Sketch in ink of Buck

Decided to do a quick sketch of a buck whose picture was on the cover of the Woods-N-Water News.  I should have started out smaller.  Drawing is in my Only Sketch Book by Bee Paper Co.9x6 with a Pelikano Junior pen and Private Reserve Copper Burst ink.

New Journal

Started the first page in my new journal.  It is the delta series 7"x7" from Stillman & Birn Sketchbook that I received from Goulet Pen Company.  The sketch is in Noodlers Lexington Gray ink with a Safari Lami extra fine point pen. The watercolors paints are from my still current palate that is mainly Daniel Smith with a few Windsor and Newton colors.  The shells I collected from Florida on the Atlantic side.  The tube shaped one is from my Mom who collected it from the Canaveral National Seashore.  She told me that it was the only area that these shells could be found on.  I need to get use to how this paper works.  It is smoother and allows the ink to go on smoothly.  I hope to make this a title page when I am through.

Garden

Our garden went wild this year.  We added two 4x4 raised beds so we could grow more of our own food.  Without telling me my husband bought a zucchini  and an eggplant.
I had never grown tomatillos before and didn't realize how tall and prolific they are.  I was planning on two, but when they sprouted they didn't look healthy so I planned them without thinning to just two plants.  A week later they were over a foot tall so I ended up with 4 of them.  They are now over 6 feet tall.
The watermelon is sneaking a peek of sunshine on the right and the zucchini is growing around the tomatillos. Our tomato plants reached the overhang of our home and grew back to the ground. The wax beans and eggplant did very well.  Our cucumbers were growing very well and over the top of the deck railing, onto the step etc., but just before I decided to paint the garden they started to die.  I hope to put in one more raised garden plot next year so everything isn't growing on top of each other.. I did the right side outside while sketching and painted the left a few days later inside.  I stopped painting because of rain.  I feel the right side turned out much better.
This is drawn in my new moleskin watercolor sketchbook 5x8 with a ballpoint pen and watercolor paint.

Museum Night-Asian Gallery

I got a chance to go to the DIA (Detroit Institute of Art) last night.  On Friday nights and Sunday afternoons the museum places drawing stations in different galleries for patrons to draw.  The bench/easel with paper and a pencil are provided.  The Asian gallery was for adults only and the Medieval gallery was for adults and children.  Some of the sketchers are from the university. It is inspiring to see some of their work.  Some of them will work on a sketch over time.  I don't get to go very often so I only do what I can in a hour or so.  This sketch took an hour.  I didn't work longer on it as I wanted to see the Picasso and Matisse exhibit.  It is a statue of Brahma-Shiva-Vishnu, made of granite by an unknown artist in the late 900's or early 1000's. Brahma is known as the creator, Vishnu as the preserver and Shiva as the transformer or destroyer. You can't see the one side of the statue in my sketch and I don't know which one is which, but I think that this might be Vishnu with Shiva face and hand showing on the one side.

Tea Time

I have seen several sketches of teapots, cups, and specialty teas from other artist and decided to try one of my own. I started to sketch with my Pelikano pen with the copper burst ink, but changed my mind as the ink was going on either too thick or thin.  Later I found out the ink wasn't waterproof, so I am glad I stopped using it.  This is in my new moleskin watercolor journal.  The cup would have been very nice if the ink hadn't been used.  Oh well, that is how we learn.

Quick Sketching the Human Form

I am trying to improve my ability to quickly sketch the human form.  I did several one minute sketches followed by a few two minute sketches and then finally this one of 5 minutes. I used the site Croquis Cafe , it has a weekly model that takes a different pose for each sketch.  It is also free which makes it nice.
Quick sketching doesn't give one the chance to take measurements, which is perfect when trying to journal a scene quickly, before everyone moves.  Done in graphite in my 9" x 6" Bee Paper the Only Sketch Book you will ever need.

Anatomy of the Arm

I decided to draw the arm and shoulder complex  using just the muscles and bones. I found the site Posemaniacs.com very helpful.  The site has models in different poses that you can rotate for a 360 degree view.   I used the same pose to show the arm from the front, side, and back. The models on this site are all muscle and bone with no skin.  The site also has models that are hyper super muscle on top of muscle for practice in fantasy drawings. 
I started to use my color pencils to color in the muscles and show the direction, but I didn't like the way the colors worked out.  I think I will try water color next. I need to work with my color pencils too so I will play with them and see what I can do.