Just Doodling

Just doodling. . .and some random practice lettering.

Calligra-Friday Begins!!

Those who have seen my handwriting are always surprised to hear I did calligraphy (in a time before computer fonts).  It has been decades since I have put nib to paper in a meaningful way.  To flex those muscles (and play with new toys), I have begun practicing.  Every Friday I will try to post the results of my practice by writing out a passage, poem or quote from the many books I find inspiring.  This one comes from "A Guide for the Advanced Soul: A Book of Insight" by Susan Hayward (the quote has no attribution).

Not Quite Spring -- Wherein I learn that watercolor paint does indeed freeeze

That calender may say it is Spring, but the weather is not quite Spring.  Returning to Duke Farm to paint in the freezing cold (literally; more on that later) seemed like a good idea.  I have not painted much of late and needed to be outside, so off to Duke Farms I go.  It was supposed to be in the 40's this morning but was 25 degrees when I stepped into the park (the iPhone weather app, apparently, does not always tell the truth).   As I set down to paint and started mixing the colors, ice crystals began precipitating out of the wash as the water, literally froze on the pallet. It would have been cool if it was not so cold.  Ice crystals clung to the brushes and glomped on the painting, making the process somewhat strange.  I completed 90% of the painting on site and added finishing details in the cafe.  All in all, it turned out well, but I truly wish for Spring to really begin. 

                                         Watercolor, Pen & Ink on 140 lbs block 9X12

Practicing Calligraphy

Have not been painting or drawing much but I have been playing with my calligraphy nibs.  Mostly, I have been writing nonsense words in a notebook but I have tried more elaborate, design type writing.  All of these were done with the Brause EF66 nib.  The left two words used Omas New Gray ink, while the top right used J Herbin Violette Pensee and the bottom right used Pilot Iroshizuku Murazaki-Shikibu (Japanese Beautyberry).

Try to forgive the "typo".  :-P

Neighbor's Tree with Snow

The last (hopefully) snow storm of the winter provided the opportunity to paint my neighbor's tree covered in snow.  I tried something different and chose colored pastel paper, which strictly speaking, is not made for washes.  I taped it down (you can see the perfect straight lines at the top and bottom) and kept stretching it after each wash as the fibers in the paper swelled with water.  The painting was finished off using white gouache (which I recently found I had been mispronouncing all my life), using both sponge and brush.

                 Watercolor and gouache 9x12 on 75 lbs Canson Mi-Teintes pastel pater

Oh the winding road. . .

Trying to overcome the urge to always cover the entire paper in pigment.   The calligraphy needs a bit of work though.

                          Watercolor on 180lbs paper (with a touch of brown ink)

Horse - De Atramentis Document Brown Ink Test

So, I was finally able to obtain some De Atramentis document brown ink.  Getting a hold of this ink in the US is like winning the lottery (I have been trying since the summer).  And having the chance to actually get to play with it, I can see why it it is so valued.  

Wow.  This ink is just smooth.  I did a quick sketch using a dip pen (kuretake comic book nib) and the ink flowed smoothly and gracefully on the paper.  What a joy.  Since the ink is waterproof, I added some Noodler's kiowa pecan to blend for shadows.  The sketch was finished off with a bit of watercolor.

                          Pen & Ink on 180lbs paper (with a touch of watercolor)

Twilight Feeding

This is a large, 12x16 inches.  I have been wanting to go "big" for a while, but taking photos of the larger paintings with my antiquated iPhone was not getting the job done.  The new scanner is allowing me use my larger paper/pads.  It is certainly freeing to be able to go big and use bolder brush strokes.  Lots of layers of color here, especially on the horse (its anatomy got whacked a bit as a result, but I am fine with the end product).

                                   Watercolor on 140lbs block 12x16

Weekley Sketches

Just trying to do more simple sketches, doodles and what nots in my new sketchbook.  Doodling is just fun. . .and relaxing. 

