How To Draw Ponies by Thelwell

How To Draw Ponies hardback book (front cover)

“In the course of my work as an illustrator and cartoonist, I have drawn almost every subject under the sun at one time or another, or so it seems to me….But the most frequent question is ‘How do you draw those ponies?’ Why ponies should be singled out in this way, I am not sure, and the simple, truthful answer ‘The same way that I draw anything else’ does not seem to satisfy anyone.”

Thus begins the introduction to How To Draw Ponies by Thelwell published by Methuen Children’s Books Ltd., 1982.

How To Draw Ponies hardback book (back cover)

I have been a fan of Thelwell since my parents bought me Thelwell’s Horse Box when I was a little girl. Like many girls, I have been horse-crazy for most of my life. I have also been drawing horses for as long as I can remember. I still have scraps of paper from high school covered in sketches of ponies, fancy jumpers, and horses of all kinds.

I became aware of How To Draw Ponies recently after stumbling across of few poor scans of some of the pages on the Internet. To my amazement, I noticed that the text from one wobbly image from one half page from somewhere in this book was saying something about drawing horses that I had never heard before. That got my attention. When I looked into it further I realized that this page was from a drawing book written by Norman Thelwell. Wow! I just had to have it for my library. Long out of print and not in US libraries, How To Draw Ponies, proved an expensive book to acquire but well worth the effort.  

Unlike a more modern “How-To” art book, How To Draw Ponies is written to demand a rather higher level of consideration from the reader. It encourages a spirit of artistic experimentation that can appeal to a wide variety of readers from little kids to artists like myself (who are still kids at heart anyway.)

How To Draw Ponies interior page

How To Draw Ponies is filled with theories and opinions by Thelwell about how he went about drawing his ponies and other subjects. It covers topics ranging from the anatomy and structure of ponies, the basic shapes that make up a Thelwell pony and rider, the movement of the pony, expressions of his face and tail, drawing tools, the use of light and shadow, and the development of the cartoon from sketch to final. And all in less than 60 pages! It was nice to read a book that, although meant for children, is also quite useful for adults. As an added bonus it’s also filled with Thelwell illustrations that are particular to this little book.

How To Draw Ponies is not one of those “follow-along-with-me” art books that we are so familiar with today. Instead, it lays out Thelwell’s theories and thoughts on drawing and gives readers tools to play with. It encourages you to get out there and get some graphite and ink on your hands. It doesn’t hold your hand as much as encourage you to adventure.

“Come on everyone, let’s draw!” it tells you.

That’s just what I’m going to do this afternoon.

Fun with Frank

While at the University of Washington’s bookstore in Seattle recently I found a pen and ink book that I had never seen before. I was surprised to see it, since it was new to me and I am a huge bibliophile - especially for art technique books. It’s called “Step by Step: Pen and Ink Sketching,” by Frank J. Lohan and was published by Dover in 1983. After flipping through it, I realized that it could teach me quite a bit and so bought it. Once I got it home, I realized that it was the second book in a series and I set about finding “Pen & Ink Techniques” published in 1978 by Dover. I found that one at Dick Blick in Seattle. That was a surprise to the store's staff as they didn’t know they had it! ;-)

I have decided to go through Frank Lohan’s excellent exercises and absorb what he has to teach. I’ve set aside a 5” x 7” Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook to work in. The Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbooks have heavy, smooth paper and are perfect for pen & ink. For pens I am using Pitt Design pens (“S,” “M,” & “B”), Noodler’s Nib Creaper Flex pens, and a Noodler’s Ahab Flex Pen.

Here are the first two drawing exercises in my sketchbook.

Thus far I'm quite enjoying Frank Lohan's books. It's always nice to add some new techniques to my pen & ink repertoire.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I can barely believe that we’re half-way through February! Time seems to be moving particularly fast at the moment.

So what’s been up at the studio? Well, as you all know, I have been posting weekly horse comics in a series called “Horse Life.” This has been a true delight for me and now that I’m into the 6^th comic I feel right in the swing of things. Today's comic is a Valentine's Day special and you can see it here.

