Artists Journal Workshop Challenge 1

One of the members of this Facebook group posted several photos of her crab apples and said anyone interested could use them as a challenge idea.  It was a hit with several jumping in and completing this challenge.

My contribution is a pen and ink using the Pilot Prera and Lexington Gray ink and the Platinum Carbon pen with mixture of Black and Lexy Gray (writes wetter helping to better define some areas)..  Then I added color using Inktense watercolor pencils.....dry.

Challenge suggested by Nan Vose Burger.

Some of My Latest Sketches

I didn't realize just how far behind I was uploading what I've worked on the last few days.  These are not in any particular order.

This is a pen and ink using a Platinum Carbon pen with Noodler's #41 Brown.  Worked in the Moleskine Sketchbook.

 

Here is my trying out one of my brush pens.  

 

Another pen and ink using the Pilot Prera with Lexington Gray Ink.  Second is applying some subtle color.  I didn't want too much for fear of covering the pen marks.

 

This is a failed piece but thought I'd share it.  It might be OK if I finished it but I'm personally not crazy with the hatching for tones.  

 

This is another I'm not real crazy about.  I had expectations (shame on me) and I didn't live up to them.  I might try these again with a different medium or different technique.

 

Just to do something, I sketched this vase with dried flowers after catching a glimpse in a TV show.

Before they are gone

My red Christmas Cactus flowers don't last very long.  Neither do the white.  But the pink seem to last several days and still have buds to open.  The display this year is the best yet so I'm trying to capture the flowers at different angles while I can.

Here is a 9 x 12 sheet of various flowers and buds as I turn one plant to capture the various stages and angles of these gorgeous blossoms.  They are getting easier for me to sketch.

Generic Sketchbook and Pilot Prera with Lexington Gray ink.  Green and Dark Pink watercolor pencil.

Another of My Christmas Cactus

Tonight I chose to capture the red and white Christmas Cactus I have.  The blossoms are a tad bit different from the pinks and the whites.  Also produces smaller flowers.

With this one I showed a flower blossom completely opened right side up as it hangs naturally and included the underside as well.  The right page is one that is getting ready to "spread its wings."

Worked in the Moleskine Watercolor sketchbook using my Pilot Prera with Lexington Gray ink and Abrecht Durer watercolor pencils.  I only used four colors........Red, Orange, Light Green, and a Dark Green.

Scanned dry and then after taking a damp brush.......Not sure which I like better.  Before the damp brush was taken to it, the red showed deeper and I like the little bit of texture. 

Catching Up With the Last Few Days of Sketching/Painting

I've fallen behind posting here on my blog.  Two days without power and also feeling a tad bit under the weather.  However, I've still managed to keep up with sketching and a little painting.

This is a portion of a school in a near-by town of Mannington, WV.

One of my favorite birds next to hummingbirds.

The night our power, cell, and internet went out.  Was having trouble deciding what to sketch but I wanted to sketch something.

After I did the sketch of me holding my sketchbook, I decided to grab a book and whatever page I opened up to, I sketched (bottom left of this page).  Book used for bottom left was The Ultimate Drawing and Painting Technique Bible by Trudy Friend.

The rest of the illustrations I just did on my own from photographs. 

Same night (we were up all night), I started this in pen and ink of one of my Christmas Cacti.  Next day I added the watercolor.  Wasn't able to scan until yesterday.

 

Last night I wanted to try something a little different.  I've seen other people do it and loved the results.  This is pre-wetting the page in my journal and swishing on color.  Allowed to dry and then did the pen and ink work of the palm trees.

Finally before going to bed, I sketched and painted this tree.  I love trees with all the various shapes.

While Watching NCIS Los Angeles

When one starts drawing and painting, they start seeing things through different eyes.  At least for me it has.  I find myself looking at things around me thinking colors; I find myself looking at negative space and I also take in shapes that I might not otherwise think of.  And always when I'm out and about, I see something that I think..........that would be so cool to draw or sketch.  My mind always seems to be in that mode of thinking anymore.

