#30Faces30Days in Procreate with Sktchy

I posted my first ink drawing in April 2015, having heard about Sktchy through my friend Joan Martin.

 

Sktchy is an online community that fosters creativity with a particular focus on portraiture. Members upload photographs that are used as inspiration. It’s also a friendly supportive place to creations. The artwork is displayed alongside the inspiration post - revealed with a swipe to the right. 

In the beginning my portraits were all analogue, using ink and watercolour, as well as some in oil and a few in acrylic. I had one of the smaller iPads and used an Idonit stylus - one step up from the stubby black finger like cheapie stylus which covered most of the line one was drawing. Frustrating to say the least!

I started adding digital elements about August of that year as seen in this work with text added:

#WAXTIP 

and this digital collage:

#WAXCOLLAGE

In April 2018 my digital progress made a dramatic leap forward with the release of a smaller, more affordable iPad that supported an Apple Pencil. It was definitely a game changer to have a drawing tool that was touch sensitive and very responsive. 

I have done a number of online classes with Sktchy, with various artists who have contributed so much to my knowledge of digital art, and Procreate in particular - it’s the best art app by far. 

This brings me to the beginning of May and the start of #30Faces30Days. This online challenge features a daily full length video tutorial using a muse selected by the tutor and concentrating on their own unique style. Each day brings new approaches and ways of working in Procreate. It’s excellent value for money. I decided at the beginning that even if the days style/approach was not my ‘jam’ I would endeavour to complete something using the tutor’s techniques. 

So May is all about Procreate and a portrait every day. I’m very pleased that so far I have kept up and have finished a portrait every day. 

Here are the portraits up to Day 15.

Man’s Best Friend

Over the years I have painted Man’s Best Friend a number of times so today when I was asked to send images of my work I decided a blog post including the doggie portraits would be a good idea. 

Norbert - watercolour on paper 

Kinsey’s pup - watercolour on paper


Laura’s pup - watercolour on paper



Laura’s pup - watercolour on paper

Blaze - oil on canvas 

Dakota, above and Belle below - both oil on canvas 

 

Digital Portraits

Since the beginning of the year I have been trying to draw portraits more often. One of the easiest ways to make this happen is to do them digitally using the Procreate app. It’s so convenient to pick up an Apple Pencil and draw a few lines while waiting for something. And the clean up afterwards - well there’s none! 

Last year I upgraded my iPad Air to the  iPad 2018 and this, combined with the Apple Pencil, really is a game-changer. Previously I had been using a Jot Pro stylus which was alright but still quite difficult to use. When I look at some of these earlier portraits I can see the struggle. 

I also took a couple of online courses through Sktchy with Lisa Fillion. This improved my ability use Procreate more extensively and with more confidence. I enjoy the way I can now add textured paper to the background, move elements of the drawing around and just have a lot of fun. 

My first portrait was posted on the 18th April 2015. To date, I have completed 308 portraits.
Joan Martin was the first person to draw my attention to the app. It took me a while to “get it” but once I hooked I didn’t look back. Thanks, Joan.

Sktchy chooses portraits that they like to be featured as a “Pick” so when one of my early Procreate portraits was chosen I was thrilled. 

The Sktchy community is one of the most supportive online groups. The muses are provide a never-ending source of inspiration and my fellow artists are generous with support and encouragement. 

The days in between...

Christmas is over. We’ve opened the presents and eaten the turkey. We have packed away the Christmas decorations and although it is only a few days into January, some shops, believe it or not, are advertising Hot Cross Buns - really? 

The New Year has dawned but it has not really begun. Many people are still on holiday. We fill the days in between with making plans, creating goals, and looking at ways to improve our lives. 

In reality, it’s best to just do something. Anything. And then do another thing and then do something else. 

I have been doing precisely that with this little series of watercolour portraits. 

A simple graphite drawing - then a light wash of watercolour - then some detail and deeper values for a bit of drama. 

Commissions

Should you wish to have a watercolour painting of  your precious pooch or kitty I would be delighted to undertake a commission. 
Please contact me on info@carolleebeckx.com for more details.

Sketchbook

The sketchbook I am using is a new one for me which I found at Art Shed Brisbane. It’s by Kunst & Papier and at 160gsm it is a little too light for very watery washes but I don’t mind a little buckling in a sketchbook. I do like the size and format, and since it’s hard cover it is good for plein air sketching. (More of those in another post)

The doggy muses are all courtesy their owners on the Sktchy app. 

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.

Portraits on a new surface

I had read about Ampersand artists boards and seen many examples of artwork done on the different surfaces. I was impressed with how good they seemed to be. Recently when I saw that  my local art shop Art Shed Brisbane, had started stocking Ampersand artists boards, I was eager to experiment.

                                  

I was given a couple of sample sizes and bought some of the Aquabord and Claybord. I was particularly keen to try watercolour on the Claybord since I am fascinated by Ali Cavanaugh's amazing portraits. 

Well, it's easier said than done. The clay surface is as smooth as silk. It adds a wonderful translucency to the layer of paint. It's forgiving because offending brushstrokes can be wiped off leaving the surface clean. However, if you're hasty, everything you've painted will come off too. Adding a too-wet brush to an already painted area will lift off all that's below! I know that I have a very long way to go to achieve a result that I will satisfy me.

