Drawing every day

Last year I watched as Debbie Mackinnon started a project to draw every day. She kept to this resolve. Every. Single. Day. 366 days. A remarkable achievement indeed. 

She has just had a successful exhibition at Incinerator Gallery in Sydney showcasing the results. 

These drawing prompted me to follow her example this year. 

So we are one month down in 2021 and I have 31 drawings done. I decided at the outset that I would start small and do a very quick drawing every day. Apart from a couple of days when I got sidetracked with re-opening the Studio, I kept to the schedule. (I have since made up the days missed!)

I used a relatively small sketchbook 19cm x 19cm so that I could do something easy and undemanding. Deciding that done was better than perfect.

The small format is somewhat restrictive so I foresee that I will branch out and experiment with larger paper and a use variety of media.

Sketching at Mt Coot-Tha Botanic Gardens

It was a sunny morning yesterday at Mt-Coot-Tha. I had previously sketched the Japanese Gardens where the rest of the sketchers were meeting, so I decided to look for something else. I found this striking view of the Tropical Display Dome and a magnificent baobab tree. I started directly on the tree with watercolour - no drawing. The dome was tricky so here I used a light pencil sketch to keep me on track.

Mt Coot- Tha Tropical Dome - watercolour and ink in a Beta Sketchbook

First pass with watercolour and the pencil sketch of the Tropical Dome. 

Once this first wash was dry, I went in with some ink (Pilot Metropolitan Fine nib) to draw in the details of the branches. I wasn’t concerned about keeping to the painted areas, rather worked to redraw new details. 

More progress - ink and watercolour 

Summer in Brisbane, it seems, is here in earnest. It was very hot day and the shade I had been sitting in was disappearing. By the time it came to painting the Dome, I decided this would be achieved much more easily with a table, proper shade and cup of coffee. I moved into the cafe to complete the sketch. I was so wrapped up doing this that I only noticed the rest of the crew when they stood up to take photos! 

It’s strange how our brains translate what we see into manageable symbols. I must have stared at the Tropical Dome for over an hour before I started to paint it. My brain saw ‘diamond’ shapes and painted them accordingly. It was only when I was halfway through painting the Dome that I realised that the ‘diamonds’ were in fact triangles. Talk about painting what you think you see and not what you actually see!

Graphite drawing to re-see the Tropical Dome 

The reality...

Keeping up with Inktober - the first half

So far, so good. It’s twenty three days into October and I have been able to keep to the challenge of drawing in ink each day. Some days it has been a struggle. I knew ahead of time that being true to the offical prompts would be problematic so I decided to draw whatever I felt like if the prompt was not inspiring.

Here is a selection of the drawings. I’ve used a variety of pens and inks, ranging from the humble ballpoint pen to the calligraphic Sailor Fude or brush pen. 

#Poison - ballpoint pen 

Bike at my local cafe - Pilot Metropolitan 

Mt Coot-Tha Botanic Gardens - Sailor Fude pen

Sailor Fude pen with Sailor red/brown ink 

Pilot Metropolitan M nib with De Artramentis Fog Grey #Drool - none here...

Pilot Metropolitan F nib with Daimine Hope Pink #exhausted

Lamy Safari 1.5 mm nib with Pelikan Smokey Quartz #Precious

A series of a biker leaving my local cafe. Sailor Fude, black ink and water brush. 

Pilot Metropolitan F nib De Artramentis Document Black and a water brush for the wash 

 Lamy Safari 1.5 mm nib with Pelikan Smokey Quartz and Pelikan Smokey Quartz #Guarded

A mixture of cheap coloured ballpoint pens. 

Sailor Fude De Artramentis Document Black

BIC ballpoint pen, Pilot Metropolitan with a water brush for the wash. #angular

Please note: all photos taken quickly with a phone - saves time for drawing!

Travelers Notebook - a recent holiday

Many of you will know that over the holidays, I was able to travel to South Africa to visit family. Since this was to be a time to re-connect, relax and not a serious sketching holiday, using the Travelers Notebook (from Bookbinders in Gympie Road, Brisbane and online) was the ideal sketchbook to use. Generally the paper format can be awkward for sketching since the pages are quite long and quite narrow. However, I found that it was this very feature that enabled me to do many sketches while out with family and friends. 

My rather chunky-looking TN at the end of the holiday 

The black leather cover stands up to rigorous treatment and, in fact, improves with wear. The Notebook is also fairly unobtrusive so it was easy to open and write or sketch without taking up a lot of space at a cafe table. 

I used two types of inserts - one with sketchbook paper and another with blank Midori paper. The latter is lovely for use with ink and I was pleased that the Sketchbook paper worked successfully with watercolour. I almost completed two sketchbook inserts and the same amount with the blank notepaper.

Time for coffee and cake

Sketching in the shade of Causarina pine trees

The blank notepaper became my travel diary where I could capture my thoughts at the end of each day. Before I left I splashed out and bought a HP Sprocket printer. I was then able to add photos of special places and people on the occasions where a sketch wasn’t possible. It is a small and light unit, working via Bluetooth with the iPhone. 

