I'm behind by a day yet again with it now being Saturday, not Friday. Oh
well, better late than never I guess. For this week's Friday Face Off, I did
some work on my weekly journal spread which involved finishing up the
giraffe sketch I did a couple of weeks back plus another portrait. This Week
24 spread is not finished yet but getting there. I'm thinking of adding a
couple more portraits in the blank area.
A close up
Brad and I have been watching Stranger Things
together. I re-watched the first 3 seasons with him because he hadn't watched
them yet so we are now on Season 4. Eleven is drawn with graphite pencils. I
decided to ink the giraffe sketch. I signed up to the
Creativity Matters Podcast
on Instagram and we receive weekly prompts for illustrating our week.
To see what other FFO participants have done
for this week, click
HERE.
It's been a very busy week so I'm running late
with the art challenges this week but only by a day. This week for
Friday Face Off, hosted by Nicole, I only managed a pencil sketch of what is to be a
watercolour portrait. That's the plan for now anyway. I might have her
finished for next week.
So this is as far as I've managed so far. She
is actually very faint in my sketchbook but I've darkened the image so you can
see the lines more easily.
I
thought you might also like to see some more of my older portraits.
The following portraits are all done freehand using ink
for an INKtober challenge I did back in 2017. I do love working directly
with ink. I've learned to love the mistakes if they can't be rectified but, most times, I manage to blend them in. I usually draw with a .005 ink liner pen which is very, very fine,
then I paint in shading and darks with liquid ink (usually Sumi ink) using a
paintbrush. Then I often use a .01 or .03 liner pen to redefine certain
lines more.The liquid ink gives you a wide variety of lights and darks
depending on how much water you add.
I also did an ink portrait of
Selena. I don't know if you've heard of her but she was a very popular singer
back in the 90's until she was callously gunned down by the woman who ran her fan club.
Such a tragedy. She was known as the Queen of Tejano music and many said she
could have been the next Gloria Estefan. There is a movie titled
Selena where Jennifer Lopez plays the role of the popular singer. A lovely movie on Selena's life and highlights the close bond she had with her family. I'd highly recommend watching it if you haven't already. If the video trailer
below doesn't work, you can watch it on YouTube HERE.
So I thought you might like to see my process
when working with ink. There is always an ugly stage in most paintings which
is why you shouldn't give up and press on until you are happy.
First the fine ink pen drawing. The ink liner pen is
fine enough where I can cover mistakes and redefine areas later. Bear in mind, the line drawing is darkened so you can see the lines more clearly.
The first pass with liquid ink and not too
attractive. You'll notice the ink bled too far into her face...
... but, not giving up, I was able to use acrylic gouache to blend it out. And then achieved an end result where I was happy with
it. I sometimes use a white ink pen for some highlights and fine white lines though not always. Sometimes I will use white gouache to block or blend areas too.
Remember to pop on over to Nicole's blog to see the work of other participants. Click HERE.
Note — I'm running a little behind catching up with everyone's blogs but I hope to remedy that over the next couple of days.
I'm running late (Aussie time, it's Friday) for
Rain's Thursday Art Date this week so it will be a post and run. I was going to let this week slide as
I haven't had much of a chance to do any art. BUT when I glanced at the theme
of 'yellow' this morning, it nudged my creativity. A 'yellow submarine'
immediately came to mind. So that's what I did. Of course, Yellow Submarine by The Beatles is playing in my head too. lol
YIKES! This little yellow sub has found itself in a
precarious position after the tide went out and now, it must wait for it to
come back in.
To see what others have done for this week's
challenge, check
HERE.
I have been a huge fan of 'tiny houses' for
years and my yellow sub reminded me of a YouTube video I watched a year or so
back where a couple in New Zealand actually created a Yellow Submarine Tiny
House. If the video below doesn't work, you can find it HERE.
Another Friday Face Off is here! I still haven't completed the page spread
for my ballpoint pen mermaid but I did get some more work done on her. She
is pretty much completed but I've yet to add more elements to do with the
sea around her.
This is where I left her last
Friday.
And this is where she's at today
To see what other Friday Face Off
participants have done for this week, click
HERE. Feel free to come join us each Friday over at
Nicole's blog.
And here are a few more older ballpoint
sketches. If I've done them any justice, you may even recognise a few of
them. All done freehand with a BIC blue ballpoint pen.
The one below was done with a Staedtler brown
ballpoint pen
And that ends my post for today. I hope you
have a nice and relaxing weekend.
I think this may be my first time participating in
Rain's Thursday Art Date. The theme for this week is 'Pink'. I hope the pink Easter egg in my finally completed Easter spread
will do. I know Easter was back in April but I've gradually been adding
elements to the pages and only completed it last week.
The eggs, chick, and bunny were done with watercolours and ink. I collaged some stamps and the packaging from the vegan chocolate my son and I
tried for the first time over Easter — it was delicious! The Carrie's
Coconut bars remind me so much of the Bounty bars I used to love — I actually
like the vegan ones better which is saying something because I've always been
very picky when it comes to chocolate and the English-recipe Cadbury's was always my favourite.
To see the work of other TAD participants for this week, click
HERE.
Temperatures have dropped a bit here with Winter officially arriving on the
first of June. I do love our winters despite the fact that the cold, dry air
brings on frequent asthma attacks. I have to remember to wear a mask if I go
outside in the mornings or evenings. If I forget,
like I did the other morning, I suffer with violent fits of coughing
followed almost immediately by chest congestion which makes breathing
difficult. I end up feeling quite ill and weak for two to three days. Not fun
at all especially when I'm still dealing with neck issues from the fall.
I'll battle on regardless.
Before I close off this post, I thought you might like to see a picture of my
studio muse. If Kya isn't draped across my art desk, she will sometimes lie on
the rug directly behind my chair, mostly because I've kept putting her down
after her failed attempts to lie on top of my work —
while I'm actually trying to work. I'm fine if she lies on the desk
right beside me but that isn't always the case. Instead of an art muse, I
should call her an art block because she hates me working at my desk and
constantly tries to stop me. Crazy cat!
I hope you enjoy the rest of your week and the upcoming weekend. Stay safe and
well.
