K.E. Skedgell

T here was a thread on a writing forum I frequent that asked others if they can picture their characters, and the OP stated that they have a hard time doing so. Many replied that they do not see their characters, or can only envision a few aspects of their characters, such as the color of their hair, or physique of the character's body, or their sex, and what not. I answered that I could indeed picture my characters and that I have drawn them from memory many times, although the drawings don't always come out like I want them to. The majority of the respondents said that it didn't matter if they could see their characters, what was important was what the characters said or did in the story. The reader in their mind's eye will picture them as they saw them anyway, so a few modest details was all that was needed. I believe this to be true. I do it all the time. I like to be given a few details of a character and be allowed to see them how I see them. Some writers ev...

H is portrait, that is. For the past eight days I had been working on my latest art project, a graphite portrait of Oscar Wilde. My writing was put on the back burner for the entire time I worked on this, the reason because I was just too caught up into drawing this picture, and I was anguishing over the current scene. Nothing was coming out like I wanted, so a little time away was in order, and what better way to take a break from writing than to draw something, especially if that something is Wilde. So, without further ado, I will take you on a photo by photo progression of my work. Also, the photo quality is pretty crappy, not professional in any way, just so you know. Days 1-2: Outline of Oscar complete. I started the outline by doing some minor tracing (yeah, I cheated a little) with my light box just to get the major lines down, then I drew in the finer details of which even those changed as I progressed with the drawing. I started that on Dec. 1st, but couldn't fini...

I n my previous post I mentioned an art project I was working on. Well, today I finally finished it. Woo hoo! I was getting antsy to have it done and over with by the time I got about 3/4 of the way through, which isn't anything out of the ordinary for me. Behold, my latest graphite drawing entitled: All That Remains -- Ruined church of Zelemér, Hungary Click for larger view. The photo reference came from a search on Google Earth, which you can see here . From what I've read, the ruins of this church are the last remains of a medieval town that had once existed around it. I did take liberty in changing a few things from the original photo, like the removal of the footprints in the snow and the poles for the power lines in the background. The original drawing has far more finer details than what the photo shows and isn't grey. I did draw it on white paper. I need to invest in a light box (or have the boyfriend build me one) so I can take better photos of my drawing...

D raw draw draw! No! Write write write! Draw! Write! It's a rather nice predicament to have, since so rarely do either of the muses come around at the same time. In my teen years the writing and drawing muses were close pals of mine. Nowadays, not so much. And I miss that. The writing muse has been coming around a lot the last few years, which is really nice. The art muse is like that friend who lives far away that you rarely get to see, and when she does stop by, you make the most of it while she's there, because she ain't a stayin' for long. Right now the two muses are vying for my attention, and it's great, especially since I'm not working I have the time to share part of the day with both. Currently I'm working on a graphite drawing of a ruined medieval Hungarian church, it's remains the only thing left of a village that had once surrounded it. After that I really want to start on a portrait of Oscar Wilde  because I think he is just...