Sometimes you just need a little push to get started drawing. In this case it was two books at the Story Library that got me going, both with the title How to Draw Cool Stuff, by Catherine V. Holmes. These books feature step-by-step illustrations that show how to develop drawings of various objects using simple shapes, such as ellipses. It also encourages the budding artist to experiment with line weight and shading.
The Story Library staff used my drawings to create a wall display with the goal to get people to try sketching from the books. They provided pencils and the books for sketching in the library activity room, and a signup list for those who would like to take the books home once the display is finished.
The "Climbing Tiger" is the most ambitious drawing of the bunch, and involves multiple ellipses in its construction, as well as varied line weight and shading. It looks kinda scary, which is cool.
The title piece, or "Piece of Cake", combines pencil with hard pastel. This is an easy way to experiment with color. It uses just think butcher paper as the support, but a light mist with acrylic paint using my airbrush was able to fix the pastel without buckling the paper, or changing the quality of the color.