Lunch time ink

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Warm-up sketch for flower journal

Warm-up sketch for flower journal

Sketching at lunch is great, I have limited time, so I really have to focus quickly. Perfect combination for ink only drawing. I am officially behind in my challenge–yesterday was packed with so much activity I didn’t get a sketch in. That means I have to do two today or three tomorrow! It’s a work day, so I will try to at least get one done. The gladiola is a warm up sketch for my flower journal.

I want to start drawing the same subject several times–just to get to know it better. I always want to move on to something new, but I feel I need to spend more time with the same subject. I think I am ready to do that.

Lunch time sketch

Lunch time sketch

Ink Only

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Pitt Pen size S

Pitt Pen size S

I like it–I am enjoying the ink only challenge that I am working on. I feel a little stifled with just the black or blue choice, but I am sticking with it. I have devoted one book to the ink only. This is my next project, devoted sketchbooks. I think that it will be nice to look back at a themed book. So far I have three going:

  • Ink only
  • Flower Journal
  • Ideas (needs a better title)

The book that I chose for the flowers I have been holding onto for a long time. It was a gift from my mother and I have been afraid to touch it it is so pretty. Of course, that is ridiculous. I did a cover/title page, so now It’s mussed up and I can move on to fill the pages.

After the ink journal is done, I might start an animals only journal. This was the last week for #sketchbookskool. As the first class, this was a great experience. I am not as sad to see it end though, mostly because I need to move on to do some finished work. I have plenty of ideas to work on.

Ballpoint Pen

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Micron blue pen and zebra ballpoint black pen

Micron blue pen and zebra ballpoint black pen

Fun! Ballpoint pen is great to draw with. I worry that it isn’t archival and light fast, but it’s fun…liberating. Kind of like drawing with crayon–but better because it is a finer point. This #sbsseeing klass assignment was to use one color, but I didn’t listen well and ended up with black and blue. The most difficult part of this assignment for me today was subject matter. Drawing from life is always a challenge this time of year. So, I just looked at my desk and decided to do shells.

The black zebra ballpoint is a great tool. I am also working on 75 days of ink only drawings, so this assignment fit that challenge. And, today was the virtual sketch crawl for the Artists Journal Workshop, so the final shell drawing had to work for that as well. Even my Dad got into the act with a sketch (although he may have just been placating me).

Next lesson is hand lettering–which is super great because this is something I am not good at!

Zebra ballpoint pen drawing

Zebra ballpoint pen drawing

Values

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Graphite in journal: value warm-up

Graphite in journal: value warm-up

This is my warm up value sketch for #sbsseeing homework with Cathy Johnson. What a great exercise. This simple project really worked for me. It’s not that the sketch is great, it’s that all the sudden I stopped drawing shapes and started drawing tone. Exactly what I needed! I am terrified of the next part of this project, value in color! That will take even more concentration, and will involve some color mixing that will be good for me too.

More snow coming tomorrow! It just keeps coming.

Seeing

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Ink pen and water-soluble crayon

Ink pen and water-soluble crayon

This week at #sketchbookskool is with Cathy Johnson. I love her work and I really like her lessons. First homework assignment was birds (or a squirrel, or some little creature). Unfortunately there isn’t a bird in site right now due to all the snow we are getting, but luckily for me I take a lot of photos. These gulls were at the Searsport Harbor a couple of years ago, I have always admired them and thought they would make nice painting subjects. Gulls are not as easy to draw as one might think.

One thing I really like about this lesson is the idea of learning about your subject–drawing as if you were working on a field guide. There are a lot of different types of gulls. These are most likely Herring Gulls, but the one with the dark eye could be a Thayer’s Gull.

The gull in graphite is not as successful as the one I did in ink. I find it interesting that I seem to do a better job when I use tools that I can’t erase! Funny.

Graphite and water-soluble crayon

Graphite and water-soluble crayon

Art on Maui

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My week here started off pretty poorly as I came down with the flu the first day here. Finally after 6 days of being sick, I feel better, not 100%, but considerably better. Between naps I was able to get one piece done, the Queen Emma Lily. I just could not concentrate on sketchbook Skool while sick.

This weeks lessons are selfies! Boy are they difficult, but good lessons. We are to do the following:

2 selfies using a mirror
2 selfies from a photo
2 contour “quickies”
1 from memory

I have only included my homework so that I can look back and see how I have improved in the future. This assignment has been somewhat painful. However, I want to get better at faces, and this is the way to do it!

