My first "book" was
entitled The White Stallion. I was six years old, and while my
first chapter didn't even fill up a sheet of wide-ruled notebook paper, I had
started writing. The red, spiral notebook sits on a shelf in my closet,
my writing skills have greatly improved, and I have two novels I am working
on. Perhaps my love of horses can take the credit for sparking that
desire to tell a story and share it with others.
I had a similar experience when I
began to draw. Armed with my crayons and pencil, I would scribble a rough
outline of a character from the movie I was watching. More often, though,
my pages were filled up with pictures of the White Stallion. Perhaps a
week later, I would pick up my drawing again and stare at it. It bothered
me that my picture captured none of the beauty and delicacy of the horses I had
seen.
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| The White Stallion beats the evil brown horse in a race. |
Several
years passed, and all of my drawings had improved little. I wouldn't have
noticed much except that my horses still didn't look proportional. So, in
2008, I bought a book called Draw 50 Horses, picked up a new sketchpad,
and started practicing.
It
was a lot harder than I had expected. The author didn't really give much
instruction. Instead, he told the reader to copy the outlines he had
drawn. I felt more confident in my drawing ability, but I was limited to
what the author had drawn.
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| One of my first drawings of a horse in motion. |
I
had reached a point where my horses were recognizable as horses, but they
honestly didn't look as though they would gallop off the page. They were
flat and two dimensional.
In
spring of 2009, I gave it another try. Actually, it was really my sister
that helped me start a new stage in my drawing journey. For my
birthday in 2009, she gave me a drawing book by Walter Farley. His methods
rely heavily on shading, and that helped me to gain a third dimension in my
sketches.
I'd
learned a lot from the book, and I began experimenting with shading more.
I still wasn't satisfied with how rough it looked, but there was definite
improvement. I joined a writer's group called CleanPlace in the spring of
2010, and one of my friends asked me to draw a book cover for her. This
started another phase.
I
discovered Lee Hammond's drawing series, which I would highly recommend.
Before she begins placing shadows on her drawings, she sketches their outline
down using a graph. This helped correct many errors I had made with my
consistency in my proportions. The book next showed how a tortillion can
be used to blend shades done in 2b graphite. Even a week after I finished
reading, I felt more sure of where to place my pencil. The resulting
drawings were ones that I was proud of and didn't have any major
disappointments about.
Obviously,
my interests have broadened over the years, and I enjoy drawing and writing
about more things than horses. However, I do feel that horses helped me
develop or begin some of the activities I now love.
The
"galloping" part of my blog's title is a tribute to all of the horse
friends I've made over the years. The "graphite" deals with my
drawing. I would like to use this blog to show my friends what I've drawn
and ask for their opinions about it. I'll also talk about my writing,
knitting, sewing, and possibly cooking projects. Oh--and maybe horses.
