Robert Martel | Illustrator

originally posted April 12, 2019

I was leafing through my sketch books and I came across two pieces of work that at the time were each a monotonous struggle to produce but now that I examine the sketches I find them satisfying.

In my September 25, 2018 post titled “vanderpoel’s EYES” I discussed John H. Vanderpoel’s 1935 book The Human Figure: Life Drawing for Artists and shared some of my sketches based on Vanderpoel’s own studies found throughout the book. Above is a double page spread of my sketches based on Vanderpoel’s studies of the eye and I am most pleased with sketch on the top right. It looks lifelike and almost wet, alas, Vanderopel deserves the credit.

In my November 17, 2017 post titled “sepia Natural History” I described the sketching I had been doing on my lunch hour at a nearby public wooded area called Point Pleasant Park. In addition to the oak tree and maple leaf sketches from that November 17th post I also produced the sketch of acorns blow. Initially I was not pleased with the piece as I found the form lacking. When I think back to that lunch hour in September I member rushing through the sketch because a strong cold westerly wind was blowing the pages of of sketch book. Form is still lacking but I like the detail on the acorn caps.