Tuesday round-up

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to get back into the flow of regular blogging where I want to get back to posting bits and bobs of my life, not just my sketchbooks. I miss doing that.

So for starters, meet some of our feathered family -

Chico — formerly known as Phoenix — likes to snooze in my studio while I work.

And below are the awesome foursome! I won't tell you all their names because my son changed their names that many times, I've lost track. However I still call the green budgie, Jacob. He is the second eldest at around 9 years old. The blue one, Malik, is our eldest boy at 10 years old. That's very good going for budgies in captivity. Our vet said to keep on doing whatever we're doing. They are a happy bunch and love their mini-aviary.

Since becoming vegan, I have to say that I'm not overly comfortable owning birds in captivity. That said, these lovelies were here before I became vegan so not much I can do about that now plus I do love them.  They are very well cared for and they pretty much have the run of the house throughout the day as we open their cage roofs of a morning. They are all hand-tamed. I know there are differing opinions on this but, yes, my son does clip some of their flight feathers purely for their own safety. They can still fly, just not high enough or too fast where they can injure themselves on ceiling fans, walls, or glass doors. It is much safer for them and they still get to exercise.

We also get daily visits from the Butcherbirds who I'm sure would love to have our birds for supper. When our birds get noisy chattering, a Butcherbird will sometimes perch on the fence looking in through the window. They are aggressive predators feasting on insects, lizards, and small animals including birds. They have been known to hook and pull a small bird from its cage. They are called Butcherbirds because they often impale their victims against fences or tree limbs to render them helpless. Butcherbirds are native to Australia and protected by law.

The one pictured below is a juvenile Grey Butcherbird which perched on the fence outside my studio as it could hear Chico chirping. The adults have a black crown and face, with a white collar. Their wings also dark grey rather than brown.  (Sorry, not a great photo as it was taken from behind a security fly-screen.)

And the beauty below is of the fin variety, not feathered.  He is my son's Siamese Fighting fish also known as a Betta fish. This one is a Crown-tail Betta. I must sketch him one day.

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I've been trying to get back into regular sketching and, back in mid-February, I signed up to Sktchy to draw a daily face....then the pain and depression hit so no sketching. I plan to do ALL the faces in order and yesterdays efforts are below. Reference Image is Adam Vitry, another Sktchy artist/member.  I sketched him with a purple pencil and a purple ballpoint pen...not quite finished yet. I'm going to experiment more as I go along.

On a sad note, today marks three years since my Dad's passing. 

Still miss him every day.
Love you, Dad xo

That's it from me for today. 

See you tomorrow for Scribble Picnic. 

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

Sketch supplies and a botched sketch revisited...

I thought I'd share some of my sketch supplies this week

I LOVE my travel palettes!
The hardest part is deciding which one to take
when I do go on a sketch outing.

The large palette is one I don't use much at all, even at home,

because it is so big and takes up a lot of room on my art table.

I've labelled the palettes for your convenience. 

I use a mix of brands in the tube watercolours - 

Winsor & Newton, Daniel Smith, and Art Spectrum. 

I simply fill the empty pans and leave them uncovered

 to dry out overnight. 

I always re-wet with a water spray bottle 

before actually painting with them.

Another watercolour medium I like to play with on occasion 

are my Mungyo Watercolour crayons.
These were my go-to medium before I got my hands on my travel palettes.

I tend to use them in a similar way to how I work with a travel palette. 

I leave the crayons in the case, as is, and 

just pick up the colour I want with a wet brush. 

There are actually two sets pictured, 

one has had a lot more use. 

And these are my trusty biros/ballpoints 

in a variety of colour ranges which make another
great tool for sketching.
You can get a fairly good range of values with ballpoint pens.

I love my fountain pens and brush pens too.

On top of the art supplies pictured above,
I also have a range of Derwent watercolour pencils, 

Derwent Inktense water-soluble pencils,
Derwent and Prismacolour colouring pencils, 

Faber-Castell PITT pens, 

Prismacolor, Copic and Letraset PRO markers,

and lots more...

Don't get me started on my sketchbook stash.

As artists, do we ever stop adding to our art supplies?

Do you have a favourite,
can't be without,
art medium or art tool?

I think, for me, it would have to be
a sketchbook, a ballpoint pen and/or a fountain pen. 

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In January, I completed a month of portraits in my sketchbook. 

I confess that I had started one portrait but never finished it. 

You see, I had only outlined the initial sketch 

in ballpoint pen, and then went to add emphasis and detail 

with my Platinum Carbon pen when it decided to cough up ink. 

Disheartened, I moved on to a new sketch.

Since then, every time I flipped through my sketchbook, 

the bare skeleton of the sketch with ink splotches 

glared back at me.
Unfortunately, I neglected to take a photo
of the bare bones sketch

but, on Friday, I decided to go back and finish it.

