Drawing Progress

I'm a little hesitant to post this. As you might have seen on Facebook the doctor thinks I've got tendonitis in the fingers of my right hand and am supposed to be keeping it completely immobilised for 3-4 weeks. Talk about impossible. We'll not go into the detail of why a working mom can't splint her hand into a fixed paddle shape 24 hours a day, I'm sure you can all understand. Needless to say I'm confident that none of the things I enjoy doing are the cause. Convinced it's excessive vacuuming to blame I have given that up completely, and dusting, just to be on the safe side.

So no tut tutting that I'm not resting, I am being moderate and that's as good as it's going to get.

Last night I worked on the drawing of Amelie. Here's how it's looking now...

Lynne commented on the last post and asked if I planned to leave the background and edges unresolved. I think in some instances that could work, but this time I want her head to have convincing form and solidity so you can believe that she's real. To achieve that, I think I need to completely draw it and add all the tonal shading. The left side of the head is in quite deep shadow and once that's in, it'll contrast nicely, I hope, with the light that's catching on her cheeks. The background will be filled with tiny handwriting which is also the title 'Every Whisper of Every Waking Hour'.

Turns out babies' mouths are as difficult as noses. This might still need a bit of work, but I am being tentative as it's impossible to rub out on fabric. 

I've also started to add the shading around her right eye. I love the challenge of making an eye look like it's in a socket. This will all be much darker to the left once I've layered up the tone with a bit more welly.

In the monoprint I'd drawn thorns and this one had stopped abruptly at the cage edge. I've continued it inside to break the tension of that edge. It points right at her face too which is rather nice in terms of composition. Unplanned, but I'll take it!

Thanks for dropping by.
Laura
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