INKtober: the last sketches I managed

I tried and failed but I enjoyed taking part. I had an emotional week which got in the way unfortunately.  So these are the last two I managed to get done for the INKtober challenge. Both are on a somber note but the reasons for sketching them are very close to my heart.

I sketched this greyhound in support for a protest rally held in Sydney last Sunday. The rally was to voice opposition against the overturning of the greyhound racing ban in NSW. Thousands of these beautiful greyhounds are killed every year because  they don't make the cut in training or they don't do well on the track. 

On top of that there is the horrific live-baiting scandal that was uncovered last year, where several greyhound trainers were found to be using possums (a protected species), kittens, piglets, and rabbits as live bait in training. This despicable treatment of innocent animals was exposed via hidden video taken by animal activists. Live baiting is illegal so you'd think it would be enough to warrant an immediate shutdown but, yet again, it's a battle because the almighty dollar always seems to take priority. 

Greyhound racing is a cruel industry that should be stopped and we will not give up the fight! 

And the last one I managed to do. 

Day 24 - A chicken who doesn't have a great life either in yet another cruel industry. 

"Humanity is accruing an enormous debt of karma by its treatment of animals."~ Eckhart Tolle

Linking up with Sunday Sketches this week. 

You can see the work of other participants HERE.

INKtober: More daily sketches from week 3

Oooooops, running a little late....no excuses 

apart from the fact that I completely forgot to do my blog post yesterday.  

So a recap on the past week of INKtober sketches. 

I post these daily on my Instagram feed is you are interested in seeing them earlier. 

I recently purchased Season 11 of Supernatural so, before I watch it, 

I am doing a recap of all the previous seasons again as a refresher. 

You may guess that I'm a huge fan! 

So I thought it fitting to sketch some of the cast for INKtober.

Jared Palecki who plays Sam Winchester. 

Sketched entirely with ballpoint pen. 

Jensen Ackles who plays Dean Winchester

Sketched entirely with ballpoint pen

Jim Beaver who plays Bobby Singer
I didn't quite get his squint right but we live, we learn, right?

Done entirely with ballpoint pen

Felicia Day who plays Charlie Bradbury 

Charlie was one of my favourite characters on the show

I loved her quirkiness!

I was disappointed that I lost the likeness with this one 

but when sketching directly with pen, 

you have to learn to live with it. 

Then I decided to sketch a little robin with coloured ballpoint pens 

and a 005 ZIG Millennium ink pen (it's extra fine). 

A quick ink sketch of a fake succulent plant I have. 

Trying to loosen things up a bit here. 

Sketched with Platinum Carbon and Lamy Joy fountain pens. 

I LOVE my fountain pens!

Another loose sketch of my left hand this time. 

This was sketched with a Platinum Carbon pen 

followed up with Sumi black ink applied with a brush.

Speaking of my left hand, 

I will be making a doctor's appointment today 

as it's been over three weeks and I'm still dealing 

with a lot of pain issues. 

It's strange because I can use it normally 

apart from certain positions.

Linking up with Sunday Sketches (a little late). 

To see the work of other participants for this week, click HERE.

INKtober: More daily sketches

It's been quite a challenge but I have been managing to keep up 

with the INKtober daily sketching this past week. 

All inked up

Thanks to Marcelo Cunha over at Sktchy for the reference image.

Splashes of colour with Dr Ph Martins inks

Sketched with Platinum Carbon and Pentel pocket brush pens, 

then a light wash here and there with Sumi ink.

Thanks to Gustavo Romano over at Sktchy for the reference image.

Sketched with Platinum Carbon and Pentel pocket brush pens, 

plus a light wash of Sumi ink.

Thanks to Jordan Shelton over at Sktchy for the reference image.

I couldn't help but smile when I saw the reference image so just had to sketch him.
Sketched with ballpoint, Platinum Carbon, and Pentel pocket brush pens. 

Thanks to Vincent Cuevas over at Sktchy for the reference image.

Sketched with ballpoint, Platinum Carbon, and Pentel pocket brush pens. 

Also some Sumi ink. 

Thanks to Hannah Chaffee over at Sktchy for the reference image.

Sketched with ballpoint pens in various colours plus a little white ink.
Oh, and some SUMI ink for the black.

The green base is watercolours. 

My own reference image.

Sketched entirely with a Staedtler brown ballpoint pen. 

I like the softer look of this one. 

Thanks to Marcelle C over at Sktchy for the reference image.

I'm linking up a little late with Sunday Sketches this week.
It's actually 6:30 on Monday morning here.
To see the work of the other participants, click HERE,

Aaron, my son, graciously passed his Spring flu over to me
 so I woke up feeling miserable with a clogged head and
a sore throat that is very painful when I swallow.
I'm still dealing with hand pain from my fall.
It could be worse but maybe
I should see about trading myself in
for a newer model?

Life goes on.....

More Inktober sketches

Hi everyone. Thanks for all the well wishes regarding my fall last week. My foot is pretty much better now and, in hindsight, my daughter and I believe it was actually a pinched nerve causing the severe foot pain that night. A couple of days rest and it was fine...so it could have been back/hip related after all.  My hand is still in a fair bit of pain when I try to carry out heavy tasks but that is to be expected with nerve and soft tissue damage.

Over the past week, I have been busy with daily sketching for Inktober.  I have been posting my sketches over on my Instagram feed if you want to see them daily as I don't get time to post here every day.

