Dinosaur and Sake Set

tyrannosaur sketch and sake set

in blue Graphitint pencils dry

I got in some sketching this morning and finished what I meant to do with the opposite page - sketch a reconstruction from that view of the skull. Not 100% satisfied with it though I do like how the arm and mouth came out. Something about the head angle made it hard to do the face.

I meant to wash the watersoluble pencils but didn't, particularly because I liked the way the pottery looked without a wash.

The sake carafe and cups are from an ebook I bought on sale, "Urban Sketching" by Marc Taro Holmes. I enjoyed his video on Urban Sketching: Birds and snapped up this ebook today on a Black Friday sale. The only sale item I bought this year, money's tight. It's a good ebook, fascinating and right on topic for all the sketching I've been doing in 2015. 

Kitten Kyra

First sketches of Kitten Kyra

Tombow dual tip pens on sketchbook

Today's art and yesterday's art, all caught up. Last night sketched the kitten full body sitting on a kitchen chair, today using the same reference I slowed down to sketch just her pretty face. I got her face a little too long on the first one but the second has her proportions and expression better. Very young cat.

I'll be moving back to Arkansas in a few months, probably end of February, when my adopted daughter Kitten gets her tax return and can afford teh trp to come get me. She went out to take a look at the house I'll be renting and met this adorable little waif at the house, miserably wailing for food and attention.

Took her home, washed her, fed her, found out Kyra's a loving, snuggly, sociable cat who likes everyone, human or animal. She's going to be Ari's new companion. I've been thinking of finding him a playmate for a long time and in she walked. The best cats pick themselves.

Ari tends to get along well with female cats and kittens, while Kyra loves everybody, purrs, greets and gets cuddly. I think they'll get along well! So here's the start of sketching my new model - and her unusual markings. She has points, but she's a calico in the dark areas! Dark brown ears and tail, ginger patches next to the brown and one ginger hind foot, very pale body and white patches within her points. One little brown spot on her pink nose. Sweet, cute and unique!

This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Ari Cat from Life

Ari Cat from Life

8" square Tombow grays on sketchbook

I'll probably add more cat gestures to this page or something, he moved before I could get his body in. This is a typical life pose. He turned his head twice looking to the side and I had to wait for him to look back, then got up and walked away to eat. After all I was only drawing him, not offering yogurt or reaching to pet him. He's not always that keen on posing!

But he will sometimes come back to a pose again and again. I don't think he really minds it either, just knows I need to learn to draw fast!

Pines from Memory

Pines from Memory

Tombow dual tip brush pens on sketchbook

Another fast pines study in Tombow pens, playing with shapes and strokes. I added a contour sketch of a group of pines behind them to complete the page and a bit of water to the right, lake or sea that's calm. Not unhappy with this one, these tree studies. Sometimes less is more. I considered doing something in the sky and decided against it. Maybe next time.

Weather's been doing a number on me and the heavy activity of the past few days was more than my back or hips could take. So I've been taking it easy since I went out that much, the stairs wrecked my knees and the weather's picked up the theme with erratic pressure changes. All adds up to some recovery time, during which sketchbook is a major achievement.

Nanowrimo stalled and choked due to chronic fatigue but I'm not worried, it's still early in the month and always goes this way.

Rose and Rosebud in colored pens

Rose and Rosebud, 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"

Stabilo Point88 washable colored pens on large Moleskine watercolor book

Had fun with the rose reference from smudged-blue on WetCanvas.com, it was very pale pink with strong yellow-orange depths in the center. So I went about following those hues and was right about the pink Stabilo pen washing out just right for it. 

The background at first I just put several defined leaves hatched and layered in greens, blue, orange, violet. Then decided to fill in around and between all of them with random hatching, a type of background I often used for tonal areas in pen drawing. I used both greens and brown with a few accents in orange and violet because they go so well with green. 

Sure enough they washed out to a great muted midtone but all my inked lines remained strong yet softened. That's an effect I'm very fond of, It looked pretty good dry but the wash let me bring in very pale hues and shade the rose in the lightest parts, something difficult with pen work alone.

Pines and Fall Foliage

Pines and Sumac 8 1/2" x 11"

Tombow pens on sketchbook paper, memory 

Fall Foliage, 8 1/2" x 11" photo by BeeG on WetCanvas

Tombow pens on sketchbook paper

Yesterday was a good day, sketched in the morning with another lesson for my email student on pine structures skeleton and loose rendering, plus some red sumac from memory because I love it. I used the Muted Palette again for this one and liked how it came out. These full page sketches are bolder and a lot of fun.

Then in the evening wrote not one but two short chapters in my Nanowrimo novel, a vampire non-romance titled Forever Mine. Basically it's about a bad relationship and in the early chapters of their hazy limerence, some warning signs are already there. I'm about one day ahead already and that's great, the novel writing challenge is well in hand.

