pencil – coralie's contemplations in markup

Art: Drawvember2020

Last year I did six series of 5 drawings on a given theme or technique and I really liked it, but this year I compiled a list of prompts, and chose any medium or technique I liked:

Dragon
Robot
Fur
Cherub
Carnival
Prey
Pyramid
Crane
Diving
Pounce

Buccaneer
Altitude
Shipwreck
Zebra
Drums
Cougar
Boat
Planet
Sullen
Jellyfish

Monkey
Angel
Vanquish
Depth
Villain
Lipstick
Cliff
Pure
Elf
Tower

All my drawings in one place

Indigo ink drawing with grey ink shadow of a dragon with big eyes — Day 1 – Dragon

Grey and black ink drawing of a robot in the position of the Rodin sculpture The Thinker — Day 1 – Dragon

Conclusion

I loved it! I discovered in the process that I don’t really like coloured pencils, but that I absolutely love gouache painting!

I think I have improved over the years. Notably, for “sullen” I redid a drawing of “Woman Sitting on Edge of Veranda” by Utamaro Kitagawa. Four years apart, and this time the lines were crisper and there was simply more details.

Drawvember 2020 days 26-30

This year for Drawvember, I compiled my own list of prompts, to ensure that I wasn’t going to use “not inspired” as an excuse for skipping days. Drawing actually brings me joy and satisfaction, and as it’s in rather short supply at this time of year for me, I have much at stake.

This series concludes this year’s Drawvember! I really really enjoyed myself. I was looking forward to it every day.

I also discovered that gouache is a favourite. I used to be terrified of it and of paint in general, but not too much anymore.

Day 26: “Lipstick”

Black and red ink drawing of a woman in a cocktail dress

My friend Amy made me discover René Gruau last week. I had seen some of his fashion illustrations and advertising work without knowing they were his. I love his style! His work reminds me of that which Toulouse Lautrec and Alfons Mucha did in their own time.

I used the reverse side of my Copic Drawing Pen fountain pen for extra thin lines, Geranium Red ink Brush Writer from Kuretake, black ink Pentel Brushpen, and I smudged very little amounts of Light Grey ink for shading.

Day 27: “Cliff”

White cliffs by the sea.

Gouache paint from the Holbein Artists tubes I got in a Sketchbox: I mixed Prussian blue, leaf green, yellow ochre and used some titanium white watercolor.

I like it well enough but recognise it’s pretty awkward and not striking enough. Perhaps the tones aren’t pastel enough. And I am certain that the artbook paper isn’t thick enough (96g/m2 – 65 lb) for the watered down colours I used.

Day 28: “Pure”

Gouache painting of a geisha dancing with a fan in her hand.

Another favourite!

For “pure”, I wanted to draw a Maiko (apprentice geisha). This is from the 2005 movie with Zhang Ziyi “Memoirs of a Geisha” which tells the story of a 9 year-old girl sold by her poor family to a Kyoto geisha house, who in time becomes Sayuri, the beautiful and talented geisha, whose successful career is cut short by the outbreak of World War II.

For this drawing I wasn’t too sure which medium to use. After doing the pencil outline in my artbook, I drew it again on a scrap of paper using a Derwent sepia line maker with a bit of black and the geranium red and light grey Brush Writers from Kuretake. It didn’t work.

I chose gouache paint instead: yellow ochre, burnt sienna, ivory black from Holbein Artists, and some titanium white opaque watercolor. It took me 75 minutes (for a drawing that is only the size of my palm!)

Day 29: “Elf”

Pencil drawing of the face of Cate Blanchett as Galadriel

This is a pencil drawing of Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, the Elven Queen from the movie Lord of the Rings.

It took me over 2 hours (the drawing isn’t bigger than my palm).

Portrait are really hard. Getting someone’s features is difficult for me. It just barely looks like her but I couldn’t find what to change to make it better.

Day 30: “Tower”

This is an alcohol markers drawing on tracing paper of Carl’s house from the movie “Up”, surrounded by towering buildings.

I went way out of my comfort zone for this last day of Drawvember! This medium requires specific paper as alcohol ink bleeds a lot, and my artbook is of regular paper. I follow someone named Mutoni on Instagram and he uses tracing paper. It looks way easier when he does it!

