Overworking a sketch. That's what I do when I try to finalize a sketch before I check the placement of important details. My weekly sketches to music have become a welcome learning tool. Each week I gain new insights and this week was no exception.
Keeping things loose in the beginning helped me enjoy the process and the music. Pen and ink used in a loose style can be very forgiving if used by gradually building up the layers/values. As my sketch progressed, I added the dark background and the eyes of the birds too quickly. By the time I realized my mistake, it was too late to correct it with ink.
I like to mix different media, so I brought in some light colored pencils to help "rescue" the sketch. I moved the eye of the bird on the left and lightened up some of the overworked values in the birds' heads. I learned how to mimic a scrafito technique by using the ink on top of the colored pencil.
I'm so thankful for time invested in sketching. Some of the sketches in this blog will be "the rough draft" of a final drawing or painting done at a later date.
Sketchbook Exercise: Create a sketch with value only. Do not use contour line. Work from a visual reference so that you can see the image you are trying to capture. If working with ink, try not to put your darks in too quickly.
Media: Colored Ballpoint Pen, Colored Pencil
Musical Inspiration: The Music of the 1960's
Visual Reference: Photos of birds taken at an indoor aviary.