Inktober 2019, Day 29: Injured

The prompt was "Injured."

Materials

• Pigma Micron 005 and 02 pens 
• Faber-Castell M, S, and F black pens
• HB hardness drawing pencil
• White polymer erasers of various shapes and sizes
• Cold-pressed watercolor paper cut to 3.75x5.5" 

Step 1:  Sketch with a pencil

Sketch the general shapes of the body and head,  and the lie of the snow.  Add the scarf, arms, buttons, and facial features.  Add texture and shadows.

Step 2:  Draw with pens

Using the 005, outline everything.  I may have used the 02 to make some of the darker outlines and color in the darker spots.  I used the 005 for the shading.

Step 3:  Carefully erase the pencil marks

Results

I want to add a watercolor wash to add to the drama of the moment -- icy background and some bright colors for the tearful eye, scarf, and nose.

Inktober 2019, Day 30 Catch

The prompt was "Catch."

Materials

• Pigma Micron 005 and 02 pens 
• Faber-Castell M, S, and F black pens
• HB hardness drawing pencil
• White polymer erasers of various shapes and sizes
• Cold-pressed watercolor paper cut to 3.75x5.5" 

Step 1:  Sketch with a pencil

Sketch the general shapes.  Add specificity to the outlines.  Sketch the general patterns, and then add the specific details. 

Step 2:  Draw with pens

Using the 005, outline everything.  Then using the 02, outline the fine upper edge of the wings, the antennae, and the body details.  Using thicker pens, fill in the solid black regions.  Butterflies are never perfectly symmetrical so don't worry about that.

Step 3:  Add the 'catch'

I was originally going to use a butterfly net, but didn't have enough room on the paper, so I sketched a Polaroid picture frame with pencil, and then added the outline and the shading with the 005.

Step 4:  Carefully erase the pencil marks

Results

This was challenging but delightful as it was my first attempt at a butterfly.  Some of the pens don't work well on this paper texture so some of the details are a bit thicker than I'd have liked.  I want to add a splashy bright watercolor wash to mimic the bright details of the live butterfly and possibly the flowery background.

Inktober 2019, Day 11: Snow

The prompt was "Snow."

Materials

• Pigma Micron 005 and 02 pens 
• Faber-Castell M, S, and F black pens
• HB hardness drawing pencil
• White polymer erasers of various shapes and sizes
• Cold-pressed watercolor paper cut to 3.75x5.5" 

Step 1:  Sketch with a pencil

Sketch the general shapes, add detail, and then texture.

Step 2:  Draw with pens

Using the 005, outline everything.  I could have stayed with that, but I chose to use the S to thicken the shadow cast by the snow.

Step 3:  Carefully erase the pencil marks

Results

This was interesting.  I'm not sure I like the resultant feather texture, but this may be my first attempt at it, and that may be hidden by the addition of shadows and color.  I especially like the snow shadows and the snow and branch textures for some reason.  Some of the pens don't work well on this paper texture.  I am going to add more shadows to the bird, but I may do that with the watercolor wash I want to add because cardinals are so bright in contrast to the snow and winter background.

Inktober 2019, Day 6: Husky

The prompt was "Husky."

Materials

• Pigma Micron 005 and 02 pens 
• Faber-Castell M, S, and F black pens
• HB hardness drawing pencil
• White polymer erasers of various shapes and sizes
• Cold-pressed watercolor paper cut to 3.75x5.5" 
• Studio Series Watercolor Brush Pens, 24 colors (with no color names or numbers)
• scratch paper to test and clean brush pens

Step 1:  Sketch with a pencil

Sketch the general shape.  Note how the dogs look a little odd because they're in pairs.  The shadow is slightly angled and also not an exact reflection because you see different parts of some of the paired dogs since it's at a slightly different angle.

Step 2:  Draw with pens

Using the F, outline the sled, track, and dogs, both the silhouette and the shadow.  Don't forget there are some clumps of snow on the high side of the track that also cast a shadow, making it a slightly rough top edge.  Using the M, fill in the solids.  Using the 005, barely sketch the traces.

Step 3:  Carefully erase the pencil marks

Step 4: Add a watercolor wash, if desired

I added a wintry watercolor wash and wanted to make the lower portion reflective ice.  I prepped the lower portion with the water brush, and added light streaks of of a light green-yellow and the lightest blue.  (The blue was *too* cartoonish of a sky blue for wintry ice.)  These didn't blend well on their own so I used the water brush to do so, and then cleaned it on the scratch paper.  I also used the scratch paper to test the colors before using them on this.  I used the water brush to sketch the jagged upper edge of a mountain ridge and wetted the paper below it so the color would blend on its own hopefully.  I used a charcoal brown as there's no grey and I feared the black too dark.  These are not pure pigments however and the various constituent pigments ran at different speeds and in different directions, showing some blues and pinks, so I used the water brush to blend and smudge the line and now it looks like a cloud bank topping a distant ridge line. 