Ever since the demise of “Privateer Princess” a few years ago, I have missed cartooning. However, since more practical (and lucrative) things usually take precedence over cartooning, I tend not to do do it. “Horse Life”  has given me both some well-needed closure from our failed web comic and a new focus for something fun to add to my repertoire. They say you should write/draw about what you know, and boy, do I know the horse world! I’ve been in it since I was 4 years old and have seen so many changes. It’s really remarkable to think about.

In other news, I have been doing some pen & ink practice based on Frank Lohan’s books, and have been having a wonderful time with it. More on that in a future post. But speaking of ink and pens, I recently caved and bought a Noodler’s Ahab flex pen.

My new Noodler's Ahab flex pen

These pens have been incredibly popular since they first came out a few months ago. I just had to try one. As I have mentioned here before, I have been loving the Noodler’s Nib Creaper flex pens and have been using them almost constantly for most of a year now. I was wary of the Ahab as it's much wider than it’s predecessor and I have small hands. 

Comparison between the Ahab flex and the Nib Creaper flex pens.
The Ahab is on the top and the Nib Creaper is on the bottom.
Note the size difference in the barrels.

So far I am a bit torn about the new pen. The Ahab definitely has a superior nib and the pen holds much more ink in the chamber. But I need to use it unposted as with the cap on the back it’s too heavy for me for comfort. I also find it a bit awkward for detail work. Ironically, Matt loves it (he has big hands) and thinks he’ll buy one for himself pretty soon complete with fast-drying Noodler's Bernanke Blue ink. ;-)

Masterful Color

As I’m sure all of you do, I collect art instruction books. I’m always looking for that new and unthought-of tidbit that will make my technique jump up to a new level. Today I found such a book. It’s called Masterful Color by Arlene Steinberg.

The author is interested in creating colored pencil pieces that look like Old Master’s works, her subjects being mainly still lifes. She has created a very workable approach to producing rich and vibrant pieces with Prismacolor pencils that look amazingly like oil paintings.

The richness Arlene achieves is due in part to her system of grayed complements for under paintings. She has a most wonderful chart in the book outlining which grayed complements will add richness to specific top colors. That in itself is worth the price of the book to me. Beyond that were many other useful tips including easy to understand pressure and stroke charts, pin holing through a piece of paper to check for local value and color, and ways of burnishing and fixing the final layers help create paintings of incredible smoothness.

What a winner! I am looking forward to integrating many of her techniques into the colored pencils pieces I’m about to start. Masterful Color seems most useful for people already using colored pencils, certainly intermediate and professional colored pencil artists. It could also be used by a beginner, but they might find it a bit overwhelming.

Why is color theory so important?

An easy question right? If you’re an artist you should understand how colors work. Chroma, hue, tint, value, analogous, complementary, split complementary, primary, secondary, and tertiary.  Shouldn’t all these words be understood and have meaning for every artist? On the other hand, isn’t it just so much simpler to buy another colored pencil or tube of paint when you want a specific color? Why understand the effects of color mixing at all?
I spent years painting without giving much thought to these concepts. And I had been trained in art! I completed a minor in Fine Art during college and a double major including Scientific Illustration in graduate school. My dog and horse paintings got on just fine using the most common “animal” palette colors including black and a collection of ochres, siennas, umbers, and Payne’s Gray.  It was all good. That is until the day I picked up a couple of books and had my mind blown. One was Jan Hart’s “The Watercolor Artist’s Guide to Exceptional Color” and the other, Peggy Macnamara's “Painting Wildlife in Watercolor.” (Which, by the way, I found at the North Light bookshop for a DECENT price...)
I was astounded. All the grays in their worlds were lively. Rich and colorful. No flat blacks at all! Color palettes were pleasing even though they were made up of limited colors. The colors worked so well together! How did they do it? I just had to know.
I started experimenting. No more black for me…no sir. And what about those ochres? Wouldn’t some Quinacridone Gold just look so much more beautiful there instead? Transparent colors – yes! But what about some granulating ones to add some body? Oh yes that too!
From here my story should take you through my entire art career eventually culminating in me becoming a famous painter whose works are renowned for their qualities of light. That are known for their extraordinary color harmonies. A success story that makes you smile and perhaps become a tiny bit envious.
But that’s not what’s happened, at least not yet. Disappointed? Don’t be. My journey is still in its the formative stages and I foresee a long road of exploration ahead for me. :-)
Over the next few posts I’m going to talk more about my journey into color theory, including making my own “color cards” to help me better understand how colors can work together harmoniously. Eventually, I’ll also be talking about my own creative workbook of experiments to help me use my theories to good effect. Yes, my process is still-on going. But that’s great because if it were already over I’d be very disappointed.