Today I learned that the ink does not penetrate in the paper. Therefore when I wanted to darken the tones or blend colours by adding layers, I discovered that the new layer somewhat overwrites the existing colour. So the tones aren’t at all like they are supposed to be because I didn’t have the specific colours I needed.

One thing turned out well however: I thought the ink might not dry very well and I didn’t want my fingers to smudge it once I was going to glue the sheet to my artbook page, so I was clever enough to draw on the back side of the paper and then flip it to apply think black lines and white. I spent a lot more time on this little piece than I anticipated.

Drawvember 2020 days 11-15

I picked words that appealed to me, rather randomly, without any clear idea how I was going to develop each prompt. So far, I’m having fun.

Day 11: “Buccaneer”

Pencil drawing of a fierce-looking woman pirate aiming a pistol and carrying a sword in the other hand.

Pencil work for this fierce lady pirate aiming a pistol and holding a sword.

Day 12: “Altitude”

Black and grey ink drawing of the Brooklyn Bridge under construction with silhouettes of men walking on top of a high cable. The city is suggested in the background as grey shapes of buildings.

According to my research, these men were interviewing to work as painters on the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, and their test was being able to walk on the top cable.

I used a black ink fine liner and light grey ink Brush Writer by Kuretake. I didn’t use a ruler.

Day 13: “Shipwreck”

Black ink drawing of a tentacle emerging from water, at the end of which is the remnant of a pirate ship flag and broken pole.

This theme was much harder than I anticipated. I didn’t know what I wanted to draw and had very little inspiration. Eventually I settled for something graphic and evocative of a shipwreck: a Kraken tentacle holding the mast and pirate flag of a ship.

I used black ink.

Day 14: “Zebra”

Dark black shiny rectangle with fuzzy border on which I drew a zebra in white ink

I painted the background using acrylic graphite ink and then used a fine brush and white calligraphy ink to paint the white parts of the zebra.

Day 15: “Drums”

Black and grey ink drawing of a Japanese man playing kodo, a really big drum, with two thick round sticks. He looks very happy.

Former colleague Mauro once made me listen and watch something called Kodo, the Japanese drums. I loved it.

I used a black ink fine liner, black ink Brushpen by Pentel and Light Grey Brush Writer by Kuretake.

Drawvember 2020 days 1-5

I picked words that appealed to me, rather randomly, without any clear idea how I was going to develop each prompt. So far, I’m having fun.

Day 1: “Dragon”

This is Toothless from the movie “How to train your dragon”, which is a family favourite. This served as a rehearsal of sort for my kid’s 13th birthday card which I will draw in a few weeks: he has requested a Toothless themed card.

I used my indigo ink Cambio Tambien brush pen from Kuretake. One limitation is that so much ink flows from that pen that the rather small format of my sketchbook does not allow for optimal spread of the ink, including more nuances, and I regret that I didn’t draw it bigger on the page because I could have gotten thinner lines.

Day 2: “Robot”

Meh. I botched the head, the face, the hatching.

This is a robot in the pose of The Thinker by Auguste Rodin.

One thing I liked, which I developed further a couple days after: using my finger to smudge the grey ink from my Brush Writer to achieve an interesting effect in the contoured background.

Day 3: “Fur”

This is my cat Jack, and I used a photo of her as reference. She has the fluffiest tail!

I used pencils only, a medium I very seldom use, so I was very tempted after a while to erase everything and pick up an ink pen. Also, it was the first time I attempted to draw fur. The trick is to manage the shadows and contrast that bring out the light on the hair. I can only improve 🙂

Day 4: “Cherub”

My favourite so far!

I used the technique I discovered while drawing the background of the robot Thinker: finger-smudging. I used my light grey Brush Writer by Kuretake and smudged small strokes until achieving the desired shading effect.

Day 5: “Carnival”

Black, grey and red ink drawing of two costumed characters wearing white face masks and red headdresses in the foreground and a gondola and church from Venice in the background.

I have been to Venice, Italy, but never during the Carnival. I am fascinated by the costumes and masks. Here are a couple of rather evil-looking women wearing white masks and red head scarves over dark gowns, with the canal in the background, a moored gondola and the Duomo.

I used my Geranium Red Brush Writer by Kuretake, a grey felt tip pen, black ink 0.05 mm Graphik line maker from Derwent and Light Grey Brush Writer by Kuretake.