Results

This was interesting.  Some of the pens don't work well on this paper texture.  I'm not sure I like shapes of some of the dogs, and I had to space them out a bit more than initially planned because it was difficult to get the fine resolution with the texture of the paper.  Also they're running in pairs and I'm not sure I was able to distinguish that well.  I had hoped to add more sky/ground colors with the wash, but not with these pens.  For the other ones, I think I'll return to my usual watercolor pans and use these pens for sketches maybe.

Inktober 2019, Day 4: Freeze

The prompt was "Freeze."

Materials

• Pigma Micron 005 and 02 pens 
• Faber-Castell M, S, and F black pens
• HB hardness drawing pencil
• White polymer erasers of various shapes and sizes
• Cold-pressed watercolor paper cut to 3.75x5.5" 

Step 1:  Sketch with a pencil

Sketch the general shape and texture the hair.

Step 2:  Draw with pens

Using the 005, outline everything.  I could have stayed with that, but I chose to use the S to thicken the lines to hide how I'd accidentally made one arm too broad. 

Step 3:  Carefully erase the pencil marks

Results

I don't do a lot with people, and less with people in motion, so I enjoyed being able to capture that.  Some of the pens don't work well on this paper texture.  I think I would have preferred to stick with the 005 but the pen hit a bump and skidded, so I had to save it with the S.  I want to add a splashy bright watercolor wash to add to the 'movement' of the image.

Inktober 2019, Day 8: Frail

The prompt was "Frail."

Materials

• Pigma Micron 005 and 02 pens 
• Faber-Castell M, S, and F black pens
• HB hardness drawing pencil
• White polymer erasers of various shapes and sizes
• Cold-pressed watercolor paper cut to 3.75x5.5" 

Step 1:  Sketch with a pencil

Sketch the general shape.  I outlined the puffball shape as an ellipse and the general shape of the wafting dandelion pappi before I drew in the specific ones.

Step 2:  Draw with pens

Using the 005, outline the general shape of the stem and leaf, the heads of the pappi, and the hatching of the dandelion head, then use the F to add the seeds to the pappi, the 02 and the M to outline and hatch the stem and leaf.

Step 3:  Carefully erase the pencil marks

Results

This was amusing; I enjoyed the lightness and heaviness of different details.  I want to add a watercolor wash for the background.

Inktober 2019, Day 9: Swing

The prompt was "Swing."

Materials

• Pigma Graphic 1 and 2 markers
• Pigma Micron 005 and 02 pens 
• Faber-Castell M, S, and F black pens
• HB hardness drawing pencil
• White polymer erasers of various shapes and sizes
• Cold-pressed watercolor paper cut to 3.75x5.5" 

Step 1:  Sketch with a pencil

Sketch the general shape.

Step 2:  Draw with pens

Using the 005, outline the flowers first so you don't forget, then use the 02 to draw the fine branches, and larger tips for successive outlines.  Fill in with the marker.

Step 3:  Carefully erase the pencil marks

Results

Catching the movement and the breeze was fun.  Some of the pens don't work well on this paper texture.  I'm not sure I like the hair.  I want to add a watercolor wash to amplify the frivolity and light of the carefree season.

Inktober, Day 8: Crooked

The prompt was "Crooked."  I drew some crooked trees that can be colored or not by the recipient.

 

Materials

• Pigma Micron 005 pen
• H hardness drawing pencil
• White erasers of various shapes and sizes
• Cold-pressed watercolor paper cut to 3.5x5" 

 

 

Step 1:  Sketch with a pencil

Sketch the general shapes, then add the patterns.

 

Step 2:  Draw with a pen

Using the 005, outline the shapes, then add the patterns

 

Step 3:  Carefully erase the pencil marks

Results

I would repeat this.  It was quick and the patterns could be varied.  I would sketch in my patterns with a pencil before drawing them freehand in ink, next time.  I do like it well enough to give as a gift.

Inktober Day 4: Underwater

The prompt was "Underwater."  So here's a glass squid 'underwater' in a glass ink bottle.

