Doodles 09

My little Moleskine sketchbook has not been used in three years, so it is time to add a sketch. Ha! I'm not sure where to land the pen point, but my aim was not too bad.

One of my piggy banks, and I will empty them all one day to find less than $100.

Doodles 06, 07, & 08

From three pages of my doodlin' book. These were sketched from items in a Christmas flyer. There was one more reindeer to sketch, but the flyer disappeared, and now I wondering if I finished the last one ... in the upper left of this grouping.

EDM #165 - Draw the Front of Your Home

Not wanting to do this one, I have decided to recycle a previous EDM Challenge in which I sketched my home. I also own the Brooklyn Bridge.

Doodles 05

These were done over several days, and I'm surprised the flowers lasted so long. The property where I live has numerous large bushes filled with the tiny roses.

Derwent Inktense pencils were used for the color. Wouldn't you know I'd pick something with soft colors for pencils that can provide very rich, intense colors.

Doodles 04

With the idea of practicing bird shapes, I was bored after the second one. At least it's easier for me to do half-way decent line drawings of birds than it was a year ago.

Two different inks were used in the same model of fountain pens and points. The interior was done using Noodler's Black, and it was fine, though I always let it dry several hours between sessions and before adding the colored pencil. I'm sure it's dry sooner, but my attention span takes me elsewhere. The frame was done using Platinum Carbon Black, and the line is thicker, plus it feathered and blobbed where I hesitated or stopped.

My preferences:
Moleskine Sketchbook: Noodler's Bulletproof Black
Moleskine Watercolor Book: Platinum Carbon Black

Doodles 03

A sketch of my toesies.

Doodles 02

My attention span is around two minutes now, but I managed to sketch this rooster. Inking the lines took two days. Yup, lousy attention span. Two more days for coloring, but filling in the lines with colored pencil is almost mindless yet enjoyable.

Doodles 01 and 02

I haven't been able to focus lately, so I decided to see if I could make up simple body images and have them look reasonable in proportion and placement. By the second page, I gave up on reasonable.

Second Watercolor Moleskine Finished

Of course these flowers did not turn out as planned, but it's the last page of my third Moleskine pocket book. I've finished one sketchbook, one watercolor book with only EDM Challenges, and one watercolor book with everything. It was kinda' crazy when I had all three going at once. If nothing else, they're proof in book form that I have worked on drawing and painting this year.

I started a small Raffine sketchbook a few months ago, and I will stick with that one until it's finished. I have new Moleskine watercolor pocket book that I can throw in my purse in case of emergency.

Learned a Couple of Things

Masking fluid was used for the first time in the flower centers. Luckily only small dots were needed, and I could barely handle those. I will definitely practice masking before using it on anything serious.

Usually I'll make sure any pencil lines are very faint before starting to paint, but in this case it was the wrong thing to do. Once I washed the purples and blues over the whole flower area, I could barely see a few of the penciled lines. Most of the defining of the flower petals was guesswork. Someone didn't think ahead on this one! Lesson learned.

One more page to go in this Moleskine watercolor book. There's pressure to do decent work on the first and last few pages. I shouldn't worry so much. It's only for practice and fun.

Castle by the Sea

This scene deserves more than I can do, and I'm not in the mood to do any artwork. If I don't do something, I'll get even farther behind, so it's a situation where anything is better than nothing.

Forgot Everything after a Few Days

If I don't use watercolor for a few days, it's as though I've never used them. Sometimes it's two steps back for every step forward. Maybe it's just old age and memory problems.

Leaf #1 was a disaster, but I did loosen up with each succeeding leaf.

Last Page of First Moleskine Sketchbook

Dumb drawing, but it's the last page of the Moleskine sketchbook I started in February. During this time I've completed one Moleskine watercolor book with only EDM challenges, and I've almost completed another Moleskine watercolor book.

I used my new Lamy Safari pen with Noodler's Lexington Gray ink. This is my second Lamy Safari, and I'm really disappointed. Though the nib is EF (extra fine), it's more of a medium point. My first one also has an EF nib, but it's not smooth. This one is smooth, but I prefer a truly fine nib.

The Noodler's Lexington Gray is interesting. It's the color of graphite. I'm ordering another Pilot 78G with a fine nib so I can have the extra fine line I'm after with this ink. I think I will enjoy this ink. Sometimes black ink seems too stark for my mood at the time.

Seagull

Just practicing with ink. Only one more page left in my first Moleskine sketchbook.

From a photo found in the WetCanvas! Image Library.

EDM #86 - Draw a Traffic Sign

Something similar to this was in a cartoon many, many years ago, and the DIP sign has been my favorite ever since.

It's time to break away from the EDM Challenges for awhile. I was hoping to complete 100 before the end of the year, but we'll see. Sometimes it's hard to think of something to fit the challenges that I'm capable of drawing.

EDM #85 - Draw a Neighborhood Store

This shop exists somewhere in my neighborhood, and I will locate it eventually. Meanwhile, I will continue to add to my shopping list and to save my money.

EDM #84 - Draw Bread

Though I'm generally useless in the kitchen, I can make and bake biscuits. Visits to my grandmother meant there would be biscuits. At dinner it was difficult to choose between a biscuit with butter or a biscuit with gravy, so I would have one of each. Sometimes there would be another biscuit with butter and fig preserves. No one could understand why I was so skinny.

Every now and then I need a biscuit fix, so off I go to destroy the kitchen with flour everywhere. I make a enough to stock a good supply in the freezer. My favorite biscuit treat is hot, buttered biscuits with iced tea.

EDM #83 - Draw a Nearby Body of Water

There's a creek behind where I live, and it can be seen only by going near the edge of the deep embankment. There's a large hill filled with pine trees on the other side.

During a flood watch I saw the creek come over the side of the embankment. The water only came up to my bottom front step, but it was scary waiting in hope the water would recede. Sometimes I'm lucky.

If there's a bad ice storm during the winter, the sound of the pine trees falling can be heard. They have a shallow root system, and the weight of the ice is too much for many of them to stand.

EDM #81 - Draw a Streetlight

Streetlights are our sentinels standing guard against the night. To me they are all interesting, though I prefer the older styles, and they are comforting.

Years ago there was a political fight over who would pay for the streetlights along the expressways around our city, so the lights were turned off for awhile. The sections where the lights were off were depressing.

I'm still smearing ink because I forget to wait for the ink to dry. Duh!

EDM #80 - Draw Something That Makes You Happy

The treat of a new lipstick is always fun and delightful. Just a silly, little thing, but it makes me happy.