No, this isn’t a warped Christmas tree! It’s a tabasco chili plant. Every summer we grow a variety of chilis, usually hot, to dry as they mature, and when we have enough, grind them into powder. Then it’s shared, often as a Christmas present!
Month: October 2019
I haven’t really done much painting over the last several weeks, and it shows. There really is a disconnect when you don’t paint and practice. This is just a messy sketch (mess-a-sketch?) to warm up. Frustrating to do, but it feels good, too.
Surely there is a goddess of the whirlwinds?
Oh, I am so, so, so far behind with my Inktober 2019 drawings. What can I say? I will say that other diversions have been there, mostly enjoyable ones.
Okay, on to our Inktober 2019 drawings.
#20: Tread
I thought of “Don’t tread on me,” tire treads, shoe treads. Guess which won.
#21: Treasure
So many things came to mind for treasure – people you love, family, health, and piles of pirate gold. I think that last one is the easiest to draw.
#22: Ghost
As Halloween and Samhain draw close, ghosts and hauntings emerge. As a kid, dressing as a ghost was always a favorite for trick-or-treat. A ghost family portrait, complete with the bunny ears / devil’s horns so popular in our family photos.
More to come!
If you didn’t grow up in the 50s, the mask and hat may mean nothing to you. If you did, perhaps you remember the TV show The Lone Ranger. It was my favorite show when I was a kid. We all wore cowboy and cowgirl outfits, complete with masks and six-shooters filled with rolls of caps. Bang! Bang! We all imagined riding horses over the wild hills, chasing bandits. I found Tonto especially cool because he was an Indian, played by Jay Silverheels (even his name was great!). There were several people who played The Lone Ranger, but the one I remember is Clayton Moore.
Interestingly, I remember the actors’ names after all these years!
And if you want to ramble about PC-ness, go somewhere else . . .
I still have #12 Dragon to do, but that is going to take a bit of effort. Hopefully it will work!
Here, playing more Ketchup, but not too far behind. I also returned to a better bit of paper, the same sketchbook that contains the first seven of this year’s Inktober. Much happier with paper, pen, and brush. Especially the paper!
#13 Ash: I thought of a tree . . . an ashtray (ewww) . . . a fire (as in what we had over the weekend, which was awful) . . . but decided on a different natural crisis: the volcano! Shades of Mordor, shades of hell.
#14 Overgrown: So many things can be overgrown, but I like the idea of an overgrown, abandoned railroad track. There is something romantic and nostalgic about these, as well as something very sad.
I am rather enjoying the density of the iron gall ink. It makes me think of India ink, but it is so much easier to use. If I remember correctly, India ink does not lend itself well to dilution with water, but the iron gall does beautifully.
I am completely behind on Inktober 2019 this year, and not sure if I even feel motivated to continue. The iron gall ink is proving problematic on some papers I have been using, as have the pens and brushes. I chose to do about 4 pictures – all of them here – on some really old paper in an apparently antique sketchbook made of really poor quality paper – at least for artwork. So, with no further ado or commentary, here you will find #8 Frail, #9 Swing, #10 Pattern, and #11 Snow.
Not the most popular frog in the pond, I expect. Did his last date stand him up? A rather sad fellow . . .
More homemade iron gall ink, but this time accompanied by some colored ink from Fox & Quills, available from John Neal, Bookseller.
If you have been following along here, besides Inktober 2019, I am also working my way through Rick Surowicz’s online class “Abandoned.” Here I am trying to apply some of the points learned in his class about greens, how to mix them, and how to create warm and cool greens to demonstrate environmental temperature and distance.
To mix a cool green, Surowicz used Cerulean Blue (to give coolness), Sap Green at times tempered with Pyrrol Red, Raw and Burnt Siennas. Varying the mixture in strength and dilution determines if it is light or dark. Here I applied the mixture to the hills behind the hut, as well as put a few streaks into the foreground.
Warm greens hold the same formula as cool greens except the Cerulean Blue is not used. The result is a warmer green, and depending on need, the Pyrrol Red is added, creating a darker green while keeping it in the warm arena. The Raw Sienna creates a warmer, yellower green, and the Burnt Sienna creates a more autumnal tinge to the grasses in the foreground.
In addition to creating warm and cool greens, I also worked on lines to demonstrate direction and texture, as well as to break up horizontal and vertical.
As a study, this has been successful. Critiquing it, I would say that the right lower portion of the stone hut should be lighter so as to contrast much better with the middle ground. Right now it recedes and gets lost.
Practice is important in all we wish to master – here, a practice study to apply some lessons.
Painted on Fluid 100 CP 140# paper.
In American English, “Husky” can also mean big and strong. Sumo is full of husky men, trained in the traditional art of Sumo, a form of wrestling or martial art with a long history in Japan. While I don’t really know anything about Sumo, I’ve always rather enjoyed watching it.
Journey by Paper 