Shock and Awe

As I was reading “The Creative License” today I was shocked and delighted to read the section aptly entitled, “Shock: Blasting Your Butt Out of A Rut.”

Horrifying as it sounds, I realized that shock might just be the best remedy for artistic fear.

“What I am really discussing here is creativity,” Gregory says, “We must understand that creativity is both essential to survival and anathema, too. That’s why it can be so hard to overcome the resistance we have to our own creativity, why it causes us such a deep sense of fear and dread. And why artists are so reviled in our fat, contented world.”

The creative act initiates growth and change. It challenges the established order. But this means that meek, little old me, who never anticipated challenging ANYTHING, does so by the very act of creating a new drawing. Furthermore it means that in general, artists change the world every time they create something new. Many people don’t feel comfortable with change. Artists are people. Therefore many artists feel uncomfortable with change. Even in themselves!

Gregory continues, “to be creative you must be brave and allow yourself to take risks.” Playing it safe is a big part of why I’ve been so afraid to connect the two sides of my brain.

If you allow yourself the chance to create freely, whether it’s in your daily sketch journal, on a canvas, or in any other medium, you are doing something wildly expansive. That very act of creation is a huge thing! It’s why we’re artists. Being a creative risk-taker is not encouraged in many households, and perhaps not in society in general. This is a great shame. Perhaps small acts of creativity are actually very large acts of courage. I say yes!

Speaking of acts of courage…here is my journal sketch from yesterday. I’m finding I miss color in my drawings. (I like watercolor in journals the best!) This particular journal can’t really handle wet media, but I have others under way that can. Perhaps I won’t wait as long as I’d planned to bring color back in. It does so brighten up a page. ;-)

Journaling with pictures

Having practiced (or remembered) the basics of drawing, Gregory now leads his readers into sketch journaling. He has some wonderful things to say about keeping a sketch journal.

Two of my favorite quotes are :

“Your pen line becomes your mantra – non-judgmental, completely present, tying you to everything else.”

And “Journal-making is about believing in yourself, celebrating your life, having adventures, and feeling a part of (not apart from) the Universe. It’s also real fun.”

Essentially he means start playing with your drawing. Treating your drawing as play is a wonderful way to get out of the rational part of your mind and into the free-flowing, adventurous part.

 Journal Day 1

Journal Day 2 - OR  I'm so not a morning person!

I have kept sketch journals before (you've seen plenty of sketches from them in this blog) but usually to some purpose. Exploration of themes for an illustrated story, trying out specific art tools, or remembrances of SIFF 2010 for example. The latter example is the one that comes closest to what Gregory is talking about. But it wasn’t spontaneous or casual. It was serious drawing…at least to me. So I totally get the “make mistakes,” “don’t take it too seriously while joyfully exploring your world”  advice. I get that, I really do. Unfolding and allowing yourself to make mistakes (like for instance bad drawings) is really important, and I’m realizing right now that it is something that I am not used to doing.

Squandering art supplies…? Yikes! Making bad drawings! Eeeee – not me! Muddy paintings…don’t even go there! Well, today is Day Two of my new journal and I’m telling you here and now that I’m in it for the mistakes, bad drawings, poor perspective…and all. Happily for you I’m not going to post the worst of it here (I still have my pride, at least right now) but I will promise to post some of the interesting stuff. :-)

And so the journey through “The Creative License” continues…

Taking it outside...

Just a few more contour drawings before I continue on through the book's exercises.

The first is a contour drawing with minimal detailing of my white Subaru, "Belle." I don't usually draw cars so I think the contour drawing process helped me see it more correctly and get it looking pretty close to real. The squished front end comes from drawing the car on two sheets of paper and then tacking them together. Sometimes with blind contour drawings you simply lose track of your paper and need to add more or leave your drawing only partially completed.

