Pandemic pen-n-inking

I drew the image above first in pencil, then inked it with a Pigma Micron size 01 pen in an old hard-sided wirebound sketchbook with good quality, acid-free pages (maybe a Strathmore 400 series?). It's not for a particular project. Just for fun. We're all a bit more trapped indoors these days. So to keep from being driven too crazy by that, I'm doing drawings that play up how cozy and inviting home can be. 

More sketches ... and plans

As you can probably tell from the subject matter, I do most of my sketching these days during church.

 

One month ago, I went from working a part-time office day job for a tiny non-profit to a full-time administrative position at a mid-sized university.  The increase in income and benefits are a welcome relief, and I get to interact with a lot of interesting people, but I do miss all the extra hours I had for writing and drawing.  

As I've been learning the complex systems of a much larger organization, I've put my own creative projects completely on hold (unless you count sketching during the sermon).  I wanted to be sure my new employer reaped the full benefits of my mental energy.  But now that I'm more accustomed to how things are done, I feel free to pour some of that energy back into art.  Yesterday, I began sketching from imagination again with a vague idea of producing a Christmas card design.  The pencil sketches, above, of kids making a snowman are from my first stab at getting into that mindset.  I'll do some more this evening and hope to have a Christmas card image ready to submit to an online company for printing by the end of the Thanksgiving weekend.  

I also have a novel waiting for its writer.  It's one that I was deeply into writing this past summer, but had to set aside in mid-September when someone near and extremely dear to me had a stroke.  That special someone is now recovering nicely, and I will happily re-enter my fictional world during the university's generous Christmas vacation.  

Life changes my plans

Sorry for taking so long to post again. In mid-September, someone extremely near and dear to me experienced a medical crisis that, while her condition has improved somewhat in recent days, has not fully cleared. Circumstances have demanded that I make more use of a different set of skills for a while.  I did get a bit of sketching in before the crisis hit, however, and managed a few quick sketches during Sunday morning sermons, but getting a sketch done each day of the week has suddenly become a low priority.

Here are the sketches I did manage to get down before life changed my focus:

You might get the idea, from a few of the sketches above, that I was having some headache issues during the week of September 9th.  You would be quite correct.  Don't worry; they were not serious.  They seem merely to have been related to a combination of tension (as I was engaged in a search for a new job--having determined I need the full-time-with-benefits kind at this point in my life) and ragweed allergies.  The headaches seem especially inconsequential given what happened at the end of the week.  At any rate, I was clear-headed enough to have fun trying to translate the pain into drawings.

Here are the Sunday morning sketches from my little Moleskine:

You may notice that the last sketchbook page above is dated 10/6/2013.  That's because I have decided to revamp my September challenge to make it an ongoing one in which I attempt to average a sketch a day from here on out.  Here's hoping life will allow ...

Big batch of September sketches

As you can see, I was in a rather pensive mode in the middle of last week.

On Sunday, I did a bunch of quick sketches of people in church in my little Moleskine again.  It's a lot easier to draw the folks sitting in the pews than it is to draw the musicians and the pastors, who keep moving on me.  

When I'm out of the house, I'm usually drawing with a ballpoint pen.  At home, I tend to use pencil, at least for preliminary sketching.  I think I'll try practicing more with using the pen at the outset.  See if I can develop a more confident ink line.

Now I need to go do my sketch for today.  I'll post it with my next batch.

200th post(!!!) and Sketch-a-day September: Day 1

Hello all!  It's hard to believe -- especially considering I haven't posted since July -- that this is my 200th blog post.  Thanks for visiting and making it all seem worthwhile!  Raise your coffee mugs and toast yourselves!

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted.  I've just started the first draft of a brand new novel, and it is consuming a great deal of creative energy.  I came up for air a few days ago and saw that one of my fellow bloggers, Coreopsis, is doing an art challenge: 29 Faces in September.  (You should check out the blog; there are some great pieces up already!)  That got me thinking about how I have trouble drawing with regularity when I'm starting into a new novel.  A simple daily challenge for the month may be just the ticket for re-instilling a daily sketching habit.

So here is my first sketch for Sketch-a-day September:

As you can see (or I hope you can see), I drew this in church during the sermon.  I keep this small Moleskine in my purse at all times.  (I wish more folks would sit in the pews like the guy at the top.  His was a much more interesting pose to draw.)

