Wednesday 25 October 2017

Scribble Picnic - BOO!

Hello friends,

I didn't realise Michael had put up the prompt for this week until an hour or so back so I quickly sketched out the following in my Moleskine A5 sketchbook.

Little Tommy is all set for Trick-orTreating on Halloween night

Click HERE to see what my fellow Picnickers have done for this week's prompt. 
To find out how to join us each week, click HERE.
Next week's prompt is TOY....time to get the thinking caps on.

Friday 20 October 2017

More INKtober sketches

Hello friends,

I'm enjoying the INKtober challenge and managing to keep up with the sketching daily even though I am a day behind in posting them on Instagram.

For this one, I used the official INKtober prompt for Day 13/31 - TEEMING. As we were getting torrential rain that week, it was only fitting that I sketched it.  I used Strathmore Grey-toned paper with Sumi ink and a wee touch of gouache for highlights.

I did this next one on Strathmore Tan-toned paper using Bombay and Sumi inks with some gouache to highlight. The Cheetah was one of my favourite animals as a child....I loved that they could run a mile a minute. I guess this one suited the official INKtober prompt for the day too - FIERCE although I see them as quite a graceful animal - Day 14/31.

Day 15/31 - A Siamese Fighting fish A.K.A. Betta fish. This one is my son's fish which I took a photo of.  I love his colours...sketched with Platinum carbon fountain pen, PITT pen, plus Sumi and Bombay inks.

Day 16/31 - A rabbit. I took some process photos for this one...starting with a loose pen sketch on Strathmore tan-toned paper

First layer which is a mix of Bombay and Sumi inks

Second layer with inks

And the end result....more detail and layering. White gouache for highlights.

More INKtober sketches to follow soon...

Wednesday 18 October 2017

Scribble Picnic - Fill in the blank

Hello fellow Scribble Picnickers,

I've had a pretty rough day...feeling unwell and having to take medication to ward off a pending migraine. I'm a little foggy-headed as I type this so please forgive any errors.

This week's prompt was a 'fill in the blank' —


I've enjoyed working with the tan-toned paper for INKtober so thought I'd use it for today's sketch as well. Castles kept coming to mind so that's what I went with. Sketched with a Platinum Carbon fountain pen and coloured with a mix of INKtense and Prismacolor pencils. I was channeling well known Urban Sketcher - Pat Southern Pearce.

To see what my Picnic pals have done for this week's prompt, click HERE.
To find out how to join us each week, click HERE.

And a laugh for today —

Those who follow my blog regularly will know that Jack, our Jack Russell/Shihtzu, detests having a camera or smart phone pointed in his direction. Well, yesterday, I caught him watching me, and he looked so darned cute that I had to try. Poor little man is blind in his left eye (cataracts and age) so he didn't realise what I was up to at first and I managed to actually get a fairly decent shot of him.

Within literally two seconds, he spotted my phone and was on the move...a blur!  THIS is what most of Jack's photos are like. haha

I will post more INKtober sketches tomorrow so stay tuned...

Tuesday 17 October 2017

More INKtober sketches

Hello friends,

I'm taking a break from portraits for the moment so here is a bit of variety for you...

Day 8/31 - I have been using these Dr Ph. Martins inks along with some Sumi ink in a few of the following sketches. I like the range of tones I can get with them.

Day 9/31 - A penguin sketched on Strathmore Tan toned paper with Sumi ink, a Pentel pocket brush pen and a few prismacolor pencils

Day 10/31 - A rat sketched on Strathmore Tan toned paper with Sumi ink, Bombay ink, and Faber-castell Polychromos white pencil

Day 11/31 - Why a frog in meditation? Well firstly, I had decided I wanted to sketch a cute, illustrative frog.  Then, after watching a documentary on George Harrison the night before with my son, and I noted that George Harrison was big into meditation and the Hindu faith so, I thought...why not sketch a meditating frog. Note the 'Peace' sign necklace she's wearing? Sketched on Strathmore Tan toned paper using ink, watercolours, and Pentel pocket brush pen for stripes.

Day 12/31 - A teddybear sketched on Strathmore Tan toned paper using Bombay and Sumi inks, a brown ballpoint pen, and gouache for highlights. The bow is done with watercolours.

That's it for now until the next INKtober post.

Scribble Picnic is tomorrow and I still haven't a clue what I'm going to do for the challenge. YIKES!

Sunday 15 October 2017

More INKtober portraits

Hello friends,

I did a few more Sktchy portraits for INKtober. If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen these already as I've been posting my INKtober pieces over there daily.

Day 5/31 - Kieran via Sktchy

Day 6/31 - Carolina via Sktchy

The rough pen and ink sketch first

More layers and detailing

Day 7/31 - Ellie via Sktchy

Stay tuned to see more INKtober posts....hopefully tomorrow.

Thursday 12 October 2017

Another INKtober portrait - Aaliyah

Well, I haven't managed to post daily but I have been sketching daily for INKtober. YAY!

That said, I have been posting daily over on my Instagram profile — click HERE.

To continue where I left off...

Aaliyah was an up and rising star as a singer and an actress when, at only 22 years of age, she tragically died in a plane crash on August 25th, 2001. That day, Aaliyah and her film crew had finished filming for a music video in the Bahamas and, afterwards, boarded the Cessna plane to head back to Florida. Unfortunately, the plane had weight in excess of the allowable amount and the pilot had falsified documents so was not even qualified to fly the plane. It took off but quickly nose-dived and crashed at the end of the runway exploding into a fireball. All nine people on board died.

