Exploring Various Ink Colors

Took a couple of days off from drawing after the finish of the #inktober challenge last weekend. I had sort over extending myself and needed a mental break if not physical.

Earlier this week I took a trip into Boston and made a visit to the large Dick Blicks store up near Fenway Park. I picked up some new colored ink and colored pens to play with.

Not a very good still life, I did the drawing last night and then did a rush job with the inking this morning. Two apples and a pear, and I am not at all happy with the apple to the left in the drawing. Part of my problem this morning was with the light hitting the fruit. Last night there was only a single source from a lamp on a table next to me, this morning the sun was coming in the east and south facing windows that are in the room, but it was still early enough that I also needed the lamp on. Still Life's do much better with a single source light source, should of inked it last night or waited. Ah well guess I can try again another day. Also should have thought through where I wanted outlines and where I didn't before I started inking. Oops indeed.

I used my new Acrylic Indigo ink with a dip pen for this, though I am not sure that the scan really shows off the blue ink. Indigo is a combination of blue and black, and I am thinking as I write this that a drawing using the Indigo with Paynes Grey and maybe some black should be interesting. Drawn in  my new Strathmore Visual Journal. I like the paper for ink, not so much for pencil, but that is OK, any pencil I use will be because I need the guidelines for the ink.

I was visiting Blicks because I needed some replacement tips for a couple of my aluminum body Multiliner pens. To my surprise I noticed some new brown colored pens in the rack and ended up purchasing a couple to try out. The color on the pen is Brown, vs the other brown Copic Multiliner that is labeled Sepia. So they are two different colors.

I had picked up this oak leaf and small acorn on my walk along the Fens (I was on my way to the MFA) and thought it would be a good subject to test the new brown ink on. I added some lines using the Sepia pen so you can see the difference in colors between the old Sepia and the new Brown. The new Brown is slightly darker.

Don't go by the acorn I added black to that since the actual acorn has a very dark walnut colored body. Not sure what kind of oak this is, but I have a feeling it isn't an American oak, most native oaks have much larger acorns, and this little guy wasn't a fluke, there were lots of them about the same size.

Last of my drawings today, I sketched a fellow passenger on the bus into Boston, rather sketchy, but I actually rather like it.

Now for a couple of photographs. The above was taken on the Northeastern University Campus in Boston. The day had been warm and sunny earlier, by the time I made this photo it was getting to be not only late afternoon but a bit overcast so the colors aren't as brilliant as they could have been.

The above is a photo of one of my White Christmas Cactus flowers. I have two plants and they are both currently in bloom. The flower is being lit by some sunshine coming in a south facing window, so the light hitting the petals and reflecting off some of the leaves give this a rather abstract look. Christmas Cactus flowers are a bit strange looking in any case, but I rather like this photo.

That is it for today. Per usual comments are welcome. Have a couple of other projects in the works so  hopefully it won't be a week until  my next update.

More Inktober and a sketch

So far so good with my drawings for #inktober. Without quite intending it I seem to have a series going. It seems to be a series in 2 different ways, first; all of the main drawings are of plant materials of some sort, nuts, fruit, and leaves. Second I have continued drawing my little helper as the actual executor of these drawings.

All those hours of life drawing from models is coming in handy. I won't say that my figure looks really lifelike, but I think I am getting most of the proportions correct, and the poses mostly realistic. I am not quite sure I can come up with 31 different poses though, so that will be just another of my challenges for this month.

I don't know why I keep using vertical text where the letters are kept vertical, doing it that way throws the spacing between letters off and really isn't very attractive. But once I start inking there really isn't any going back so Apple above is vertical/vertical. Still if frames the apple so in a way it works.

Above are the leaves and some of the seeds of the Lindon tree. They have pretty yellow/green flowers in spring and this odd shaped leaf that both the flowers and the seeds grow from. I am sure there is a more technically correct term for this, but I am not in the mood to go chasing it.

The other change I made for this drawing was to make the plant material a different ink color. In the WetCanvas pen and ink forum another participant in Inktober was doing his drawings with brown ink, and I rather liked the look of it. Since I have 3 different bottles of brown ink I thought it might be fun to add a different color to the mix. Since I am continuing to draw my helper in black ink, it makes for a interesting contrast, which I rather like. So starting with this drawing the central drawing is done with different shades of brown ink. The one above was Daler Rowney FW Acrylic ink, Sepia.