A meerkat sketched with water-soluble ink and then a water wash was applied.

This emu was sketched with permanent ink, then washed with water-soluble ink.
The eyes are done with ballpoint pens.
Getting the beak to look right was quite challenging.

This little cutie is called Teenie.
She is my Mum's pomeranian.
I sketched her with a Platinum Carbon pen and
ballpoint pens in suitable colours.
Then some white ink and a light wash of watercolour to finish.

A mirror selfie, sans-wrinkles.
Sketched with a Lamy Safari fountain pen
containing water-soluble ink.

Then a water wash applied with a brush.

I adore all animals but I admit to having a soft spot for pigs. This mother and baby sketch was prompted by my utter disgust at how the pigs were treated in Burlington, Ontario, recently when the truck taking them to slaughter rolled over.  The treatment of the injured pigs was nothing short of cruel and apathetic on the company's part.  Pleas from a local animal sanctuary's owner to take the injured pigs into sanctuary care went ignored and was even laughed at.  The poor, injured pigs were left to suffer for hours before being callously killed where they lay and then were unceremoniously dumped in a dumpster at the site. I hate how apathetic the human race has become. Did you know that pigs have the intelligence of a four year old child?  They are smarter than dogs and yet we get away with committing such atrocities against them.  It is so very wrong!

This is the initial pen sketch of a reference image on Sktchy.

I finished her with ballpoint pens in various colours
and a touch of white ink and watercolour to finish.

Yesterday, I was visiting with my Mum so didn't have a lot of time to sketch. 

I managed a quick, loose pen sketch of some new inks I bought recently. 

I used the ink colours to paint and spatter them with a brush.

Fun, fun, fun! 

I'm linking up with Sunday Sketches again. 

To see the sketches of other participants, click HERE.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Sunday Sketches: My morning coffee

A very quick post today as I'm feeling so tired after my late night trip to the hospital emergency yesterday.  I didn't get back home until after 1am and didn't get to bed until after 2am.   You can read all about it on my previous post HERE as well as see my first Inktober sketch.  I have today's ink sketch done but the artificial lighting is terrible for taking photos at night.  I will photograph and post it tomorrow morning instead. 

My foot is doing much better today thanks to the anti-inflammatory medication and resting it.  My hand is still in a fair bit of pain though.  If it doesn't ease in a week, I might go back to my own doctor just for a second opinion.  I would have felt better had they done an X-ray.  A chap from the Plaza's Centre Management rang today to check up on how I was doing which was a nice gesture. 

As you know, I've been quite busy with online classes of late and I will share more about that in another post.  For now, I thought I'd share a journal page I did last week. 

Brushwork first 

Followed by the ink

The finished page

I'm linking up with Sunday Sketches this week. 

To see the work of other participants, click HERE.

It's INKtober time!

This will be my first year participating in the INKtober challenge and I'm quite excited about it. Anyone who knows me will already know that I love to sketch directly in ink/pen but can I pull it off daily for 31 days?  Wish me luck. 

Yesterday's effort

This old paperbark tree resides in one of the streets not far from where I live.  I admire it every time I drive by it.  I think it's because of the way the branches bend downwards. I sketched this beauty with a Carbon Platinum fountain pen from a photo I took.   Unfortunately, it's not in a safe spot on the road -side to just pull over and sketch from the car. 

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I'm posting the sketch a little late because I had a bit of a setback with my left hand and left foot yesterday (Oct 1st). You may remember I had carpal tunnel surgery four months ago and my left hand still wasn't fully healed.  I was unable to bear any heavy weight on it such as using my hand to help myself up from the floor or use it for any heavy duty tasks.   Well, yesterday afternoon, I was at the local shopping mall to pick up a prescription for my son when, my left leg slipped in a puddle of water sitting right outside the pharmacy.  Down I went and my reflexive action was to put out my left hand to break my fall.  I have an old back injury from years ago so my first instinct is to always protect the back.

My hand took the brunt of the impact with the floor and it began hurting a lot with a weird sensation through all my fingers!  Needless to say, I alerted the pharmacy about the puddle of water so they could get  it cleaned it up before some other unsuspecting person went for a slip-slide.  They also took down the details of my fall and told me to go and note the incident with Centre Management also.  At Centre Management, the security guard took down all my details, applied an ice pack, and sent me on my merry way.  They were all quite concerned and full of apologies.

By early evening, I was also in agony with my left foot which had seemed okay after the fall.  The pain was so bad that I nearly passed out and I ended up being taken by ambulance to Hospital Emergency.  They took an X-ray of my foot which was thankfully clear so they deemed it to be a sprain from the fall.  As far as my hand went, the doctor didn't feel the need to X-ray it because I could still move all my fingers and close a fist, albeit gently.  He feels the nerve, now unprotected due to the carpal tunnel surgery, was injured and my hand will take some time to heal.  Nerve damage can take years to heal. I know that from my back injury.  Obviously, if the hand gets any worse, they will X-ray it just to be on the safe side.  So there you have it.  My drama for yesterday.  I feel so lucky that nothing was broken but I will be nursing my left foot and hand for a little while yet.

Thankfully, it wasn't my right hand either so I can still sketch and participate in INKtober.  YAY!
I will be posting again later today to keep me up on track with the challenge.