2018 Inktober - Days 15-17

This catches me up to date with the Inktober challenge.  :-D

From seeing the moss that hangs in our tree....

Back to a little imagination....

Inktober 2018 - Day 9 and Extra

Inktober - Day 9

Ballpoint in Fabriano Venezia sketchbook - worked last night.

Inktober 2018 - Days 6 - 8 Plus Extra

Here are those sketches for Inktober........days 6, 7, and 8.

This one is working in the Fabriano Venezia sketchbook using the Green Fude which I believe is 55 degree angle bent nib.  I find it awkward to handle compared to the Blue which is at a 40 degree angle.

Also worked in the Venezia sketchbook using a Sharpie pen.

I tend to avoid grabbing this sketchbook because of a promise I made not to use pencil before ink (in this particular sketchbook).  No matter how many times, how many challenges I work with straight on pen and ink, I'm still not comfortable doing so.  I guess as a positive..............if I want a more spontaneous and looser look, then leave the pencil out of it..........lol  However, on the negative side of that.......I don't really enjoy the process as I'm on edge the entire time my pen moves across the paper surface........often with shaky fingers that can show in my line work.  When using pencil first, I feel free and more at ease to then grab the ink pen making smoother lines.

Many say the more I do it, the more confident I'll feel.  You'd think after the last several years my challenging myself to pen/ink only, I'd start feeling that confidence.  Hmmmm......not happening yet.

This one is worked on Fabriano Artistico Soft 140 lb paper.  It's one of the gnomes in my fairy garden I recently set up.  The actual figurine holds a sign saying welcome but I chose to change it in my illustration.  And as a change of pace, I used an angular flat for painting rather than a round I normally grab.

Inktober 2018 - Day 5 and Other

Today's inktober sketch and two others I've completed.

Inktober - Day 5

Other sketches completed:

The frog is a trinket I have and decided to add a bit of creativity with the sketching supplies added.

Found three feathers outside by the car and worked this sketch adding beads for a little more interest.

Inktober 2018 Days 1-4

I've decided to go again this year with the Inktober Challenge.  This year's will be using the Procreate drawing/paint app on the Ipad (as I did last year).  I'm still trying to hone my skills with digital sketching with the brush tools I tend to favor.

When complete, I plan to print off and place in one of my fabric artist travel sketchbooks held together by the elastic bands.

Some of what I plan to do will be those prompts that jump out at me from the Inktober 2018 prompt list.  The remaining are just ideas that hit me and what interests me most.

Main Tool Brushes Used:

Fine - mainly for hatching
Technical - main sketch
Studio - when I need to emphasize an area or want to use pressure sensitive for line thickness and small areas of solid fill.
Stipple - shading or filling in an area without it being solid black.  Also pressure sensitive producing lighter and darker dots.

This Past Week's Sketches

Although I've been trying to sketch every day, I was also glued to the TV watching weather news on Florence since I have family in the areas that were hit.  Talk about a long weekend and I wasn't even the one going through what all those folks faced and still facing with all the flood waters. 

Sketch to the left was worked in the Fabriano Venezia sketchbook.  One on the right is using Procreate using a bit of imagination.  Source is from a photo my middle son took when at Universal April 2017.

This one is from a figurine our neighbor gifted us last week.

Using a photo a member in one of my Facebook groups shared with me, I worked this next one using a Kuretake Brush Pen.  I find using brush pens very awkward.

Because I hadn't used the pen, it was dried up and I had to take it apart and clean it.......first soaking the brush end in warm water and then flushing.  It took me near 40 minutes to finally get the dried up ink to "give" and start flowing with the water flush.  I never did get a clear stream of water through the brush end though.  Maybe I should have just let the tip soak for a day or so before attempting the pen cleaning.

This next is where I'm impatiently waiting for some cooler weather.  I miss four seasons living in Florida and definitely miss seeing snow once in awhile.  I'm not one who really likes the hot weather......although I do love and appreciate the sun shine nearly year round.  

This was worked last night......bringing out my autumn favorite figurines/shelf sitters.

Another Crazy Fantasy Sketch

This one is from a squash or some type of vegetable our neighbor gave us last week.  He's from Taiwan and calls it a pumpkin. 

I chose to work the sketch using a bit of imagination but this time with more thought as I worked as follows:

The hat idea is from where I have been sketching wilting daisies from the flowers Terry brought. 

The head came from thinking of a garlic bulb or strawberry.

The worm or snake from where we like to fish plus we have a few little black snakes out front under our shrubs. 

I think the spider idea might come from all the jumping spiders I see when I take Miya out back.  Plus I like certain spiders thinking they are cool (like the Orb Weaver).....especially their webs.

As for the pocket and little squash .......... I remember thinking I wanted to add "something" to the body of the squash to dress it up a bit.  I was stuck for a little while wondering if or what I wanted coming out of the pocket.  To keep it simple, I just copied the shape of the squash.

And for the stem looking arms added (arms or legs thinking about the fact fruit and vegetables are often plagued with insects while growing), I wanted some of the hands to be holding something.  I wasn't sure for awhile just what that might be until it came to me we eat vegetables so why not add the utensils.

From Reality to Fantasy

With this one I started out sketching a couple of flowers that are on their way out.......completely bent over hanging in the vase from the other flowers.  The arrangements Terry gets me I find leaves and stems give out before the actual flowers do.

After I worked the initial sketches, I duplicated and then using a bit of imagination, changed them to how my mind often sees flowers.

I'm still sketching using Procreate which makes this possible to make changes by duplicating and erasing parts I plan to change as seen below.

After the changes made, I printed off onto watercolor paper (90 lb) and then took watercolor to add a bit of color.

Spooky Tree in Graphite

A couple weeks ago while out on the river near where we live, I took a lot of photos.  Besides wildlife, I enjoy taking pictures of trees because of their unique shapes and patterns.  This one particular tree grabbed my attention because of it's unique shape, holes, and because of the nest on top.

Going through my photos and coming across this tree, I saw something totally different tonight from what I saw the day I took the photograph.  To my mind's eyes, I saw what resembles an old wizard, wearing a robe of sorts, and holding a wand.  I have put to paper what stands out to me the most using a mechanical pencil in the Strathmore Visual Journal (watercolor paper).  .

This was fun.........so much so that I sat up all night working on it :-)