The Lap Model

Full blown "me" mode.  Slacking & procrastinating.  Playing catch up.  Sketches 17-20:

First up, a brush pen.  The uptight and grumpy inner critic growled.  "What up slacker?  Brush pen?!  You've barely used the thing - can't try something new.  It will take forEVER to be any good.  QUIT!"   It's obvious the artist was on edge here.  Too tight, too rushed, too eh.  I did warn that some of these could be kind of awful, so, yeah.  Since I am a novice with the brush pen, we shall call it a warm up page.

Continuing on with the brush pen, but with looser strokes and more focused on the task this time, even though I was simultaneously watching a Bronco game.  Fortunately they were doing quite well and not a close game, otherwise there would be no cat to sketch.

More Milo, now with my favorite Zebra F301.  I obviously put off sketching until feline paralysis kicked in.  (Also known as cat-on-lap syndrome.)  It's a nice treat to get more than the usual butt, back, & ears pose.

As I finished typing this, Milo returned to "his" lap.  I am trapped.  I'd take a photo to show you, but there are too many "Look at my goofy cat on my lap" pics on my phone.  See drawings above and right.  Since I can't get up, I guess it's nap time... or I could draw... the cat... again.

He's snoring now.  Supper may be late,

Couch with a View

One busy weekend later - three drawings behind.  Tonight was catch up time.  #Inktober 11, 12 & 13 complete.


A relatively quick view from the couch.

Milo moments.  Sleeping cats seem motionless... until you try to sketch them.

Milo chose to end the portrait session.  The headline of the yet-to-be read paper was perfectly positioned.

Skin & Bones

I missed a day.  (#inktober)  I didn't quit.  I win.

Day 7 - I like Halloween decorations that make you smile.  Day 8 - Foreshortened fingers.

Day 10 - View from the couch on a rainy autumn evening.  Farmer (and cat & dog) snoozing while the pen scratches away.

Berries & Boots

Inktober continues!

Day 4: Schwartzbeere (delicious local wild "black" berries that have overtaken my garden) using various pens.   The current Sketchbook Skool homework is illustrating a recipe.  I've picked a German fruity coffee cake called Kuchen.

Day 5:  Okay, the little scratches above the shoes happened on day 4.  It's wheat drilling (planting) time and we're rather busy here.  I neglected to take even 5 minutes to sketch on day 5.  Instead of beating myself up, I'm cheating.  Thankfully, there's no such thing as art jail.

And then tonight, after returning from the field - my worn old hiking boots.  Old non-geometrical stuff is great for late night I-don't-know-what-to-draw panic.

#inktober... 6 down, 25 to go

Inktober Begins

Advance Inktober warning: I will be limiting time spent on photo taking & photo correcting, depending on the busyness of the day.  It is easily a time sucker for me.  I apologize in advance for not-so-great shots.  I have also decided to throw caution to the wind (blown to the next state yesterday) and try different pens and techniques.  It's likely some of these are going to be kind of awful and I'm (mostly) fine with that.

For day one, a Tombow water soluble brush pen.  Naturally, Milo moved seconds after the pen touched the page.  Maybe 20 minutes later both pets were restless & the light faded, so we headed inside with an incomplete drawing.  The splotch is from today.  It's an iffy first page, but it IS a start.

Day 2 - Added another magnet to this ongoing ballpoint pen project.  This is in my comfort zone.

Day 3 - It's supposed to frost tonight, so I picked a bunch of tomatoes.  They lay on the counter and pretty much said "We are day 3."  I stuck with simple lines and used a few of the recently purchased Staedtler fine liners.  I need more of these pens.

 
Three down. 28 to go.  Oh, and I almost forgot the whole hashtag thing -  #inktober.  I hope I did that right.  Stop laughing.

Naptime

Week 2 of semester 2 of Sketchbook Skool was all about self-portraits - or drawn selfies.  It's been both fun & frustrating.  I'll soon post a bit of the homework.  

In the meantime, the whole idea of this class is to get in the habit of daily drawing - of illustrating life as it happens.  It might be sinking in.  I sat down for a short nap one afternoon and instead wound up drawing the cat napping.  A simple moment of my day recorded in a few minutes of ink.

Drawn to the Kitchen

Draw your kitchen!  That was the final assignment for semester one of Sketchbook Skool.  Doesn't sound terribly exciting does it?  I mean, really, how exciting are appliances and cabinets and such?  Well, it turned out to be a kettle of fun.  (heh heh)

I've mentioned the sixth SBS teacher was Tommy Kane.  His method is to slow down, see the details and spends hours on a sketchbook page instead of minutes.  I gravitate towards the slow and detailed versus the mostly quicker methods of the earlier SBS instructors.  This particular lesson was calling my name so I skipped a couple assignments (for now).

