Tag: Brushpen

Inktober 2019 Days 1-5

I’m doing Inktober again in my small sketchbook Canson art book universal (14×21 cm / 4×6 in), in which I used half pages every day (except the first day).

Day 1: “Ring”

Grey and white ink drawing of the silhouette of a boxer in a ring. The open artbook is on a wooden table next to a red 'frixion' red ballpoint pen, a white ink brushphen, a bottle of black ink and two brushes resting on black water in a plastic cup.

Black ink applied with brushes and more or less water, white ink.

Day 2: “Mindless”

Black ink drawing with thin parallel lines representing the Great Wave Off Kanagawa by Hokusai

I don’t do too well with abstract concepts. And it had been a while since I had riffed the Hokusai” great wave off Kanagawa.

Day 3: “Bait”

Black and grey ink drawing of the earth as bait attached to a fishing bob floating in the water.

Planet Earth used a fishing bait. I used a grey ink brush pen from Kuretake. Apparently it liked the paper of my art book very much. So much that it seeped through!

Day 4: “Freeze”

The character Freeze wearing goggles and a glass helmet around his head is throwing a ball. The ball and his hand are bigger because of perspective. I used purple ink for the outline and the background, which I applied with a flat brush in a way that the texture of the brush is visible. I applied some white ink to correct mistakes. The ink bottle, brush and white ink brushpen are on the wooden table next to the open artbook.

There’s a Comics character called Freeze. Done with the purple ink and brush I received in a recent sketchbox.

Day 5: “Build”

Black and grey drawing of geometric shapes and volumes forming some building.

Abstract prompt again, but an opportunity to stray not too far from the concept and try some architecture. I used the light grey ink BrushWriter from Kuretake for the lighter tones, and a felt tip marker for the darker areas.

Man gazing at blooming tree

My friend Daniel gave me a book on Chinese Brush Painting. Although I have owned for years now three or four Chinese brushes and a few sheets of rice paper, I was not ready for this undertaking, and chose to continue with watercolor, since I have recently enjoyed it so much (and my vacation was getting to an end, so I went for the most gratifying process.)
It took me several attempts sketching the figure to keep to realistic proportions (the man still has a slightly too big head and too short a torso), I used a Pentel black ink Brushpen, which performs wonderfully on really thin and thick lines:
Pencil sketch and black ink outline on a postcard sized watercolour sheet.
I then erased the pencil and turned to watercolor. I used alizarin crimson for the flowers:
Pencil sketch erased. Dark pink paint added to mark the blossoms.
I added a few touches of black with my Brushpen to create the details of the flowers. I prepared yellow watercolor and painted the hat by drawing rays and leaving some white. I darkened my yellow with yellow ochre and added a few touches to the hat and went on painting the skin. I darkened further the mix with a bit of burnt sienna to paint the stick. Lastly I mixed a bit of turquoise and white to paint the belt.

I added water to my ochre/brown mix and with a light wash painted the background so the white robe would stand out. Here is the resulting painting framed (12.2×17.2 cm):

Art: Two cranes on a pine tree branch

A quick go at two cranes on a pine tree, based on a mural I photographed in China in April 2016:
Reference photo of a painted wall showing two Japanese cranes on a pine tree branch
I chose a sheet of beige Canson paper, used a Pentel black brushpen for the outline and the black feathers of the cranes, and watercolor for the rest. I added white watercolor for highlights on the branch, and a white Posca pen for the cranes’ neck line and beak:

Here is the resulting painting, framed (30×20 cm) and ready to give to Isabelle as a present:
Finished piece framed in white

I made a simpler version in 2019 using ink and gold on a postcard.

Horse and young woman in kimono under Sakura

I found horse and young woman in kimono under Sakura, another beautiful work by Taiwanese artist Jung Shan:
Reference photo showing the artwork hung on a wall and a label underneath with the artist's name and a QR code
Although I have some rice paper, I am far from comfortable with it, and the ratio and size wasn’t what I wanted, so I sketched on my 30×30 cm watercolor pad:
Light pencil sketch on a large square watercolour pad
I used a Pentel black ink brushpen for the outline and strong parts, and was happy with how her faced turned out, compared to the pencil sketch:
Inking in black of the horse, woman and kimono
I used sepia watercolor and a fine brush for the tree branch and blossoms:
Branches and blossoms painted in sepia
With more sepia, some lamp black watercolor, and a regular brush, I painted the horse and the woman’s skin:
Horse and woman's face painted with a mix of sepia and black
And finally, I used quinacridone rose to paint the blossoms and the woman’s lips, and used what I had left from my sepia wash for the kimono, and the background. The rest of the kimono was painted with lamp black watercolor:

Here is the final version (23×30 cm), framed:
Final artwork in a white frame