Late Night Sketching - Bunny

Last night Hurricane Dorian crawled up the coast east of where we live so we felt some of the effects starting around midnight.  It wasn't bad but noisy with the bands of rain hitting the house.

The weather didn't keep me up but instead a cough that has started after several days just dealing with a head cold.  It's not as bad when I'm up sitting but as soon as I try to lay down, it seems to really kick in.

I sat up until about 4 a.m. stippling this bunny, named "Bunnie."  This time I chose to work the stippling manually instead of using the Cuttlelola dot pen.  It helped fill the time leisurely filling in dots with a Micron 03 pen.

This morning I added a splash of color.

Zeta sketchbook.

Another Cuttlelola Dot Pen Sketch - Yellow Jacket

This is from a photo of a yellow jacket crawling on the window back in 2011.  My third sketch for the challenge set by Clare using the dot pen.

I'm glad she set this challenge as it made me dig it out and actually use it.

Zeta sketchbook / QoR watercolors

Monday and Still Waiting

Each day I've been trying to concentrate on sketching as we sit and follow the hurricane updates.  It's so heart wrenching thinking what the people in the Bahamas are going through.  I just can't wrap my head around a storm of this magnitude sitting stationery or barely moving over an area and what it's doing to that location and the emotional toll on those going through it.

This has been such a long drawn out state of the unknown and for so many people, I'm sure, very exhausting.

To keep busy and as a break from the news updates, I've managed the following:

August 31st - Going through photos, I first decided on this Fuchsia flower.  We miss having them here in Florida.  Looking up what information I could find, you can grow the flower here but can be quite a challenge due to the heat and humidity.

I worked this by painting first and then going back and adding the ink lines using a Micron 02 pen.

September 1st brought on a new challenge between my friend, Clare, and myself.  It was her turn to choose the challenge.  Her and I both have what's called the Cuttlelola Dot Pen, so she wanted us to work a sketch using that pen.

Before prepping the pen (charging it), I decided to first use Procreate and the Stipple Brush Tool to work a rather large thumbnail that I would follow when using dot pen in sketchbook.  The advantage of working this in Procreate is the ability to control values and size of dots.

Once the dot pen was charged, I started working this sketch.  I had to recharge several times to finish plus take breaks due to the vibration and hand fatigue.

If I were to choose which I personally liked better, it would be the Procreate sketch.  I particularly like the cloud formations in the digital sketch plus the atmospheric feel to it versus the one done using the actual pen.

Once the ink was totally dry, I decided to add some color using watercolors.  Worked in the Zeta sketchbook.

After the landscape, I decided to work another sketch using the dot pen.  This is some sort of plant from a photo I had taken back in 2010 when we lived in West Virginia.  The challenge here was definitely in the long thin tendrils or whatever they are called using the pen.  I had to keep stopping...lifting the pen and then setting it down hoping I picked up right where I left off as I turned or changed direction with the pen.  It was a bit taxing on the eyes, to say the least.

September 2 - White Breasted Nuthatch.  From another photo taken back in 2010 while living in West Virginia.  A bird I haven't seen here in Florida.

This one is worked in the Hand Sewn journal with old stock of Fabriano Artistico 140lb watercolor paper.  Decided to paint and then stop before taking ink to it.  I've decided to leave as it is.

And for a change I actually remembered to scan along the way.

Roses Still Alive - Barely

I have never had roses that lasted beyond a few days.  The roses Stephen gifted me with were given to me Saturday before Christmas.  Here it is Tuesday, January 2nd and they are only now starting to wither.  No petals have dropped yet but the leaves are definitely starting to dry up.  The veins in the leaves are yellow brown now really standing out.

This was done as a recording of this fact using the Cuttlelola electric stippling pen and my Lamy Safari with Lexington Gray ink.  Worked in a small Beta journal.

I used the electric stippling pen for the majority of the sketch but then decided to use my fountain pen for tighter areas and final detailing with better control.  The electric pen is great for quickly filling in areas that would take much longer manually and also for outlining the contours quickly.

Christmas Gift from Santa Clare

This is a post I forgot to include for 2017.

The day after Christmas I received a gift from my friend and sister who resides in the UK.  It's called the Cuttlelola which is a motorized stippling pen run off of rechargeable batteries.

My dear friend, Clare, challenged me to work a sketch using this pen before the end of the year.  In selecting a subject, I chose to do some zen doodling but with the stippling technique instead of marker pens.  I had so much fun that I ended up doing two right away.

Then she challenged me to do another but adding color to it.

There are two speeds to the pen and I found I had better control and felt less vibration in my hand using the slower speed.  What would take hours to complete doing this by hand didn't take long at all with this pen.  I love stippling anyways as I find it relaxing and this pen just makes it plain fun.......lol