This morning I decided to work from a reference and liked the scattering of bright leaves in BeeG's Fall Foliage photo reference. Changed it to add more pines behind the tree and in the far distance, another demo. Love the way these big bright pages go fast and bold, it's not like doing little sketches in pencil that don't always show up on camera.

Today is Voting Day and tomorrow I've got my appointment, that's going to be a lot of exertion without enough rest in between. Plus this week the exterminator's supposed to be coming to fumigate and clear up the bug problem in my room. That'll take a lot of prep and everything on the shelves needs to get bagged and set aside, some serious disruption both in art and life. Not going to be fun and I'll very likely lose some days to stress and exhaustion in it. There's a limit to what home healht care people can do to help with my art supplies, some stuff I need to pack down myself and hope to get it done before they show up.

So wish me luck on all the overexertion. I may wind up sleeping like my cat when it's all done.

Harvest foods in Tombow pen

Harvest

Tombow dual tip pens on sketch paper

Last daily sketch of October, just decided to do a harvest theme from imagination and memory. I used my new Muted Palette set, think the pumpkin came out looking a bit cooked but otherwise reasonably happy with the rendering. Had fun with the wheat, really didn't want to do the cliche of putting corn with it. Tossed in cranberries and currants because I like them. Best item in the whole sketch is that knobbly gourd, really had fun doing that one.

Might play with some of these later or with a real setup next year when harvest decorations for Halloween are a thing from truck stops! But this completes a second month of daily sketching or drawing without missing even one. The 48 hour rule really works. I get lull days after doing something good sometimes, or just the weather catches me before I'm done. But if I just give it that extra day to catch up, I do it.

Now doing that while writing a Nanowrimo and editing a previous one is a huge challenge, so wish me luck! Might sketch for a warm-up, do a lot with these Tombow markers. Cooked Pumpkin color might work for Tawny Sabertooth fur.

Catching up!

White Horse pen and watercolor

Oops! Been keeping up daily sketching and/or painting with the 48 hour rule - if I miss a day, I catch up the day after. But toward the end of day too tired to post sometimes. So let's catch up everything we missed working backwards... above is today's White Horse done in my large Moleskine watercolor journal from my daughter's photo. She says the nearest, right side knee has a congenital deformity in my painting, so I'm still going to be working on perfecting horse anatomy. Maybe return to this reference more than once in different media till I get it right!

Broken Tree Demo

Yesterday's art for the 29th, a sketch from imagination as a demo for my email student on tree anatomy. Also to refine the memory of a couple of lightning-struck trees I saw at different times in my life. Memory sketching is fun!

Blue Rose - watercolor

Painting for the 28th, actually sketched in pencil on the 28th and painted on the 29th. Just a rose from my own photo painted blue because I felt like it. Still using up the three dabs of American Journey watercolor triad occupying my porcelain palette. It's a triad, it's got some possibilities.

Owl from Memory, tombow pens

Sketched on the 27th, think that was an extra for the day. I was making up for skipping a day but did a couple of others.

Cat "Teo" pen and watercolor

My favorite of the three pieces I did on the 27th, a cat portrait in Pentel Brush Pen and watercolor with a mixed-shaded loose watercolor background. Did use the American Journey watercolor triad for this one too, relying more on Quinacridone Alizarin Crimson and Ultramarine with Joe's Yellow only used in his green-gold eyes. Accurate cat portrait.

Candy Colored Playtime (Abstract)

Same large Moleskine watercolor journal as the previous, now using only the red and yellow in the triad plus some red and yellow Derwent ArtBars washed out. Experimental textures and shapes, goofing around doing an abstract. Was done to make up for the 25th when I didn't draw. Except started it then with the crimson spattering, then waited for paint to dry and went to bed. Ths is some of why the 48 hour rule is handy. If I don't finish whatever it is and chronic fatigue knocks me down first, I still finish within a day after. With that rule I haven't missed a day completely.

Now I'm all caught up! Will be posting tomorrow of course.

November posting may be intermittent though, as November is NaNoWriMo, as always I will be participating. This year I'm editing Elder's Pride, my sabertooths book, and writing a vampire novel. Rough drafts are easy after doing Nano every year since 2000 - the idea is to write a 50,000 word book in 30 days and I only failed once on account of pneumonia slowing me to a November 25 start in 2002. One year I did 500,000 words in five and a half novels and just totally overdid it. Most times I finish the book too. 

Editing is not that easy - but if it becomes so, I can start whipping out good readable books at a great prolific pace even if I don't bother going back to a lot of the ones I wrote in the past. Some have flaws I don't want to bother fixing. Some of them I don't like the theme any more. So the real challenge for me is the rewrite, which is mostly redoing each scene from scratch in its proper point of view and paying attention to suggestions from critiquers. In effect, writing with an outline and line edit, spell check when I'm done. That last pass is mechanical and not the problem, it's the changes that give me problems. 

