Inktober 2017 - Days 29-31

Ahhhhh, the last three days of Inktober.

This one started with the sketch in pencil, then Micron..........

Then I used markers and a few colored pencils to finish it.  I'm just sorry he looks so worried.

As before, this was a learning experience and a challenge to keep a commitment.  Though there were a couple of days that I fell behind, it was never more than one.  And my subject matter was all over the place.  If I do this again next year, and I think I will, I am going to try to choose a theme.  I also want to remember to use a different choice of paper.  Initially I grabbed what was at hand - 4x6 index cards, and should have chosen a sketch book with better quality paper.  Not that the execution of the artwork would change, that's on me, but the effects would be better.  Like I said, a learning experience.  

Inktober 2017 - Days 22-28

These first three were inspired by our dogwood tree and I still didn't get it right.  The colors are so intense much like what I see.  But the shape of the tree is wrong.  The branches are more layered  horizontally.   I didn't like seeing them in the first attempt, eliminated them from the second, and the third was just a concentration of the colors of the leaves and what was around it.

This combined the theme from Scribble Picnic - BOO.  I drew a bottle of BOOze.

I cheated with this one.  I had this drawing of the orchid in pencil and I inked it with a Micron Pigma intending to go back and add color, but I think I would rather color it with pencil instead of ink so that will wait until another time.

Not exactly pointillism - is there such a thing as dashism?

And this is just silliness - I found some new gel pens at the $Tree.  There are four of them in the set each with three different colored inks.  I think you can see the variegations in the colors in spirals.  The spaces were filled with black marker.  

Inktober will be over soon.

Inktober 2017 - Days 15-21

After a very mild beginning of fall they were predicting our first frost early last week so I picked what was still blooming of our zinnias.  Here you have it two ways, pointillistic and colored with ink markers. 

I saw a photo of this bird, which I believe is a member of the grosbeak family and I loved the speckled breast and red accents I just had to give it a try.    

This was combined with the weekly Scribble Picnic theme - Fill in the _.  I used the assigned shape to make some flowers for a Steampunk garden.  

Mummies and ghosts!

East Point Lighthouse.  

Scribble Picnic - Fill in the Blank

We're back at the picnic this week with a "fill in the blank" challenge and these are the blanks.

I chose to create a little steampunk inspired garden and left it in black and white.  

I may decided to give it a little color in the future, but for now, you'll have to use your imagination.

Time to head over and see what all the other picknickers have filled in their blanks with.  You can join me by clicking here. 

Inktober 2017 - Days 8 - 14

So I started out the week with an ink drawing of one of the coolest kites that we saw last weekend.  I only wish I had video'd the movement of this one because it actually looked like it was crawling with all those folds and legs.  (Note to self to video if it and we are there next year!)

Looking for something in my photo files, or was it on my blog....., in any case this is inspired by a photo that I took several years back of a lonely swan sitting on the edge of the bay.  I wanted to add orange to the beak but I talked myself out of it.  What do you think?

I keep seeing these advertisements on Facebook for these name mandala necklaces and thought I would give it a try myself.  It took some measuring, but it was fun.  Hmmmm....... Christmas gifts??

So as I was getting my breakfast ready Wednesday morning there was a rather eerie pink glow outside that got my attention.  I glanced over the the east and the sky was streaked with oranges and pinks, lavendars and blues.  We have a lot of trees surrounding our house here so this is the best I could get of that colorful scene, but it served as my inspiration for my drawing that evening.

Although my trees are sans leaves, I like the way this came out using India inks for my sky.

Someone posted a photo of an osprey on Facebook.  The bird looked to me like a Halloween forebearer with his head dipped down and his right talons raised.  I really should have started this drawing higher to get all of the tail in also.  Lesson learned. 

And how was your Friday the 13th?  We had a pretty wacky one at school.  This background was made the other day with the leftover India inks from the sunrise picture.  I was looking up how to spell triskaidekaphobia - the fear of the number 13 and found that there was a word that meant the fear of Friday the 13th which was all the more relevant to that day.  A little lettering practice in ink.

October means pumpkins and so let there be pumpkins in India ink.  Some problems with perspective here and a lesson learned to thoroughly clean my brush before changing colors so I won't get that orange hue in my aqua sky again.

Inktober 2017 - Days 1-7

I'm taking part in Inktober again this year and I'll be posting my ink drawings one week at a time.  There are prompts but you don't have to follow them.  You can set your own theme or choose something totally random which is what I've opted for.  The only caveat is that it be done in ink.  To me that includes markers, ink pens, gel pens, and pen and ink.  

Day 1 - A scene from Hello Dolly which I was lucky enough to get to see on October 1st with friends.

Day 2 - A rose in remembrance of the sadness caused by the Las Vegas shooting. The tendrils representing the many lives that were touched and changed forever.

Day 3 - The Yankees won the wild card game putting them in the playoffs.

Day 4 - Combined with the prompt from Scribble Picnic - BLANKET.  Our little guy sleeping with his blue blanket.

Day 5 - Inspired by a weather radar map showing the flutter of butterflies migrating over Colorado.

Day 6 - An owl lantern that HWNSNBP and I picked up at the Christmas Tree Shop.

Day 7 - One of my favorite kites we saw at the LBI Kit Festival.

Scribble Picnic - BLANKET

We're supposed to bring a BLANKET to the picnic this week.  My first thought was a baby blanket so I sketched my favorite baby and his blanket using part of a photo his mother had shared with me. 

I've been doing the Inktober challenge also so I used a Micron to pick up those sketched lines and then some Papermate Flair pens I scored in a great sale this weekend just to color the blanket. (The set of 24 at AC Moore regularly $29.99 was on special for $10 and I had a 25% off coupon on my total purchase including sale items, so I was a really good deal.)

There's nothing more peaceful, in my book, than watching a baby sleep.

I'll be venturing over to the picnic to check out all the other BLANKETs soon.  You can too by clicking here.  Next week is a fill in the blank challenge so think about joining in the fun.