The Graphite Goat

I love drawing. But I'm not very good at it. I'm a perfectionist by nature when it comes to pencils and ink, and that, mixed with lack of talent, never ends well. I'm really good at stick figures though! ;)

I took art lessons for several years in a row, awhile back, and I remember one thing my art teacher was always saying was, "Loosen your hand up! Use long, smooth strokes! Just relax!" 

When I draw, I tend to use hard, short detailed strokes. I tense up and then get discouraged because the end result is not only the size of an eraser, but it looks pretty bad as well. If I can use a grid though, I can draw quite well. But using a grid has always seemed like cheating to me... 

Today I had the itch to pick up my pencil and sketch pad. My knitting needles have a half finished goat on them, but I couldn't knit at the moment. I wanted to draw, and feel the paper, charcoal and graphite coming together to create a new medium. 

My old art teacher would have been pleased with me today. My work is far from looking nice (looks like a Kindergartner did it), but I actually managed to use long, sweeping strokes!! 

Capri has been on my mind lately, so while listening to the mournful theme song from 'Black Beauty', I drew her... 

Yeah, this is a really blocky looking goat, and she lacks detail, but I wasn't going for that today. I wanted to see how few strokes I could use and still end up with something that resembled a goat. 

I wanted an essence, so to say. 

I think I ended up doing six or seven goat pictures... Some in black and white, some in charcoal, and some in color. Charcoal is probably my favorite medium to use when drawing. I like the feel, sound and look of it. And the mess... I like the mess that gets all over your hands. :)

I had planned on dyeing some fiber today as well, but the pot I need is in use, as some ham & bean soup simmers on the stove top. So that will have to wait until the 'morrow. I have a particular colorway in mind, too... It will have a name somewhere along the lines of, "Nubian Grace". :)