Inktober Day 6 - Lakeview Cemetery

 Tonight the Patchogue Sketch Club met at the Lakeview Cemetery in Patchogue...a perfect place to do another Inktober 2020 sketch. We started early because it is getting dark so early and luckily I parked right near the scene I was planning to sketch. I was sketching with a combination of pens that I found in my purse which included an Elegant Writer as well as a black Pitt fine line pen, and a pen that looked brown when I drew with it but turned an interesting shade of deep pink when I wet the ink. (Somehow I had left my usual assortment of pens in their case on my couch.) 

Midway through the sketch it started to drizzle and the ink from the Elegant Writer started to activate. I hurried to gather up everything and went back to my car. I moved it up a few feet so that I could basically see the same view and sat in the passenger seat of my mobile studio to finish the sketch. I usually sit on the driver's side, so sitting on the right side of the car sort of threw me off a little and I kept dropping things since I had no seat on my right side to rest my materials. I was lucky I went back to the car because it really started to rain and I would have been soaked if I hadn't moved.

Sunflowers 2

I didn't want the sunflowers from the other day to feel neglected so I am doing a series of sketches of them in various media. This version was done with assorted ink pens, including an Elegant Writer as well as watercolors. I kept them in the same glass pitcher which sort of got lost in the flowers.

Minimal Sketch Kit?

My friend, Tina Koyama did a post the other day about what is in her "minimal sketch kit." I thought about it and came to the conclusion that I am definitely not a minimalist kind of girl. Yes, I can go out with just a small sketchpad and a pen or pencil...but I usually don't. Last year I bought myself a pen/pencil case that can hold a variety of sketching materials that I can grab in an instant. Of course, being me, there are duplicates of some of the pens...after all what if one of them runs out? It could happen and has happened in the past. lol 

The problem for me is that I often haven't decided before I leave the house if I am just doing a quick sketch or a painting. So I want to make sure I have what I need...just in case. That means I usually drag along my backpack which has just about everything except the kitchen sink. On occasion I do go out with just the pencil case and one sketchbook.

The Lihit Lab Pen Case I use has several sections. In front there is room for my tiny palette. Then inside I have a variety of pens in the first two sections including a Lamy Safari, 2 Elegant Writer Pens, Uniball gel pens in white and gold, black uniball pens, a Japanese brush pen that I can refill, an Elizabeth & Company travel dagger brush, a sable travel brush, and a fountain pen I bought in this elegant pen store in Venice. Usually I reach for the Lamy Safari before anything else because it is filled with platinum carbon ink which is waterproof (in most situations). The back section has an eraser, pencils, sharpener and a water brush or two. Does it sound like I have enough to do some sketching?

Here is a sketch of the inside of the front section and labels to identify the kind of pen.

Here are a few photos to let you see what it actually looks like without using artistic license. lol
I'm not showing you the back which is just solid orange because it has a blot of ink that is almost half of the back. You can see a bit of the ink on the inside in the second photo down too. One of my pens leaked. Grrr!!!

Inktober - Day 15 - At the Cemetery

Today the NYC Urban Sketchers went to Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn. It is a huge place and the burial place of some famous people like Leonard Bernstein and Louis Tiffany. We drove around to find a good view to sketch and ended up by one of the back gates. I'm going to post this first, because it was what attracted us to this area...the prostrate angel was so moving that I had to sketch it. I used watercolor pencils for this.

This next sketch is my Inktober Day 15 sketch done right around the same area as the angel. I used my Lamy pen with waterproof black ink as well as my Elegant Writer to make some areas bleed.

Inktober - Day 8 - Clark Farm & Pemaquid Harbor

Today we had rain and showers on and off here in Maine. That mean when I went out to do my Inktober sketch I had to do it from my "mobile studio." I used my Elegant Writer pen for this sketch at Clark Farm.

I couldn't leave it as just ink...all those pumpkins just cried out for color.

This afternoon I drove over to Pemaquid Harbor and sketched this scene.

#OneWeek100People2017 - Day 2

This morning I had an early appointment at Nissan to have my oil changed and tires rotated. In the past the service center has been a great place to sketch people because everyone checked in at the counter when they got there. However, they changed the process so everyone is seen in an individual cubicle. Then only the people who are waiting for their cars come in and sit down. That limits the number of models.

#OneWeek100People2017

These two men above were on the other side of the room so I did them first using my Elegant Writer pen so I could add a bit of shading. The pen wasn't writing so well so I abandoned it after a while. 

These two were in a cubicle and I could see a bit of them through the window.

After my car was finished I went over to McDonald's for breakfast and started sketching the cast of characters there. I switched to my platinum preppy pen.

I was almost ready to give up because everyone left...but in came a new group.

I will probably end up there again this week. Next time I'll just have coffee, not their egg white sandwich (which is pretty good by the way).

Inktober - Day 2

For this sketch I used an Elegant Writer pen. For anyone who has never used one they are water-soluble and bleed to lovely blue shades (and pink if you blot it). If the ink is wet and then allowed to dry it becomes permanent. It has a lot of fun uses.

This was sketched from my new mobile studio (yes, my new car) in the parking lot of the Bayport Flower House while it was drizzling. I'm glad the new car is as comfortable to paint from as the old one.

#inktober #inktober2016