I drew again in my small sketchbook Canson art book universal (14×21 cm / 4×6 in), using individually or together a black Pentel brushpen, a grey Pentel Brushpen, Sakura Pigma Micron 003 black fine liner, Kuretake light grey Brush Writer, and a Staedtler 0.3-2.0 black pigment liner.
6 drawings are tributes to Moebius, 4 were Japan-inspired. I had fun doing all of them. It was a bit tough the last week, and for the first time I think, I was counting the days until the end.
It’s the 8th year in a row I’m participating in Inktober. The rules are simple: A different prompt every day. Use ink. Enjoy. Learn new techniques, or not.
Some choose to not use the prompt list, or create their own, or follow a different list. I prefer to stick to those proposed by Inktober creator Jake Parker, because I find it easier, even though some prompts are less inspiring than others!
A tabby cat being scratched under the chin, basking in the moment. I used a light grey Kuretake BrushWriter, a Sakura micron 003 black pen and Pentel black ink and grey ink Brushpens.
A tribute to Tom Haugomat. This represents an astronaut on the moon next to a peace flag, waving at a planet. I used the Sakura Micron 003 black fineliner, the Kuretake light grey BrushWriter, and the Pentel black ink and grey ink Brushpens.
My second least favourite in the series. This is a crane in shallow water next to a branch laden with snow and some reed. I used the Pentel black ink and grey ink Brushpens and the Kuretake light grey ink Brushwriter. And I touched up the feathers with white acrylic.
A very graphic tiger. I used the micron 003 black fineliner, Kuretake light grey BrushWriter, and the Staedtler black ink 0.3-2.0 pigment liner.
This is the top of a marble sculpture by Bernini, of Pluto abducting Proserpina. I used again the same light grey Kuretake BrushWriter, a Sakura micron 003 black fineliner, and Pentel grey ink Brushpen.
This is Toothless from the movie “How to train your dragon”. I used the Sakura Micron 003 black fineliner, and the Pentel black ink and grey ink Brushpens.
The Statue of Liberty at night seen from underneath it. I used the Pentel black ink and grey ink Brushpens and the Kuretake light grey ink Brushwriter.
Another tribute to Moebius. I used the Sakura Micron 003 black ink fineliner and layers of the Kuretake light grey ink Brushwriter. Contrary to the theme, the size of the character is really small (as tall as the last knuckle of my little finger.)
I had a lot of fun drawing this surfer girl. I used as a reference a travel poster advertising Ceylon, Sri Lanka – Ceylon ‘A Wave of Your Own, Talpe Beach 1970s. I used the Pentel black ink and grey ink Brushpens and the Kuretake light grey ink Brushwriter.
A graphic dragon. I used the Pentel black ink and grey ink Brushpens and the Kuretake light grey ink Brushwriter.
I made a habit these last few years to hand-make my son’s birthday cards. This year I did something new: asking HIM what theme he wanted me to explore. Toothless, from the movie “How to train your dragon”, he said. Ok! I love this character: he’s in fact a cat. With scales and wings.
I started with a pencil outline on toned thick paper, the size of a postcard.
Then I mixed my Holbein Artists gouache paint: Prussian blue and ivory black and added titanium white (just a teeny bit), which I laid on the paper. I made sure to be as precise as I could
I mixed further my blue mix: more blue and black for the areas of the dragon that were in the shadow, and more white for the parts of the dragon that were illuminated.
Then I used leaf green mixed with with to paint the grass underneath and his eyes.
Here, I had a very precise idea of what I wanted to achieve and it turned out I just could not! I wanted rays of golden light falling in the background. I mixed some yellow watercolor paint (I don’t have yellow gouache) and white. And there was no way I was able to get the yellow to play well with the blue background. I had thought that once the background was dry the new layer was never going to be change by it: big mistake.
So I ignored the yellow rays mess, mixed a bit of black and white and painted the dark parts of the rocks. Then added more white to the mix and painted the light areas of the rocks. I used some of those mixed on the ears. I added details using black for the pupils, white to accentuate the illuminated areas.
At this point, I had wasted both time and yellow paint 🙂 None of the strokes would produce the gradient I wanted because either the moisture of the paint turned the layers to green, or the new layer was unblended and it was going to look bad.
So, I returned to my early mix of blue, black and white and covered as much of the yellow rays as I could. It gave some texture to the background. I painted the bit of the fish that sticks out of the dragon’s mouth.
Final result with lettering done with a white Posca pen. I hope he likes it! His birthday is next Monday.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 🙂
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.
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.
