Toned paper project
This is my attempt at the toned paper lesson – live drawings of two whale skeletons in a nearby museum. To give them proper scale, I chose a full sheet of 140 lb Arches paper split horizontally.
I wanted to convey the immense size of these creatures as best I could. I used masking fluid to provide stark contrast between the background and bones. I prefer the profile drawings over the earlier three quarter views, but I am glad I did them first as I learned much from them.
I really enjoyed this project although I didn’t anticipate the amount of time involved.
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I really like your artworks, great job! I also have learned something new from your works – whales have very compressed neck region – 7 vertebrae fit into a space for two. I suppose this is because they don’t have to turn heads as much.
Achieving good results is more important than time spent. Art is not Olympics, they don’t give medals for speed : )
Vladimir London
They’re lovely.
The way the shape of the skeleton is rendered, the color contrast between the background toned paper and the artwork make this work very pleasing to the eye which travels back and forth along the vertebrae!
Great artwork
It is quite beautiful. I love the color you picked for the background. It gives the whale a softness that I often feel in looking at photos of them.
Very nicely done! I am a geologist and a devoted student of the Drawing Academy as well, so I do admire this work as both science and art accomplishments.