NEGATIVE DRAWING: Part 2

[Mike Sibley]

You have so many subtle variations of value in the foliage.

That's what's taking the time. Outside other business (and roof repairing) I'm working on this for about fours a day. I'm beginning to think the background is a bit too busy, but that's easily fixed at the end. At least I've reached the foreground at last!

Here's DAY 6:

DAY-6.jpg

Day 7 begins as soon as I've posted this. I should be drawing for two hours this afternoon, and then another two this evening.

[Mike Sibley]

More progress but this is taking faaaaaar longer than I anticipated.

On the one hand, as Laurene mentioned, every drawing deserves the time it needs for a successful completion - and on the other, I'm painfully aware how this is delaying the release of the next video.

As for the video: all the animations and graphics are complete and on the timeline. I still have the voice-over to record and edit, and I'm recording audio "notes" as I draw. They will have to be re-recorded because... I find I can't draw and talk at the same time. Everything I say is full of long pauses

Back to the studio now and Day 11 about to commence.

DAY 10:

DAY-10.jpg

[Mike Sibley]

More progress yesterday. Two leaves a day appears to be the norm at present.

It's the subtlety in the shading that's taking the time. The difference between achieving a sense of realism and "drawing" is so knife-edge that I'm having to build up and erase back constantly until I feel it's looking correct. Assuming it is looking correct, of course. I'd welcome any and all critiques and observations on this. Right now, I'm so involved with it that it's not easy to see the "bigger picture".

DAY-11.jpg

At this rate, I hope to have the entire drawing completed by Wednesday or Thursday.

[Mike Sibley]

From what I can see, only the butterfly contains the lightest values, so he will pop right off the page!

That's the plan Fortunately, in Nature leaves do not contain white (other than key highlights on drops of dew), so that permits me to reserve white for the butterfly. So far, everything has had at least one light layer of 2H with the express purpose of dulling any white content.

I know you will be adjusting parts of the foliage later, but since you did ask, my eye is being pulled right now by the stem just above the butterfly, between the antennae.

Thanks for that. I can see that now. I remember at the time thinking I needed to bridge the gap that was occurring between the top row of leaves and the butterfly. Now, I'm also aware that quite a lot of the background needs to pushed further back into the shade. Also, there are too many "organic shape" features in the extreme background. I'll probably combine some of those (with a judicious application of Blu-Tack) and create an alternative bridge to replace that distracting stem.

I'm having a good day today. It's almost 9pm, and I should get another hour and a half of drawing done today. That should complete ALL the foliage!

[Mike Sibley]

The bottom right-hand corner demanded to be darker than I anticipated. But I might lighten a couple of those leaves today.

I've also begun to push some background sections further back into the shade. And I've no doubt other areas will also be pushed further back today.

Even though some values might not yet be ideal, I never see that as "time wasted". All the elements now exist in three-dimensions, so now all I have to do is alter their depth - either pushing them back or lightening to pull them forwards.

But, as I stated at the beginning, this way of working means every element I work on is surrounded by its background - it belongs to an environment is can react to.

Today might be spent on adjusting existing drawing, or making a start on the butterfly - or both... but I think I'm pushing my luck a bit there

DAY 12:

DAY-12.jpg

[Mike Sibley]

The annoying and distracting stem, that Laurene drew my attention to, has been replaced by a midground leaf. It does the same job of bridging the dark gap between the top foliage and the butterfly, but in a more subtle manner.

Sections of the background have been pushed deeper into the shade.

And work had begun on the butterfly.

So I can continue the work unbroken today, I'm not showing the complete image, because I don't want to upset the video camera settings, or the placement of the drawing,

Today is butterfly day. Will I complete it? Possibly... But I've no doubt parts of the background will need to tonally adjusted to balance the entire image.

DAY 13:

DAY-13.jpg

[Mike Sibley]

Progress is slow but I'm nearing completion.

It's also SPOT THE ERROR time. A major error that shouldn't have occurred... but it did. I was so focussed on one element during the design/composition stage that a completely natural change in its appearance was completely overlooked...

...and I'm saying no more than that

DAY 15:

DAY-15.jpg

As with the previous problem, I'm treating this one as being a very positive experience to show how such problems can be overcome. Personally, I'm fairly pleased with the repair... but I'd welcome any comments - good or bad! I plan to complete the drawing today (Day 16) and will not be able to make changes after that - because I'll be editing the existing video footage.

This will be TWO videos, and possibly THREE. One - the next to be released - will be Part 2 of Negative Drawing. Then I'll release a video of the drawing from beginning to end, with all the explanations, assistance, tips and tricks, and solutions to problems along the way. Plus (this might be a separate video) a complete description of how it was put together from a variety of image sources.

[Mike Sibley]

I'll return to the drawing this evening to see if any changes need to be made before fixing it - but it is now complete.

I'm assuming by the lack of help and comments that you're all happy with it

If not, NOW is the time to mention whatever it is I've screwed up - or just needs to be tweaked.

Today, I completed the wings and redrew the body until, I believe, it no longer vies with the wings for interest.

Tomorrow, I'll wade through the 16 days of video and audio and begin to put the final sequences of the Part 2 video together. Then I need to record the overall voice-over and retime everything on the video timeline to match it. I don't know how long that will take, but I will be as speedy as I can be. I'm very aware that this release is delayed, so I have no wish to delay it further.

So, please let me know your thoughts on this - especially if you see something that needs to be altered. I'm so involved in the drawing that it's difficult for me to view it objectively.

DAY 16 - and completed:

DAY-16.jpg

[Mike Sibley]

I'm pulling images from the 16 days and writing the script at present. The plan is to concentrate on negative drawing but to include a many general drawing tips too.

As I'm reducing 38 hours of drawing down to about 10-15 minutes, it's quite likely something will be cut that you might be interested in.

If there's anything in particular you'd like me to include, now is the time to speak up

[Mike Sibley]

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Watch "NEGATIVE DRAWING - Part2" and the BUTTERFLY DRAWING... and then....

Try it yourself.

I've received quite a lot of interest in this drawing, so I've just made everything freely available:

• The references
• Basic Guideline drawing - (positioning and shapes only)
• Detailed Guideline drawing - (the guidelines I used... with the butterfly's wings repaired)
• A copy of my drawing to use as a guide.

Your aim should be to create your own world around the guidelines, not to copy mine! You can if you wish, but you'll enjoy it a lot more if you draw everything the way you see it.

If you need assistance or advice, post your drawing to the Forum at any stage. And when completed, post it to the Gallery, so we can all admire your work!

As soon as I have time I'll make a full length video on this drawing but, in the meantime, "NEGATIVE DRAWING - Part2" contains everything you might need.

BUTTERFLY-PROJECT-tiff - best quality / longer download
BUTTERFLY-PROJECT-jpeg - lower quality / shorter download

ENJOY!