So I've got a reward system. Edit my scene in Elder's Pride, then if I have energy write some in the vampire novel, if it's a good day also sketch. Vamp novel is very easy because backstory is all worked out in Raven Dance for how my vamps work, know them forwards and backwards except these characters, story idea has lots of inherent conflict and so does their point in "vampire history." It goes way back to the hominids and way forward into Raven Dance. 

Which in terms of writing novels means it's like sketching something very familiar, the backstory's all done and I don't have to work it out. Just do these ones. Like sketching cats, really. Not a romance novel if you're interested, more of a horror one, very contemporary. Not all vamps evil though, just as not all people evil, not really horror of good and evil so much as conflict and tragedy. I might be smashing genre a bit or maybe not, will have to see when it's done.

Kitten just sent me horse knee anatomy diagrams, so that error can be remedied. Going to do some anatomy drawings and have a go again in another similar medium, probably watercolor pencils or Neocolor II in the big journal.

None of these have to be perfect. It's final paintings that become wall art where I like to get it that accurate. See you tomorrow!

Sketches of Ari Cat and Tree Scene

Eleven Dots 1

Abstract Art Exercise in red and black pen on paper.

Yesterday I caught up for the day before by doing an abstract art exercise from an ebook I downloaded. It looked fun and came out surprisingly well, though completing it needed repeating it in a second color. Fun to just get creative without worrying about what it is.

Eleven Dots 2

Tombow pen on sketch paper

Did the exercise again this time playing differently with the line and forms created by the line. Resulted in a completely different abstract pattern that also worked. It surprised me how well this works as a starting point, doing it twice generated such completely different results.

Then I sketched my cat from life but didn't snap a photo or post it anywhere, was sort of doing ahead for today in case I was tired. Today I finished that page with another tree demo - this time a contour drawing to show more clearly that trees thicken toward the base and narrow toward the tips, always branching smaller and smaller without bulges. Unless the tree has a tumor like an oak gall or something, but those have a particular look and aren't an upside down gradual swelling. I threw in a couple of landscape elements and more roots this time because the same principle applies to tree roots except sometimes they dive into the ground and come up again. Played with very obvious perspective diminishing cloud sizes as they moved toward the horizon and dong the waves by the sea very small to show how high the crag the tree's on is.

Worked rater well, I think. Might rearrange it a little but it's a cool design. I'm starting to just make things up and I like that.

Tree Scene and Ari Cat Page

Tombow pen on 8 1/2" x 11" sketch paper.

Cat Portrait and Crooked Tree

 "Croggers" memorial cat portrait

Derwent Graphitint pencils and wash on paper

Crooked Tree Demo 

8 1/2" x 11" pen on paper

Croggers the cat was beautiful and his photo was posted for this weekend's Weekend Drawing Event at WetCanvas. I felt for the little guy and did a portrait drawing, paying close attention to markings and exact features and expression. Successful portrait, and he has that sweet meditative look that well.

Derwent Graphitint are tinted graphite watersoluble pencils, very soft, 8B softness. They dissolve fast and color brightens with water. I used them on my large Moleskine watercolor journal.

Then did a promised lesson on tree anatomy and shadow direction for my new student. She'd done a scene with one bare tree in an autumn landscape.  I let this be a winter one and implied snow with the bushes bending and stark values of the black on white. Could have added blue shadows, didn't, just kept it simple. But I like the design and may develop it into a more refined painting or drawing.

Winter Trees and Icy Creek

Winter Trees and Icy Creek

Monochrome Burnt Umber WN Watercolour Marker

Stillman & Birn 7" square Delta watercolour journal

I love these watercolor markers. The brush tip is bold and flexible, the colors are artist grade archival and pigmented, and they wash out easily with a water brush. Today's is mostly an exercise in tree shapes, snow by implication, negative space and ice around darker water. 

I attended the last session of Paint Along 21 with Johannes Vloothuis online and the creek isn't the same one as Jo's demo but was inspired by it. I remembered too many times as a kid seeing creeks and ponds partly iced over, the water looked dark but the ice was just pale and translucent. It'd crack if you trod on it or even leaned with your foot. Lot of puddle ice cracking actually, and fascinated looking at ice patterns in puddles and running water especially.

Played with tree shapes and atmospheric recession too, moving smaller ones into a misty distance by running the water brush over the tip of the marker and painting with that, then a dash of color into their tips while wet to strengthen them and let them gradate lighter at the base. Mist would come up or snow get blown along in breezes sometimes obscuring the bases of trees.

So this little sketch is just a design exploration from memory.  I can easily improve on that - but it's much easier to do when I see it on paper than if I just start without a clear idea.  More on this theme to come!