My son, Beau, was devastated because Aaliyah was his favourite singer/actress. He was only 14 at the time she died and he took it very hard. He was in denial for weeks and kept asking if she could have made it to safety. In his mind, he had so desperately wanted her to miraculously escape and survive...it took him a long time to come to terms with her death. I felt so bad for him and felt helpless to ease his pain. Beau still feels that Aaliyah's songs speak to him and they have helped him through lots of emotional and difficult times over the years.

Needless to say, I felt under extra pressure with this sketch of Aaliyah because, when it comes to all things Aaliyah, Beau must give his stamp of approval and — luckily for me, he did.

The first couple of layers of ink

And the final result

Tribute video - Click HERE if the video doesn't work

I will post more from my INKtober sketches tomorrow so check back then...

Wednesday 4 October 2017

Scribble Picnic - Blanket

Hello friends,

This week, the prompt for Scribble Picnic is BLANKET.

I thought I'd go for something cutesy this week. A little platypus curled up under her blanket, fast asleep. Sweet dreams, little one.

Sketched with Platinum Carbon pen, watercolours, and Prismacolor pencils in Moleskine watercolour notebook.

To see what my picnic pals have been up to for this week, click HERE.
Next week, we will have another 'Fill In The Blank'...what fun!
Click HERE, to find out how to join us.

I also did my INKtober portrait sketch for Day 4 of 31 but I will post that tomorrow along with whatever I do for Day 5...probably another portrait. I wanted this post to be all about Scribble Picnic.  You can check back on previous posts to see what I've been up to for INKtober.

Tuesday 3 October 2017

INKtober - Day 3 of 31 - Sktchy portrait

Hello friends,

I'm afraid I haven't been well today...we've had rain for a few days and also a cooler change. The moisture in the air seems to have flared up my asthma.

I did manage a quick Sktchy portrait though.

I sketched this with ink pen, Sumo ink and brush, and a Pentel pocket brush pen.
Her name is Jessica Aguirre.

I'm hoping to continue with the 'Gone but not forgotten' portraits when I'm feeling better.

Stay tuned...

Monday 2 October 2017

INKtober - Day 2 of 31 - Selena Quintanilla-Perez

Hello friends,

I figured that, since I did Amy Winehouse yesterday, I might stick with a theme for the first week of INKtober.

You have most likely heard of Selena Quintanilla-Perez — the American singer songwriter, also known as the Queen of Tejano music.  Selena was tragically shot and killed by the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar, on March 31st, 1995. Selena was only 23 years old at the time of her death. She was a beautiful, giving person with an infectious smile and was loved by many.

They made a movie about her titled, Selena, and she was played by Jennifer Lopez.  It portrays her life from childhood to stardom — a beautiful movie with a tragic ending.  Another that I'd highly recommend if you haven't already seen it.

A loose pen sketch to start with

Then some Sumi ink and my Pentel pocket brush ink pen to finish her portrait

Here is the official tribute video to Selena. It's one of my favourite songs performed by Selena.
You can click HERE, if the video doesn't play for you.

Stay tuned for more ink sketches...

Sunday 1 October 2017

INKtober - Day 1 of 31 - Amy Winehouse

Hello friends,

Well today marks the start of INKtober! I didn't complete it last year (got to 19 if memory serves me correctly) but I thought I would try it again this year. (Just checked and I actually made it to 24.)

Recently, my son and I watched a documentary on Netflix titled, Amy.

I must admit that I'd never heard much of Amy Winehouse apart from the occasional news segment about her doing drugs and then, of course, her death at only 27 years old. I didn't even know what type of music she performed but, after watching the documentary, my heart broke for her.

Amy was a young woman who adored music and even wrote her own songs. Amy classified her music genre as a mix of jazz and hip-hop. She had an amazing voice!  Sadly, Amy was not prepared for all the fame and media attention that stardom would bring her. She was overwhelmed by it all. She fell for the wrong guy who ended up marrying her and then introducing her to hard drugs. On top of that, she was bulimic since her teens which didn't help.  Amy adored her father who appeared to enjoy the limelight more than she did — even starred in his own reality show about being Amy Winehouse's father.

She had a few very close friends who saw the self-destructive path Amy was on and, at one stage, they pleaded with the father to encourage Amy to go into rehab but her father said she'd be fine. They also begged her father and manager to not let her tour but they both seemed more interested in the tour bookings and not wanting to cancel. It was clear that his daughter needed help. At one point, Amy didn't even want to go on tour but they bundled her up and sent her anyway.

The media/photographers had a field day and, seeing it all unfold in the documentary, their harassment of Amy reminded me very much of what they did to Princess Diana. I'm sorry but I'm of the opinion that, just because someone becomes famous, it does NOT mean their private lives should be available to one and all. They are not demi-Gods, people, so leave them alone and allow them some privacy!

Not long before her death, Amy had told a close friend that, if she could give up all the fame and go back to the life she had before, she would.

Amy did go to rehab and was drug-free at the time of her death.  However, she did indulge in alcohol and that is what killed her in the end.  An autopsy report showed that Amy was something like five times over the safe limit and her heart just stopped beating.

I would definitely recommend this documentary...in fact, I watched it twice because it affected me that much.

In honour of Amy and her amazing talent, I chose to kick off INKtober with a sketch of her.

Starting with a loose pencil sketch

Then inked using a Platinum Carbon fountain pen

To finish off, I used Sumi ink with a brush and also a Pentel Pocket brush ink pen

To end off this post,  I thought you might like to watch/listen to one of my favourite songs performed by Amy Winehouse. And the direct link if the video doesn't work for you...click HERE.

NOTE - I'm not sure yet but I will probably post a weekly update with my INKtober sketches as I don't think I'll have time to post daily.

Stay tuned...