Values and Hats

As I've been searching for reference pictures of Lincoln, I've noticed there are actually very few of him wearing his iconic stove pipe hat. That one of the first things we learn in grade school. Lincoln was the president who freed the slaves, had a funny beard, and a tall hat. How many construction paper hats are made in February in schools around the country. the reference for todays drawing is a photograph of Lincoln in a camp with General Grant and Allan Pinkerton. The President has his iconic hat on and also shifted a little bit while the picture was being exposed, making his face blurry. I'd been wanting to do somehting with his hat, and I found drawing a blurry picture to be a challenge. I think I might work on this one a little further and plan more with the values.

more fast sketches

I'm tired and distracted tonight, so here's some sketches for now. i need to start these earlier in the day...

I think the lower left one looks like Lincoln the Muppet... perhaps a future project.

Vines

Pens and markers, a little abstract.

60 Second Sketches

I'm a Civil War reenactor. It's part of my love for history and my fascination with Lincoln. I portray a special corespondent, or and artist corespondent. I'm a reporter, getting the news on the field and recording what I see. Photography was very prevalent, but it wasn't very faster or easier to transport, so hand drawn sketches were the quickest, if not the most accurate way of visualizing the war for the reader at home. And even sketching is no match for a modern high speed camera, so you need to draw quickly and freely to get the scene. So to practice that, I did a series of 60 second sketches. One minute is up and I start over. I'll probably try this once a week, and practice for events.

Batch one, in pencil

 Batch two, in pen

Super Lincoln Bros.

I really have no excuse for this.

Seemed like a good idea at the time...

Trials and errors

First off, here is yesterday's pieces completed...

And today's piece...

Not my favorite, but good practice. I see where I made some mistakes that I can improve on next time.

Two-Faced Redo

   I tried the Two-Face concept again, and I was please with the results... until my only remaining Sharpie dried up...

Here it is, as is. Once I get a new marker I'll finish it up.

An early night....

Very tired tonight after a long day. I'm cheating a little bit with just a quick doodle. I'll make it up tomorrow.

Picasso Meets Lincoln

   I was a little busy tonight getting taxes done (oh joy) and  still needed my Lincoln. I thought I'd try emulating Picasso's style. I thought it would be a joke, but I was by surprised how much I like it. I might try this again with a different reference.

Happy President's Day

Mondays are always Mondays. Today, like last Monday, was not a pleasent day. However, I was so busy and to focused on keeping afloat that I never really thought about it as a bad day. Then I was home and it didn't matter anymore. It's easy to make up your mind to be happy when you are in your own cozy home with your family.

ART!

Another exaple of a piece I was ready to scrap 5 minute into it. I really like how it came out though.

Lincoln Carving pt 2

   I began trying to carve out more of Lincoln's face today. I think this will be a little trickier than i had anticipated, but that's what experimentation is all about I suppose. I have some of my Dad's old carving book around. I'll have a look through them see if they can steer me in the right direction.

   One thing this blog project has taught me already is a little more patience with my art. I drew a lot as a kid and in high school, but through college and into my adult year's, my time spent with it has dwindled, and I've grown frustrated with my results after a few minutes. I'd decide to try drawing again and only spend 5 minutes at it because I was getting frustrated that it wasn't perfect, that after ten years, not only had my skills not improved, they'd actually gotten worse. That happens when you don't use a skill. And giving up after 5 minutes doesn't help that, either. While I wasn't happy with my "two-face" and "Whatever you are...", I was really pleased with my other drawings. I was frustrated with each of them and thought they would be complete failures at about the 5 minute mark. My commitment to keep this blog going daily was what kept me going, and I surprised myself.

    Well, one week down. Let's see if I can keep this momentum going...

Lincoln Carving pt 1

My Dad enjoyed wood carving and it's an art form I've been trying my hand at lately. I've been planning  for a while to try carving Lincoln, and now that I've started this blog, I really don't see a reason to delay it any longer. The carvings I've done so far have been fairly simple. I've made some Christmas ornaments and some magic wands (thank you Harry Potter for the inspiration). This will be the first time I've attempted a figure of any sort.

I started with these as reference...

 Created a pattern...

 Transferred the pattern to the wood block...

 And carefully cut it out on the band saw.

Now I'm wondering just how well those reference pictures actually work together. The hair lines and the beards don't quite line up. I'll try to work that out as a I go forward with the knife.

Two-Faced

Lincoln was once accused of being two-faced. His response was "sir, If i were two-faced, would I wear this one?"

I attempted a little play on that tonight. I'll revisit this another time. It's early yet and I'm nearly falling asleep with a pencil in my hand. This turned out less than successful unfortunately. Earlier start tomorrow. I think I'll get a start on a project I've been thinking about for some time....

Whatever you are...

     Today's project was heavily inspired by this piece by Peter Kowalski. Peter's piece is simple and striking, and it's a motto I've tried to take to heart when I'm feeling less than motivated. He has many other great pieces that make a strong impression with just a few words, full of subtle messages and double meanings.

     I don't think my piece came out nearly as successful and certainly not as well as I had hoped. It was deceptively simple, but I had to scrap it several times to get the spacing right, and MS Paint (the only art program I have installed at the moment) wasn't up to the task I demanded of it. I think I'll revisit it at another time, and earlier in the day rather that at 10:00 at night. We'll just call this a draft for now...

Contrast

Today's offering is a little different. I decided to try a high contrast drawing of the president with Sharpie marker. I really like how it turned out. One thing I do need to do is get my new scanner up and running and some editing software. I'm tired of my whites looking gray. Once I do, I'll probably re-post all of the work so far in better quality.

Mary and Abe

As today is Valentines day, I felt it would be appropriate to spend a little time on Mr. Lincoln's Valentine. Here's a quick sketch of the two of them together.

While the Lincoln's were both photographed many times, they never had a picture taken together.

Abraham and Mary met in 1839 and married on November 4, 1842. He was 33 years old and she was just shy of her 25th birthday.

A Bad Day

Today was a bad day at work. I got there late. Everything I did took longer than it should. Unexpected issues popped up around every corner. And the crankier I got the more set in my mind I was, that this was a bad day. And why was it bad? I let it be. I let it get to me.

"Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be. " -Abe Lincoln

I hadn't made up my mind to be happy despite it all.

And despite what? Complications at work? It's work. They don't pay us because it's easy. There are people out their suffering hardship's I can't imagine, and they had a good day. Someone got to eat for the second day in a row. It was a good day. Someone didn't feel so sick after their chemo therapy. It was a good day.

What bad day's did Abe Lincoln suffer? The decisions and hardships that passed his eyes. The death of two young sons. His nation going to war with itself. The day 850 of his countrymen killed each other at Bull Run. Those are bad days.

Next time, I'll make up my mind to be happy.

(Today's project is a sketch of those eyes. I tried a new sketching technique I read about. I really enjoyed it and found it really effective. I'll be trying that again.)

Happy Birthday Mr. Lincoln

Today is Abrham Lincoln's 203rd birthday, and I found it fitting to begin this blog. A few months ago I ready this article on Etsy about the Skull-a-Day project and found it very inspirational. Since then I've been trying to decide on a subject for a daily artistic challenge for myself. I didn't want to repeat the skull, and while any simple shape would suffice, I wanted to pick something that had some meaning to me. And it struck me as I was watching "The Conspirator". Abraham Lincoln. I find him to be one of the most admirable and interesting people in American history. My challenge is going to be creating and posting an image of our 16th president, along with whatever historical incites I can provide.


Until tomorrow, Happy Birthday Mr. Lincoln.