Imaginary Color

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Goldfish in imaginary color

Goldfish in imaginary color

My 75 days of Ink only is still proving to be fun and even more educational than I realized. I am using all kinds of different references–my own photos, life drawing, magazines and books. I don’t normally use resources that aren’t my own, but I am just learning after all. I am trying not to take each sketch so seriously.

The fish resource is from a book I found in my studio, I forgot I had it. It’s called Animals 1419 Copyright-Free Illustrations of Mammals, Birds, Fish, Insects, etc. Selected by Jim Harter. It’s AWESOME! That is where the fish came from. They are all black and white. I did a quick sketch of this great fish–the book says its a type of gold fish. Then I thought–this might be fun with some imaginary color. A lot of fun!

I think that the first black and white only sketch is actually nicer, but I felt like adding the color from my imagination was a good experiment, one I will work on improving. I used a water soluble disposable fountain pen and inktense pencils.  The water soluble pen offered up some nice surprises.

Goldfish black ink only. Quick sketch.

Goldfish black ink only. Quick sketch.

Two Trees

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Inktense and graphite

Inktense and graphite

I have been thinking about this image for quite awhile. So, I decided to make it the subject matter for my first “finished” piece of the new year. I’m not sure what that really means, but I suppose it will just be well attended to and slower to complete. My approach is to get to know the subject by doing at least 2 or 3 warm up sketches. And, they can fulfill some of my more minor goals too. The first sketch was done in my 75 Days of Ink Journal. Fairly quick. Next up, color! I am missing color with the ink drawings, but trying not to break the rules.

The sketchbook skool folks are emailing assignments to previous klass participants! That is pretty awesome. This week’s assignment is to scrutinize a tree. Perfect for Ink!

Ink only

Ink only

Maui Lobster

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IMG_0315

I have sketchbook Skool homework to do, but decided to take the day off. John and I took a walk on the beach and I scored three nice beach finds. A lobster tail, a shell and a poor tiny dead urchin. Perfect drawing subjects. Tomorrow I will go back to homework.

Art Journal Challenge Day 17

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Minneola: inktense and colored pencil

Minneola: inktense and colored pencil

White ink pen explosion! Everything was going great until I decided to add some white! Yikes! You can’t wipe that stuff off either, so I had to figure out a way (quickly) to save what I had. I did the best I could. So, this turned out differently than planned, but sometimes that happens. #AJChallenge Day 17–draw a recipe. Minneola’s are in season, and I had one to draw from. This smoothie recipe is easy and delicious.

Thinking about a piece to start out with for my body of work plan. I think that I am going to do some dandelion sketches and then an 8 x 10 finished work. For the finished work I really need to decide on medium. I am thinking watercolor and ink pen. It’s so hard for me to think of just using one medium for a cohesive group, but it seems like the right approach.

Since I am headed to Hawaii soon I will have to work on a couple of pieces that are more tropical. Maybe I can make this a second body of work…one that might come together more slowly.

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!

Happy New Year!

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thank you postcard: intense and colored pencil

thank you postcard: intense and colored pencil

I don’t know that I have ever made any kind of list of new year’s resolutions. But, I am kind of inspired to make set some goals. Here is what I have so far (not in any particular order).

1. Create a body of work that will hang well together. Six pieces total.

2. Draw every day (even if it’s just 5 minutes)

3. Find friends to draw with

4. Draw from life as much as possible

5. Challenge yourself to draw subjects you find difficult

6. Read more about other artists

7. Walk 2 miles at least twice a week

8. Write about your art in a critical way, do your own critiques–maybe on a monthly basis.

9. Give a piece of art away to a friend–maybe 4 times a year (or more)

Christmas Eve

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Inktense and colored pencil. 4x6

Inktense and colored pencil. 4×6

Everyone in my house is taking a nap (except me). It’s one of those kind of days I suppose. It should be snowing, but it’s not quite cold enough, so we have a little mist hanging around at the mountain. I was able to find just enough time to finish this little drawing that I started last weekend. Hoping to get a lot of time in for more projects between now and Sunday night. Tomorrow will probably be filled with lots of cooking for others.

If I can carve out some time tomorrow from cooking I will try to organize my little art corner and do some planning for the new year. Can’t wait until sketchbook skool!

Merry Christmas to all!

Stuck on shells

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Inktense and colored pencil

Inktense and colored pencil

Seems like shells are the subject matter of the moment. The great thing about them is that I have so many to choose from! Before my #sketchbookskool class  I was drawing a lot more from photos. I have discovered I really like drawing from life. Many of the shells I have are tiny, so I can just put them in my purse and pull them out to draw at any time.

For my next few drawings I am going to work on putting color down first and then working over in ink pen. Love, love, love working in ink. And, I am surprised at how much I like working without any guidelines.

Quick sketch: ink pen

Quick sketch: ink pen

Experimentation

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Casein, inktense pencils, prismacolor pencils

Casein, inktense pencils, prismacolor pencils

Today was a slow day. The day after Thanksgiving. For some reason this year I am just not feeling the holidays. It’s just feeling like any other day to me. Anywho, I will work on that. Today I was really excited to try out my new Derwent Inktense pencils. However, I think that my approach was all wrong. I started with some swatches and then worked on top of those, and then because I had some wet casein paint available, decided to work over a casein ground. I love the casein…but unless you let it dry for quite awhile, it remains “soft” and workable. So, this had that challenge to it.

Tomorrow’s goal: just use the inktense alone…maybe with some ink pen over drawing. And, I am going to start a larger piece with an opaque watercolor ground that I can spend some time with.

Hope you all had a really nice Thanksgiving day. Nice to have a couple of extra days off.