Pen Drawings

Leaves from Life in watercolor pencil and

Cat Gargoyle - imagination, brush pen 

Mother Bird and Ari Cat Portrait

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen

These are two facing pages in my pocket Moleskine watercolor journal. I did the page with the leaves sketch out in the clinic garden yesterday, washed that drawing at home and sketched the Cat Gargoyle directly with pen next to it. Also penciled hte mother bird from a video in the waiting room but changed her species from eagle to something less predatory and added a chick from memory. Penciled Ari from one of my recent photos in the waiting room.

Inked both of them today so this is my daily sketching - which may expand to more art later on, but if it doesn't, I'm still keeping up. Yesterday was extremely productive, the weather was just with me! Today, I'm a little slowed down. Pressure changes are what does that mostly, it can seem nice out or even the same but as weather systems move, wham, I suddenly lose most of my body energy. This gets frustrating as pain can reduce fine motor control on my hand. Sometimes I feel like painting or sketching yet know I'm not going to be able to control the tools. Worst part of the disability along with poor eyesight.

Emu and Hollyhocks

Emu - 7" square Pentel Brush Pen and watercolor 

Hollyhocks

7" x 9" Color Conte on black Canson Touch sanded pastel paper

Two for today, the Emu was something I conceived yesterday but didn't sketch till this morning. Minor breakthrough with that Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, I didn't pencil it first. Reference by hugashrimp for the WetCanvas.com October Watermedia Challenge. Watercolor is my Daniel Smith palette. 

Hollyhocks was the October Pastel Spotlight challenge and I expect to do a third or fourth piece today. Will be going out to the clinic this afternoon and depending on how I feel, go for some plein air sketching or photos or both. That and I'm going to have a go at a cat gargoyle from imagination.

Whale Shark Sketch

Whale Shark

7" x 3 1/2"

Back to Winsor & Newton Watercolour Markers. On the bottom of the page I added a detail sketch of the markings, which are simplified in the main sketch but if I develop this into a painting I can definitely get more detailed on markings. The bands of dots alternate between larger white ones and smaller pale blue ones that make an interesting almost a grid pattern on the animal.

I always liked whale sharks. Large krill grazers, they live a lot like whales and are very gentle. Most of the documentaries I've seen them, they let people ride them holding a fin and don't get alarmed at divers. But so very huge!

This was yesterday's daily sketch, today's will be a bit different. Haven't decided subject or medium yet but I'll post it!

Collage of September Daily Paintings

Collage of September 2015

30 Paintings in 30 Days (Not in order)

Not in order and not always with the right proportions, but better than last year's collage. Some of my subjects last year weren't recognizable.

I had to delete everything and start over on this one to get everything this well, but it's a big improvement. 

I plan to keep on with daily art and may post again later today with a new daily painting. But I wanted to post this just to share in the glow of completion. This year I did it. This year there are actually 30 paintings for 30 days.

From now on I'm keeping that 48 hour rule too - if I make it up the day after, it still counts. Some days get worse than others and that's a fact I have to live with. But I can still count a gesture sketch of a familiar subject and nothing about size, the idea is more to say hello to my art at least daily.

Purr at you! Ari Cat sheds his Cat Hairs of Inspiration in your direction!

Ari Cat Life Sketches

Ari cat sketches from life 3" x 5"

Winsor & Newton Watercolour Markers

Pocket Moleskine accordion fold journal

I almost didn't even draw today, the cold came back and I felt completely drug out. But my beautiful fluffy muse came and posed right in front of me in compact folded position, all but one foot tucked neatly under him. I had to sketch my beautiful Ari. He moved into the top position twice, which was very good for getting his chest and one visible paw.

Love my Ari cat. The markers are as good as any brush tip pen for capturing his gestures and I do love how it looks when I break the line to give his fur texture. Also always loved the way his knees puff when he lays down like that, sometimes sticking up higher than the middle of his back.

California Poppy and Cats from Istanbul

 California Poppy

pastel pencil on paper

I started out today's pastel pencil sketches from one of my own photos, an early one from the clinic garden. I just wanted something bright that wouldn't fill the entire page on an 8 1/2" x 11" sketchbook. All of these are on one page from that simple sketchbook. I may actually fill it with pastel sketching.

 Gray Cat from Istanbul

pastel pencil on paper

photo reference by jlloren on WetCanvas.com

Every week there's a Weekend Drawing Event when a member posts sixteen photo references, often from trips they've taken abroad. This time the host went to Istanbul, so I may be back with some skylines with mosques and other architecture sketches tomorrow. I just had to start with the cats though!

Tabby Cat from Istanbul

Pastel pencil on paper

Photo reference by jlloren from WetCanvas.com

This little tabby was so sweet in her expression. I like how both of them turned out. Love the pose on the gray one and the markings on the tabby, subtly brown and blue-gray on the same cat.