Inktober 2017 Day 8 - Day 14 aka "BOOK TWO"

Onward we go, here is book two, where I see changes (for the good) I think.
Maybe there is hope for me yet !

Day 8
Still in Algonquin I found my subject sitting on the table just in case you don't recognize them, Green Pepper and a Tomato..

Someone mentioned using non waterproof ink so they could add shadows by washing the lines of ink.
So I did it too

Lamy Safari with Lamy Black Ink

Day 9

Ch-ch-ch changes..
well I think so, I see a definite shift in my line work here maybe I am improving :-)

Pilot Metropolitan Pen and Platinum Carbon Black Ink

Labrador Tea

There was a time when Grant and I would make a 3 hr journey (one way!) into the backwoods of Algonquin just so we could enjoy a cup of this tea!
We still enjoy it but we don't have to walk nearly as far :-)

Day 10

A subject way more complex but boy I enjoyed drawing this one..
Pine cones, a bunch was knocked off a tree in Mew Lake (Algonquin) so I brought it home as my subject.

Very old Parker rollerball pen, it's even older than the sketchbook and that started in 1994!

Day 11

OK well somehow the day got away from me and as I was eating an apple before I went to bed I realized I hadn't completed my Inktober tribute :-o

So the apple core was it ..

The same old Parker Rollerball

Day 12

Remember the walks with Winter?
Here is another 'found' subject from one of the walks it is also the beginning of "just how many different oaks live in my neighbourhood anyway"

Same old Parker rollerball

Day 13

This would be the second of the Oaks leaves

Jinhao 750 "Frankenpen" (I swapped out the nib for a flex nib)
Diamine 'Ochre' Ink

Getting to like my lines

Day 14

Another Oak, thats three if you are counting..
Jinhao 750 "Frankenpen"
Diamine 'Ochre' Ink

This is a great combination for Autumn sketching!

Here endeth "BOOK TWO"

I have to go find a subject for today to fill in the Day 15 spot that will be in Book three
Watch this space!

Alan

Inktober 2017 Day 1 - Day 7 aka "BOOK ONE"

I've been lurking ..
I wasn't sure about being able to complete this years "Inktober" challenge but I started and kept it to myself but the month is half over and I am still going!

So it's time ..
I thought aboyt the format ;
1 a day was  bit much
All of them in one post seemed worse
So I settled on this ..

Here is Day 1 through Day 7

Day 1

I was in Ottawa with the Urban Sketchers and found myself sitting in front of Maman by Lois Boubureous
https://g.co/kgs/ctg5zG

There are 5 of these scattered around, I know of one in the Distillery District in Toronto the rest are worldwide.

Unfortunately for me I put my sketch in my sketchbook not knowing if I would continue or not or how I would keep track of my progress.
So Day 1 is all alone in my Moleskine Sketchbook while all the others reside side by side in my very old (1994) sketchbook that I am trying to fill.

Without further ado ...
Day 1 Maman

I used my little used Brush Pen to get the thick black lines that make up the actual sculpture.
Little used as it rarely comes out into the light but I am pleased with this

Day 2

Dalek
What ? you don't know what a Dalek is ?
Sheesh
Better start watching Dr Who all 40 plus years of it to get caught up !
This was created with a ballpoint pen while I sat on hold on the phone.

Day 3

Still struggling to find my way with Inktober this is a pretty quick sketch of one of my painting bags.
it was there and I needed a subject ..
I think it was done with a Micron .05

Day 4

Acorns.

I picked these up one my walk with Winter ( little knowing this was going to start a trend..)

Micron .05 pen

Day 5

Fall Mum's
Sitting on the picnic table in Algonquin

Rotring 1.5mm Art Pen

Day 6

Maple leaves (unfortunately I didn't have coloured inks or my dip pens with me) in Algonquin.
Pilot Metropolitan with Platinum Carbon Black Ink (I think)

Day 7

Still in Algonquin.
Grant threw a piece of wire into a tree and started talking to the world ..
Ham radio

Sakura Microperm 01 well used and scratchy and I like it!

Well thats "BookOne" stay tuned for "Book 2"
Where things start to change ....

Alan

Urban Sketchers in Elora

Yesterday I joined a group of like minded people in Elora for an afternoon of sketching.

I mixed up the times so while I waited for the same 'like minded people' to show up I worked on other people..
I'm not good at this so ...

Bissell Park - Market Day

Bissell Park - by the river

Finally everyone showed up and I wandered off into town ..

Mill St to be precise 

There were  few sprinkes of rain so we sat under an umbrella in an outdoor cafe :-)

2 pens, 1 ink

Alan

Westfield Village - A grand day out

Westfield Village is a great place to visit if you love old buildings.
Yesterday I took my friend Karen for a day out to sketch and draw a few of them.

Gillen House - pencil 

This took a while, especially with the steam tractor rumbling by spitting oil, smoke and dust. I had to stop and cover my sketchbook each time ! 

I didn't notice the slight lean until I scanned it...

Cathcart School - Pencil

I decided on a less formal study of the old school. This was drawn quickly with a 'fat' (2mm) mechanical pencil .

