It All Starts With a Sketch...At Any Age

Sketching is the foundation of a drawing or painting.  It is starting to draw out an idea and express what is pictured in the mind.  I absolutely love sketching, it is probably at times one of the most stressful but fun parts of beginning a new piece.  When I start sketching the sky is the limit.  If I start drawing a circle that I first thought was going to be a baseball, I could decide to turn it into a snowman or a sunflower or a teddy bear even.  Once I start going I just let my mind and the way I feel take control.  If I am in the mood to sketch I more than likely won't turn it into a painting.  Whenever I want to paint I paint, I tend to keep it very separate from drawing.  It's really interesting because it is usually one or the other, I don't normally combine the two.
When I first started drawing I was much younger and I would just sit and draw the characters I would see on the cartoon that I was currently watching.  Here are a few that I still have from between the ages 8 and 14:

"Rocket Power" group

Arnold from "Hey, Arnold"

 When I was in 7th grade my grandfather died.  He was the closest person to me that had passed away.  a few years later when I was a freshman in high school I tried drawing him.  To me, this doesn't look like him at all but I gave it a shot trying to draw a person.

 Alvin and the chipmunks from the cover of their Halloween movie.
After I started drawing while watching TV, I tried drawing covers and pictures from books and video covers.

 Junie B. Jones

 The Grinch

 From a birthday card.

A space shuttle.

I've moved on from drawing while looking at books or videos or TV.  I will sometimes set something up in front of me to try drawing, like these hats:

Here is the progression from my sketch of the hats to the finished product.  I tried taking pictures along the way but once I got into it I just kept going haha.

Some of these pictures may look the same if you look at them fast but there are a few of the finishing touches that I do before I finish.  It's basically just taking another look and fixing what I think may need to be fixed.  I love black and white photos and whenever I draw I use either just graphite or just charcoal.  I enjoy using my finger to show depth in my pictures.  I love drawing baseball hats because of all the creases and folds, they are fun to draw and work with.
This picture will be up on my etsy shop.
I wills till every once in a while set something up to look at and draw but I am also trying to teach myself not to look at anything and draw from what I picture in my mind.  I will always be learning and working on this.  Wish me luck!
Thanks for reading and will post agin soon!
xoxoSavannah