Gel Pen Sketch

8.5 x 11

One of the things that my husband loves to do is target shoot. He sets up a paper target really far away so you need binoculars to see the circles on it. I started out drawing the black gun that was my cousin's but then they decided to switch guns on me so I ended up revising the gun to my husband's with the bigger scope. It was more fun to draw anyway because it has wood grain design. Didn't have yellow gel pen so drew weeds in green. Very sparse snow this year.

A friend of mine gave me the gel pens so I thought I would try them out. They freeze too even though I kept them in my coat next to my body. It wasn't that cold out as it was almost 30F.

Still too dark and wet to get good photos. 

Basically I am working in 4 sketch book sizes:
pocket sketch book 3.5 x 5.5
5.5 x 8.5 for pencil sketches
8.5 x 11 for plein air sketches
14 x 17 for sketch club conte crayon sketches (missed last week due to family emergency)

"Rock On" Pencil Sketch

5.5 x 8.5

"Hang Loose" pencil sketch

5.5 x 8.5

This is actually a sketch of my cousin's hand. She was showing me some surfing signs and I discovered that I have lost flexibility in the little finger of my left hand. So now I need to run through ASL everyday with both hands to hopefully regain flexibility in my hands.

y pencil sketch

It was overcast, damp, windy and felt really cold when I took this picture outside. Brrr!

x pencil sketch

5.5 x 8.5

Marinette field plein air sketch in watercolor brush pens and pencil

8.5x11

Turned out better than I expected. The green wouldn't come out. Maybe it was frozen.

pencil enhanced with pen plein air, marinette county driveway

 5.5 x8.5

It was quite pleasant outside, minimal wind and in high 30s (Fahrenheit)

Pencil sketch W & trucks at gas station pen sketch

 5.5x8.5 pencil

 3.5x5.5 quick pen sketch in pocket sketchbook while husband was filling car up with gas.

Got a little behind on posting and unable to go to sketch club this week. Sister-in-Law went into hospital when her husband was out of town so I stayed overnight with kids until her husband could get back.

Pencil sketch V

Actually did this sketch the same day as the U but did a lot of driving this week so I think I missed 2? days of sketching. Therefore, I decided to do an extra drawing today. Veins pretty pronounced today due to warmer 20F weather.

Filled up one sketchbook so cut all the hand sketches from that notebook and put in an envelope for upcoming project that is teasing the back of my mind. (I have several sketchbooks laying all over the house and in my car.)

Pencil sketch U

Nice & warm out today in the 20s so my veins were more pronounced. We walk almost everyday for an hour no matter what the weather.

Pencil sketch T

Pencil sketch S

pencil drawing R

Today would be a perfect winter day to sketch/paint outside. In the 20s, sunny, not too windy. However still trying to clear off my schedule so just keeping on with this pencil sketches. Still too much snow to take pictures outside so took next to a window. Hard to keep the shadows off the page. Lighting is very uneven in the house.

Pencil drawing F & 1933 Rolls Royce Phantom II

Tried taking these pictures under kitchen table lamp. It is very dark outside because it is snowing and sky is overcast. I am definitely following the "Make It Ugly" book with these photos. Time is very limited right now so can't spend too much time on this photo taking and blogging task.

Forgot to do the letter F but maybe it's another sketchbook floating around the house?

I decided to work my way through the calendar from front to back. It's a challenge working from right to left as I like to do the most complicated front part of the car first.
Just using a cheap, plastic, mechanical pencil in a 8 1/2 x 11 sketchbook. I had to go to a bigger sketchbook. Too hard to draw in the small 5.5x8.5 sketchbook.

Pencil sketch Q 1/8/15

Q is G pointed downward.
I like the foreshortening of the thumb.

pencil sketch p 1/6/15

I just realized that p is k turned on its side. I have an idea that when I get through the whole alphabet that I might cut out these drawings and collage them.

pencil sketch o 1/5/15

Tried taking pictures next to window. Still too dark.
Doing pretty good sketching mostly everyday as soon as I wake up. Only have missed some days when I had to leave the house right away.

14x17 charcoal and conte crayon sketches from sketch club 1/6/15

The portraits were done in about 25-30 minutes. She sits very still. A good model. I'm still struggling with proportion but I noticed that she sits with her head tilted back so maybe that is throwing me off?

I'm using a slippery medium surface strathmore paper so can't built up the conte crayon. It erases somewhat and I didn't tear any holes in the paper.

It's been rather cold, about 0 degrees F with snow on the ground, so I've been taking pictures indoors. The light is not very good. It's hard not to throw shadows on the paper.

Our undraped model canceled so one of our members volunteered to model. She practices yoga and is an excellent model. These were about 20' drawings. I wish I had a bigger sketchbook with me. I find it very difficult to draw small. I like using the side of the conte crayon to block in the large general shapes before fine tuning the smaller shapes.

pencil sketch n 1/4/15

Some Inspiring Books

Show your work, 10 ways to share your creativity and get discovered by Austin Kleon
http://austinkleon.com/
Easy to read, entertaining. Motivation to learn and share what you are learning.

Creative Block, Get Unstuck, Discover new ideas by Danielle Krysa
http://www.thejealouscurator.com/blog/
Very interesting to learn from contemporary artists. Also interesting creative unblock projects. It's good to see artwork that is different from what I encounter here which is mainly representational.

Make it Mighty Ugly, Exercises and Advice for getting creative even when it ain't pretty by Kim Piper Werker
http://www.kimwerker.com/blog/
I love this title. Basically the book tells you to follow your true self and take chances. I like the title because it means that it's ok to make ugly things because that is one way to learn a skill. I read somewhere that she writes about the "dark side" of creativity. It seems that there can be a lot of angst associated with creativity. She also mentions social media as a way to connect to people who like to do the same things you like to do.

pencil sketch m 1/2/14

pencil sketch L 12/31/14

12/31/14 pencil sketch k

I'm just using a mechanical pencil in a smaller 5.5 x 8.5 notebook. This is my mostly daily practice. It's been very dark lately and wet outside so difficult to get good photos.

pencil sketch j 12/29/14

Originally when I drew this I forgot the ring finger so I had only 3 fingers and a thumb. So I erased the pinky, drew the ring finger and redrew the pinky. My hand was cramping up. Hard to hold this pose. I think it's easier to use your thumb to hold down the fingers.

pencil sketch h & i 12/28/14

I have several sketchbooks I work out of. Forgot I did the ASL letter h, so redid it. When I take photos indoors I have a yellowish cast, outside I get a bluish cast.

pencil sketches h & b25J Mitchell 12/26/14

Pencil Sketch g 12/25/14

I always thought you used the thumb to hold down the 3 fingers but this most recent ASL chart doesn't.