Je Suis Charlie

Sketching can tell a story; it can be a response to events, good or bad. Today's sketch is in response to the events in Paris yesterday.

This sketch was simple to draw, but deciding on the concept was difficult. I had something to say, but what?

• Cartoons don't kill people. People kill people. (Too much like the NRA slogan.)
• People shouldn't die because of a cartoon, nor should they kill because of a cartoon.
• "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine." --quote from Star Wars IV, A New Hope
• Je suis Charlie.
• I looked at Buzz Feed's  23 Heartbreaking Cartoons From Artists Responding To The Charlie Hebdo Shooting to see how various cartoonists handled the event. Powerful images that made me laugh and cry at the same time.

My final choice was to draw a crowd of people standing behind a Je suis Charlie banner. Each person held a pen, ready to add their images to the growing mass of images and words that have already responded to this tragedy. 

Quick Draw: Cutie

Tuesdays and Thursdays are usually my busy days during the week. Today I didn't have an opportunity to sketch until early evening and had no idea what to sketch. Koosje Koene's Draw Tip Tuesday has many ideas for quick sketches. Her most recent video. Draw Tip Tuesday: Drawing Trash was just the inspiration I needed. Rummaging through my chicken scraps, I found a mushy cutie. Using a medium Pitt pen, I did a contour drawing, then used some Cotman watercolors to add a little color to the sketch.

Mushy Cutie

Paper: Stirman-Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook 4"x6"

Media: Medium Pitt Pen and Cotman Watercolors

Friday is the start of Sketchbook Skool Bootcamp!

Two Days, Two Sketches

This is what happens when I have too many activities during the day. Before setting my sketch a day goal, I probably would have skipped sketching. The doodle below is not great, but I did have an opportunity to work with my Pigma Micron drawing pens.

Paper: Stilman and Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook 4"x6"

Media: Micron Pigma 005 drawing pen - black, red, green

Note: I can see the Moche Warrior sketch through the page.

My January 6 sketch was a more well thought out. It's a variation of Danny Gregory's "Fast and Slow" exercise in Kourse 2.1.2 of Sketchbookskool: "Seeing". I used Lemon Yellow Sennelier watercolor to quickly record the shape of a Fiesta Teapot, then switched to a black Pigma Micron 005 drawing pen to draw the contours of the pot. 

Paper: Stilman and Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook 4"x6"

Media: Lemon Yellow Sennelier watercolor paint

Micron Pigma 005 drawing pen - Black

Little Momma

Today's sketch is of Little Momma, one a feral cat that stays in the laundry room. Momma has been around for years, eating the food we put out, invisible most of the time, and untouchable for almost two years. As she became more comfortable around us, it became obvious that she had a crippled rear paw. When she left a litter of six kittens under my truck, we cat-napped the litter, moving them into the laundry room. The kittens adjusted to humans and Mamma adjusted to staying in the laundry room while taking care of the kittens.  Only two kittens survived, but Tiny Tom and Fluffy are safe and content house hats, while Little Momma spends part of almost every day on the dryer in the laundry room, sleeping and eating.

Little Momma

Sketch 4 of 2015

Paper 9"x12" Strathmore Mixed Media Visual Journal

Media: Sennelier watercolors, Derwent Inktense Watercolor Pencil,  pencil

Note: Unfinished 

Project for 2015: A Sketch a Day

I've been off the grid for a while, engrossed in Sketchbook Skool. After completing the first three courses, I am now ready to start Sketchbook Skool Boot Camp,  the follow-up course to Beginnings, Seeing, and Storytelling.

It's hard to work without a goal. In the coming year, I will do a sketch a day upload it to this blog.

January 1, 2015

Happy New Year! 

Last sketch of 2014-first sketch of 2015

Paper 9"x12" Strathmore Mixed Media Visual Journal

Media: Twinkling H20's. Pitt Pen, Noodler Flex Pen,  Higgins Fountain Pen India Ink (non-waterproof)

Rendering note: Textural effects done with Higgins Fountain Pen India Ink (non-waterproof) after painting is completely dry.

January 2, 2015

Three Cats on the Dryer

Paper: Stillman and Birn Alpha Series 4"x6"

Media and Tools: Bamboo Pen and india ink

What a dreary, gray, rainy day! When I went into the utility room to put away some laundry, I found all three feral cats on the dryer. Striped Mamma and Blackie peered out the window at the birds outside, while Little Mamma, who spent the night carousing with other cats in the neighborhood, napped on the old blanket we leave for that purpose. I did a quick gesture drawing with a bamboo pen and india ink. The pen left a couple of unfortunate blobs on the sketch.

January 3, 2015

Tiny Moche Warrior
Paper: Stillman and Birn Alpha Series 4"x6"

Media and Tools: Lamy Safari,  Higgins Fountain Pen India Ink (non-waterproof)

This is a contour drawing of a tiny silver Moche warrior. The figure itself measures about 1 1/4" in height. Considering the Moche's bloodthirsty reputation, it's probably inappropriate to describe this tiny pre-Columbian warrior as cute, but he's cute anyway.

Rendering note: I can see the india ink cat picture through this page. This isn't that important on this sketch, but might be a problem in future sketches.

Working with Twinkling H2O's

Luminarte has a number of products that are high quality and fun to use.  After trying Silks Acrylic Glaze, I moved on to Mastering Twinks Part I - Twinkling Discoveries, where I had a chance to practice using Twinkling H2O's.

Dion Dior teaches an absorbing class.  I wish this class was available when I was in college.  Each week of the five week class is covers a particular subject and applies it to the use of Twinks. Beginners can participate in the class, yet there is still plenty of information useful to more advanced students.  

Each week has a multi-part lesson including video, drawing, inspiration, lesson related pdf's and a main project.

Examples of projects done with Twinkling H2O's

Using Limited Pallettes

Twinkling Mandala

Mandalas

Mandalas

Once again, I've been wandering the web, searching for online classes.  Artist and Illustrator Dion Dior has several online classes interesting classes available, each emphasizing methods and materials that I am interested in trying.   Wisdom Circles appealed to me the most, so I signed up.

It's been a fascinating class.  I've done a series of mandalas in a variety of media ranging from black fine-line pen on white paper, to watercolor and pen, white gel pen on black paper, metallic gel pen on black paper.  I have spent some time experimenting with LuminArte's Silks Acrylic Glaze  and Twinkling H2Os, then accenting the work with white or metallic gel pens. I also had an opportunity to work with frisket, something I've never tried, although I've known about it for years. 

Embellishment is essential to the success of these projects. Beadwork and fiber arts might well be other ways to depict some of these designs. (Projects to try later!)

White gel pen on black cardstock.

Twinkling H20s, fine line black pen on a Strathmore Visual Journal page.

Silks Acrylic Glaze and white gel pen on black cardstock.

Work in progress. Silks acrylic glaze and gold gel pen on black cardstock.

Work continued with additional embellishment with various color metallic gel pens.

Once