I was in Boston on the 6th, visiting the MFA and then walking along the Fenway and picking up more nuts, mostly acorns but also some sort of a Hickory nut. The Hickory isn't the shag bark that I am familiar with but there are several other species of Hickory that can grow in the northeast and the nut I am finding is from one of those. One day I will actually pin it down. In the meantime I picked up this oak leaf and thought to use it as my subject for the the 6th.

The ink for the oak leaf was another Daler Rowney FW acrylic, Antelope brown.

The above is a graphite sketch I made of a fellow bus passenger while on route to Boston. I have played with it in Photoshop to darken the graphite which was otherwise a bit light, no other changes though. 

We had beautiful blue sky's on Tuesday, the day I went into Boston. This is a photo of the Fens, a bit more water in them since last weeks rain storms. Trees are just starting to hint and the fall change. We had the warmest Sept. on record last month and I think it has delayed the fall colors.

Above is the fountain in Copley Square. The last time I was in the Square in Sept. they were working on the fountain and it was dry. I wasn't happy because I was trying to get a good photograph in Copley for the 2016 Boston calendar I was working on. Course I was there at the wrong time of day also, This week I was there in the afternoon, which is the best time to photograph the square and the church, esp. on a sunny day. I expect they will be draining it again soon so I made this photo while I had the chance.

That is it for today, I do have a drawing for the 7th but am saving it for my next update. Per usual comments are welcome.

Drawings in Transit, and a Bumblebee

Went back into Boston last week and had to spend some time waiting for the bus at the bus terminal so made some drawings. Above is a woman who was also waiting sitting on the edge of one the plant enclosures at the terminal. The shoes were semi blocked from my view so I sort of winged them. I rather like the upper body areas.

A quick portrait of a woman who was also waiting for the buses. In Brockton the buses try to leave from the depot at the same time, they all don't arrive at the same time off the routes but they try to time them so they all leave at the same time, makes it easier on passengers who have to transfer from one bus to another.

I am a bit rusty when it comes to portraits so need to spend more time doing them. Still for a quick sketch I somewhat captured her look.

The one above I drew on the train into Boston, she was so intent on her device that I don't think she looked up more than once, and I know she wasn't aware that I was drawing her.

Pen and ink drawing of another of the white fall asters, I am fairly sure that this is the Toothed White Topped Aster, or perhaps another variant of that type. I am not very happy with how the flower heads came out, too dark and not really clear enough. One reason why you see several attempts at drawing them. Will have to try again on another day. Graphite might be a better medium for this plant, but I needed to play with the technical pens so I chose to use them.

During my Boston trip I visited the large Dick Blick store on Park (they have Polychromos pencils open stock), then walked up Park along the Fenway to the MFA. In the Fenway green space I found several art Installations. The photo above shows one of a series of plaster castings/sheets with a figure emerging from the ground. Another installation was of colorful tree like sculptures placed among the trees. Another had what looked like three concrete pillows arrange by some bushes, and there was another of objects hung from trees. I may have missed at least one or two but it was sort of fun to discover art where I didn't expect it.

At the MFA I visited the Hollywood Glamour of the Silver Screen Exhibit. The exhibit includes both dresses and jewelry that was worn or owned by the stars of the movies in the 1930's - 1940's. The exhibit isn't very large it all fits into one room, but it was fun and I felt it was worth my time. 

Above is a photo of some of the dresses on display. In the background you can see the screen where they showed clips from movies of that era. I have to say that the designs they selected are pretty timeless, some of them I wouldn't mind owning and wearing.  

These last two photos are the last of a series I made of a bumble bee that was visiting this rose. When I first saw the rose the bee was deep inside and I could only catch glimpses of it moving around. The shot above shows it emerging from the center. The one below while it looks like the bee is arriving is actually of it leaving the rose.

Obviously I see a lot of bumble bees visiting flowers but rarely get as good a photograph as these so I wanted to show them off.

More from the Laundry-mat and other

I have finished reading Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Did I learn anything, well yes and no. I already knew how to draw negative space, and did most of the drawing exercises she gives when I took Drawing I, but hadn't realized prior to reading this book that when I am in drawing mode I don't think names of things and the reason why we mostly don't chat at the live sessions is because everyone is in R brain mode and language isn't available.

Also learned a proportion for ear placement with a side view portrait that I don't remember being told before. Not sure how useful that will be but hey one never knows. Also picked up that nostrils are mostly in line with the inside of eyes, don't think I knew that one before either.

I have started to read a book on Constable, we will see how that goes. He is known for his landscapes both watercolor and oil so I am hoping for some tips.

