Turtle Crossing

Turtle Crossing

Friday, February 26, 2010

Romance


Now we're digging in my archives again.... I drew this in 2008, I think. I'd seen this photo on a magazine cover (Don't remember which one) so I went home and tried to draw it freehand. I don't usually work without a reference photo, but this one turned out pretty good despite it. This is a miniature (Only about 4 x 4"). I loved the way he was looking at her.....I named the portrait Romance.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010



Whoops, sorry peeps. Life's been kinda hectic for a couple days. Back to work lol. This is one of my most recent self-portraits. It's drawn from a photo taken when I was 5 years old. Wasn't I cute? That long blond hair was so much fun to draw! Hair is one of my favorite things to draw. I wanted to capture the sort of whimsical attitude that went along with this photo.

Saturday, February 20, 2010


I used to draw horses all the time. And a couple years ago I guess I just stopped for some reason. So when I started this last summer, I was a little nervous. I wasn't really sure if I'd be able to remember how to draw horses. Lol it was a stupid thing to worry about, because you never "forget" how to draw things. I had a beautiful reference photo to draw from, even though it was a little small. I could have done better on a lot of the detail work, but I don't thin I'd change any of it if I could. And there will definitely be more horses in the future...

Wednesday, February 17, 2010



PETE WENTZ. Ok, yes, like every other teenage girl, I think Pete is cute. Despite the sloppy eyeliner job. I drew this in '08, when a friend of mine asked me to. She loved the drawing, but she decided to let me keep it. At the time, this was one of the most realistic portraits I'd ever done. It's still one of my favorites. The tattoo kept me frustrated for a LONG time. It was really hard to draw it without making it look like a necklace. But all in all, I really love this drawing.

Monday, February 15, 2010

I did it!! I posted a slideshow. I'm so proud of myself. It only took me an hour and a half to figure it out lol. this is my drawing EmmaLee as a work in progress. Enjoy1



Ahh, my panda. i really fell in love with this drawing while I was finishing it. I wish I'd gotten a better photo of it....oh well. This was actually drawn before I started using good supplies, so the whole thing is done with a mechanical pencil. Lol I swear, the drawing really is square; the photo just warped it.

Saturday, February 13, 2010




This is one of my few pastel drawings. I drew this one in 2007, when I was experimenting with pastels a lot. I really wasn't aiming for accuracy in color or form, and I wanted kind of a loose, flowy feel. I think I ended up doing three tiger drawings but one got coffee spilled on it lol. I'll post the other one sometime. I really liked how loose you can be with pastels, and still get a nice result. I still don't have a lot of knowledge about mixing color and blending shades, but I guess it's a good thing I'm not striving for perfection, huh?

Friday, February 12, 2010

Snoooow! There's over a foot of accumulation here. I'm thinking of possibly drawing a snow scene....lol in my "spare time". wouldn't it be cool to draw a tree with icicles on it? what a challenge! Maybe I'll take a few snapshots now and save the actual drawing for when it's warm.

Thursday, February 11, 2010





Oh this was a fun one. I did this as a Christmas present for my friend EmmaLee. I wanted to show how naturally beautiful she is. Drawing her eyes was probably my favorite part. It was also a challenge, because I wanted to get the likeness exactly right. In the end, I was really satisfied with it. This was one of the first times I had used something other than mechanical pencils. I used a box of Derwent Graphic pencils for this. I was really nervous at first, but as the drawing prgressed, I started to get more comfortable. Now I'm really hooked on good pencils. I don't think I'm ever going to go back to my old mechanical ones.
First things first. Welcome to my blog! I'm Trtl. I'll try to post one of my drawings at least every other day. New, old, stunning, ugly; ya never know. I might have some new drawings within the month, but in the meantime, I have plenty of older ones to choose from.

Upcoming works in progress:

Ella's Umbrella series, Pt. 2

Scenes from the Living Word



Also, if you have any requests, I do portraits on demand. Prices are negotiable. If you send me your photo, chances are I can draw it for you.