These three images have several things in common: 1. They were all drawn with a mechanical pencil (Quoting Col. Kurtz, “the horror, the horror”). 2. They were all drawn on printer paper. 3. They were all inspired by photos from webshots.com. 4. I used blending for the first time in a very long time. And 5. They were boredom doodles.

Originally I wasn’t even going to feature them because I vowed never to draw with a mechanical pencil again (never swear off something like that when you get bored frequently, often forget your portfolio with your art supplies, and prefer to write only with a mechanical pencil.) So, yes, these images were drawn with what I had available at the time.

Something interesting always happens to me when rendering landscapes. Once I’ve outlined the basic layout and elements, I look at the task ahead of me (namely filling in details), and I suddenly remember why I don’t like landscapes: the details, oh the details. And I don’t have the patience to try too hard because landscapes are not very interesting. Unfortunately, my drawings will continue to suck until I finally get a grip on my weaknesses (and, you know, actually draw consistently for once in my life ... it’s a vicious cycle.)

I am particularly proud of how the fallen tree turned out in the second picture, especially since when I started to draw the details I said, “Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?” Drawn in layers (for lack of a better phrasing). Endless layers. Gradients. Then highlights. Then shadows. I think it was worth it, though. However, one glance at the background and it becomes quiet evident that I didn’t feel like doing much else. As a result, this drawing is a lined/lineless hybrid which looks neat in a quick doodle kind of way (were it a more serious planned render, it’d probably would be depressing.)