 

Materials

• Pigma Micron 005 and 02 pens
• H hardness drawing pencil
• White erasers of various shapes and sizes
• Cold-pressed watercolor paper cut to 3.5x5" 

 

 

Step 1:  Sketch, detail, and shade with a pencil

Sketch the outlines, then sketch in the details such as the suckers, then add the shading and contours.

 

Step 2:  Draw with pens

Using the 005, lightly sketch the edges of the glass jar, label, lettering, and cork.  Add the "inside edge" of the jar.  Draw the suckers of the squid and then add the remaining lines of the squid arms.  Draw the squid head and contour the jar and cork.  Add the details of the water and shade under/behind the squid.  Go over the label, lettering, cork, and outer edges of the jar with the 02.

 

Step 3:  Carefully erase the pencil marks

Results

This took much longer than most and I don't like shading and contouring with pens instead of pencils.  If I had shading markers, I might revisit this one, as I do find it fun and interesting.  It will definitely work as a gift!

Inktober Day 5: Long (Ridge)

The prompt was "Long."  So here's a long snowy ridge to walk along.

 

Materials

• Pigma Micron 005 and 02 pens
• H hardness drawing pencil
• White erasers of various shapes and sizes
• Cold-pressed watercolor paper cut to 3.5x5" 

 

 

Step 1:  Sketch with a pencil

Sketch the ridge lines and general areas with a pencil.  I should have sketched the shading in as well.

 

Step 2:  Draw with a pens

Using the 005, carefully choose the steepness and direction of the slop from each ridge point.  Some areas are shaded or especially rough and rocky, so hatching may be good here.  Some areas are sheer so I used lines.  I used the 02 to add the ridge and valley lines, after the shading, and varying the line weight to indicate distance.  This cleaned up the look.

 

Step 3:  Carefully erase the pencil marks

Results

I may repeat this.  It's not an interesting final product, but maybe I could make it more so.  I will still give it as a gift.  It was good practice.

Inktober, Day 6: Sword (Fern)

I skipped a few days ahead.  The prompt was "Sword."  In sticking with more of a nature theme, I thought of sword ferns, which I know to be fussy with details.  I thought to play with the Pigma Graphic 2 with this and did it on the back of my scratch paper, with only the barest framework sketch in under five minutes.

 

Materials

• Pigma Graphic 2 marker
• H hardness drawing pencil
• Cold-pressed watercolor paper cut to 3.5x5" 

 

 

Step 1:  Sketch with a pencil

Sketch the general framework

 

Step 2:  Draw with pen

I still don't like the 2.  I'm not sure it has a use in my artwork.  The tip is too stubby and not varied enough.

 

Results

I may repeat this.  It's fast.  I would not give this dirty one as a gift.  I would probably want a different pen, and I may place pieces of ferns in the corners at various angles to make it look like a section of stylized wallpaper rather than a single badly done biological drawing.

Inktober, Day 3: Poison

The prompt was "Poison."  I know mushrooms can be toxic and they're not 'poison', but I didn't feel like drawing a snake, which was my other initial idea that's also appropriate for the cards I'm giving as gifts.  I'm leaning towards natural over cartoonish, plus I wasn't sure the message it might send to mail someone a card with a bottle of poison or some other nasty poisonous thing.

 

Materials

• Pigma Graphic 1 and 2 markers
• Pigma Micron 005 and 02 pens
• H hardness drawing pencil
• White erasers of various shapes and sizes
• Cold-pressed watercolor paper cut to 3.5x5" 

 

 

Step 1:  Sketch with a pencil

Sketch the general shape, then outline the white spots, making note that some will appear to "cross" the boundary of the cap when viewed from a single perspective, and that the spots often grow in subtle rings.

 

Step 2:  Draw with pens

Using the 005, outline the spots first so you don't accidentally draw the mushroom "edge" through the spots.  I then used the 02 to outline the caps and stems of the mushrooms, and the 005 to draw the gills.  Next time, I should look at pictures of gills rather than guessing.

I used the 1 and 2 to fill in the one cap, realizing as I did this, that they are actually markers.  I don't like the way they 'flattened' the image, so I didn't fill in the other caps.  I also used them for the grasses and leaves, and while I don't like the minimal control I have with them on individual strokes, I do like the overall effect.  I also used the 02 for some of the stripes on the grasses.  I may go back and shade the stems; I may not.  The markers also smear more than I'm used to with my usual waterproof pens.

 

Step 3:  Carefully erase the pencil marks

Results

I would not repeat this.  There's too much detail and it takes too long.  I would need better "fill" pens if I were to draw it again.  I probably should revisit shading and texturing skills -- maybe if I can find exercises that overlap with some of the prompts.  I do like it well enough to give as a gift.