Above is a rather quick colored pencil sketch/drawing that lets me think spring, as the weather certainly hasn't been at all spring like where I am. Thankfully we didn't get hit with the last snow storm but it has been cold, below (well below at night) 32 degrees F for the most part.

This is from a photograph I made last spring at Borderland State Park and is a window with reflected daffodils, inside were some blooming geraniums. The drawing is rather impressionistic partly because I didn't want to spend the time trying to get photo-realistic and partly because the reflected flowers were already impressionistic.

Anther still life pen and ink drawing from the WetCanvas Pen and Ink Forum monthly challenge. This time tomatoes and peppers in a basket. I didn't spend a lot of time on the basket, just didn't have the desire to spend the time on it to get it really right. Not good I suppose but at least I am getting more art work done this week than I managed last week.

Done in my sketchbook with technical Pens, I used the 00 and the 3x0.

Ah yes laundry, that never ending chore. Was at the Laundry-mat on Monday washing some clothes, thankfully it was a bit more populated than the last time I was there. I tried drawing some faces with limited success but did manage to make this drawing of an older woman sitting on one the chairs waiting for a machine to finish. Since I haven't been getting out to my weekly figure drawing sessions I figured I had better start finding another way to practice the figure.

Not totally displeased with this, keep in mind I was trying to draw her without her realizing it. Drawn in a small sketchbook with a Micron pen.

Walking home last night from a visit to the Library I made this photograph of an almost setting sun. I really wanted to capture the look of the sun a bit earlier when it was round ball of light covered with clouds, but the camera didn't capture that image very well so I selected this one instead. I do like the light effects here so I guess it isn't too bad.

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

More Pen and Ink work with some Figures

Another image from the WetCanvas Pen and Ink forum monthly challenge, this time an elephant. I drew this first with pencil before adding ink. I just don't trust myself to draw animals directly with pen. Animals and people look so strange if you get the proportions wrong. Even with the underlying pencil drawing am only semi pleased with how this came out.

I have been using pen for my short pose figure drawings, so one of these days I may attempt an animal with just pen, though I would rather tackle and animal that I have drawn before. What can I say, elephants are not my usual subject.

These gourds are a created arrangement made from some photographs I have showing various gourds. One or two from one photograph and another from a separate one. I have played around with gourd images before, and I will probably do so again, they have such interesting shapes and colors.

Finally the weather cooperated and I made it out to a Tuesday night short pose drawing session, male model this week. Since he had spent part of his day doing short poses for student animators his short poses that evening were very active and dynamic. Top image are some of my two minute pose drawings.

The middle section are a few of the 5 minute poses. The last drawing is one of the 10 minute poses he did for us. In the others he was sitting and more pretzel shaped. Not easy poses to draw so that they translate visually.

I originally thought the 10 minute pose was a bit confusing visually so added some pen work to it when I got home. I am thinking now that might have been a mistake. There is also some pen work on one of the 5 minute poses, but that seems to work a bit better.

The different tone to the paper is because I finished one pad and started using a different one about half way through the evening, usually I continue using the same Mfg. but this week I change to a different one. Interesting how differently they look in the photographs, visually they are both white papers. I have been using flash for these photographs, and I think one paper is more reflective than the other.

The final photograph this week is one I made yesterday while I was out for a walk. The cat was taking advantage of the sunny/warmer day to pose in front of this tree and soak up the sun. The white on the ground behind the cat is actually a bit of snow left over from a storm we had one morning this week. We didn't get a lot (probably about an inch) but until yesterday it has been cold so it stuck around in shady spots. Not sure what species the tree is, but I love the way the cat's fur seems to pick up the colors/texture of the tree trunk.

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

Collage and Figure Drawings

It had been a long while since I had checked into the Sketchbook Challenge blog to see what was happening there. I sort of stopped reading when the themes got too cutesy for me. I am not really into sketchbooks the way they are urging people to use them. From what I remembered they were pushing folks to create sketchbooks sort of like scrapbooks but with more personally created art/drawings.

Not my thing really, I did make a scrapbook way back when I was a teenager and continued it for a while when I was in college but eventually work got in the way and I outgrew that phase of my life. My sketchbooks are either practice drawings or doodles that may or may not become something else. Most are not meant for anyone other than myself to see. And even those meant for other to see are basically just drawings, which is my preferred artistic voice.

Anyway checking out the blog I found the theme for this month is Collage. Not my favorite kind of art work, either to create to or to look at. However I happened to have 4 cards with Japanese prints that I had been saving with the idea of one day using them in a collage. Also I had purchased some specialty wrapping paper for that purpose. Since the card images represented the four seasons I had my theme ready made.