The Sketch-a-day September Challenge:  I have decided that my Sketch-a-day sketch can be as simple or complex as I feel up to making it or have time for that day.  I can spend just three minutes on the piece or three hours.  Multi-tasking is fine (drawing while riding the subway or listening to a sermon or sitting in a meeting or watching TV or talking on the phone). And any subject matter will do (I'm not interested in limiting my challenge to faces).  From life or from imagination.  Realistic or abstract.  The sketch can even be a half-assed effort, but it can't be so bad that I won't share it here. But I must draw one (at least) sketch per day, and I must post it on the blog. No whipping out seven sketches on the weekend and then posting them spread out over the week.  (Although it may have to be acceptable to sketch each weekday and post all the efforts on the weekend.  This challenge is about instilling a habit of sketching each day -- not scanning and posting each day.)  I WILL sketch EVERY DAY, even if I'm under the weather.

Feel free to join me, or join Coreopsis in the 29 faces challenge.  Perhaps you have some other trick you use to keep motivated.  If so, please share it in the comments!

Illustration Friday: Jungle

For this week's quick pencil sketch on the Illustration Friday theme "Jungle," I thought, jungle means lots of trees. Then I thought, trees means treehouses.  And as anyone who has followed this blog for awhile knows, I love to draw treehouses.

Illustration Friday: Robot

Illustration Friday: Eyeglasses

Eyeglasses!!

This one started as a pencil sketch.  Then I scanned it into Painter and drew it properly with the crowquil brush, varying the point size between 2 and 3.5.  I love the freedom Painter is giving me.  I get the feel of a real India ink dipped pen, but with the computer's completely forgiving eraser option. 

It's been ages since I've done a sketch for Illustration Friday.  There's a good reason for that.  I've been busily working on an illustration for a commercial client.  Most of that was done in Painter too.  I'm happy to report that the work was received enthusiastically by the client.  I'll blog about the creative process after the image is up on his website.

My Favorite Things

Inspired by Abigail Halpin, I have decided to follow John Hendrix's advice to find my artistic voice.  Please visit his blog to read his five recommendations.  It will be worth your time.  My post today addresses Hendrix's first recommendation: "Learn to solve problems on your own terms."

As Hendrix points out, "When we make things we enjoy, our work gets better."  I tend to forget about this when I start to solve an illustration problem.  I focus on the specific needs of the assignment and set aside the what I love most about drawing.  This is not usually necessary.  I can infuse my illustration with things I love to draw most.  Hendrix offers up a simple, but helpful exercise: Make a list of 100 things you like drawing and keep the list up in your studio to remind you of what you should be including in your artwork.

Here are some of the things on my list:

gnarly trees
children climbing
town houses
castles
Victorian houses
skinny cats making mischief
apples
steaming coffee mugs
teapots
anthropomorphized rats
tiny mice
old stone churches
stacks of hardback books
ink bottles
fire hydrants

You can see a lot of these things in the older posts on this blog,

... and you can expect to see even more in future posts.

Sketching...

I seem to be neglecting the blog these days.  Sorry, folks.  I've been concentrating my creative energy and time on writing my latest middle grade novel and learning Adobe Illustrator (using Classroom in a Book).  I still sketch a bit in the evenings, however.  Nothing geared toward any particular project at this point--just whatever comes out of the pencil.  Here's a taste:

A cold turn in the weather had me drawing kids in winter wear.  Today the weather has turned again, and I'm thinking perhaps I should redraw these guys in shirtsleeves.  

I've decided not to sign up for the Sketchbook Project this year.  I've done the project for the last two years.  I got a lot out of the process, but I don't think I need their challenge anymore. Also, I'm not interested in the new printed book they're introducing this year.  I intend to keep taking frequent pencil-dives into my sketchbook, but on my own, and loosely, without a unifying theme or structure.  Involvement in this wonderful community of illustrating bloggers is sufficient stimulus to keep me drawing regularly.

Illustration Friday: Scary!

Once again I have managed to combine the week's Illustration Friday theme with my Sketchbook Project "treehouse" topic.  Here is "scary":

This is the darkest I've drawn on the sketchbook pages, and I'm pleased to report no problems with bleed through.

IF: Fuel

I'd hoped to get this up a couple of days ago, but - oh, well - things don't always come together as planned.  Here is my Illustration Friday answer to the theme "fuel," drawn in my treehouse-themed Sketchbook Project book:

Click on image to view it large enough to see the maple syrup dripping onto the pancakes. 

What I'm working on...

I'm currently working to develop the black and white section of my portfolio. Here's a sketch I've been working on today. I'll work up the final image with pen and ink, possibly with a gray watercolor wash.

I'm also planning a companion piece that will show the girl's face better.

Shadows rough sketch

Before I did the mixed media version of my "Shadows," I worked out the composition in the pencil sketch below:

That sketch has been in an open sketchbook on my drawing table for the past few days. It has been catching my eye everytime I pass by. I kinda like the noir look of the black and white image.