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Seeing

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Opaque watercolor and sharpie pen. Portland Head Lighthouse

Opaque watercolor and sharpie pen. Portland Head Lighthouse

Sketchbook Skool has started! This semester is called “Seeing”. First assignment for this week was to draw toast. Ugh. I can’t say that was really enjoyable, but I get it. The goal is to get you to see things as shapes that aren’t associated with labels. Just draw the nooks and cranny’s. I was lucky enough to have some homemade bread that was stale enough to qualify as toast. I drew it for as long as I could.

Second part of this lesson was “Fast and Slow”. I have to admit this was kind of right up my alley–but a different take on how to start a piece. The instruction was to use one or two colors of paint to “draw” simple lines indicating the subject, and quickly. No more than 60 seconds to start. After you get that down, you draw in the details with a pen and really look carefully at all the complexity and proportions–take your time, draw for about an hour.

The most difficult thing for me in this was actually choosing the subject. I didn’t have anything from life that I was interested in drawing, so I just decided to work from a photo I had taken last May. I love this composition with the lighthouse and the Big dog. Buildings are not something I would normally choose to draw, so that was an added challenge. Proportions aren’t perfect, but no one really knows that but me. Fun assignment, and I definitely learned from it. And, I am inspired to maybe to do a Big Dog sketch book–he is such a fun subject.

Bread: micron pen

Bread: micron pen

Art Journal Challenge Day 16

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black prismacolor drawn in moleskin sketchbook

black prismacolor drawn in moleskin sketchbook

Black and White. #AJChallenge for today was black and white…I decided to try my acrylic metallic silver as a light wash underpainting and then black prismacolor for the drawing. I have always loved this image that I took of fallen plumeria’s in Hawaii…I think that we were in Maui. Even on the ground these blossoms are so beautiful. We were on our way out and these had fallen under the tree in the parking lot. It was the last photo I took on the island that trip. I think it would be nice to do a graphite piece of this, not sure about the acrylic ground.

Day 13 was a mythological character, I took a stab at a mermaid. Super fun to draw, but not great proportions. The great thing about the challenge is that even if I don’t have the time to do the day justice, it gives me great ideas for the future. Mermaids are a subject I will come back to for sure.

Mermaid: ink pen

Mermaid: ink pen

Day 10

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Inktense and colored pencil

Inktense and colored pencil

This #AJChallenge day was fun because of the research involved. I learned about a few medicinal plants that I was unaware of. My goal was to find something that fit the category that I would have a photo resource for. I found it! Rose Hips. According to webMD: Rose hips are used for stomach disorders including stomach spasms, stomach acid deficiency, preventing stomach irritation and ulcers, and as a “stomach tonic” for intestinal diseases. They are also used for diarrhea, constipation, gallstones, gallbladder ailments, lower urinary tract and kidney disorders, fluid retention (dropsy or edema), gout, back and leg pain (sciatica), diabetes, high cholesterol, weight loss, high blood pressure, chest ailments, fever, increasing immune function during exhaustion, increasing blood flow in the limbs, increasing urine flow and quenching thirst. Wow! Pretty cool.

This rose hip was found on Ram Island in the Penobscot Bay–from a wild seaside rose–not a rugosa, but a smaller native rose.     Tomorrow the challenge is to draw your lunch or dinner. I am not sure about how interesting that will be…I will have to really think about what I choose to eat now!

Challenge Day 9

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Water-soluble crayon and ink pen

Water-soluble crayon and ink pen

So happy to get a resource photo for the turkish teapot from my friend Mallory. I really like to draw either from life or from my own photos, and it’s fun to include friends in my search! This is a great teapot, And, a challenge to draw. The great thing about the #AJChallenge is that every day I get an opportunity to learn about something new. So many of the subjects i would never choose on my own, I am really enjoying the discovery part of this project.

Today’s challenge was coin or paper money. I happen to be visiting my parents, so I asked if they had any interesting money. Turns out my Dad had a little box with some old coins and paper money from his Uncle Norman. He hadn’t opened the box in several years. It was fun to open up the paper money and look at the different coins. I didn’t enjoy the sketching part of this, but I really loved the discovery.

My Dad's box of coins

My Dad’s box of coins