Above are a couple of photographs showing my early stages of developing the collage. Top image is of my collected materials before I started to work . Obviously some work had already been done, separating the Japanese prints from the card stock (they were glued along one edge and were separated easily by using water to soften the card stock), selecting the colors of paper, printing out the season names and kanji characters.

Next step was to mostly cover a 90lb 11x15 in sheet of watercolor paper with various bits of my wrapping paper. I tore the wrapping paper not wanting shapes with finished (cut) edges. I selected a color for each season, blue - spring, red - summer, yellow - autumn and white for winter. I also started cutting the kanji characters and season names out of the paper they were printed on. Not wanting a lot of extra white I mostly cut around letters leaving just a bit of white paper showing.

Top photograph above show how I was arranging the cut out words and characters with the rectangular prints. Looked OK but I felt that something was missing. Lines, I though some black lines might help to link all the areas together. First impulse was to add them around the areas where the prints were going to be, but realized it would probably be better to just draw the lines on the background so that is what I did, you can see the background with lines in the bottom photograph above. I used a Japanese style brush and India ink for the lines.

Almost there, I re-positioned all of my objects but still felt there was too much open space. What to use, I thought why not some seasonal poetry. I pulled a book I have off the shelf (Little Pictures of Japan, a Book House for Children publication) and selected 4 poems that were applicable and short. Next step was to print the poems out, cut out the lines and arrange them on my collage. One of my last steps prior to gluing it all down was to use my watercolor pencils to tone the white paper for three of the seasonal names and characters, blue - spring, red - summer, yellow - autumn.

Everything was then glued down, the paper was a bit warped so I brushed clean water onto the back of the paper and stuck the whole deal under some books. When it dries I will apply some acrylic matte media to the surface to protect everything. Note that the printer I use is an Epson Ink Jet with permanent inks that won't run if they get wet.

Above are some selected figure drawings from last weeks short pose session. Top grouping were 2 minute poses, yes I know the one looks pretty sketchy, that is because I started over when the first start wasn't working out. I like the energy in this sketch even if it isn't very finished.

The middle grouping shows one minute poses. One of the other artists who attends the sessions is taking a class in downtown Boston and had homework to draw 100 gesture drawings of people. Scott though he would help her out so had our model do one minute poses for about 20-30 minutes. They are work, but fun, not sure I want to do this all the time but it was a good change.

Bottom section of drawings shows some 5 minute and some 10 minute poses.

In closing another photograph made in my local community. This tree as I recall is still alive even though it seems covered in Ivy. I will have to go back either in the spring or summer and make another photo of it . If we get more snow it might also be fun to make a photo of it snow covered. Hmm will just have to wait and see on that one.

That is it for today. Time to get back to my still life's and other drawings.

Bookmark, Still Life, Figure and more snow

Just a short update today. I have been working on the above bookmark design for a while. I started it before Christmas but somehow after a quick start it just didn't jell for me and I had other things to keep me busy. Anyway in the after Christmas blahs I decided that I either needed to get it done or bit the bullet, toss it, and start something new. I decided to just finish it and see what would happen.

I finished the pen work last night and added watercolor this morning using some of my watercolor pencils and a damp brush. I like the colors but the ink work doesn't totally work for me. Still after it is dry I will start to finish it off as a bookmark.

After a trip to the grocery store the other day I came home with 2 apples and an orange. I thought the 3 would make a reasonable still life so pulled a bowel out of the cabinet and made an arrangement with them for a quick drawing. I feel it is important that I manage to draw from life a few times a week, meaning I need to observe for real what I am drawing, not just working from imagination and/or photographs. Observation skills need to be nurtured even if the results are pretty ordinary.

Done with graphite (2B pencil) in one of my new sketchbooks. The orange is already history as I was worried it was getting a bit soft, made a nice evening snack. Two apples don't quite a still life subject make so it looks like I need another trip to the grocery store.

A week ago Monday was December 30 and I attended the long pose session for that week since there wasn't going to be a short pose session New Years Eve. Above is the drawing I made that evening.

Not sure how I feel about it, Some areas I like and other areas I am not happy with. It has been several months since I attended a long pose session so for the most part I feel I didn't do that badly. Think I need to mix up long pose vs short poses a bit more this year and see if I can get my groove back.

I am closing with a photograph I made last week after our snow storm. The wind had blown this pattern in the snow with a bare spot in the upper left and gradually deepening snow radiating out in rings. I have no clue why the wind would have swirled just there but it does make an interesting image.

