late night ink drawing

Due to lack of confidence, I regularly grab a pencil to lightly sketch things before ink . . . erasing the pencil before painting. While this is a valuable process when working out an illustration project, it just slows me down in daily sketching.

Doing Brenda Swenson's 75 day ink sketch challenge proved to me that I am able to work in ink without pencil --- the final little sketch at Saturday's sketchcrawl did also. While it is wonderful for those who like using pencil lines first, I would really like to be free from it.

So . . . back to Brenda's ink challenge. Maybe not daily this time; perhaps adding a wash of color. I'm determined to get past my lack of confidence.

I've been gluing some Daniel Smith color sample dots on watercolor paper in a small binder, where I can learn about each paint's properties. This sketch shows where I stopped for the night.

75 day challenge is finished!

Not a very exciting sketch for the final sketch, but I'm really looking forward to getting back to this art journal pictured above and using watercolor!

I am very glad I took the challenge from Brenda Swenson (to do one ink sketch a day for 75 days with no pencil under-drawing first). I have noticed a "lightening up" in my attitude -- I'm not as concerned as I used to be about the finished product looking exactly as seen in my mind. Now it's more drawing for the joy of it.

# 30, 75 day ink sketch challenge

I have no backyard to participate in the great backyard bird-count. The only regular birds here are a family of house sparrows living in a crack in the brick's mortar of our small apartment building.

(Unless you count the pigeons next door, but they have been scarce lately.)

But I did happen to spy this strange species of bird perched on a small shelf in my bathroom. He says he was made in "Occupied Japan".

75 day challenge # 21

I'm now beginning the second book set aside for the 75 day challenge of ink drawings . . . . I thought this thicker, hand-made paper would be easier to work on. But my favorite Lamy Safari pens and other art pens bleed through. So at the moment I'm using a BIC ballpoint pen. I could work on one side only, but I wanted to keep all 75 days of drawings in these two books.

The above puppy sketch is from a photo my Scottie breeder emailed me, of a little guy a few weeks older than mine. He had gorged on so much puppy food that when he struggled to get up from the bowl, he fell over backwards. After trying 3 times to turn over, he finally gave up and took his nap where he lay.

Often it is a struggle to choose something to draw each day. I like the simplicity of these continuous contour drawings (or sometimes mostly continuous -- there are times I get distracted or lift my pen when I didn't mean to). But eventually I probably should work on a few more detailed sketches. Some tonal studies or textures would be nice.

challenge sketch # 18

'Betty from Texas' recently posted a watercolor sketch of a pair of sneakers that looked so comfortable, I just had to look for them on-line. They arrived this week and they are better than comfortable! Wonderful support . . . they seem to energize me as I walk in them!

Mine are a different style than Betty's --- her's are suede and I chose some made of a hemp-canvas. You can check out her gorgeous sketch here.

Only one more 2-page spread in this 75 day ink challenge sketchbook, then I switch to the one with better paper.

# 8 of drawing challenge

With the blustery blizzardy weather today, it's nice to think of flowers.

This African violet plant has been blooming continuously since a few weeks before Christmas . . . . and it's still full of purple.

75 day challenge, # 5

Another wonky continuous line drawing . . . . these are really rather fun because perfectionism is not expected. This crate is actually wider than depicted. And, yes, Bearcat was inside with only one paw sticking out.

I had been wanting to take our Maine Coon, Beorn Bearcat, in for a check-up for several months. Soon after we adopted him (a retired breeder), we found out that our other cat, Dali, had inherited a herpes virus and there was no cure. Bear was already exposed.

When our Wheaten Scottie, Maxwell, stayed in Texas to become our granddaughter's dog, so did his crate. The same crate I used to transport Bear to the vet. He doesn't fit in our cat carrier --- he never did! He hates car rides and the only way to transport is to use a crate.

Finally I got another crate just for Bear. It's been sitting on the floor with the door open and he loves going inside for a quick nap. Or to hide (he thinks we can't see him). Works fine until he knows there's a car ride coming. He cries if I drive over 20 miles an hour. But once at the vet's, he's happy again. In fact, he would like to take the place over.

Dr. Beth says he's doing fine; no signs of a herpes outbreak. Just a tad bit overweight . . . Really? He's ONLY 21 lbs!

first sketch of challenge

I chose to work in the smaller book first. The paper is very thin so I am limited in which pens to use; here I used a Pigma Micron 01.

Had to laugh at the circular knitting needle's tip becoming transparent . . .

a new challenge

Since before Christmas, I have allowed too many distractions to deter my daily sketching. Determined to get back into the habit, I read of a 75 day sketch challenge offered by Brenda Swenson, using only ink.

Though I have sketched "graphite free" from time to time, it still intimidates me. How I love leaning heavily on the crutch of a pencil, whether it is erased later or not! As Brenda says, working directly in ink improves drawing and observation skills as well as building confidence.

I happened to have these two sketchbooks on my shelf that would not take watercolor well. So I have decided to take up the challenge with them --- one ink-only sketch a day. Good time to do some continuous contour line drawings. Just for fun.

The larger sketchbook was a gift from a sister-in-law and comes with a really cool pencil made of a rough twig. Since this challenge is ink only, I won't use the pencil for now, but it will be fun for later use . . . maybe when sketching in nature! When it warms up outside. (LOL -- I can be such a baby!)

I'll still be keeping my normal sketch journals; this is just an added boost in creativity. Hopefully it will return me to the daily habit I love.

waiting for gouache

Though I don't plan on ever using another Moleskine sketchbook (unless it is reloaded with decent paper), this one still resides in my purse. Good for discreet sketching in public.

I added a half-pan of white gouache to this wee palette for this paper, plus a couple of other neutral colors. And a tiny bit of soap --- I learned from other Moleskine users that it helps paint "stick" to this paper.

That got me thinking . . . . wouldn't a bit of gouache be better, not only for yellow-toned paper like this (I someday want to bind a journal of Niddegan paper) but also for use on darker Mi-Teintes paper I'm adding to some sketchbooks?

When the tiny bits of paint in this palette are used up, I'll switch it to gouache. I'm currently bidding on some on eBay. No sense spending a huge amount of money in case I don't like working with opaque paint.