Catching Up With The Sketches

I have been doing quite a bit of sketching but I'm very behind on posting. I am making a pact with myself to start keeping up with posting sketches to the blog every couple of weeks once I get back from a tapestry workshop in Georgia the first week or so of October.

Most of the first group of sketches were from the second semester of Sketchbook Skool, titled Seeing which started on July 4th.

This assignment was to draw a piece of toast, really paying attention to all the details. My toast of choice was whole wheat raisin cinnamon. It was an unusual activity for the 4th of July. About halfway through the drawing I realized we probably need a new toaster. It was almost burnt on one side and barely warm on the other. I used some fine tip Copic and Pilot pens for this.

The next assignment was to first paint the general shape of an object with gouache or watercolor fast, and then add the drawn detail,slow. I decided to use our weather radio as the model.

Two interesting projects from Danny Gregory and this was the last sketch in the Stillman and Birn Zeta sketchbook. I will be getting another soon as I am really missing this paper.

The second week started off with self portraits or selfies if preferred with Koosje Koene.

I like to draw people but they are usually doing something in a bigger scene, I've never been to much for portraits but in the interest of expanding my skills I sat in front of a mirror and did this one with colored pencil. Pretty stern looking but it is tricky to look at yourself in the mirror and draw at the same time.

Still working with "Selfies", this time we were to do a continuos line contour in pen and then add watercolor.

I don't know who this person is, but it was loose and fun.

Another continuous line contour with watercolor, very quick. This was early Sunday morning and I think I captured my overall look pretty well with this one. Not exactly flattering but still fun and somewhat of a likeness.

This one was very fun, I was looking at a photo of myself on the iPhone and drawing the scene b from my reflection in a mirror set up in back of the drawing table. I think I really captured a little story in this sketch!

Pen, watercolor and colored pencil.

I was drawing from the mirror again and concentrating hard on not looking too mean. I was also working with some magic pencils with several different colors in each led so that as you draw many colors come up.

It was about this time that I was getting ready to go to Providence, Rhode Island for the ATA Tapestry retreat and workshop so I did this last one (upper left) sitting at the Tulsa airport waiting for my flight from a photo I took on my iPhone. Is it obvious how much I enjoy flying? The couple to the right just happened to be there.

This is a sketch I did in Providence while out to lunch one day but for the most part I was so busy during the trip  that I didn't get much sketching done. I did have a great time though!

This was a Sharpie fine point refillable pen in my handbook Journal.

This was July 17th and except for a few sketches I did in my tapestry notebook and shared on the Common Threads blog I don't have another entry until August 17th!

Once I realized that it had been a month since I did any sketching I decided to participate in a 75 day challenge to sketch everyday. Yes, I had been swamped and busy when  returning home  but I didn't want to get out of practice.

The SBS semester was basically finished when I started making up my work on class three with Brenda Swenson.

I started by doing some very quick continuous contour drawings of some  familier objects with a Tombow pen.

Then I painted with some watercolor. I actually drew the same objects several times and it was a good way to get going again.
















We had lots of ripe tomatoes at that time so it seemed like a good idea to use them for this assignment.

I like the look of the Tombow pen with the watercolor as a nice change from the permanent pen I usually use. Tombows are water-soluble and fade into the painting as you work. I ended up buying a few more of them.

Next was Cathy Johnson's class, and I was supposed to be waiting for birds to arrive so that I could sketch them in the backyard, but with Laddie and Purrlie along to help not many birds showed up so I sketched them instead and a squirrel, feeders and so on just as things showed up without trying to compose anything. It was fun and relaxing just hanging out in the backyard. I used colored pencils for this.













The next afternoon I went out without Laddie and Purlie and had better luck with some birds showing up. The Scissortail Flycatcher was a nice treat and I did a larger sketch based on a very brief encounter and consulting the Peterson Guide.

Pen and watercolor.

When I came back in I found quite a party going on in the birdbath outside the dining room window so I did a quick sketch. I really enjoyed working on these sketches, it felt like the first time I had relaxed since I had left for Rhode Island over a month before.

For my last sketch in Cathy's class I sat in the back corner of the yard and drew this Golden Shower tree. I didn't set out to do such an involved drawing, it just happened and though I had intended to paint it it I decided not to. It seemed the drawing had enough personality on its own.

This was done in a bigger 11"x 8.5" journal.













I also have a book I keep color studies in and did some green mixing studies with watercolors.

More greens...

and still more.