This also goes with watching movies and TV shows.  I'll see a cabin I love or a scene I want to pause and capture on paper.  This is one of those instances where I did just that while watching NCIS Los Angeles.  The cast is running after a bad guy at a boat dock or whatever and I paused the DVD because the barrels caught my eye.

My sketch is not exact to what was on screen.  I changed things around a bit and added others.  Each page could probably stand alone but also works well together.

Worked in the Moleskine Sketchbook with Platinum Carbon pen and Pilot Prera both with Lexington Gray ink.  (both pens used because one feeds wetter than the other producing various values).

Woodland Treasures

This is one of those sketches that just developed as I went along.  I worked on it off and on last night as I listened to and watched TV. 

First I started out with the top left pine cone.  Then added the one to the right and then the one in the foreground.  They looked kind of lonely so I added the acorns.  Still not quite satisfied, I sketched the large hickory nut in its casing and then added the two nuts to the right.

I debated adding shadows and decided against it and added the pine needles as filler. 

This made for a nice relaxing evening taking my time sketching and allowing it to develop itself.

Various Pen and Ink Sketches

Often when using pen and ink, I will do a light pencil guideline sketch first.  With these sketches I used pen and ink only without the guidelines.  Freeing myself up a bit.

All done in the Moleskine Sketchbook with the Pilot Prera and Namiki Black (which is water soluble ink).

First three quick sketching and the fourth I took more time on.  Also the first three were done trying to work holding the sketchbook in my lap whereas the fourth was done on a table surface.  I really struggle trying to work in a small sketchbook without a firm table surface.

For Laughs

 

Just for Practice - Observational Skills

 

Speed Sketching

 

Taking my time

Miniature Snow Lady

Back in February of 2010, during a snow storm, I built a miniature snow lady from the snow collecting on our front porch table.  I was just messing around playing with the snow when I decided I wanted to really dress her up.  Went to my craft cabinet and found the accessories as you see in the illustrations.

Within a day or so after the snow storm, I decided to capture on paper using pen and ink and watercolor.

Here's the first I did a few years ago........being a bit creative adding the paper and the paint brush.

Tonight I decided I wanted to revisit and using a different photo shot, worked another sketch using pen and ink and inktense pencils - dry.  This was done in the Moleskine Sketchbook.  

I chose to not take water to the inktense as I liked the texture it created dry..........especially with the cloak made out of felt.  And I'm finding dry medium definitely works better in this sketchbook.

Sketching Frenzy

I try to do at least one sketch a day.........a means of personal therapy.  Last night I was really into it with an itch that didn't want to ease up.  In fact it was after 6 a.m. before I realized the time and that I needed to get some sleep.

These pages are all done in the Moleskine Sketchbook using either the Micron 01 pen or the Uniball Bordeaux Black pen.  Rather than fight with wet medium, I used watercolor pencils dry for the color.

Personal Challenge

The idea came from a poll of subject matter for a possible challenge in a group I'm in.  I had chosen shoes because it's one of those subjects that has always overwhelmed me.  I've managed flip flops and clogs but beyond that I couldn't get past all the patterns and shoe laces in other shoes.

I started out with this in pencil and almost gave up as I tried working the top area with the laces.  I found myself losing my place where I was looking at the shoe and trying to capture on paper.  I kept telling myself........try a little more before giving up and the next thing I knew, I had it drawn out.  Went over with pen and ink and then decided to take watercolor to it.  The colors used were Lunar Black, Paynes Gray, and Cerulean Blue.  Came out real close to the actual color of the shoes.

I am so glad I didn't give in to the little voice that kept saying I can't do this.

After I worked the shoes right side up, I just had to do the bottoms.  That was easier :-))

Stillman & Birn Beta journal.

Christmas Cactus in Pen and Ink - Pilot Prera

This little sketch was worked in my Moleskine Watercolor sketchbook.  I've included a video (not the best and may try that again) showing how I hold the pen and how I work my hatch marks so I can control the values with the ink as it goes down on the paper.

