colorful chard

The red and green of swiss chard is so amazing. I didn't even attempt to match the colors.

Pencil and w/c in the sketchbook.

tired life model

Face down, exhausted from holding that last pose for days.

Pen and w/c in the journal.

an actual painting

After I did the painted bear in the sketchbook, I decided to try actual acrylic on a gessoed board.

For once, I set up an actual still life. The base is a leaning plastic drawer unit, so it's actually crooked, not just bad painting.

just paint

Though no one else can tell, when I did this I put the w/c straight down as through it were oil or acrylic--just strokes on strokes to make the form.

It's a different process than drawing,just a feeling of putting down the marks to sculpt the shape. And because it was on thin sketchpaper, I couldn't go back to rework anything.

Flat sculpture!

W/c in the sketchbook.

really blue bear

Drawing on an acrylic background. Pitt brush pen for the bear, then brown watercolor for the body.

I liked how the acrylic blue came through as shadowing on the bear.

On w/c paper.

bear and brush

I've done this bear a lot of times (posts to come, too), but this is one of the few where I did the detail of the scattered nap.

W/c pencils, undampened, on 140# Arches Aquarelle w/c paper.

coloring the cat

His markings aren't at all like this, but he doesn't mind.

w/c in the Mead sketchbook

drawing from memory

I caught a glimpse of a bridge in a video shot and turned it into this version. Coloring blocks is relaxing.

w/c and w/c pencil in the Mead sketchbook.

draw whatever is lying around

That same paintbrush from yesterday.

W/c and w/c pencil in the Mead sketchbook.

making a popup page

I'd painted an acrylic background, and separately drew my hand holding a brush.

It turned into a popup page! I took a photo instead of a scan to show the separation better.

Acrylic, w/c and w/c pencil in the journal.

painting in the Moleskine

I found some loose pages from a Moleskine sketchbook, and randomly started using up w/c with a flat brush, drawing a character from a Netflix video.

I liked how the resistant paper worked this time. Usually it irritates me.

the bear again

He has such loveworn fabric, his remaining fur is only erratic patches on the bare weave and stitches showing in his seams.

Click for enlarged detail.

Pencil in the Mead sketchbook.

working tiny

One bear is as small as I like to draw in a 3-inch square.

W/c on sketchpaper.

light and shadow

Now that I can usually capture the shape and proportion of a thing, my next goal is to capture the light and shadows better.

Practicing on my porcelain bunny, which is easier than soft textured items, buildings, or people.

W/c on sketchbook paper

fastsketching even still things

I don't like drawing all the leaves on a plant, so draw them fast to get it over with and also to keep honing my skill to put down the (close to) right shape with the first stroke.

Rectangle and color added afterward.

Pen and w/c in the Mead sketchbook.

freeze-frame

I was already sitting with the sketchbook when Fen came into the room and then stopped in this mid-movement pose. She is elderly and sometimes goes into pause mode, as if her brain stalls.

But she has already lived 12+ months past the vet's estimate of "one month left," so she's making feline medical history.

Pencil in the Mead sketchbook.

ink good for travel sketching

I'm liking the brush flow and the color intensity of the ink in these Pentel pens. The brush easily goes into dry mode unless I squeeze them, so I can get a variety of effects.

Especially if I quickly add strokes of water with a waterbrush. The colors are marker-strong, but otherwise they're good for a travel kit.

And I can always squeeze a little puddle onto a plastic surface for thinning with water.

Pelikan techno-liner pen (my new favorite) and Pentel inks in the Mead sketchbook.

floating footstool

This scanned as a misty blue, which adds to the mood of the floating footstool, as I didn't bother to draw the base.

6B pencil in the Mead sketchbook.

drawing from Neflix instant

My new way to practice drawing to to pause the "instant play" shows I can now get on my computer from Netflix. All the movies I want to watch at no extra charge than my monthly fee. It's great!

This is an actor from an old BBC series. With more practice, I might make him recognizable.

Prismacolor water soluble graphite on 140# w/c paper.

drawing on painted backgrounds

I love to make the colorful backgrounds, then wait to turn them into something more finished with a drawing on top. Often I *don't* improve the piece.

In this case, with a clingwrap-wrapped finger I streaked on ink from the Pentel brush pens (no absorption and better streaking than using a sponge or papertowel).

Days later, I drew my childhood teddy bear on the page. He may be my new convenient, stays-still, life model.

I didn't scan across the binding, so he's missing a paw. Ink brush pen in the journal.

catching the lean

I don't know what Chaucer was looking at, but I managed to catch something of his intense lean.

The post is a carpet-covered cat cave with 2 holes. The cats will never go inside, but it makes a convenient sitting platform.


Varsity fountain pen (with watersoluble ink) in the journal, painted later.

Yay, it's February, one month closer to spring!