I find I like the monochrome look, but at the same time, the shape always desires color.
"Mysterium"
When I drew this, I was packing up my things and shedding as much material weight as I could. I worked at a tiny table, about ten inches off the ground. I took it to a cafe several times to work for hours and give my knees a break.
This one is flawed, but finished. The weight of the shading on the mid-left side is excessive and distracting. It interrupts the flow of.. (______) from top to bottom.
"A Primitive Re-animator"
This one wound up taking on an industrial theme. It’s more intense than most of the others; focused on the center, the rest of the drawing seems to hang on or ‘orbit’ the center, but with less circular and more explosive energy…
...I was watching “Hateful Eight” several times back-to-back while drawing. It’s not always zen and meditation, but it’s always an exercise.
First embellishments
This is the first drawing where I started experimenting with embellishments. In this case, it's two little trees and a friendly "Hello"! (I'm sorry it's difficult to see the trees in this picture)
What compels me to draw is how frequently drawings like these fail. Balance is key; knowing when to start and knowing when to stop are also key. I often don’t see a mistake until long after I’ve committed a lot of time, pigment, and graphite to it.
Here's my first set of colored pencils I bought several years ago. I've since upgraded, but these were good to start with. The lead is sufficiently strong, yet soft enough to lay down color.
Thanks for viewing!