I decided to make swatches of my tube greens that I could compare to the mixed colors. This was all part of Cathy Johnson's class too.

Before I started the next class I did a few "sketch of the day" pages.

This one was experimenting with the Tombow and Copic markers using some shells as models.

Here are some tubes of gouache, drawn with pen and painted with ... gouache.

I wanted to try some pretty ink I had received as a sample from Goulet Pens so I drew some flowers...

and painted them with watercolor. The ink was water-soluble but sometimes that is a nice effect with the paint.

Moving on to class 4 in SBS with Andrea Jacobs.

The first assignment was to do a drawing using a ball point pen. I have never thought to do a drawing with a ball point although I have done a lot of doodling while on the phone with them. This pen was a give away and several years old. I was really surprised, not only was it fun to draw with but I think it turned out quite nicely. The blue color is so rich. People are doing some amazing art with ball point pens! I learned something!

The next assignment for this class was to incorporate a writing style that she demonstrated into the sketch. Writing is not a strong suit for me but I thought this quote and flamingo went well together.

Last assignment for Andrea's class was to draw a collection of things. Instead of trying to compose the whole thing at once the idea was to draw one thing and then decide where to place the next thing and carry on from there. Also fun and I  used some more of my shell collection drawing with a large variety of pens, colored pencils and some watercolor.

I decided to take another little break from the class assignments and go to the Zoo. Since I was really in the class by myself at this point( the wonders of online instruction). Of course I was still trying to draw everyday so I went with a friend and we had a great time.

We decided to start off with a slower animal and this tortoise was really posing for us. This was the first sketch. Sharpie and watercolor.

Next we tried the White Rhino pair. It was getting to be pretty hot day by then and although they were further away and harder to see we didn't have to worry about them going anywhere.

Sneezy the Asian Elephant was next. He was really putting on a show for us and catching him in one pose was tricky but....

the Chimps were the most active and difficult as the sketch displays.

I resolved to do more practicing with the Schleich toys before the next zoo trip.

The last class for SBS was Liz Steel, well known for her fancy tea cups and architecture sketches.

I made a rare decision to do this one on a seperate sheet rather than in the sketchbook so I could give it to a friend. These tea cups were fairly challenging but it could be I was a little tired about then. Keeping up with a daily practice of anything is not always easy!

I did a second one for inclusion in the sketchbook.

I decided to take a break before the last assignment for Liz Steel and work on some animal sketches from the Schleich toys. Here are some crocodiles done with the Tombow pens and a little water.

African elephants in permanent pen. One of my toys wandered in to the drawing while I was taking the picture.???

I am collecting quite a menagerie of animal toys in the studio and this is not all of them!

I had some free samples of some new Derwent pens and decided to try them out, The line painter was awfully leaky or maybe it was just not a good night for drawing.

Really had some fun with this one, I drew the Border collies on one evening and the sheep the next. It reminded me of the illustrations in some of the early readers I had as a child.

Here is a real animal for a change, my Purrlie cat doing one of her best tricks. Tombow pen and watercolor.

Another one of Purrlie. She was sitting on my lap and I was covered in a quilt. Those two bumps at the bottom are my knees. I was pretty happy with this one.

For the last sketch in Liz Steel's class I drew my house. This took some time and spread out over two afternoons with permanent pen.

Then I painted it with watercolor. Very enjoyable.

With this project I had completed the second semester of SBS. The next one sounds really exciting, the title is Storytelling and it starts October 3. There will be new teachers and I'm really looking forward to it. I would be drawing anyway but find the format of a different teacher every week stimulating and pick up so many tips and information about materials and techniques without feeling overwhelmed by one teachers point of view.

The class projects are done which is satisfying but I still have a sketch a day to do.

I rarely work from a photo but this is taken loosely from a photo I took at the 108 Contemporary gallery in Tulsa during a recent weaving invitational show.

More Schleich toys...

quotes...

and toys.

I am ready for another trip to the Zoo but it will have to wait till I get back from the tapestry workshop with Joan Baxter. That is going to be fabulous!!

Tombow pens again and some water.

I spent a couple of afternoons drawing my favorite lawn chair. This was actually a pretty challenging subject. Drawn with a Lamy Joy fountain pen and D'Atrements document  ink.

I painted it the next day. This was the next to last page in this handbook Journal...

and this was the last page.

Here is the Sunday September 21 sketch, my new Moose toy and day 34 of the 75 day challenge.

Not sure what todays sketch will be but I'll think of something.

Keeping busy...