The Pumpkin Seller Boy

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It's been a while since my last creative work, painting or drawing, but I've been feeling the need to create something every single day for the past two months. The only impediment is time as I don't have any talent and wasting a few hours just to throw the paper away in the end is not something I would like.

The truth is, my dear friend barbara-orenya@barbara-orenya has always been a great influence. I know her since 2016, we met on another platform and have always loved her art. In 2018 I started drawing for the first time in my life and I can thank her for that. She used to have tutorials that motivated me to start drawing, so I did. I have participated in different drawing contests on Hive (Steeemit actually) and have had a lot of fun. Then life has given me other assignments and have had no time for drawing.

Today I finally decided to make time for my passion and try to create something. For the past two days I tried to draw something every day, nothing specific, just what my mind was telling me and had to find out that the idea in my head is one thing, what I can create on paper is a totally different thing.

Fair Warning! I have no talent, so there's still time to turn around and run as fast as you can as what's coming may not be nice 😂

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Gender Confused

First I thought I would draw a little girl but the first attempt looked very bad.

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Then I changed the hair and got a terrible looking boy, which I did not like.

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Then when I got to the part, where I had to write the body, I had t realize that not only I don't know how to draw the body (I mean I know it's going to be difficult), but also had to acknowledge that the paper was to small 😂 So that was the moment when I knew I need a trick and covering the body with pumpkins seemed the best idea.

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This is how the idea was born and decided to do it properly. This is the sketch I did last night, just the main idea with intent to create something out of it today.

Materials

Lucky me, I had a lot of materials at home as a couple of years ago I thought I would draw and paint more.

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I had a very good quality paper (my opinion), 210x297mm, 230g/2m2.

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For coloring I had this box of pastel chalks, perfect for watercolor.

The Pumpkin Seller Boy

Today I had to start form the very beginning, had to check how to Gesso the paper as I have forgotten everything. Nice, isn't it?

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I taped the paper to my usual surface I use for drawing and painting. It's a piece of glass, which is good when drawing, but with gesso, it's not the ideal surface as it lets the paper dry only on one part, opposite to canvas, but this has to do.

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Then I spent 10 minutes looking for my brush to apply the gesso. Lucky me, I have a good memory and was able to remember where it could be, so I found it.

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This time I paid more attention to how to apply the gesso, as the video said and also adjusted the paper after an hour, to dry straight.

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After some thinking, I decided to go with green and blue for background as the pumpkins are orange, the boy's hat I thought could be red and wanted a contrast.

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After taking the tape off, I was pleased to see the trick has worked and the paper was almost straight.

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After I had no idea how to distribute the colors on the paper, I came up with this setup, which is not the best, but this is my first work, so I thought I will go easy on myself 😂

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After applying water to the paper, this is what I got. Terrible, I know.

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The I needed to draw the boy again as the initial sketch was done on an old yellow paper. Recreating a drawing for me is a challenge, even if it's my own. So I struggled a little, but did it in the end.

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For coloring the drawing, I used my Mondeluz aquarelle pencils, which are like watercolor.

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And this is where I should go hide behind the couch as the outcome is terrible. Turns out having 24 colors is not enough and there's no room for mistakes. The vest I had to recolor and looks like 💩, the shirt looks terrible too.

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If you have thought the previous image is terrible, look at this. I made the mistake of using ordinary writing paper, which is thin and not suitable for applying water. If that wasn't enough, a few drops of water fall in the paper from the brush, flooding it.

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After letting it dry, I cut it out, in order to glue it to the background.

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When I saw this, knew something needed to be done.

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This is called fake it till you make it.

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Fortunately I managed to fix the shirt and the vest, also to make the pumpkins more visible. But the background was still terrible.

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And here's the final outcome. I don't know if I made more damage with the ivy or it looks better, that's for you to decide.

Conclusion: It was fun as I needed a break from charts and everything else, but I suppose a 5 year old can do better, so I'll let drawing and painting for those who have talent. I'm not saying this is the end. I will probably have more attempts at drawing, but I will never be an artist 😂

If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides:


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