Inktober, Day 2: Divided

The prompt was "Divided."  I initially thought of a living tree with a lightning-split trunk, but again I wanted something quick, and I still didn't want 'cartoonish.'  Some puttering around the internet showed me a reflected cat lying down, but I wanted one reaching around a mirror playfully, and wanted to use my black cat, Pest.

 

Materials

• Pigma Graphic 2 pen
• Pigma Micron 005 pen
• H hardness drawing pencil
• White erasers of various shapes and sizes
• Cold-pressed watercolor paper cut to 3.5x5" 

 

 

Step 1:  Sketch with a pencil

Sketch the whole idea for this first.  I had a vertical line for the mirror and knew I'd need some floor, but didn't choose the mirror angle or draw in the floor until last, and did it in pen without sketching in pencil first!  If I'd done pencil, I'd have done a little more perspective on the flooring.  I admit I guessed at the angle of the mirror's bottom edge after I drew the reflection, and then I had to search some images to get the reflected floor angle hopefully correct -- I'm dyslexic in more than and directions!

 

Step 2:  Draw with a pen

I don't like the 2 for this -- I'd thought it was a softer tip or a finer tip with a broader base.  It has a chisel tip more like a calligraphy pen.  My cat was fairly sleep so I don't mind the lack of hairy details on the fur, and I left some fine white space between the strokes for texture.  At this point I'm looking for quick projects to keep me motivated. I now have an extra piece of paper on which to test a few strokes, as I found one with a blemish.

 

Step 3:  Carefully erase the pencil marks

 

Results

I would repeat this.  I'd do a better sketch and maybe some more background, plus figure out how to add more detail because no cat is quite solidly black and smooth.  I might do a tuxedo cat and give it to a friend who owns one.  I do like it well enough to give as a gift, and I'm glad to keep a digital copy!  

Inktober, Day 1: Swift

The prompt was "Swift."  That didn't easily bring an idea to mind, so I googled images for "swift" and saw some foxes.  I remembered I'd painted a watercolor fox some years ago, and I liked it, but I needed something a bit more stylized so I could finish it quickly.  However, I didn't want 'cartoonish.' 

Materials

• Pigma Graphic 1 pen
• H hardness drawing pencil
• White erasers of various shapes and sizes
• Cold-pressed watercolor paper cut to 3.5x5" 

 

 

Step 1:  Sketch with a pencil

 

Step 2:  Draw with a pen

I don't like the 1 for this -- I'd thought it was a softer tip or a finer tip with a broader base.  Maybe next time I'd draw with a finer pen and broaden the strokes with this one, where applicable.  However, it's done, and I made it work.  I need to use scratch paper to test out strokes, and maybe for a practice card.  I tend to do a single example of each piece and move on.  I know I would benefit from repetition but that seems like waste -- what do I do with the extra copies, and it also would bore me.

 

Step 3:  Carefully erase the pencil marks

 

Results

I wouldn't repeat this.  It's okay, but it's not my favorite style.  I do like it well enough to give as a gift.  Giving cards as gifts is especially liberating, because the recipient will likely choose the style or topic that best suits the correspondent. 

Inktober 2017

Inspiration

Inktober, a daily drawing challenge for the month of October. 

Also, I make cards as gifts for Christmas presents.  Last year I started making miniature watercolors on 3x5" to 4x6" watercolor paper with a triple purpose:

1. Something small I could easily paint in a few minutes a day, to do do art daily and not have to commit to large things I rarely finish.  (I live in a small space; I usually have to put everything away each time.)
2. A way to practice new skills and techniques.
3. A way to make packs of cards to give as gifts.

This year, I decided to try Inktober, though I'm quite late starting.  Rehabilitating some old injuries has kept me from sitting long -- and for a large portion of last year I had difficulty lifting my own arm, never mind painting, drawing, or even writing for long.

Materials

• I have a bunch of Pigma pens I picked up for free last year when an art student moved out of the dorms, and some waterproof micro Sharpies I've used for note-taking and drawing.
• I also have a mis-matched selection of drawing pencils from 7B to 6H I will use for sketching.
• White 'architect's' erasers in various shapes and sizes.
• Various rulers and other drawing guides I may or may not use.

Step 1:  Follow the Rules, or Don't -- this is to get you drawing for your own sake

Step 2:  Use the Prompts, or Don't

 

Step 3:  Have Fun!