I haven't been doing much sketching (okay, not any) since Saturday. I've been trying to write a short story, but it's not coming together very well yet. Perhaps I need to goof off to get the creative juices flowing better. Time to pull out the treehouse sketchbook again and play.

Treehouse Sketchbook Spread #2

I spent a fair chunk of my holiday playing with my Sketchbook Project book and exploring the treehouse theme. Here's another spread. Click on the image for a larger view.

I chose to go with a more ordinary backyard treehouse because I wanted to get in some practice drawing kids. Then I decided to add a cat. (I thought of drawing a dog, but that didn't seem quite right up in a tree.) Then I added the squirrel to amuse the cat. The bird in the nest (another form of treehouse) at the top was an afterthought.

Sketchbook Project 2012 - Page 1

I have begun to fill my 2012 Sketchbook Project sketchbook. I'm taking a doodly approach with the sketchbook this year - not planning out a series of pictures ahead of time. I save it for the evening when I'm watching the news. It helps keep me happy despite what's coming out of the TV set. Here's the opening page -- sorta grew into a title page -- which I've been doodling the past two nights.

Before that I did the front and back covers:

I'm having a lot of fun with this. My theme (Treehouse) is pure play.

Do you keep a sketchbook for your own personal amusement?

Sketchbook Project 2012

I just signed up for the Sketchbook Project 2012!  I know I had said in a previous post that I didn't have a terrific experience with the 2011 Sketchbook Project, but this next one should be better for a number of reasons.  For one thing, I've registered nine months before the book is due. Last year I had less than two months to fill the pages.  Another thing that should be better is the sketchbook itself.  The Project has a new, custom-designed book that they claim has better quality paper.  Thin pages was one of my biggest complaints.  Also, I have chosen my own theme from this year's list: "Treehouse"!

I'm gonna have fun with this one!

Another redo

Here's another "finished" portfolio piece from my picture book dummy:

The cat is not showing up too well against the tree trunk. And the girl's expression is, well, expressionless.

This evening I have been resketching the scene with the darker version of the cat and a slightly better view of the girl's face. Here's what I have worked up so far: 

(Sorry about the uneven quality of the scan. I didn't want to have to rip the page out the sketchbook yet, so I couldn't fully close the lid on the scanner.) I want to do more with this composition, but not tonight. I'm going to try more inking and less of the soft wash in my final pictures.

Tomorrow I don't go into the office, so more time for drawing. Yay!

Adding more character to my characters

Here is a piece I completed last month for the portfolio:

It is part of a picture book project that includes a full dummy and a couple of other "finished" pieces. An art director has now seen it and deemed its character depictions lacking. After her excellent explanation, I am inclined to agree. One gets very little sense of a unique personality here. Neither the girl nor the cat really leap off the page. Soft and sweet as the scene may be, it is forgettable and a good example of why I need to ramp up my characters in general.

This evening I began sketching my way toward improvement:

The cat, Zip, is meant to be a highly curious and active guy. I heightened the color contrast of the cat's fur to reflect his bold personality and shaped the pattern on his back to help highlight his movement through the story. The girl, Penny, has a passion for drawing. I've opened up her face more to reveal its expressions. (If you click on the image, you'll see more detail.) I've darkened her hair so she doesn't fade into the cat's background. 

I need to live with the drawing a little while before I determine what else needs changing. I welcome any ideas/reactions in the comments below.

Next (tomorrow evening, if I have time) I will redraw the other two images I had "completed" for this picture book. Perhaps drawing  Penny and Zip in other scenes will give me fresh ideas for the image above.

Sketching again...

I know I haven't posted anything new in ages, but I have a good excuse. Honest. I have been working on a picture book dummy for the past couple of months. The project was not for a publisher, but for the portfolio. I just didn't want to post the work here in case a publisher actually does want to go with some incarnation of it down the line.

My deadline for the project was March 12th, the date of my SCBWI critique with an art director from a major children's publisher. So the dummy draft is now finished and it and my portfolio have been pored over by a professional.

After receiving the art director's feedback, I have decided to concentrate my energy and (currently) limited time not on picture books but on building up my chapter book/children's novel portfolio pieces. I have also been advised to strengthen the depiction of characters in my work, to make them less generic. So I am pulling out old pieces like this one

and working on ways to ramp it up. Here's pencil sketch I did last night.

I like the pose better. I think it helps to see the girl's face - her fear - but it's not quite there yet. The characters are still not distinctive enough. We'll see what happens if I push the features further. 

Stay tuned!