Moleskin Sketchbook:Smoke

                                    Liquid Pencil, gouache Smoke: the possibilities for imagery…

Sketchbook Liquid Pencil Smudge

Less is often more. That’s how I feel about some of the sketching I’ve been working with lately. This happened in two minutes. A pinky dip into the Liquid Pencil pot. I suppose I was channeling a woman of long ago.

Sketchbook:Early Fall

                       Sketchbook          Watercolor Pencil, White Gouache I adore the forest just before the leaves begin to turn. The greens begin to transition into varied shades. Some leaves have already fallen; brown and crunchy.  As the leaves thin, vines are on display. …

Sketchbook-Two Natured

Graphite Some creature study inspired by Nitzus’s photo. There was something in the eyes of this babirusa that appeared both feral and docile to me. The cat and crow are weighing in.

Sketchbook-Heavy Hatted

Sketchbook    Graphite A little fashion fun:)

Ant Dance Collage

    India ink/crow quill, collaged photo, discarded monotype, watercolor pencil  More pages from the my new orange sketchbook.  I don’t make a lot of collage, but I keep a bag of odds and ends tucked away with the intention of putting the pieces together somehow, someday.  Today’s one day!  

Watercolor Wed.4

I had some fun with this.  I’ve learned that I must never use pencil to plan a loose watercolor, but instead just go for it.  And, to experiment with color!

Watercolor Wed.2

Last Wednesday I complained about my ineptitude with watercolor.  This week, I plod on, with three quick attempts at the same subject. Above is the most successful with regard to the look that I want.  I found that if I did not plan in pencil at all, I got a better result. This first attempt …

Past

The Sketchbook Project 2013             Graphite From family photos, a collage of images brought together through sketch.  The past rearranged.

In The Woods

  Sketchbook Project 2013    Graphite, Liquid Pencil & White Gouache on Stipple Paper There’s just something about the dappled light and density of the forest.  The contrasts in the scale of life.  I want to stay. It feels like home.

Smudging

Sketchbook pages 5-6 graphite on block printing paper To smudge or not to smudge.. three schools of thought, I think.. Some are opposed to using a finger or an implement to blur and fill with graphite, feeling that it’s a muddy and lazy process.  Others feel it’s the only way to modulate values.  Still others …

Sketchbook 3-4

These pages are created on stipple paper and the drawing pencils are augmented with liquid graphite or liquid pencil. I’ve never played with liquid pencil before.  Mixed with a little water, the result is a silvery paint-like substance.  Fun!

Sketchbook Page Prep

I love to pre-prepare my sketchbook with various media to kick-start a creative page.  Of course, there is nothing wrong with sketching directly onto a blank page, but a wet into wet watercolor wash is every so much more exciting to play with.  The above face rendered in blues, is the result of a wet …