Drawing – kenSwinson.com

Posted on March 18, 2024April 22, 2024 by ken — Leave a comment

Cincinnati Art Club Sketch Group 18 March 2024

I was late to sketch group at the Cincinnati Art Club today…which means all the good views of the model were already taken.

One of the views left had an extreme amount of foreshortening. That’s when things point toward (or away from) the viewer. The model (Kathryn Hinton–Masks Of The Soul–one of my favorite models) was reclining away from me, with her leg and foot pointing toward the viewer.

No one setup in that spot, because it’s EXTREMELY difficult to draw this amount of foreshortening. (not to mention she was backlit)

I’ve been drawing with the sketch group, because I want to get better at drawing what I see (without cameras or technology) This was absolutely the most difficult drawing I have ever done…EVER.

It’s not perfect, but I’m happy with how much of the foreshortening I was able to achieve. Maybe next time I’ll be late again—the difficult views are what push me into being a better artist!

Posted on February 19, 2024March 20, 2024 by ken — Leave a comment

Cincinnati Art Club Sketch Group – 19 Feb 2024

Lots of character in today’s model. I can tell that with practice, i’m getting better and better. So grateful to have this opportunity to study the portrait/figure.

Posted on March 18, 2023 by ken — Leave a comment

Midnight Serenade – colored pencil drawing

I’m learning to draw with colored pencils, and experimenting with limited palettes. This drawing only uses 4 colors.

Drawn on 8×10” cotton paper

Polychromos by Faber Castell
205 Cadmium Yellow Lemon
109 Dark Chrome Yellow
192 India Red
246 Prussian Blue

If you are interested in supporting my work, you can get more information about this drawing here:

midnight serenade

Posted on March 17, 2023 by ken — Leave a comment

Happy St. Pat’s Day! – the good fruit

I’m learning how to work with colored pencils, and am experimenting with limited palettes. Although it wasn’t intentional, this drawing is a perfect way to celebrate St. Pats day, as it only uses 4 colors: 3 of them are green, and an India red.

Polychromos by Faber Castell
205 Cadmium Yellow Lemon
170 May Green
159 Hooker’s Green
192 India Red

If you are interested in supporting my work, you can get more information about this drawing here:

The Good Fruit

Posted on March 14, 2023 by ken — Leave a comment

Serenade – colored pencil drawing

Inspired by the idea that: If you have a talent, you should share it with your friends.

This is an interesting drawing for me, because it was my first since spending a few weeks working on a series of block prints. also, this uses a minimal color scheme. Only 5 colors: 3 different blues, a yellow and brown.

Polychromos by FaberCastell
154 light cobalt turquoise
153 cobalt turquoise
246 prussian blue
183 light yellow ochre
283 burnt sienna

I’m selling the original drawing* and prints in my Colored Pencil gallery. you can see them all here.

*while available

Posted on February 24, 2023 by ken — Leave a comment

Dreams of Flight

Dreams of flight

I learn something new about colored pencil with each drawing. Today’s lesson involved layering colors.

Polychromos by FaberCastell
185 Naples Yellow
168 Earth Green Yellowish
156 Cobalt Green
158 Deep Cobalt Green
280 Burnt Umber
172 Earth Green
232 Cool Grey III