Saturday 18 November 2017

INKtober final wrap up

As mentioned in a previous post, I didn't finish INKtober all the way to the end but I did get to #27 which I'm very happy about as I beat my efforts of 24 sketches last year.

So here is the final wrap up...

INKtober 21/31 - Aussie Magpie - I sketched this beauty with Sumi ink in a Strathmore grey toned sketchbook. The highlights are done with white gouache.
I have a huge soft spot for magpies as, apart from being very clever birds, I adore how their babies are so loud and demanding when it comes to wanting food. They certainly keep their parents busy. Even now, as I type this post, I can hear a young magpie badgering their parents for food in a neighbour's yard. An interesting note is that the Aussie magpie is actually an entirely different bird species to the European magpie so they are quite different in nature. They were only called magpies due to their black and white markings.

I found a video on YouTube of our Aussie magpies and butcher birds looking for a feed. Not my video but it shows exactly what I mean about the magpies' loud and demanding babies. Too funny! We have had magpies fly into our kitchen waiting on us to put out some food, just like you see in the video. Please watch it all the way to the end as there is more than one baby.

Click HERE if the video below does not play for you. If an advertisement pops up on the video, just click the little 'x' on the top right corner of the ad to close it off.


INKtober 22/31 - Country Church. This time sketched with Speedball India ink in my Moleskine watercolour notebook.  I sketched this from a photo I took when we went on a country drive out past Beaudesert earlier this year.

INKtober 23/31 - Pineapple - I started with a loose pen sketch in my Moleskine watercolour notebook.

Then added some Kuretake artist quality watercolours

As a child, my favourite fruit juice was fresh pineapple juice...still is. Pineapple is so refreshing diced up on a hot summer's day. Sometimes, I will spoil myself even further by adding a large dollop of either vegan coconut or soy ice-cream. SO delicious!

INKtober 24/31 - Bat - I used the official INKtober prompt for that date which was BLIND. I thought of the saying 'Blind as a bat'.  But, funnily enough, bats aren't blind and their vision isn't all that bad...just better suited to night time. I sketched this fruit bat, also known as Flying Foxes here, in my Moleskine watercolour notebook using Sumi ink.

INKtober 25/31 - Boo! - My Scribble Picnic pals would have seen this one already. Sketched with a Platinum Carbon fountain pen then inked in with a Pentel Pocket brush pen. The green shoes were done with a Tombow brush pen.

INKtober 26/31 - Mouse - I used the official INKtober prompt for the date which was SQUEAK. This little cutie was sketched with a mix of ballpoint pen, Dr Ph. Martins Bombay ink, and Speedball India ink. The pinks and yellow tones were done with a touch of watercolour with white gouache to highlight.

INKtober 27/31 - Climb - which was the official prompt for the date. My final INKtober for 2017 sketched with Speedball India ink in my Moleskine watercolour notebook.

Even though INKtober is now done and dusted, I hope you will continue to follow my posts as there will be lots more sketches to come...

Thank you for all the wonderful and encouraging comments. I plan to catch up with your blogs very soon.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday 16 November 2017

Scribble Picnic - Gift wrap

It's already Thursday Down-Under so I'm running very late for Scribble Picnic. I had a very bad pain day with my back yesterday after doing some housework for house inspection.  We passed inspection with flying colours but my back grumbled and groaned for the rest of the day and evening.  I took painkillers and went off to bed even though I did have ideas for my take on the theme floating around in my head. I just couldn't focus on anything due to the pain.  Thankfully, it wasn't as bad when I woke this morning so I decided to quickly sketch something.

There is more to add...and I will definitely be adding watercolours so will post the results later. 

Finished the colour version in the afternoon

To see what my fellow Scribblers have been up to for this week, click HERE
To find out how to join our merry clan, click HERE.

Monday 13 November 2017

More INKtober sketches

If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen these already although I don't always share my process stages on Instagram so you get lucky there.

Sorry I'm late in posting all the INKtober sketches I did but life just gets busy at times.

So here goes...

INKtober 17/31 - Official prompt was GRACEFUL so I went with a swan.

I sketched it in a Strathmore Grey-toned sketchbook - approx. A5 in size

Starting out with a loose ballpoint pen sketch

First pass of ink

More layers

And the end result

I wasn't overly happy with how the water turned out. I could have dabbled more on it but I tried not to spend too much time on the INKtober sketches.

INKtober 18 - You would have seen on Scribble Picnic - Castle

INKtober 19/31 - I went with an ink-toned sketch of daisies from a negative space aspect using SUMI ink. This was sketched in a Moleskine watercolour notebook - approx. A5 in size.  The Sumi ink behaved a little differently on the watercolour paper so it took a bit of wrestling.

I used an acrylic painting I did years ago as my inspiration for the inked piece above

INKtober 20/31 - Egret. Keeping with the ink and negative space aspect but, this time, using Speedball India ink. I think it behaved a little better than the Sumi ink on the watercolour paper.
Done in Moleskine watercolour notebook approx. A5 in size.

I will leave it at that for today...tune in tomorrow for the last lot of INKtober sketches.

Wednesday 8 November 2017

Scribble Picnic - Cookie

Hi everyone,

Another busy week has passed by and it's Scribble Picnic time again. This week, Michael chose 'COOKIE' for the prompt.

I decided to create a cartoon-type skit done very quickly. I may redo it at some point and refine a few things.

These two little mice are carrying a large sultana cookie back to the mouse hole but they run into a problem when they get there...



YIKES!!! Me thinks that their Mum won't be too happy with them when she sees what they did.

The whole skit was done over two pages in my Moleskine sketchbook which doesn't take watercolour too well. Next time, I will use the Moleskine watercolour notebook.

To see what my fellow Picnickers have done for this week, click HERE.
Next week, the prompt is 'GIFT WRAP'....come along and join us. To find out how, click HERE.

On another note, I'd like to thank you all for the well wishes last week. I had the cortisone injection on Monday...yes, it hurt, but it was bearable. I was told to rest the hip for a few days and that the cortisone would kick in after three days. The pain seems to have eased somewhat....YAY!

I will post the rest of my INKtober sketches over the coming days. Time got away from me last week.

I hope you are all having a lovely week so far.

Wednesday 1 November 2017

Scribble Picnic - Toy

Hello friends,

This week, the prompt for Scribble Picnic is TOY.

I had an image in my head which I roughly sketched with pencil in my Moleskine sketchbook. Don't you just love his over-sized socks?

I then refined it with a new sketch...all finished below.

Will was absolutely over the moon with his birthday present...a T-rex Dinosaur! 
T-Rex looks quite happy with his new owner too. hehe

To see what my fellow Picnickers did for this week's prompt, click HERE.
Next week, the prompt is 'COOKIE'. Do come along and join in on the fun...to find out how, click HERE.

Re. INKtober - I got as far as Day 27 then came down with a severe migraine which happened to be the side effect from dealing with very bad hip and back pain all week. The medication knocked me out so I had to call it quits on the inking. Last year I got to Day 25 so at least I beat that.

I am now booked in for an Ultrasound-guided cortisone injection directly into my hip joint on Monday. It won't help my back but, hopefully, it will help with the hip pain.

I will post the rest of my INKtober sketches soon so stay tuned...