Bill’s birthday cookies

Today is my husband Bill’s birthday and instead of a cake he requested peanut butter cookies . . . so of course I drew some of them cooling on a paper bag. And so ends Inktober 2018.

Actually he had a huge piece of carrot cake yesterday when we ate out at Outback, so he had his cake and ate (cookies) too.

waiting . . .

I thought today was Bill’s last day of cardio rehab therapy, but he just signed up for another month. It seems that it is free for those on Medicare following his kind of surgery . . . and he is enjoying it! So more waiting room sketching for me . . .

This pencil layout is actually all I got down on paper before the two gentlemen were called in to their appointments. So I finished it without them.

yesterday’s inktober sketch

This quick sketch for Inktober #29 is from a photo I took of the dust collector at the woodworks company our son Matt used to work at in Georgetown, TX. He and several co-workers have now left to form their own company.

I started it yesterday but was so tired that I didn’t finish until this morning. Bill has a dust collector attached to his woodshop but this behemoth makes his look like a child’s toy!

a jigsaw eagle

Inktober ink drawing # 28 . . . Almost done! This wooden jigsaw eagle hangs on one of the walls at church. I sketched it with a Kaweco Liliput fountain pen with brown ink cartridge, then bled the ink using a waterbrush.

the pens I want to “rehome”

Yesterday I sketched the fountain pens I use the most and plan on keeping. Today, I drew the pens that I never use, for whatever reason. I would love to rehome these to someone who could get some use out of them!

This Noodler’s Ahab flex fountain pen is like brand new. I ordered it when it first came out but it is just too fat for my hand to use comfortably. For some reason, I also have an extra tube for the filling mechanism and extra o-rings. The pen comes with a built-in filling mechanism so it requires no cartridge or converter.

The pen on the left is a gorgeous hand-crafted one with a barrel made of cow horn. The other two are a Jet Pen Mini, no longer available in plastic, and a Pilot Petit 1 Mini. All three of these pens take standard small cartridges such as the brown ones shown on the right.

The cow horn pen cost $40 originally and is a beautiful piece of workmanship. But the nib has never really worked very well. I know someone who tinkers with fountain pens could easily fix it; I just don’t happen to be one of them, and I don’t know of any fountain pen stores in the area who could.

I tried this Fude de Mannen pen from Sailor and liked how lightweight it is in use. Easy to tip the nib for a variety of lines, though when making the broadest line possible there is sometimes a tiny line above the wide line. This is caused by the end of the feed being too close to the nib.

My favorite fude nibs are a Duke 209 and a converted Lamy Safari nib I did myself.

This Platinum Carbon Desk pen works great with a very fine line. But I can also get a very fine line with my other pens when the nib is turned upside down, so I rarely use it.

This Platinum Preppy pen came free with an order of Noodler’s fountain pen ink, and had been converted into an eye dropper pen. Meaning that instead of cartridges or converters, you just fill the barrel with ink. A massive supply of ink available between refills! There is an o-ring at the top of the barrel that provides a seal; to maintain its water tightness, you dab a very tiny amount of sealing wax around the o-ring. But I’ve never had to do this. I simply don’t need such a large supply of ink in one single pen!

cutting down a collection

Over the past 11 years I have built up quite a collection of fountain pens but I have decided to cut down my collection to only the pens that I actually use regularly. These are pretty much it for me . . . The others I have aren’t ever used so why keep them?

These represent various size nibs as well as type: regular round, stub, and fude. Inks are both water-resistant and water-soluble in my favorite colors of black, gray, sepia, brown, “burnt sienna”, light golden brown, dark blue, purple, and turquoise. There are several Lamy Safaris, a Lamy Joy, a Duke 209, a Noodler’s Konrad, 2 Noodler’s creepers, a Pilot MR retro, and 2 Kaweco Liliputs.

Some of the unused pens have been cleaned up to give away as gifts. The rest I think I’ll sketch tomorrow. Maybe I will figure out how to sell them on eBay.

