Thanksgiving 2015: Explaining The Drawing Process

Happy Thanksgiving! Due to this important holiday, we are releasing the 2nd issue a bit earlier. And together with this comes a bit of information of the creative process behind every piece.

Manhattan Bridge

So how are these images done?

1. The first step is research and inspiration. I usually go on walks on the city armed with my cell phone. Take a lot of photos from different angles. Once I like a place, I revisit it at least once to try to find the best angle to draw it and take some photos. There is not such thing as too much. Research and get inspired by something as much as you can. Take note of details and things yu can add to your drawing.
2. Then comes a sketch. Draw with pencil the bridge. Don't fear to get it wrong. erase as many times as you want until the full picture start taking shape. To do this I recomend you to start painting the main feature. In this case is the bridge tower, and after you have it totally figured out, start drawing the background. It is very important to take the perspective into account. You can twitch the perspective to draw impossible angles, but the thing is that once you find a perspective, try to stick to it. As this is a drawing, you can move things around, nobody will judge you if you put the empire state a few blocks closer to the Manhattan bridge than it really is, as this is a composition, not a photo. The important thing is to do it consciously. As a final note, don't worry if our sketch is getting damaged for the constant erasing and the pencil.
3. Clean up. This step is to clean the sketch to the final form. To do this, I basically redraw the thing in a brand new piece of paper. This way all the errors and stains from the original sketch won't affect the final product and now we have a final opportunity to twitch it.
4. Line work. Some artists, like me, draw the main lines with a liner marker. This way the solid lines pop up from the page. This is delicate as there is no turning back, so do this carefully and take the time you need.
5. Start coloring. I used colored pencils, but you can use whatever media you want. 
6. Add details. The final product made with colored pencil usually looks flat, so to pop it out of the screen I usually use white ink and black pencil with the highlights and the shadows. This is a very good way to really pull attention to the points you want to. Include also other details, for example in this drawing, the falling leaves of the trees. Also, it is much easier to draw the original backgrounds and then the small details. Artists usually try to reduce this to a minimum because they feel they are just covering up their hard work, but this is totally worth it.

That's it! I hope you all find this useful on your drawings. remember, imagination is the key.

Now  bit video of the evolution of the featured piece using these steps..

and here is a gif for you...

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November 2015

 Hi guys! My name is Dave. I am here to show you some drawings of New York City I have drawn on colored pencil, but first let me tell you my story:

I am Venezuelan. I was born and raised in Caracas. Instead of fairy tales, my parent would always tell me great stories of New York City. And how amazing these stories were! Tales of huge buildings that get lost in the clouds, tales of a park so big it looks like a forest, bridges so huge that look like crossing the ocean, and a Lady so Magnificent that she touches the sky with her golden torch. The fascination for this magical place just grew in me.

I also loved to draw. So I went to drawing classes as a teenager. In the growing-up process I sadly forgot about that passion. I graduated as an engineer and I started working for an oil company. What a sad life! Then an economic crisis literally pushed me away for my country. What could I do? Where should I go? The magical city, where dreams come true, the city whose stories I heard as a child. That was the place. I embarked on the greatest of the adventures.

And that is how I came to be on Ne York. Now I study on grad school here at the CCNY and in the meantime, my passion for drawing awoke again. And how could it not? The city is my muse. Behind every corner, there is a story waited to be drawn on paper and written on this blog. So many stories! so many pictures to be taken! I will start with one picture and one story a month. 

Without further chitchat, here is this first picture:

How could this not be the first picture? The Statue of Liberty has always been a beacon of Hope. Her golden torch guided thousands of immigrants through the ocean and greeted them upon arrival to the Port of New York. Now a days she still receives the travelers, but these don't come by water but by air. On arrival, the plane offers its passengers a glimpse of Grandiose Manhattan. It's Skyscrapers, it's marvelous bridges, and Lady Liberty of course, in the front of it all, still keeping high her shining golden torch...

If you want the high resolution version, exclusive t-shirts or for me to send you the original drawing, all you have to do is go to https://www.patreon.com/davedrawsnyc and help me out on Patreon. Starting with only one dollar, you'll get access to all my drawings without watermark in a big enough resolution for you to use as a desktop background or whatever your want.

Thank you to all my patrons! Together we will explore this huge city and make great art!