/en/US/ Amazon sells some of their figures. They’re German so maybe they don’t distribute in the US. Even on Planet Quebec City, where we have very little of what gets talked about on the Internet, we’ve got Schleich in our art (craft) store and in one high-end toy store that stocks lots of figures for adults.