Short #inktober update

A short update of my #inktober progress. Mostly just doodles but still more than I want to save for a later update. So above is a quick sketch I made in one of my sketchbooks. I wanted to play with some of my colored pens. So my own take on a flower in a vase with a design on it. Added just a touch of green just because. Black and Red pens were 005 Microns, but the green is a Coptic Fineliner.

Another still life, again this one was done with a dip pen. My arraignment of fruit on a piece of fabric. I have taken to making these still life's during the day while the sun is shining and then photographing them not with my SLR Cannon but with my Samsung tablet. The photos aren't the best but they are good enough for me to use as reference while drawing. With the tablet I don't have to print anything out, and if I want to zoom into an area I can. It does take a bit of getting used to but I think it is going to be a good way to work with reference images. Still I don't think I will entirely give up printing out images, sometimes I just prefer to have paper in hand.

Well, I am getting a good range of values, but some of the marks aren't quite what I would wish. Need to be doing more of this with the dip pen so I can refine how/where to make marks. I used to  use a dip pen for all my pen work, but have gotten out of the habit of using them, Microns or technical pens are more convenient as you don't have to have an open container of ink while working. Dip pen tips also require semi frequent cleaning, but they sure do give a nice line.

Size is 4 inches square on 6 inch square Bristol Board.

Years ago my sister had given me a Parker fountain pen. I stopped using it ages ago but I found it the other day and though I should see if I could get it working and then use it for one of these drawings.

My idea for the month long challenge is to use a range of tools to discover the kind of marks I can make with each one. So above a quick drawing of pumpkins with my now working fountain pen. The nib isn't very flexible so I didn't get a large variation with the line, but it feels different in the hand and marks aren't made quite as easily as I would with a technical pen so the quality of the mark is different. It might be something I want to keep around to make quick sketches with. Will think about this a bit more.

Done in one of my sketchbooks, size is about 4 inches.

I will close with a couple of photographs. Above is a maple tree in my neighborhood. I couldn't resist photographing the red/oranges against that oh so blue sky. This is not Photoshopped, though I did crop the original photo to tighten up the composition.

Since I didn't have a lot of art work today I thought I would post this photo of a yellow rose that I made earlier last week. Roses prefer to bloom in the cooler weather of spring and fall so many bushes around me are in their second bloom cycle.

I think this is a rather nice shot of a yellow rose in full bloom. Just enough shadow to make the petals stand out but also enough light to show off the colors from the darker yellow center to the pale yellow at the edges of the petals. We will likely be getting frost soon, so this is probably one of my last photographs of a rose for this year.

That is it for today, per usual comments are welcome.