Today I’m showing a page from my sketchbook that has drawings from two different days. At the top is a drawing of a dead sunflower head I did on Jan. 25th, on a very snowy, cold day! You can read what I wrote on the page about that. I was trying out my new Graphitint Color Pencils, this one is ‘cocoa’. After I sketched it, I used a waterbrush (brush with water stored in it) to pull the color out and create graded values of tone. Then I worked back into the dark areas to push the value range further and define the flower’s shape.
Today I found a green caterpillar when I picked up some bricks that were piled by my driveway, it was tucked in some rotting leaves and snow. I can’t imagine how caterpillars survive the winter like this. But he looked as fresh as springtime! Umm…so if you knew me, you’d already know I took him inside to draw and study!
The picture shows him lying on my sketchbook page. 1st I did a pencil sketch with the ‘outliner’ pencil that comes with the Inktense color pencils. I drew it at actual size then made an enlarged drawing that looks like he’s under a magnifying glass. The shadow and the magnifying glass make it look more real. Then I drew him again (small) and tried to add a cast shadow. This didn’t work out too well at this tiny size so I pulled the ink black color all around it to ‘fix’ it. I also show a picture of the sanding block I use to sharpen my colorpencils. I don’t keep a very long point on them because they are more prone to breaking then graphite. Click on the pictures to see enlarged views and read my notes on my sketchbook. 