And just maybe, someday, there may be room for one more fountain pen that I would love to have but can’t afford: a Pilot (Namiki) Falcon extra fine soft nib with Spencerian customization for extra flex.

new kitchen light

Bill is now back in his woodshop now — his first project was to turn a vintage galvanized milk strainer into our new kitchen light. And we love it! So much that we are keeping the old lights just in case; if we should ever move away from this cabin, we are taking the new lights with us!

His next project, make the task light that goes over the stove — out of a galvanized chicken feeder!

(The cool thing about sketching is all the dirty dishes and clutter instantly disappeared!)

a few more books

Another busy day doing non-sketching stuff. So I returned to a section of my bookshelf for today’s Inktober ink sketch: this time, a selection of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Inktober # 23, a ghoul

We went to Lowe’s today for parts needed to wire our new kitchen lights Bill is making. Outside, there was this ridiculously large blow-up ghoul for Halloween —- I just don’t understand the popular trend to decorate for Halloween on the same scale as Christmas. But then, I’m usually not too fond of the overly commercial Christmas decorations either. It seems that the history behind various feasts and holidays gets totally lost these days.

And, yes, under all this boldly garish paint is an ink drawing for Inktober. It just got lost.

Grandma’s saucepan

Bill and I both love cooking with this small pan. When his mother and I were going through her mother’s things after she died, I set it aside to remember Grandma by — she was always cooking for all of us! Turns out it’s the best pan we’ve ever used. The heavy glass lid allows food to simmer without boiling over or “spitting” out the edges.

Club Aluminum Hammerware was made around 1930 to 1950. I would love to find a larger size saucepan and a medium-sized Dutch oven made of the same sturdy materials! But for now, I just did a quick sketch of it.

fig tree

Our little fig tree gave us no figs this year . . . but the deer sure enjoyed them! Sketched with De Atramentis Document black ink in a Lamy Safari fountain pen with an EF nib and a white Gelly Roll gel pen in a Stillman & Birn Nova sketchbook with beige tone paper.

Sketch with Me — Outside

Today was the premiere event for Cathy Johnson’s “Sketch with Me” group on Facebook. Sketchers from all over the world joined together to draw whatever they wished to under the prompt “Outside”.

It has been a dampish rainy week around here, so I began sketching loosely, directly in ink, while sitting on our patio. Then some of our kids and grandkids arrived to visit so I left sketching for later.

Later in the day it was still soggy outside but I found a few more bits to sketch . . .
Then I came inside to add watercolor. The leaves of the groundcover next to Bill’s woodshop are a deep purple but the photo shows them darker than I painted them.

my cats are mighty hunters!

And some “prey” I’d really rather they leave alone! Today I found the remains of another scorpion they caught during the night — that makes 4 in the past month or two.

Actually, two of them were still alive; I have taken to using a flashlight if I walk around in the dark at night.

I’m not sure how to convince these silly kitties that these are not safe to play with.

Baylor, Scott and White clinic

Today’s Inktober sketch — back to the clinic for Bill’s cardio rehab. Only three more appointments and he’s done! Meanwhile, I decided to sketch outside from the parking lot instead of the waiting room. That’s the hospital building towards the back on the right.

Best Lil’ Hairhouse in Texas

Bill and I had both been needing haircuts but have been too busy with rehab and doctor appointments. Yesterday I sketched while Rosie cut Bill’s hair . . . but it took a lot longer to finish that crazy zebra pattern!

another waiting room sketch

Just a simple sketch of a patient waiting in the physical rehab department, this time using a Pentel Pocketbrush Pen. I think the man was getting a cast removed from his leg, as he had brought along another shoe. He moved around a lot as I started sketching; perhaps he guessed what I was doing?

to be read . . .

I love books. Whether they are bound books or ebooks, it doesn’t matter — I have large lists of books of both varieties “to be read”. Many of the bound books are found at used book stores. This is only one small stack of books waiting for me. From the top down, these titles are:

The Broonies, Silkies and Fairies by Duncan Williamson
The New Penguin Book of Scottish Short Stories edited by Ian Murray
Reportage and Documentary Drawing by Veronica Lawlor
Understanding Perspective by Stephanie Bower
In Season by Wayne Jacobsen
Good Morning, Holy Spirit by Benny Hinn
It Was Good; Making Art to the Glory of God edited by Ned Bustard

tea at church

Finally we are back in church, for both discipleship class and the regular service. Bill is no longer feeling weak and lightheaded since they took him off of blood pressure medicine (that he apparently did not need).

