Saturday, March 28, 2015

My Latest Sketching Efforts


I've been doing various things so sketching has been a bit hit or miss the past several days.

I had a doctor's appt Thursday and ACTUALLY did a little sketching out in public while waiting to be called back  There were a few people sitting in the waiting area but I tried not to think about that. 

Then the little stool sketched while waiting in the exam room.

Pencil while there and finished with ink and watercolor at home.

This little strap on carrier kit works perfectly!!!  Fit's the 5 x 8" sketchbooks nicely!



This one just messing around with ink and wash.....Lamy Safari and Lamy Blue cartridge ink.


And with this next one.............I was struggling trying to determine just what I wanted to sketch so I just raised my eyes and decided to sketch what was sitting right in front of me.


Another exercise in sketching faces using my nephew as a model.


Saturday, March 21, 2015

Latest Sketches/Paintings in the S&B Delta Journal

Been a little hit and miss with my sketching as we gather and organize all paperwork necessary to have our taxes prepared.  Plus we've been working outside quite a bit now that the weather is so nice.

My latest sketches/paintings in the Stillman & Birn Delta sketchbook.

First two are using QoR watercolors:



Pen and Ink with watercolor pencils:




Friday, March 13, 2015

Resin Frog Yard Ornament

This guy sits right across from where I spend most of my day.  I love the smile on this guy........lol.

For the longest time he sat in the center of a rock formed water fountain and as the water came down off the rocks, it would hit that leaf over his head and then trickle down causing the head to bobble/wobble.  When the fountain stopped working, we made that into a flower planter and this guy just sat outside watching over the flowers until we moved to Florida.  Now he keeps me company in the sunroom sitting on a shelf across from where I sit...........surrounded by my houseplants.

Stillman & Birn Delta sketchbook; Lamy Safari fountain pen w/Lexington Grey ink; and Daniel Smith Cascade Green, Burnt Sienna, and Paynes Gray



I painted this years ago on aquaboard...........one of my favorite paintings.


Thursday, March 12, 2015

A Little Easier Subject

After working through the complexity of the tractor that picks up hay in my previous post, I chose a subject that comes a little easier to me.  Well...........except perspective which I am slowly working on.

This was done in the Stillman & Birn Delta journal using a Lamy fountain pen with an EF nib and Lexington Grey ink.

Watercolors - Daniel Smith


Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone

I love viewing sketches other people do of machinery, autos, etc.  I sit there thinking............no way could I ever do anything like that.  Too complicated trying to sort through all the lines and curves.

Well, I must have been in the right frame of mind to actually give it a try with this piece of machinery that picks up hay bales.

When I first started this, I felt a little overwhelmed wondering where to start.  I ended up starting with the metal arms in front and worked my way towards the right, down and back to the left.  And as usual, I misjudged placement of my starting point resulting in the bracket arms (or whatever you call them) being shorter than they should be.

And tires.....................ellipses...................Arghhh!!.  I try to concentrate on just capturing the shapes and curves but I can actually feel myself slipping trying to put down what I 'think' I see rather than what's actually there.  An area I really need to work on.

Although much can be improved upon, I do feel good about the fact I actually stepped outside my comfort zone and gave this a try.



Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Late Night Sketchbook Painting

Before going to bed, I worked this page in the Delta sketchbook using pen and ink first and then adding watercolor. 

Another quick and loose rendering with pen only as I continue my practice to feel more at ease with pen and ink without pencil guidelines.

Not to say using pencil is bad as I enjoy it and use graphite to my advantage getting a "feel" for my subject.  I just hope to reach a point where I don't feel that hesitation taking pen to paper.  Even following pencil guidelines I often find myself shaky with pen in hand.  That's what I want to get past.

I'm also trying to embrace the less than perfect outcome such as wonky lines, perspective not being spot on, ellipses not being totally correct, etc.  I find looking at other peoples' work that the less than perfect makes for a really nice spontaneous look and feel.

Quick Sketching Practice

Some days I still feel uneasy jumping in with pen and ink so I try to make myself practice with the hopes one day it will be easier and feel more natural. 

Sketches worked in the Strathmore Softcover sketchbook.

Building was sketched using a Uni-ball Vision Elite pen which is water soluble.  My intent was to just work the pen and ink but then decided to take a wet brush to it for some tones.  Then I ended up taking some watercolor to it.  I scanned after each......

According to the cap, the pen I used was brown-black.  Was really interesting the color when water was added to it.





Tonight I decided to practice more with people..........again pen and ink only.  And then working with a waterbrush adding some watercolor.  Pen used was my Pilot Prera with Lexington Grey ink.



Sunday, March 8, 2015

Personal Challenge - Portrait in Graphite

Normally I avoid portraits because of the need to get everything "just right" with facial features.  I was up all night and decided to give this a go.  This is my cousin's granddaughter Juliet.  And although there is much room for improvement, I was actually pleased it turned out as it did.

Strathmore Softcover journal and mechanical pencil.

The eyes are a bit on the large size but then Juliet has large beautiful eyes anyways.  And the hairline should be up further as her forehead should be a little larger.  But overall, I feel pretty good with this.

Unfortunately...........something I tend to goof on.............I misjudged size on paper.  I started with the eyes and worked from there giving this little angel a "hair cut" :-)

I used a stump to blend but didn't want to blend all my pencil lines out.


Practice with Lights and Darks - Graphite

I've always loved statues like this and decided to sketch this particular one using graphite.  I wanted to practice with shading; lights and darks.

Worked in the Strathmore Softcover journal and mechanical pencil.  Stump for blending.


Friday, March 6, 2015

People Sketches

My latest pages completed in the Strathmore Visual Softcover sketchbook using Falcon fountain pen and Lexington Grey ink.

Watercolor first and then ink lines added for detail.



Playing with Preppy 03 Fountain Pens

Playing with Preppy 03 pens...............all water soluble.

Strathmore Visual Softcover sketchbook.



Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Lighthouse Vignette

Many people love lighthouses and I definitely do but more so those that are more angular like this.

Stillman & Birn Delta sketchbook
W&N watercolors - Raw Sienna, Bt Sienna, Bt Umber, Indigo
Daniel Smith watercolors - Cerulean Blue - I absolutely LOVE this Cerulean Blue.  It's warmer than other brands and I like how it behaves wet in wet. 
QoR Dioxozine Purple
Pilot Prera fountain pen with Lexington Grey ink

Wet in Wet with ink sketch first and watercolor added last.

Monday, March 2, 2015

Stuck

This is a journal entry worked today of a brown anole that we learned was stuck trying to crawl back out from between window glass and screen.

We happened to be outside and saw this guy thinking he was just being real still because we were there........hoping we didn't see him.  We didn't realize until hours later when letting the dogs out back that he was actually stuck needing help to get out...........which Terry did.

Working in the Stillman & Birn Delta sketchbook, I chose to go with just watercolor pencils.......no ink work this time.  I could still add additional layers but made myself stop.  I sit and look at this thinking I could try to push the screen back by adding more tones and contrast in the lizard but then in reality, these guys blend into their surrounds anyways...............so keeping myself from nit-picking and possibly overworking this,  I called it done.

I have to remind myself that my journal pages are more for recording observations, telling stories, testing of materials, random illustrations, that might grab my attention, etc.....................not fine pieces of art I ever plan to frame.  :-)

I really like these Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils.