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.

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...

Sunday Sketches: A portrait

I've missed the last couple of Sunday Sketches but I'm back on board this week. YAY! I'm also another year wiser as I recently had a birthday.

I was a little worried I may not have been able to participate this week because our internet service provider is doing major system upgrades and we couldn't access the net at all last night. Apparently, there may be further disruptions until Tuesday.  So this will be a very quick post for fear I will get cut off.

I did another quick portrait using a reference image on Sktchy.  I sketched her directly with ballpoint pen then followed up with a Lamy Joy ink pen. Then added some Sumi ink which was painted on with a brush. I am loving Sumi ink at the moment because I can get so many shade variations.

To see the work of other participants for this week, click HERE.
To find out how you can join us each week for Sunday Sketches, click HERE.

Happy Sunday to you all!

Sunday Sketches plus I had a WIN!!!

I am SO excited to share the news that I won the giveaway over on Michael's blog. He hosted the giveaway to celebrate the launch of his new weekly art collective - Scribble Picnic. I can't believe my luck! Thank you so much for your wonderful generosity, Michael. 

Even more good news is that, for a while yet, Michael will be offering a monthly giveaway for Scribble Picnic participants. How cool is that?!

I wanted to show off the wonderful prize that I won so I sure hope Michael doesn't mind that I nabbed this picture from his blog. I thought it interesting to note that the giveaway included some Lancashire Tea because I was born in Thornton-Cleveleys which was/is a part of the Shire County of Lancashire. What are the odds?!

This week's theme for Scribble Picnic is CABIN and I haven't even started mine yet. YIKES — I better get a move-on...

I did get some sketching done for Sunday Sketches. To see the work of other participants for this week, click HERE.

First up is a very quick sketch of my son snoozing in the lounge-room while we watched Netflix.  I definitely need to work on perspective when drawing people from life.  Unfortunately, Brad decided to wake up and move position so some of the sketch was finished by guesswork.

Second up is another Sktchy model. I did a quick ballpoint pen sketch of Zaneta first.

Then followed up with some liquid Sumi ink which I painted on with a brush.

I lost the likeness but I still like how she turned out.

Happy Sunday to you all.

Another Sktchy portrait

It's been a while since I've done a Sktchy portrait but the urge took me this morning so I dived right in and chose a 'victim' from the tons of reference images available. I love Sktchy!  It's only available for IOS but it's a great tool for artists. It's basically a library of reference images, mostly people pics, that are uploaded by other artists. Artists painting other artists — too cool!

I sketched Marissa directly in pen, then added some watercolours trying to be loose and messy.

Linking up with Paint Party Friday again this week. To see the work or other PPF participants, click HERE.

I hope you all have a beautiful and fun weekend.

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!

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!