I really should bring my own cup from home for my tea — it would certainly be more interesting than a styrofoam cup!

a simple contour line

It’s been a busy day so for today’s ink drawing, I did a simple contour line of my two new journal binders, with no pencil guidelines. Just letting the slow ink lines help me relax . . .

new (temporary) journals

Even though I’m not quite halfway through the two Stillman & Birn sketchbooks I’m currently using (an 8 1/2 x 5 1/2” Zeta and a 3 1/2” x 5 1/2” tan toned Nova), I spent today putting together two new sketchbook journals using papers I had stashed away. Cathy Johnson has started a new “Sketch With Me! group on Facebook, and recently challenged members to put together some simple sketchbooks. She included video instructions for a simple no-sew folding journal.

I went a different route: recently I purchased a cool leather binder that held removable folios by using elastic bands. Each page equals 4 1/4 x 8 1/4” — a rather odd format on its own but working across a two-page spread makes the working surface roughly a square. I removed the lightweight writing papers it came with and cut Fabriano Artistico and Stonehenge watercolor papers to fit. For now, these folios will be held in place with the elastic bands (no sewing!), but after they are done, I can sew the folios together and make a new permanent cover for this new journal. And then I can fill the leather cover with new papers.

I had an unused package of a lovely textured Khadi paper that I didn’t want to cut down smaller. But when each paper is folded in half, the resulting folios fit this old leather cover to the planner I used years ago. Extra elastic bands can be found on Amazon so I just need to buy four of them to hold the folios in this binder, whose pages measure 6 x 8 1/2”.

some autumn color . . . in rocks

Today I was just in the mood for color in my daily ink sketch. So I picked up some rocks as Bill and I walked the circle drive where we live. (OK, only half the circle but it’s progress — Bill is not light-headed any more since the doctor dropped his blood pressure medicine.) The small rock in front looks very dark in the photo — it is actually a bright red jasper.

The ink sketch is with a sepia ink that I mixed from Noodler’s polar black and polar brown. But the rich watercolors in my earthy granulating set seem to take over, obliterating the ink lines!

an October rose

We still have some deep red old-fashioned roses blooming next to our cabin door. The expected thing in sketching one is to use watercolor . . . so I tried to capture it using only black ink.

Not sure if I like the result or not, but it was a fun try!

waiting at cardio rehab

Sitting at sketching once again at Baylor, Scott & White clinic, College Station . . .
No matter how careful I am, I end up smearing the ink at some point.

By the time I added color, my “model” had left.

wild lantana

I found this lantana growing wild between some of our oak trees. When we bought the cabin, the previous owners had planted several cultured varieties of lantana around the patio — every one of them died when the past two winters turned colder than normal. But this wild version blooms on . . .

This late in the year, the lantana has more berries than blooms on it!

“artist dude” Lego

Some days, I’m just too tired to sketch much. Nothing big going on today; just normal chores and errands to run. I really should plan on doing my daily Inktober sketch earlier in the day, not after I’ve rn out of steam! This Lego artist dude lives on my bookshelf next to books published by Cathy Johnson, Danny Gregory, Hannah Hinchman, Andrea Joseph, Nina Johansson, Liz Steel, and a few other online artists.

soon-to-be kitchen lights!

I’ve finally caught up with the actual date of the Inktober challenge! I’m not following the official drawing prompts and I began a few days late, but this sketch is my #7 drawing and I actually drew it on the 7th!

When we bought our log cabin, it had lots of ”fru-fru” type lights and decor  — even a silly chandelier! Definitely NOT our preferred style for a rustic log cabin in the woods! One by one, we have made changes that better fit a simple country cabin.