After much procrastinating and the inner critic trying to talk me out of it, I sat down on a rainy afternoon when there was no harvest crew to cook for.  As usual, my persnickety brain was immediately annoyed that the lines weren't instantly perfecto.  I wanted the fridge along the right edge, so started there... without thinking about my hand being in the way as I moved from right to left.  Urgh.  Then, the stove went all wonky.  It doesn't really lean out like that.  "Tommy said to just keep going!"  That was on repeat in my brain.  So, I did - even though the back counter line was angling down & actually the whole drawing was leaning to the left.  I kept going.

I posted this first photo to the SBS Facebook group.  I reasoned, if I get this out there, I will actually finish it.

Over the next week more lines were added, then cross-hatching, then more lines, then more cross-hatching.  (Click on any photo to see it larger.)

Watercolor was next and it made me nervous.  Those wonky kitchen lines had grown on me.  Did I really want to risk messing it all up.  "Oh come on, it's just paper!  Get to it!"  So I did.  First some greens, then the cabinets, walls, and floor.

I started having fun.  Adding color here and there.  Going back into dry areas and enhancing the color or texture.  I thought I was done and posted the photo above.  Oops, missed the middle of the window and a few small white spaces and a few magnets.

Ask any artist - we always see something to change or correct or add to.  I see several areas I could enhance, but this one is done.  This final photo was posted about an hour before semester two started.  I'm so last minute it isn't even funny.  My daughter wants to frame this, but I won't be tearing it out.  Guess I'll have to properly scan and print it for her.

Semester two of Sketchbook Skool started Friday.  We've been celebrating July 4th and finishing up harvest, so I've only watched a few class videos.  Time to crack open the sketchbook!

Blessed Branches

This past week was endless.  I looked up at the clock mid afternoon Wednesday and thought "Man am I glad tomorrow is Saturday... wait.... dang."  Wishing for time to pass is wishing your life away and I try not to.  Sometimes life just throws you curve balls.

Thankfully, I can count numerous blessings in my life.  Today I de-stressed while canning strawberry peach jam.  Time to think and focus on creating homemade deliciousness - good for the soul.  I also want to draw or maybe paint the cluster of red-orange jars after supper tonight.  

Last weekend's blessing was a trip to the farm to prepare for drilling wheat.  (Not sure what that is?  Check out this older post on my other neglected blog of randomness.)  I grabbed my sketching supplies on the way out of the door that day.  At the farm - I hesitated only a bit.  What to draw?  What medium to use?   First the Pentel pocket brush.  Within 30 seconds, my husband walked to the grain truck (my subject) to move it.  Crap.  Speed sketch!  30 seconds more and the comical results needed written explanation.

The truck was now under the auger and the wheat began spilling into the bed.  It wasn't going anywhere for awhile.  I switched pens and settled in.  Forty eight additional minutes make a difference.  My husband and son will recognize, though, that part of the cab is out of whack.

The truck was nearly full then.  I finished up a few shaded areas and turned the page.  Next subject...

The old tree below was almost completely destroyed a couple of years ago.  The bare trunk refused to die.  Drawing the spindly limbs was a huge frustration at first.  I just kept scratching away and it started looking like something.

Life lesson today.  Change is inevitable.  Expected or not - it can be good or irritating or devastating.  Regardless, take stock of your blessings, be resilient and rely on loved ones.

This too shall pass and the scars will soon be covered with new branches.

Out Standing (sitting) in the Field

My "typos" drive me batty - fending off flies.

I sat in the pickup Sunday while my husband did fieldwork.  A ticker tape of "I should be drawing" sputtered through my mind as I sat waiting.  Did I draw?  Of course not.  Instead, I read the paper (tick tick tick) checked Facebook and email on my phone (tick tick tick) daydreamed... a lot.  (tick tick tick)  Why is it so blasted hard to start when I really do want to?  It's not a mystery.  That nagging voice insisting it won't be perfect so don't even try.  It's a sketchbook for Pete's sake!  It's not going to be hanging in some museum!  Yes, I do often have these internal arguments.

I finally pulled out my pen & a hand-sized Moleskine Cahier stashed in my purse specifically for these found moments.  What to draw?  The biting flies were persistent - hence the bug spray line drawing.  There's some satisfaction in quieting the voice - SILENCE!  Just as I was getting into the groove, the tractor pulled out of the field and rumbled down the road.  Time to stash the pen & put my shoes back on. (It was getting warm.)

A couple miles to the next field and parked again.  No hesitation this time.  A weathered wood post said matter-of-factly, "Me next."  It was an odd angle and the foreshortening was a challenge, but I dove right it.  We weren't there long and I didn't finish.  However, in the process, I realized something.  Though I have grown accustomed to, and will continue to use, the tidy dark Microns & Copics, a nice fine ballpoint is a better match for my sketching style.  Little discoveries like that make me smile.  Ahh - insight.

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.