Combining travel diary entries with photographs 

The HP Sprocket printer

Occasionally the connection would be erratic but switching on and off solved that issue. The colour can be a little flat and dull so boosting the saturation before printing gives a good result. 

Garden Castle, Drakensberg Mountains, South Africa

I have made a video flip-through of the whole book which you can see here: 

Travelers Notebook- holiday sketches South Africa

Inktober 2018

October means Inktober, the annual drawing challenge that has been going for a number of years. Jake Parker started this in 2009 to improve his inking and drawing skills. The challenge comes with daily prompts to help keep you on track. 

Perhaps it’s because I have trouble following rules, but I’ve usually lost interest when the given prompts didn’t strike a chord with me. 

This year Sktchy has joined the challenge, using the ‘official’ prompts. Theses are emailed daily to all taking part. Today is always earlier in Australia than everywhere else - except for New Zealand - so the prompts come at the end of the day. I like to get my drawing completed early, or even start a new one the day before, so getting a late prompt has given me a good excuse to do my own thing!
(Yes, I know, I could download the list...)

My challenge is simply to do a portrait in ink every day in October and to date it’s been working well. 

Ink in Hero Bent nib calligraphy pen 

De Artramentis Fog Grey - Pilot Metropolitan Medium nib and water Brush

Digital ink using Procreate - this was drawn on the way from a weekend away. The ride was quite bumpy which added to the scribble effect!

Noodlers Black ink in Pilot Metropolitan fine nib in a Midori notebook. The paper, while quite light, is beautiful to use with a fountain pen - silky and smooth with no feathering or bleed-through. This notebook is available at a wonderful stationery shop, Bookbinders in Brisbane. They stock all kinds of notebooks, pens, ink and writing accessories. 

Ink and water brush in Midori notebook

Black and brown ink with water brush in Midori notebook.

Bic Crystal ballpoint in Alpha softcover sketchbook - using a ballpoint with a light touch mimics the appearance of graphite.

Sam the Sphynx with his special "look" - Fine nib Pilot Metroploitan in Midori notebook - the ears are pink Tombow brush pen, the eyes Inktense green.

Noodlers #41 Brown on Viking drawing paper A6 size

De Artramentis Fog Grey - Pilot Metropolitan Medium nib and water Brush

on Viking drawing paper A6 size

De Artramentis Fog Grey - Pilot Metropolitan Medium nib and water Brush

on Viking drawing paper A6 size.

Black and White at Aspire Gallery, Paddington Brisbane

There's something very appealing about the simplicity of black and white - the strong contrasts catch the eye. Working in ink with a fine pen is meditative. You can loose yourself in the repetition of the lines, building up delicate cross-hatching, gradually darkening the values.

Teacup with Cherries - ink on Zeta paper - Framed 230 mm x 230 mm 

These two ink drawings are part of the Exhibition Black and White currently on at Aspire Gallery, 53 Kennedy Terrace, Paddington until the 22nd July. There's a wide variety of work being shown - paintings, drawings, ceramics, sculpture and a fabric installation as well.

Porcelain with Tomatoes - ink on Zeta paper - Framed 230 mm x 230 mm

My drawings hanging in the Gallery. 

Sktchy30 - The halfway mark, meeting the challenge

There are plenty of challenges around. A recent one was #oneweek100 people; there's the 365 day drawing challenge; Celebrate ink in Inktober, etc. Frequently, I have started a challenge with enthusiasm and optimism only to abandon it halfway through. Sometimes it was due to the choice of prompts which were uninspiring (to me) sometimes other matters took priority.

When the Sktchy app came up with #Sktchy30 I thought that it was something I could achieve more easily than most of the other challenges. Each day a prompt from Sktchy arrives in my inbox. As an example, describe the rituals that get you creating; incorporating play into your work; the use of  colour; describe your workplace/studio environment.

Since the email arrives in Australia in the afternoon(early morning in the US) most of the day has passed before the prompt arrives. I prefer to start drawing early or even the day before which make using the prompt difficult. So I decided from the beginning to create my own challenge:

• to see if I could use a different medium or try a different technique each day.
• If time was an issue on a particular day then the sketch would be quick 5/10 minutes
• If I had more time on another day, and had already completed a sketch, I would start something more ambitious to complete another day.

If I'm working later in the day and I can incorporate the prompt that is a bonus. So far the prompts have been more motivational than a specific theme or subject and my plan is working. I also remembered a toned sketchbook that I had hardly used. Experimenting with various mediums on this surface has been an interesting exercise. I think I might even grow fond of the paper! 

Here are some of the work created during the last two weeks. 

 

Watercolour on Alpha paper

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Gouache on Alpha paper

Quick contour drawing - ink and wash

 

Digital drawing - Procreate

 

Colour added - Procreate

 

Gouache on Strathmore toned paper 

Experimenting with masking fluid and watercolour 

 

Mark Rothko - screenshot from a video about the artist

 

Portrait of Evelyn Nesbit - gouache on toned paper

Gouache on toned paper

 

Digital drawing - Procreate

 

Ballpoint pen, white ink and gouache