The current kitchen lights are frilly-looking glass shades on lots of chains — chains that collect lots of grease and dust! After thinking through lots of ideas and visiting lots of antique shops for inspiration, Bill found a vintage chicken feeder and milk strainer on Etsy. He plans to wire them with LED lights and hang them upside-down from the log rafters: the large milk strainer as the central light and the chicken feeder as a task light over our main work area.

more from the bookshelf

Another section of my bookshelf, this one features vintage editions of Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott, tourist copies featuring illuminated manuscript and bits from the Book of Kells, several Bibles,  and some tiny books that just fit the space. Our bookshelf fits snug under a log ladder-stairway so the left side of each shelf tapers down to a sharp angle.

My wee Lego bagpiper stands guard.

on the shelf . . .

After a busy day with friends stopping by to visit as well as friends helping mow our yard and haul away trash bags, driving into Brenham to  refill one of Bill’s prescriptions, and other regular tasks, all I had the energy for was a quick ink sketch. So I drew some items on our built-in bookshelf. The knitting is up there next to the clock when I’m not working on it to avoid my very active kitten, Scottie, from adding a few stitches of his own.

a random sketch for Inktober

Today was a busy errand-running day, plus my 6-month eye exam. Dr. Horton switched one of my eye drops from the once-a-day gel-forming solution to a twice-a-day liquid version —- and I couldn’t believe the difference in price! Even with insurance, 5 ml. of the old one had raised in price to $98 (which lasted me almost 4 months since I only needed it in one eye); the new one is $8 for 10 ml. without insurance! (These plus another type of bedtime eye drops are to treat glaucoma.)



Anyway, instead of putting a lot of thought into what to sketch today, I kept it simple and drew the eye drops, old and new. And jotted down a quote I read today from last month’s issue of “Drawing Attention”, Urban Sketchers’ online magazine.

Inktober #2 and #3

This morning I sketched a new toy that arrived this week in the mail. I found this leather travel binder on Amazon. I have lots of odd bits of watercolor papers that I’ve been meaning to sew into sketchbooks but haven’t found the time to do so yet. So I thought I would replace the notebooks that came with the binder with loose folios of watercolor papers. Later on, they can be sewn into sketchbooks with new covers . . . and I can refill this binder with more paper.

The orientation is a bit odd for single pages but a double spread makes a nice nearly-square to work on. I like the special clip holding the pen to keep one of my fountain pens attached to my journal.

This afternoon, Bill had another cardio rehab appointment — so I sketched the waiting area.

Inktober tools, first sketch . . . and an answer to prayer

Having been a bit distracted lately, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take part in the Inktober sketching event this year, but today is only the third day; I decided to begin today with a sketch of the tools I plan to use. There just might be a bit of watercolor (such as the gold accents on my Kuretaki brush pen) but only when the sketch calls for it. Instead of following the drawing prompts for this year, I’m going to keep it simple and just draw whatever I want each day — less pressure that way!

The quote written in the lower left is a line from a fictional ebook I recently read: “What good is it to pray and plead for a miracle and then ignore what could be the answer.” It struck me because of my husband’s situation.

Bill has suffered with chronic nerve pain down his right arm for almost 5 years — It began soon after his first bypass surgery. We were told it was a pinched nerve, later that it was a damaged nerve, and that nothing could be done for the pain. Yet since his recent bypass, that pain is gone!

Two separate doctors have now speculated that perhaps it was a symptom of heart trouble, not a pinched nerve, the pain being caused by that nerve not getting adequate blood supply. One doctor said it was possible that the graft that failed, necessitating this repeat surgery, probably failed just weeks after his initial surgery 5 years ago. That artery was not a complete blockage at that time; it took 5 years to become completely blocked. And the nerve pain began about that time.

No one knows for sure but it is a curious thing. We have prayed for healing and relief from the constant pain in Bill’s arm for so long . . . . What if this bypass surgery is actually the answer to those prayers? Something that looked like a horrible thing to go through has actually been the thing that ended the chronic pain! Whatever the truth of the matter is, we are praising God that, except for normal pain following a major surgery, Bill is free from pain at long last!

simple autumn color

Trees around us are still lush and green with usual daily temperatures in the upper 80s with occasional 90s. But every now and then I find a leaf trying to put on some autumn color. These were found and sketched over a couple of days.