The drawing: [link]

Symbolism - this drawing is open to any interpretation. Here's mine...

It's about innocence and a pure heart (the girl), about to be exposed to the real world.

Toy Mirror - To me, the mirror symbolizes a clean past.
Ribbon - To connect the past to the main subject.
The cat - is something from the natural world that gives the subject unconditional love. In this case, it is alarmed, surprised or maybe just pleasantly moved by the shadow at the window, and the door, slowly opening.

The shadow at the window and the darkness - I'm not even sure you'll be able to see that hint of shadow by the window, which is the surprise element here, finally included in this drawing. (When I first included that in my thumbnail sketch, my husband was horrified because it looked so sinister. However, by adding the word "Morning" to the title, he calmed down a little bit.) Anyway, the shadow by the window and also the darkness around the door area symbolize the unknown future.

Pearl bracelet - I used a reference which was a gift to my daughter from her grandmother in Malaysia. A token from a loved one.

Toy Pearl necklace - It's the childlike innocence, and vanity, some remnants of her personality that will remain with her when she grows up.


22" X 26" of drawing on the back of Arches Watercolor 140lbs Hot pressed paper. I learned a great deal while drawing this.

I tried to have as many elements in this drawing as I could muster. Metal from the door, Wooden floor, Gem and pearls for the bracelet, fur, flowing fabric, dark, textured rug against the light. The other factor I considered was having a dynamic drawing of a seemingly static environment. Notice the diagonals on the base of the drawing - the lines of her legs, arm, triangular shadows, diagonal light beam. I hope these elements help to move the viewer's eyes all around the drawing. The darkest and lightest area which are on opposite sides are there for viewers to rest their eyes. I hope this makes sense...

1- Darks - always a challenge. For the very dark shadowy area near the door, I blended a layer of 4B (2mm clutch) followed by another layer of 4B, then finished off with a layer of H (2mm clutch)

2- Hair - negative drawing. Kneaded eraser.

3- Pearls in sunlight - negative drawing. Notice that the sunlit surfaces are white while the highlighted areas of the pearls in the shadows are quite dark. (Pearls have highlights even in the shadows!!) Make sure that the shadows and highlights on the pearls line up.

4- Go with the flow - I decided to just go wild in the shadowed areas. As you can see, her skin's very rough and spotty, except on her face. I am still learning to blend the darks. For now, it'll do, I mean, rough, overlapping strokes, will just have to do until I better my blending.



Thanks for reading!

Dina.