Inktober Day 17

 My Day 17 Inktober was sketched at Deer Run Farm in Bellport using my Lamy pen, my Sailor Fude Pen, and an orange Sakura Micron Pen.

Inktober Day 8

 All the farmsteads and markets are full of pumpkin displays and mums so that is what I sketched for my Day 8 Inktober. This was done with my Sailor fude pen and Platinum Carbon Ink at Olish's Farm in Eastport.

People & Faces Workshop

 On Monday afternoon I took a mini workshop through Etchr. The subject was drawing people and faces quickly as an urban sketcher. I've had a lot of practice putting figures into my sketches but I tend to fuss and take my time. I have been approached to possibly do sketches at a wedding ceremony...I haven't committed myself yet but I thought this workshop might give me some hints and it did. The workshop was given by Ro'isin Cure' from Ireland. I took a workshop with her at the Urban Sketching Symposium in Porto a few years ago. It was a good workshop. The colors she usually uses are Paynes grey, burnt umber, burnt Sienna, yellow ochre, and opera or opera pink. You can pretty much mix any skin tones from these colors.

She sketches people directly in ink using a fude fountain pen that she turns over so she is using the other side of the nib. She gets lines that are almost like sketching in pencil. She also sketches in brown waterproof ink. I have a fude pen but it is filled with waterproof black ink and of course wouldn't sketch the way hers did. So I was at a bit of a disadvantage in that respect. We worked from a reference page of sketches she had already done and she explained her process for each sketch as we followed along. She tends to leave a lot of the sketch white (especially on the face). 

She also spoke about the differences in sketching adults vs children and gave a few hints about sketching the "older" adults. Here are my results. 

Inktober 2020 Day 16 - Bayport Flower House Plant

On rainy, damp days it is hard to find something to sketch that you can see through a wet windshield. But I needed a subject for my Inktober Day 16 sketch. When I was at the Bayport Flower House recently I noticed they had a few huge, tropical potted plants near their fence. This one was tall (maybe 10 feet) so I parked my car a bit away from the fence so I could see the entire plant. But then I had trouble seeing where all the leaves were going. lol So for part of the time I sketched from a distance and then moved closer so I could see through the raindrops. This was done with my Sailor fude pen which can make thick or thin lines just by turning the pen a little.

Small Sketches

One of the online groups I belong to is WetCanvas. They have an "Artwork from Life" forum where there is a Scavenger Hunt that takes place every 9 days. Someone hosts and gives a list of 26 items for the participants to hunt for and sketch in the medium of their choice. You can do as many or as few of the items as you want. I participate a lot in the hunts and sometimes really like a few of the small sketches that I do as part of the hunt. Here are two examples.

We were given "your most recent art supply purchase" in this latest hunt. I just bought a Sailor fude pen which has a bent nib that allows you to make thin and thick lines with the same fountain pen. I haven't tried it yet because I ordered the pen through Amazon Prime but ordered the converter (which allows me to use my own ink) from someplace else and it hasn't been delivered yet. So I used the pen as a model for this item.

Another hunt item was "your favorite corner in your home or office." Since I always sit in the same spot on my couch, where I can rest my feet on the coffee table while I sketch, have access to my laptop and phone on the table next to me, I guess this spot qualifies. I did this sketch using the Zebra colored fountain pen in black and my watercolors. It bled a bit but I like that effect.

I'm just showing you that artwork doesn't necessarily mean ending up with a masterpiece each time.