30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 17- Vignette

30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 17- How to draw a Vignette Sketch

I like to sketch with watercolor sometimes, so after drawing with an elegant writer here and there over a pencil sketch, I then added color with watercolor.  To make the letters, I used an archival permanent marker- Staedtler Mars Dark brown

vi·gnette

vinˈyet

noun

1. 1. 

   a brief evocative description, account, or episode.
2. 2. 

   a small illustration or portrait photograph that fades into its background without a definite border.

verb

1. 1. 

   portray (someone) in the style of a vignette.

Today's challenge will be to take some of what we've been learning and use it to create a vignette.  As you can tell from the definition above and my example in the photo, these images fade into the background and don't really have a definite border.  This is a style where WATER is your friend.  A drawing stump or tortillion (or your trusty finger) can also accomplish the smudgy edges that would be typical of a vignette.  Lots of subjects can be treated as vignettes, and I will leave the subject for you to choose.  


Here are some photo ideas that might inspire your drawing today:  

In this photo, everything but the forward elements of the rose are softened away.
©Rebecca Zdybel

https://s3.amazonaws.com/red_3/uploads/asset_image/image/52053af826465a7948000b48/central-subject_with-vignette.jpg

This is a more subtle vignette.  The background is much less developed and only the subject is treated fully.
Soft edges in the background are key to this type of vignette.

Hint:  What the dictionary says is true, but what they don't tell you is that the smudged edges of a vignette can become a border of sorts, almost framing the image.  Your vignette can be gradual as in my image above, but it can also be dramatic as in the photo ideas below. 

http://www.gemmiev.com/uploads/5/3/6/9/5369688/3402950_orig.jpg

Haha!  I couldn't resist including this one!  Note how the light untouched background is darkened at the corners and softly contains the light field behind the head forming a frame of sorts.

http://www.photoshop-dragon.com/Tutorials/Photography/Images/vignettes/final.jpg

So cute!  Note the background just fades away into a light area which becomes a frame or a mat for the image...

With these ideas in mind, have fun taking a subject and softening edges to create a vignette.  =)

Your photos are continuing to flow in, though I'm afraid that only the stalwart few are sticking with it.  If you missed a day, don't despair, just pick it up again wherever you'd like...If you are out there and haven't shared anything yet, don't be scared!  I'll keep everything anonymous, and your contributions will add to everyone's experience.  I look forward to seeing what you guys do with your vignettes.  

Day 15- Draw with something you haven't drawn before...Charcoal!

Day 15- Elegant Writer- This is the Blue Ink version? FYI the Elegant Writer comes in Black, Red, Brown, and Blue

I'm already looking ahead to later this week.  I will be breaking out my Tombow marker in burnt sienna color -947 for a sketch or two during the final couple of weeks of this challenge.  If you would like to get one, it's around $5-6. Here is a link:  Tombow 947 Marker- Amazon

Happy Drawing!!

Rebecca Zdybel

Artist, Instructor, Art-Travel Instructor

Art Lessons in all media

Myrtle Beach, SC

rebecca@artmyrtlebeach.com

Spread Light, Share Love, DO Art!

Feel free to share any of this blog post on your own blog or website, but I ask that you you include:

Rebecca Zdybel is an artist and instructor in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Follow her and see her work at http://www.artmyrtlebeach.com/

Join me on Google+ Rebecca Zdybel Google+ 

Out of My Mind Again! Art- My Favorite Drug of Choice

Have you ever had an out of body experience?  I just did.  I passed a very long 9 hour flight without the need to sleep despite getting up at 3 AM in Athens.  I'm a little fatigued, but during the flight I completed a few small watercolor sketches in my travel journal, and did some writing.  So fun! I was really "in the zone".  Either that, or once again,  I was out of my mind!

Athens

Octopus on the line...Scala Sykaminia

Remembering Manh Manh Restaurant in Athens...OHPAH!!

Note to self: sketching is probably best done on smooth paper...

this one done on rough paper is an illustration of why =)

Windmills of Chios- a must see!  You can eat dinner there as the sun sets...just lovely!

If you're as old as I am, you may remember that old Calgon Bath commercial.  The catch phrase was,  "Calgon, take me away....!" Good old Calgon Bath products never had that effect on me, though if I had enjoyed them this way, perhaps they might have!  

If you're old enough to remember that commercial, you may also remember the natural child-birth technique called Lamaze.  Breathing was at the heart of the Lamaze method and I relied on for all 4 of our children's births.  It really worked.  

That was the first time I remember being transported mentally in a remarkable way without chemical assistance.  I always thought of Lamaze as self-hypnosis, and a way of going "somewhere else" in your head while all hell was breaking loose with your body.  

That feeling is not just available through chemicals or hypnosis.  Music can also transport me.  Playing music can be a quick way to lose a few hours once I settle in and get engaged.  

Sports can also take me there.  Being an athlete all my life, I've had times when I've played "out of my mind".  My hand and eye were incredibly connected.  When this happened my entire being was on fire and I was doing things I could not believe possible.  Everything worked and was in sync. I was in the zone.  It was the best!  If you're an athlete, you may have also experienced something similar.  I don't think I'm that special...I just think it's part of the human experience.  

Those times are incredible, and sometimes I feel myself in that same kind of head space while "in the zone" doing art.  Every artist who has seriously spent time focused on their artwork has felt some version of this phenomena.  Time slips away, you're focused and ideas are flowing.  You see more and more clearly, perceive more and more discerningly.  Associations come, ideas flow, and you may even forget to eat, drink, or sleep.  Concentration is keen, and yet you are not on edge.  It's a calm and centered mental place to dwell.  In her book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, Betty Edwards calls this mental state, Right-Brain Mode.

Having grown up in the generation before the "just say No" era, I confess to having personally had a motto of "just say Yes" to a whole lot of things that would prevent me from running for political office.  Having sampled a few wares of the legal and illegal sort,  I can report to those of you who may have made other choices, that nothing compares to the "high" I feel from art. ART is my new drug of choice.  


I have had conversations with a few of my friends who write as their means of expression.  They report a similar feeling when they are focused and feeling especially creative.  Betty Edwards encourages writers to do a sketch prior to writing as a means of focusing their creative centers and starting up that sense of flow.  The idea is, that once you begin the Right-Brain Mode, you can transition to writing and ride the wave of creativity a little more easily. 

Have any of you had this feeling?  I'd love to hear about your experiences..comment here if you would like to share.

Rebecca Zdybel

Artist, Instructor, Art-Travel Instructor

Art Lessons in all media

Myrtle Beach, SC

rebecca@artmyrtlebeach.com

Spread Light, Share Love, DO Art!

Feel free to share this blog post on your own blog or website, but I ask that you you include:

Rebecca Zdybel is an artist and instructor in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Follow her and see her work at http://www.artmyrtlebeach.com/