I'm sure a street sketcher would find this method too slow and monotonous but with me sitting at home, I find this method extremely relaxing.

Used the Pilot Prera with Lexington Ink.

Best to view video full screen (sorry for the poor quality but that comes from converting for internet viewing here.  Also used my phone camera because it was handy).  Normally I would have the paper weighed down while I sketch but this shows how lightly I touch the paper as you can see it doesn't move that much.  I will work back and forth and repeat until I get the values I want.....sometimes turning the page at an angle to cross hatch.  I also noticed the nib point is slightly tilted to one side.

Testing Various Mediums - Moleskine Sketchbook

I honestly think this will be the last Moleskine sketchbook I purchase.  I like the Moleskine Watercolor sketchbook but this one with the paper coating just doesn't do it for me.

Here are several little quick sketches as I test watercolor pencils and various pens....

What I am finding is not only the beading issue with anything water soluble, the full potency of ink and watercolor / wc pencil does not show up very well.....lighter in value than compared to other paper surfaces.  I had to use a lot of pressure to get the value you see on the top left page (Christmas Cactus bloom).

The Lamy blue that normally bleeds readily on other papers does not on this paper surface.  Even the Tombow marker was rather dull looking.

Straight waterproof pen and ink was ok but ballpoint was also rather dull looking.  To obtain darks one would have to really apply pressure or go over the area a second time.

Now if I can just remember this the next time I go to purchase pre-bound sketchbooks :-))

Along the Coast

I had fun sketching and painting these little vignettes.  Worked in the Beta journal with the Pilot Prera and Lexington Gray ink and Daniel Smith watercolors.

Although I'm pushing myself to work on more complicated buildings like one would find in a town or city, I still prefer the simplicity of barns, cabins, and buildings like these.

Fresh From the Tree

There are two pear trees in our back yard.........one is a Bartlett Pear tree and the other is a Kieffer Semi-dwarf Pear.  We only had three pears make it but both trees are still fairly young.

Moleskine Watercolor journal; Pilot Prera with Lexington Gray ink and Uniball Green Black and Brown Black pens.

All were a brown-green color with lots of brown patches.

Abandoned Town Buildings

Another sketch of our town representing the abandoned buildings that line many of the streets.


Final page in my Zeta journal using Pilot Prera with Lexington Gray ink and areas emphasized with Uniball Black Brown.

Back to Some Graphite Sketching

I struggled yesterday wanting to do something but didn't quite have the motivation.  Especially worrying about mixing and applying color.  I needed a change I suppose so I grabbed a pencil and decided to sketch in graphite.

Both were completed with a 9B graphite pencil in the Moleskine Sketchbook.  The lead just glides across the paper but I did take notice to get darks (even with this pencil) I would have to apply quite a bit of pressure.  It has to be the slick waxy surface because on other paper I would have to take care not to go too dark too quickly with this particular pencil.

The first is of a Fake Sand Castle located in Corpus Christi, Texas.  On the front is a mermaid that maybe one day I will attempt.  This is only one side or edge of the castle.

This second sketch is of my favorite rose.  A wild rose I started with a cutting given to me from my dad years ago.  It vines and loaded with thorns that seem to grab at you rather than you just getting stuck by them.  And the smell is heavenly!!!!

Moleskine Watercolor Sketchbook

Now the paper in the watercolor sketchbook definitely works better as one would hope applying watercolor.  The pocket size is great for quick little sketches/paintings but I find it difficult to work with due to it's size and orientation.  Especially trying to write in it.  I love these little pocket journals but my favorite are definitely the 5 x 8 or 6 x 9 journals.

These next two pages represent a package I received from my sister.  She had called saying she was sending us some seed but I had no idea the quantity until it arrived.  There were 63 packets of vegetables of various types as well as 12 flower packets.

Also in the package was a surprise.  A necklace she bought....one for herself and one for me...........something special us sisters could share between us.