Contour drawing of Belle 

The second drawing is of a fairly complex tree shape in my backyard. Again a contour drawing with minimal details.

Contour drawing of tree

Both of these drawings could definitely profit by the addition of some color. I left them monotone deliberately just as I also left them with only minimal contrast marks, simply because of the nature of the exercise. Simple lines, not much else.

About Shape & Form

I‘m really glad I picked up “The Creative License!” I’m also glad that I’m not too proud to get back to basics for a little while. I’d forgotten that an artist’s eyes can get a little dull and their brain's even duller! It’s been a long while since I’ve done any contour drawings and although I use negative space all the time, I’d really forgotten the feeling of combining the two. I realized a couple of things in my drawings today.

1. Objects that you don’t mentally categorize as particular objects are much easier to draw. The drawing process then becomes relatively stress-free as the shapes stay simply - shapes.
2. Complexity is a trap that can be avoided by #1.
3. Minimal detailing, if it’s correctly placed, can be used to maximum effect.

Here are a selection of drawings from today. All are drawn in ballpoint pen with no corrections. The only exception is the camel which had exactly two corrections.

Negative space drawing of a chair - partial.

Negative space drawing of a table with a horse statue on top.

Amazing how much information can be gleaned

from such little detail.

 

Negative space drawing with contour.

Cell phone wireless headset. A very complex shape drawn

without stress due to the lack of conceptual thought during the drawing process.

 

Contour drawing using negative space

with minimal detailing added.

Table grouping of eyeglass case, phone, cell phone.

 

Contour drawing using negative space, with minimal detailing

added based on relative positioning. Stuffed camel.

An amazingly stress-free drawing. In fact, quite easy to do!

I’m delighted with today’s process. Especially as the goal of this “Creative License” project is to expand my creative process and not learn how to draw. (I already know how!) It would be a good day regardless, but the reconnection with these very valuable drawing tools (contour, modified contour, negative space, minimal detailing based on relative positioning) is well worth the effort.

Studying texture in watercolor

So here I am back in the pursuit of watercolor after too many years away. I am rusty! *shuddering in embarrassment* As I was trained in Scientific Illustration, most of my early watercolor paintings were focused on detailed renderings of discrete objects or animals, much more so than fine art subjects. I spent some time studying textures but mainly using pen & ink as a base to create the textures and then laying down watercolor washes over the top.

Bone Button, pen & ink with watercolor

& gouache highlights, circa 1997

At this point I am ready to change the focus of my painting to seek a greater understanding of the fine art side of this rich and beautiful technique. I have put together a series of painting challenges for myself to study some of the various ways the medium can be used. I have decided that studying textures WITHOUT the base of pen & ink (a crutch to me) would be a great place to start.

I have really enjoyed Cathy Johnson’s book “Creating Textures in Watercolor.” Her style is easy-going and encouraging and I really like her approach to painting. I have begun working through the book with brush in hand in order to experiment with different sorts of textures.

Here are two of my first textural watercolor sketches.

A study of a wonderful mossy tree in my backyard.

  A study of a banana. I didn’t like how I handled the ends

in the larger painting so I re-did them beneath.

Composition for the less-than-skilled - Oh! That would be me!

So getting back to my current artistic life...I am working on another dog portrait right now. This one is of two dogs laying out on their deck. They are very cute. Although the composition of the photo is rather uninteresting, I am trying to use light and color to improve the composition and draw the eye around the piece correctly.

I have been reading several books on composition lately and have especially enjoyed Ian Roberts' Mastering Composition. Although Roberts is an oil painter, his easy to understand text and visual examples have made me want to work to improve my compositions. One of the exercises he suggests is called "A Composition a Day." Each day you create a small 4" x 5" composition in pencil on paper. The objects you choose can be simple and easy to find around you. The point is to do it every day not as busywork but as a stretching exercise for the mind. I'm excited to try this when I get a free moment. In fact, as I'm also trying to improve my watercolor skills, I may just combine the two exercises into one. I'll let you know and post some of my compositional sketches here.