Lisa Smith: Natural Form Drawings

I thought I would share with you a series of drawings that I have been working on in my sketchbook. I am an strong believer in the use of the sketchbook for all artists, illustrators, amateur and professional, any age etc. My sketchbook is a forgiving and unquestioning place that I can go to to write, draw or mark out my thoughts and ideas. I use my book to plan out my paintings, thinking about the choice of colour, composition, texture and how to use the space of the canvas. In this series of drawings I have been looking at cell forms found in the natural world. Using bold complementary and contrasting colours I have been enjoying experimenting with the use of positive and negative space, whilst addressing personal issues relating to illnesses within my family.

The drawings are work in progress and still under working titles.

The drawing is sketched out using white crayon first to give me a working guide

I have always worked quite methodically, moving from one colour to another gradually building up the image

Here are the six finished sketches, I am not to sure about the zoom picture - this probably will not be transferred to canvas. For me it doesn't quite work or have the impact of the other pieces. Every time I pick up a paint brush or pencil I learn something, whether it is about how to apply the medium, create shading, a new texture etc. Even if the work is not a success I think it is always good to look at what you have learnt from this and apply this to the next piece of work.