This post is a meaningful one for me because it marks the first time that I am sketching and painting again after more than 15 years. I never attended formal art classes when I was young, except for a brief moment when I was 5 years old. Back then, the kindergarten that I enrolled in had weekly art class every Saturday.
I continued to draw/sketch/colour/paint throughout my primary school years up to lower secondary 3, but they were more of completing my art subject homework. Having said this, I remember enjoying completing my assignments and I still have a couple of my art books with me to this date. When it was time to enter upper secondary, I did not choose art as one of my elective subjects and that spells the end of my drawing/sketching/colouring/painting days.
When I read that @coloringiship is organising a doodling contest, I was thrilled! She's one of the first people whom I followed after joining Steemit and her artwork has been nothing short of inspiring, they actually spur me to pick up art again. Never mind that I have never doodled in my life, I will just give it my best shot!
My Entry
The theme for this week is Flowers & Plants and I have chosen to doodle the humble tomato. Apart from celebrating my dabbling in art again, it is also to commemorate my handle, @redtomato.
The Process
To get started, I used this photo as a guide.
I did my sketch on an A4-sized watercolour paper because I decided to paint with watercolour. How does it feel to sketch again? Well, my hand was shaking in the beginning. It took me quite a while to finish sketching. And I forgot to snap a photo, showing only the sketch. It was after I painted the leaves that I remembered.
Painting was a little challenging initially because I tried very hard not to paint outside the lines. After a while, I got the hang of it and it was done!
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Since I am not a seasoned doodler, I tried doing it on a piece of paper. I know that I will only doodle the leaves and tomatoes, so I need to decide beforehand what lines and patterns to use. This also gives me a rough idea, what my piece will look like once completed.
Turns out that I didn’t like the first sketch because everything looks too dense; my tomatoes no longer look like they’re tomatoes, they’ve become Christmas baubles.
So, I proceeded to do a second sketch and this time, I am happy!
I used a black marker to outline the leaves and tomatoes and a 0.5-nibbed black liner to outline the flowers and stems.
For doodling lines and patterns inside the leaves and tomatoes, I used 0.4 and 0.2-nibbed black liners.
And ta da, my completed piece, ready for submission!
Although my doodle patterns are not intricate and perfectly uniformed as I have hoped, it’s been an enjoyable process. To top it all off, I get to experience again the satisfaction from creating art, no matter how long it takes. The tutorial by @coloringiship is indeed helpful, I follow it to a ‘T’. 😄
Thank you @coloringiship for organising this contest and being such an inspiration! As seen in the last photo, I got myself a folder too. 😊 I look forward to storing more of my masterpieces in future.