Inktober 2018 – Sketch Selection 4 – 6

Here are three more scans from my 2018 Inktober series. I kept the preliminary pencil work to a minimum attempting to use it specifically for defining overall sections or linear elements rather than detailing. That worked fine for organic material like plants but when it came to anatomy…not so much. That wasn’t a big deal in this context. As an exercise in exploring techniques it’s more interesting figuring out what can be done with the tools at hand rather than meeting a specific aesthetic.

 

 

 

 

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Crafty Christmas 2018

A number of years ago I worked for a giftware company bulk painting folk art items for retail. It was piece work so the more pieces you painted the more money you made. It wasn’t particularly challenging for technique. The pieces had to be simple so they could be mass produced but I did pick up some nifty tricks (floating, double loading, tole patterning) that are fun to revisit every once in awhile. I’m crafty keen about Christmas. I make my own fresh evergreen planters, decorative wreaths, and ornaments.

Ornament creation is a great activity to incorporate some of those folk techniques. I usually use whatever things I have lying around. I work with low viscosity (craft/folk art) paint and I don’t finish varnish. The two ornaments hanging from the lights on either side of the fireplace were made with some old plywood odds and ends. The figures are intended to look as if they’re parachuting down into Christmas.

They’re probably not what you would traditionally think of as ornaments because they’re quite large.

Here’s a closer look at the Jester in a Box whilst hung to provide a better idea of the scale.

I used metallic string to join the two pieces in a fun way.

These ornaments have much more detail than any of the bulk work I did whilst painting giftware.

 

Looking at the back it’s easier to see just how rough the scrap plywood is (I only sanded the cut sides) but I like that for these pieces. It’s an approach that falls into that homespun handmade feel that I associate with Christmas.

Inktober 2018 – Sketch Selection 1 – 3

Every October, artists all over the world take on the Inktober drawing challenge by doing one ink drawing a day the entire month. I didn’t make the whole 30 days but an attempt was made. I chose to use an 8 inch by 5.5 inch sketchbook. The sketches were completed using Staedler pigment liners and a Pigma brush pen. I’m still on my first brush pen and I’m enjoying the opportunity to make a broader variety of marks in comparison to the finer tipped pigment liners.

I’ve been experimenting with my printer scanning function trying to create digital copies that are true to the originals. I’m not entirely there yet. All three of these images were scanned using document scan settings (two in B&W and one in colour) instead of photo scan settings. You can see a marked difference in how the printer records the information. The document settings result in less “noise” so the whites are a truer white (not so much a textured grey). There is some loss of mid-tones using the B&W document copy settings. The colour document copy settings accentuate the brush pen marks making them appear more distinct than in the original piece but the colours are closer to that original. I did add watercolour to the third sketch so I don’t know if it truly follows the Inktober parameters. The composition wasn’t going to work without it and I didn’t have any coloured pens.

Sketchbook Selection September 2018

Sticky, humid, and bug filled days worked as a bit of encouragement to spend more time inside over the summer. This sketchbook selection was sourced from a photograph I took in the spring several years ago. It’s pretty common around here to find Dutchman’s breeches spreading out on the woodland floor pushing aside last year’s fallen leaves. The underlying drawing was created using a Staedler pigment liner and a Pigma Graphic ink pen. I used acrylic paint to finish the piece. Because I was working inside I was able to do a couple of scans of the work in progress.

Pen and ink drawing

 

Painting in progress

 

Finished piece

 

Sketchbook Selection July 2018

This is the second time I’ve sourced this imagery. I first used it in an ink drawing that I posted here in 2014. I chose to focus more on the surroundings with this piece and used water colour instead of ink in an attempt to create a more nuanced rendering of the landscape. 

Sketchbook Selection – May 2018

The Pearce Park is just up the road from where I live and it affords a limited access (the area is a bit unstable because of erosion) to the bluffs along the Lake Erie shoreline. The first sketch below was done last autumn and depicts the view from the outlook path over the cliffs. I was looking at the sketch a couple of days ago and in hindsight found it a little “flat” so I added some colour. The second drawing is a rendering of crown imperials that are growing in the garden at the side of my house. Crown imperials bloom around the same time as trilliums so it’s usually a solid sign that spring (thankfully) has definitely arrived.

Sketchbook Selection – March 2018

The cold and bitter wind seems to be holding on longer this year. I think an all the way thaw is overdue. I was mindlessly doodling around and this was the result. I’m 99.9% sure it has something to do with wishing for warmer days.