Albrecht Seip Boot Shop - Pencil, Pen and Ink

Trying to stay off the roadway (that steam tractor again) I was 'forced' to work on my perspective drawing.

Boy the day went fast, before I knew it we were given the 10 min warning as it was 4:00pm already!

A weekend in the life or I should be so lucky..

This last weekend I was camping at Valens Conservation area, with a couple of side trips!

Saturday morning I was greeted with Ms Snapping Turtle laying her eggs in the middle of a driveway to a campsite!

That was before I headed out to Doon Heritage Village in KItchener to meet up with my "Sketchy Friends"

That was a great morning and I managed to get back to the campsite before the storms came through !

Sunday dawned bright and clear or so I thought...

After lunch my friend Karen and I visited Westfield Village in Rockton for a couple of hours sketching. We each chose our spot and went to work..

I fell in love with this rally old homestead that stood apart from the main attractions

Hmm not a very good photo but you get the idea!

This was completed in about 20 min so I wandered off to see wht Karen was up to .

She wasn't quite finished her piece so I sat down and did a quick sketch of the old church though the tree's

To round off the weekend on Monday morning I decided to sketch my breakfast :-)

 Cinnamon Bun and coffee ...Mmmm


All done in pen and ink some with the addition of water soluble graphite

Continuous Line Drawing

Having watched a few tutorials from Sketchbook Skool
http://sketchbookskool.com/blog/draw-tip-tuesday-urban-sketch-continuous-line/

As I was sitting in Valens campground with no internet I decided to practice what I had learned.
I was really surprised how using this technique really sharpened my 'seeing' so I did more !
I didn't move more than a few feet from my trailer to do these ... LOL

Wandering again ...

This weekend with the 'nicer' weather rolling in I was out and about.
Yesterday I participated in a Shinrin Yoku (forest bathing) outing to the Huron Natural Area in Kitchener.
Yes we kept our clothes on and yes we had a great time!

At one point we could sit by a stream so I took the opportunity to pull out my sketchbook and recorded this pencil sketch ..

Then this morning I met up with a friend and after Bagels and tea we headed out to sketch an old house that is slated for demolition to make way for our new highway.. AKA progress :-(

Two totally different approaches but both equally satisfying

Alan

More Lessons learned..

A group I belong to on Facebook has a 'challenge' running, I missed January but did the February challenge.
A photo is given and everyone puts their own spin on it, there are no winners nor losers but  instead you can learn a lot from others interpretations, here is mine;

Country Lane

I am reasonably happy with it, some bits more than others :-)


I also followed a video where the artist used a credit card to scrape out rocks in a landscape. Once you get the 'dampness' right it works quite well..

Babbling Brook

Alan

Arches 140# CP paper,
W&N watercolours,
QoR Watercolour,
Signo white gel pen,
Noodlers Carbon Black,
Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen,
 Escoda Prado Brushes,
Escoda Reserva Kolinsky Sable Brushes,
Curry's pallete knife,

Pen and Wash .. Lessons from Peter Sheeler

I promised myself a down day painting and reading.
Well I did the painting bit, watching youtube video's by one of my favourite artists Peter Sheeler

http://M.youtube.com/channel/UCZWYIO-v3dYNkhBjxFEYZ0g

and trying to emulate his simple style that I like so much ..

 Pen and Wash Barn

 Still working on using more pigment !

Pen and Wash Farmhouse

Unfortunately on this one I got a little impatient with my initial wash and with noodlers black ink you cannot do that .. so there are a couple of small runs, Oh well.

Overall I am quite happy with the results and happy with the day !

The first one was in my Stillman and Birn Beta sketchbook
For the second one I tore up a sheet of Saunders #200 Hot Press paper that I had bought to try, I like it :-)

Pen was a Pilot Mertopolitan
Ink Noodlers Black
W&N watercolours 
W&N travel brushes
Rosemary & Co travel 'sword' brush (First time I tried it)

Alan

Sunday Morning coffee

Last weekend I visited my son David and daughter-in-law Siobhan in Toronto.
I, as usual, was up early.

As I sat drinking my coffee I eyed the vase of tulips on the table and one thing led to another...

Stillman and Birn Alpha series
Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen
Noodlers Lexington Grey Ink

Another Study of my Fallen Leaves ..

They have been on my desk for several weeks now, getting more brittle as each day passes.

This one was done a couple of days ago in pen, ink and Derwent Graphitint pencil (thanks Vickie!)

Much happier with this rendering especially the hatching/shading on the leaf on the left :-)

Alan

Out with my 'Sketchy' friends ...

Today the Urban Sketchers of KW visited the Trinity Anglican Church in Cambridge ON for an  afternoon of, well, sketching...

It's funny how I began with this detail sketch that took about 2 hours to complete

  

Then this pen and ink took about 20 min

Then I went downstairs and settled in for a 'quick' sketch as we only had about half an hour left.

Well I still had 10 min to do one more !

What I discovered was the faster and more loosely I worked the better I liked the result ... go figure

Window

Watched a few youtube video's for inspiration yesterday ..

This one caught my eye