Here are a couple of portraits on Claybord:

                      

Portrait of Daniel - watercolour on Ampersand Claybord 250mm x 250mm 

                                     

Portrait of Tamara Lara from Sktchy - watercolour on Ampersand Claybord 175mm x 125mm

I've used a couple of timber panels lately. The rigid surface is quite different to the bounce and spring of stretched canvas. The lack of woven texture is also very different. A firm support is ideal for working in impasto since there's less chance of the the thick paint layer cracking. This can easily happen on flexible canvas.

Next on my experimentation list is using oils on Claybord as I think that the results on the smooth surface will be interesting.

The Aquabord has more tooth and texture, more suitable for watercolour, for which of course it has been designed. I need work with it more so that I investigate the properties of the surface properly. And really, at the end of the day, am I making life difficult for myself ? I should just stick to watercolour paper for watercolour!

And here's the framed portrait - from Bizarre Frames in Newmarket, Brisbane. The lovely people there are always happy to help with my odd requests. As usual, I forgot to photograph the painting in the frame minus the glass so there are a coupe of strange highlights. I managed not to include a reflection of myself, though!

                       

Portraits - analogue and digital

Ten months ago I first started using the Sktchy app and so far I've created 80 portraits. Some of them I've shared here as well as on Instagram. It's been a wonderful way to experiment with different mediums and techniques. I've played with ink, graphite, collage, watercolour, gouache and watercolour markers as well as oil on canvas panel. 

The colouring craze is everywhere. Some of the Sktchy artists are collaborating to publish colouring books featuring members of the  Sktchy community. This portrait from a reference photo uploaded on Sktchy as a line drawing was printed on to watercolour paper. Since the ink jet ink is water-soluble, I used gouache and ink.

Portrait with Roses - inspiration from Daniel DePeuter - inkjet print with Gouache and ink


I've had digital art apps on my phone and iPad for a long time and have fiddled around with them, never really coming to grips with the process. Finally about two months ago I decided it was time to learn. Working slowly through the manual for Procreate, I took baby steps discovering how to work in layers and exploring the many, many, tools that are available. It helped to limit myself to one or two tools at a time, trying out different widths of brushstroke and varying the opacity. 

This portrait of Ginnie Chen was done using Procreate for #WAXcubism. The different #WAX Weekend Art Extravaganza prompts are posted each weekend.  

 Ginnie Chen - Procreate digital drawing 

I love drawing in graphite so I thought, why not combine the two mediums? Sophia Olsen's portrait started as a graphite drawing which I scanned. I created a mask in Superimpose which eliminated the background completely, then uploaded the mask into Procreate. This provided the opportunity to play around while preserving the original drawing. New backgrounds and textures were added to various layers in Procreate.

Sophia Olsen - graphite and carbon pencil 

One of the features in Procreate is the video function. each brush stoke is recorded and can be played back. This video is posted in a separate post - Sophia.

Sophia - graphite on watercolour paper with digital layers

More Sktchy Portraits

It's been three months since I developed a new obsession - using the Sktchy app to create portraits. I've written about the portraits before, but I'd like to share a few of my newest sketches.

In this day of the endless selfie, and the current love of sharing these on social media, there's an endless supply of wonderful people to be inspired by. 
Many people who are on Sktchy have no plan to create any portraits, they are content to post creative photos of themselves for others to use. Are we becoming a tad self-obsessed?

Each weekend there's a different challenge, the Weekend Art Extravaganza. It may be  #WAXinyourshoes - creating a portrait in the style of a fellow Sktchy artist whose work you admire; or it may be #WAXinmotion where the aim is to capture movement. 

The lovely photograph of this little girl jumping with delight over a puddle of water made a perfect reference to use for #WAXinmotion. I was delighted that it was featured as a 'Sktchy Pick' 

 Jumping watercolour and gouache

Last weekend it was #WAXmini - making a very small portrait and photographing your painting with something to show the scale. Some years ago I painted many miniatures so it was fun to re-visit the world of the small. I had to search for my smallest 3/0 brush to paint this portrait.  

 

Yasmin - watercolour on Canson Hot press paper

Often when working on paintings in the studio I'm reluctant to experiment and I realise it's important to make time to play; to use different materials; to try another technique. These portraits give me the impetus to do just that - use an unusual colour; add a lively wash to the background of a ink drawing - and in this case, deciding to leave the portrait itself in black and white, adding no watercolour washes to the face. 

Men and beards is another favourite theme - here are two of Ronin Memphis. What a magnificent beard - a pity it's now been trimmed !!  

RoninI Ink and watercolour

Ronin II Ink and watercolour

And here's a portrait of the co-founder of the app - Jordan Melnick

Jordan Ink and watercolour Beta sketchbook

Sktchy has a Tumblr site where many of the portraits can be viewed as well as interviews with some of the artists. 

And of course, here's a link to the Sktchy app itself is where you’ll find all the action!

My previous post is here: Fun with Sktchy

Fun with Sktchy

Experimentation is a key to the creative process. This is exactly what I’ve been doing this week. An app for creating portraits called Sktchy provided the inspiration.

As the blurb on the app preview says:
When you share a photo on Sktchy, it’s not for likes it’s to inspire. So here are some of my first attempts and it’s been great fun.

Gazing into your soul watercolour and graphite © Carol Lee Beckx

When you view the art on the app, a swipe to the right reveals the source photograph so you can see the reference. I've combined both reference and artwork using another app called Diptic (sad, I know, but I do love to play with technology)   

Melanie - Ink © Carol Lee Beckx

Ice Cream - watercolour and graphite © Carol Lee Beckx

And it’s a lot of fun to collect “Wows” for your work – and don’t we all love a pat on the back? So why don't you join me?

Disclaimer: Since I love mostly free apps, I don't receive any commission...