Sketching Everywhere

We attended our city's fireworks extravaganza last night and I sketched while waiting for the sun to go down - more on that another day.

Right now we're headed in a mostly opposite direction of the last mostly serious entry.  If you're sensitive about bathroom talk, stop here and come back in a few days for the next post...

This particular evening, for whatever reason, I walked into the bathroom with my sketchbook & a green Micron pen.  I honestly don't remember if it was on purpose.  No, I wasn't really in there all that long.  It's a quick sketch.  See that little writing along the left edge.  Yup, it says "throne view."  I almost didn't share this.  Almost, but then I couldn't say . . .  Yes, you truly can sketch just about anywhere.


Update:  Less than 10 minutes after publishing this, I read today's post from James Gurney about painting in the dark at the fireworks show.  Hilarious!  You really can find a way to sketch/paint basically anywhere.

Patchwork Doodles

What to do when you're feeling under the weather and don't want to read, watch TV, cook, draw or think?  You (I) doodle.  This is in the mandala book from my generous daughter.  You're supposed to color the shapes while your mind goes where ever.  Most of the mandalas in this book are circular.  This one seems all quilty - hence the random doodle patches.

    I started on this a couple of weeks ago when the Micron color pens I ordered arrived with my virtual class supplies.  I like the fine points and bright colors.  (A little less bright than they appear here.)  Little blocks of doodles seemed the perfect thing to break them in.  I just did a few squares at that time.  Yesterday presented the perfect opportunity to mindlessly complete the page.

Clouds, raindrops and leaves - a totally unplanned coincidental happy doodle accident. 

While not thinking a whole lot, I didn't want to repeat patterns.  Looking at this, I just realized I duplicated the bubble circle pattern in red and green... right next to each other.  

Fighting...the urge...to..."fix"...it....

 Objects are closer than they appear - the spaces are actually 1/2 inch squares.

 Flowers and blood cells and windmills, oh my.  : )

And the center?  Doodles?  Lines?  Words?  Too much thinking.  My brain zoned out and my hand started poking at it - dotting the middle with all colors - crowding the edge for some 3D.

Your turn!  Grab some paper - any will do.  Scratch out some squares and start doodling.  While building this page, I also chatted and listened to the TV off and on.  Multitasking! 

Pen & Ink

In my former artist life, pencil was king.  Pen & ink drawings required bravery I lacked.  We used Rapidiograph pens for technical use in class.  I used them once to create a comical rendition of my hectic day and sent it to my parents.  Lack of use & inadequate cleaning killed all but one of that set.  Bummer.

Since discovering Pigma Micron pens, I've fallen a little bit in love with pen work.  It's a love/hate thing.  This sketch was done the day after a snowstorm.  I tromped around sketching in pencil first, then pulled out a pen & sat on the deck.  Moving the pen across the page and aiming for "clean" lines was making me edgy.  The trellis above kept dripping on the page, leaving wet spots & occasionally smearing the ink as I instinctively wiped them off.  Why am I doing this again?  Moving on to the fence and second shed, I reverted to sketchy lines and got into a rhythm.  That little bit of page was much more fun.  I'm not happy with this sketch, but here it is.  One more page in the sketchbook and a few more minutes of practice on the journey.

Ink textures in my little Moleskine.

I'm liking the little patches of crosshatch.  Note to self:  Sketch using just this texture.

New Tools & Sketching Strangers

A much anticipated package arrived yesterday - pens, paper, brushes and a travel watercolor set.  The watercolors will get a test drive this weekend.  However, I had to try out the pens immediately.


This afternoon I finally used a pedicure gift card from Christmas.  Yeah, I'm a procrastinator.  That's beside the point.  I decided today would be my first foray into actual public sketching.  (Last week's parade sketching was from a van. I don't think anyone noticed.)  As the warm water swirled, I mentioned wanting to test out a new pen.  The manicurist was cool with it, so I hesitantly cartooned me in a massage chair and then sketched random objects in the room.  . . . Not feeling it.  So, I turned to more comfortable subjects - my hand, book, knee and foot far below.  Uh huh, that's better.  New page... hmmm.  Sandy, the manicurist, had a long flippy pony tail and swooshy bangs.  I nervously (drawing unaware people feels invasive) recorded the lines of her bent head and dark hair.  She kept moving and I messed up her neck & shoulder.  Can't erase pen marks - pooh.  I looked around for something stationary.  Inspired by a lovely "relax" sign, a little doodling came next.  We chatted and eventually came to the subject of my art journey.  I showed Sandy the page and she seemed impressed.  It's weird showing your work to strangers and I was a bit embarrassed.  I don't want fake praise and people are usually too nice.  I was skeptical, so I showed it to my husband this evening.  I can count on him to be honest.  "What do you think this is?" . . . "Someone with hair in her face, but the neck is weird."  See, honest.  I was glad he could tell what it was and I agreed about the neck.  Couldn't leave that be - had to try marking it out a bit before sharing.