I'm glad that I did because, 

 despite the messy ink splotches, 

I kinda like how she turned out.
Still minimal but much better than the bare bones look.
Her hair could be better but
I was trying to disguise a couple of ink splotches.

This was sketched in my Hahnemuhle D & S A5 sketchbook.

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Over the past week,
I have become hooked on the Netflix series, Orphan Black.
 I'm now onto Season 2 already.
I thought a sketch of Sarah was fitting.
I went a little long with her nose,
which is a common mistake I tend to make with faces.

Sketched first with a BIC fine ballpoint pen
followed with my Platinum Carbon pen
in Holcroft A6 travel journal

I'm linking up with Sunday Sketches again this week.
You can check out the other participants HERE.

Happy Sunday to all!

366 Daily sketch challenge was an epic fail...

...considering we are now nearing the end of February. 

However, I have a darned good reason,  

Something that was out of my control.
More on that further down...

That said, I AM very happy that I did complete 

31 portraits for January! 

The last two January portraits below....

30/366 daily sketch
Hahnemuhle D & S sketch journal - A5 size, 140gsm, landscape format 
BIC Cristal ballpoint pen
Highlights are done with a POSCA white acrylic pen

31/366 daily sketch
Hahnemuhle D & S sketch journal - A5 size, 140gsm, landscape format 
BIC Cristal ballpoint pen
Highlights are done with a POSCA white acrylic pen 


I'm linking up with Sunday Sketches this week.
You can check out the other participants HERE.

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My big excuse for stopping the challenge so early....

I had carpal tunnel release surgery on Feb 4th
on my right/dominant hand. 

The theatre nurse only called me less than a week prior 

so I knew that February would be out of the question 

as far as my sketching and other hands-on activities went.

I came out of surgery with a bright pink hand and forearm right up to my elbow.
It's the solution they paint your hand/arm with before the procedure.
I had open surgery done with local anaesthetic using a tourniquet block.
It felt SO weird being awake for it all.
Thankfully they covered me with a tent so I wouldn't have to see it.
Watching a procedure done on YouTube was enough to turn my stomach.

Day 9 after the surgery
That bruising mid-forearm was actually individual finger marks
that were merging into one big bruise.
I'm not surprised because I could feel my arm
being forcefully pushed and pulled around
during the procedure.
It looked pretty gruesome under that dressing
so I've spared you the photo.

I was able to drive again at two weeks thanks to power-steering,
however, sharp turns and reverse-parking can be a little awkward
as my hand is still healing.
The surgeon said it can take up to three months
for it to be fully healed.
I've read some horror stories on the net
where some people are still not healed after seven months.

The stitches came out at the two week mark and
a couple of them were very painful. OUCH!
Obviously, a lot of healing still going on under the skin.

I'm now just past the three week mark and things are going pretty good.
I can touch-type again and I can write,
both for short periods of time.
I can't lift anything heavy though,
nor can I do things like open heavy doors
that require pushing or pulling.
My hand lets me know when it's had enough.
It feels very tight at the suture site
and the surgeon said that will be due to
the healing and scarring process.

I am also on the waiting list to have my left hand done next.
It was actually worse than the right for carpal tunnel syndrome
but I noticed the right hand more being that it was the dominant hand.

At least, I'll know what to expect now
so I'll be better prepared at home
by making some freezer meals prior to surgery.

SO!

In light of the fact that my 366 Daily Sketch challenge
was abruptly interrupted by hand surgery,
I have decided to just go month-by-month
as far as challenges go.
I'm hoping to kick it off in March,
my birthday month.

On another note, I was so limited and bored while waiting for my hand to heal,
I bided a lot of time in the first two weeks watching YouTube videos.
 I came across some great home organisation channels and caught the bug!
I've been crazy busy following through with some of the ideas/tips
so will share more on that in a later post too.

Stay tuned.....

366 Daily Sketch challenge - more portraits

What a week! 

It's been unbearably hot and humid 

which makes me feel like a badly wilted flower. 

We don't have air-con so we make do with ceiling fans. 

Weather aside, I have continued to sketch daily.

To pick up where I left off, 

here is the lovely daughter of a Facebook art friend. 

Reference photo used with permission.  

24/366 daily sketch

Hahnemuhle D & S sketch journal - A5 size, 140gsm, landscape format 

Graphite and watercolours 

Highlights are done with Art Spectrum gouache

A couple of process images 

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Next up is Sktchy artist/user, Katya Khodyacheva. 

In the original image, Katya had a scarf wrapped around her head and face 

but I instantly saw long hair billowing in the wind. 

25/366 daily sketch

Hahnemuhle D & S sketch journal - A5 size, 140gsm, landscape format 

Graphite, watercolours, and Lamy water-soluble ink. 

