Time Lapse Videos

Fun but Challenging

I am a fan of watching time lapse videos of other artists, but I can be a little slow on the uptake sometimes. It never dawned on me until much later that I should do some of my own. So I did a few in 2014 of my daily sketches. They were pretty rough and only a few seconds long as I was a total newbie with the time lapse app, but I figured time lapse videos of my shorter sketches would be easier to do than my fully rendered portraits, which can take weeks to complete. Still, it would be pretty awesome to show one of them from beginning to end.

The challenge lies in the set up. For me, my “drawing table” isn’t always in one location, depending on the weather and other factors. That means my lighting changes also. My drawing table has a ‘natural light’ desk lamp. The dining room table has regular light bulbs, which cast a yellow light. The patio table is daylight, but in the shade of the floor above it. And my bedroom also has a yellowish light, but with no stable surface to set up a tripod.

For the video I’m including with this post, there was the added challenge of the summer heat. Triple digits mean that it is impossible for me to work at my drawing table or the patio. I also couldn’t monopolize the dining room table for the length of time it would have taken me to complete this portrait. Determined to do a complete time lapse video, I pulled the natural light lamp from my drawing table and strapped it to the side of my bed where it would stay for the duration. I also jury rigged a stand for my tripod, marked the spot on my bed where it would be placed each time I worked on it, and brought up one of my larger clipboards to serve as a table top.

The final challenge was that this entire drawing would have to be done while I knelt next to my bed. Hard on the knees and hard on my back. But, I would do what I had to in order to get this done! Determination at its finest, I tell ya!

So without further ado…here’s Harry from a year or so ago. Harry has since gone on to doggy heaven, but is fondly remembered by his humans.