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

Cats, Figures and New Year Wishes

First I want to wish everyone a Healthy, Happy 2014, may this new year bring you much of what you wish/hope for.

Today I am going to share a couple of the drawings I made while visiting Chicago. The first is an image of a friends cat from a photograph she made and shared via Facebook. I think the cat is wearing a hooded cape, and while she is posing for the photograph I doubt she stayed put long. Got to say I am fairly pleased with this, not a totally polished piece, but I think I captured the cats not so pleased expression.

For a Christmas present I received from my sister more Polychrome colored pencils. I asked for them of course, but was totally pleased with the gift. Needless to say I felt they needed to be taken out for a test run, hence the above sketch.

From a National Geographic photograph I sketched this lion cub standing on a zebra kill. Not totally pleased with it, but it least it does look like a lion, and the color isn't bad considering the colors I was working with. I didn't spend that long on it, so it isn't even close to being photo-realistic.  Still it was fun to do and I got to play with some of my new pencils.

Now that I am home I am discovering I need more pencil holders for my growing collection. I have started working on a new set which will hopefully be finished soon.

The above drawings are from the only short pose drawing session I managed to attend in December, Tuesday December 3rd. The following week I was either suffering from a cold or an allergy attack since I spent the day bonding with a box of tissues and getting a sore nose. The following week was cancelled due to a snow storm, it didn't drop a lot of snow but did manage to happen during drive time and made a huge mess out of the roads. Our model for that evening drives a fair distance and didn't want to risk the conditions. I can't say that I blame him, it was nasty out there.  The last short pose sessions were cancelled due to being Christmas and New Years Eve. so during those weeks they held only Monday Night long pose sessions and I was in Chicago the week of Christmas.

Anyway, the top grouping is of short 2 minute poses, middle grouping is 5 minute poses and the bottom two 10 minute poses.  Oddly enough the ones I like best are the two 5 minute poses in the middle. I also like the 2 minute poses, but I feel that the 10 minute poses aren't as dynamic as they should/could be. Both I and the model were probably getting pretty tired at that point. That is my excuse and I am sticking with it.

Last but by no means least is a photograph from my visit to Chicago. On Friday we visited the Chicago Art Institute and saw some wonderful drawings and watercolors from a private collection. There were many ink works and I found it interesting that the artists didn't seem to feel that he/she had to choose a media and stick with it. Most of the ink works were a combination of ink and graphite (pencil) or Charcoal, sometimes pastel and sometimes Gouache. The artist used what they needed to use to get the look/effect they wanted with the drawing. Artists ranged from an early Picasso to a study Romney did for a larger painting with some older and more recent artists added to the mix.

The sculpture in the photograph (called the Bean) is found in the park that is a few blocks north from the museum. The surface has been polished to a high gloss and reflects the buildings and people around it. There is a hole in the center that is large enough that several people can stand in it looking up at their reflections. We didn't do that on this visit because both of us were tired from the museum but I have done just that on previous occasions.

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

Figures, a bookmark and a drawing

Been working on another bookmark. Course right now all that is finished is the main design, still needs some work before it is finally finished. It may have to wait a bit as I need some sunlight to pick the embroidery floss color for the tassel. I will probably go with a red orange.

The inspiration for this was my memories of poppies blooming in the late spring, love those large bright orange flowers. They are such a splash of color. I added tulips in the front of them though in reality tulips would be finished by the time the poppies start blooming. I wanted another flower shape and was feeling a bit tired of daisies/sunflowers. Besides using tulips let me pick up the orange of the poppies.

It was fairly quick and fun to draw, have to start thinking about what to draw next. Oh yes done with pen and ink first then added color via colored pencil, back to my more usual method of working.

Since I made such a mess of the basket the other day I though I would try my hand at another symmetrical object. This ink bottle was at hand and seemed a good choice. Still some errors but I am happier with this drawing than I was with the basket.

I have a small blooming Christmas Cactus maybe I will give that a go next.

From a couple of weeks ago, we had another couple modeling short poses for us. I don't have a lot of drawings that I liked from that session, but above are the five I consider my best effort. Top pair are short poses of about 5 minutes. Bottom grouping of three drawings were 10 minute poses.

Not sure why I felt so off that evening. Probably focusing too much on details, like faces and not looking at the overall image. The male of this couple is quite slender so not the easiest figure to draw.

As a close another photograph from my visit to Houghton's Pond last Saturday. Our weather this week has been not wonderful (read no sun) and I have been busy trying to get stuff pulled together for Christmas. Winter landscapes are so stark mostly browns and greys with a few pine trees to add hints of green.

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