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For the following portrait, 

I used another of Ashley Goeltz's images.
I have done a few of sketches of Ashley via Sktchy.
She has a unique style which makes for an interesting model.

To start with, a simple graphite sketch
and a splash of watercolour.

More watercolour

a couple more layers and the final result

26/366 daily sketch
Hahnemuhle D & S sketch journal - A5 size, 140gsm, landscape format 
Graphite, watercolours, acrylic gouache, and Lamy water-soluble ink. 

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Day 27 and another Sktchy subject - iam ALVA. 

The image speaks of love and trust to me.

It was adorable so I just had to sketch it.
It makes me think of the relationship
I have with my own fur-kid, Cody.

Early stage 

and finished 

27/366 daily sketch

Hahnemuhle D & S sketch journal - A5 size, 140gsm, landscape format 

Graphite, watercolours, acrylic gouache, and Lamy water-soluble ink. 

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I only had time for a very quick pen sketch on Thursday. 

You guessed it...another Sktchy artist/user. 

This one is Jonathan Kalema. 

28/366 daily sketch

Hahnemuhle D & S sketch journal - A5 size, 140gsm, landscape format 

BIC ballpoint pen in black

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And last one for today's post anyways... 

Sktchy artist/user - Jessica Aguirre 

29/366 daily sketch

Hahnemuhle D & S sketch journal - A5 size, 140gsm, landscape format 

graphite and watercolours

I'm linking up with Sunday Sketches again this week. 

You can check out the other participants HERE.

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Apparently, there will be no relief from the heat
over the next few days.
Instead, it's going to get even hotter....NICE!
As if I'm not melting enough already.
Winter can't come soon enough for me.
I'm definitely a cold weather gal.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

366 Daily Sketch challenge - more portraits

It's nearly 5am on Monday morning 

which is my usual time for waking up  

and I realised I'd forgotten to do my Sunday post. YIKES!!!

Better late than never, I guess.

My sketches so far....

For the record, I normally sketch directly with pen/ink 

unless I want soft edges in a particular piece. 

I will then use a graphite pencil. 

Week 3 - male portraits

I'd like to thank all the Skchy artist/users 

who put up images via the app for us to sketch.

First for this post is Sktchy artist/user - Thyago PLAY 

18/366 daily sketch

Hahnemuhle D & S sketch journal - A5 size, 140gsm, landscape format 

Sketched with Platinum Carbon pen and watercolours. 

White highlights are done with Art Spectrum gouache.

The following one was a little embarrassing/confusing for me. 

The Sktchy user is Esther Michelle and 

I thought this was a case of her putting a pic 

of a boyfriend or male relative up on Sktchy. 

I did the sketch but,
after reading a comment by another artist, 

who also sketched the same image,

I am now thinking that this 

could possibly be a female subject 

...sporting a very short hairstyle.
The suit threw me off a little too.

If that is the case, my sincerest apologies to Esther Michelle 

for her ending up in my 'male' portrait week.

19/366 daily sketch

Hahnemuhle D & S sketch journal - A5 size, 140gsm, landscape format 

Sketched with Platinum Carbon pen and Lamy water-soluble ink. 

I then used white acrylic gouache to tone down the ink which I had gone 

a little heavy with on the face.

Next up is Sktchy artist/user, Martin Rodriguez. 

20/366 daily sketch

Hahnemuhle D & S sketch journal - A5 size, 140gsm, landscape format 

Sketched with graphite, Prismacolours, 
and BIC Cristal Pocket Scents ballpoints pens. 
Highlights are done with Art Spectrum white gouache.

Next up is Sktchy artist/user, Eden Suoth. 

21/366 daily sketch

Hahnemuhle D & S sketch journal - A5 size, 140gsm, landscape format 

Sketched with a ZIG Millennium 005 ink pen 
and Faber-Castell PITT pens for the solid blacks.

And so ends the seven days of male portraits.
The next seven days will be a mix.

The following sketch is Sktchy artist/user, Fancy DRAW.
Sorry for the poor lighting in this one. 

I love dreadlocks so just had to try my hand at sketching them. 

Boy, were they tricky! 

22/366 daily sketch

Hahnemuhle D & S sketch journal - A5 size, 140gsm, landscape format 

Sketched with a ZIG Millennium 005 ink pen and LAMY water-soluble ink.

Last up is a dear artist friend from Facebook, Chelle Mayer

who gave me permission to sketch one of her photos. 

First layer of watercolour

Final layer

23/366 daily sketch

Hahnemuhle D & S sketch journal - A5 size, 140gsm, landscape format 

Graphite and watercolours 

Highlights are done with Art Spectrum gouache

I'm a little late with Sunday Sketches but thanks to time-zones 

I can sneak in the back door before anyone notices. hehe 

You can check out this week's participants HERE.

I'll be back with more soon....

I hope you all had a beautiful Sunday!