I am looking to rediscover my lettering and calligraphy skill.  Believe it or not, in a time before computer fonts, I used to lots of hand lettering (and was quite good at it).  Now, my skills have atrophied.  The new pilot parallel pens I received for my birthday are the perfect tools and opportunity to just practice.

 

 

 

Quick Sketches in the Airport

Taking an online class on sketching people and used a recent business trip to sketch the other people waiting for their planes.  These are little sketches in a small sketch book (3.5x5.5 inches) done directly in pen with water-soluble ink (with assists by the niji waterbrush).  Each took only a couple of minutes and I resisted the urge to over work them.

 

Technicolor Dream Pandas

I am experimenting with a looser style and tying to use more layers and mixed colors.  The "black" panda fur was not a tube black, but a mix of blue, red and orange (you can see some purples creeping through).  The cobalt teal created nice highlights to round out the white fur. 

This is the first picture scanned with my new large format scanner (goes to ~11x17 inches).  Most of my pictures are 9x12 and they do not fit on a normal letter size scanner.  Looking at the scanning bed, I am excited to try it for the larger 12x16 as well.

                                    Watercolor on 140 lbs paper 9x12

Doodling in the New Sketchbook

Just some doodles in a new sketchbook with heavier paper.  My old sketchbook is really not made for for wet techniques, so I bought a Stillman & Birn Archival Sketchbook (zeta series).  The paper is 180lbs and handled multiple washes.  Below are the first few sketches/doodles that I have done thus far.

 

Hulk Crash

I wanted to try something a bit more loose and expressive in comic book form.  This is a fast sketch where I was not overly concerned with anatomy or proportions.  I first did a loose drawing using a watercolor pencil and hematite genuine because I love the way it granulates (see below).  Next came the watercolor and then I finished it with pen and ink.  Overall, I am satisfied with the result.

                           Watercolor, pen & ink on 140lbs paper 9x12

And here is the underpainting using hematite genuine.  I think I like this better than the finished product.

Sleeping Pelicans

This year we decided to be more active and biked every morning which allowed me the opportunity to paint some new topics/venues.  The point where A1A curves back away from the ocean (to run parallel to Duval St) is a place many seabirds gather.  I was able to get nice and close to a pair of sleeping pelicans.  It gave me quite the view (I never knew they had such sharp tips at the end of their beaks).  I also painted the outcropping where other seafaring birds were sleeping (the dark grey shapes).

                             Watercolor and Pen & Ink on paper 5.5x8.5

                                      Watercolor on paper 5.5x8.5

Sunset in Key West

Another wonderful Key West vacation has come to an end.  And what better way to reflect on an ending than with a sunset.  

                                         Watercolor on paper 5.5x12.25


The beaches of Key West are not quite the same destination as their northern cousins of Miami or Ft Lauderdale and as a result we tend to spend more time at the pool.  However, we really wanted to see a sunset at Smathers Beach.  I am happy with how the water/paint rolled down the page (when held vertical) to build the waves.  The dark green masses on the beach is the plethora of sea grass that washed onto the shore.  And if you look real close (click to embiggen), you can see the actual sand from the beach that I accidentally spilled on the paper.
 

And above is a poor attempt to stitch both halves together to better show how the paint ran down the paper to create cool looking waves.

Ghoul Lord

Again, trying to do some more comic sci/fi fantasy pictures.  I recreated a great black & white ink drawing by Luigi Castellani (I think the picture works better with his stark black and white style).  There are things I like and things I do not but all in all, a successful exercise.

                              Watercolor Pen & Ink on 140 lbs block 9x12

Here is the pencil sketch (used a brown watercolor pencil) and the masking process for the sky.

The Other Tree

I spend a lot of time giving love to my neighbor's tree, but we have a small, interesting tree of our own.  Here is a very quick sketch of the tree. I liked how the lights from the other neighbor's backyard highlighted the tree.

                                        Watercolor, Pen & Ink on paper

Barney Gone Bad

Trying to do more original sci-fi/comic style art work.

                                 Watercolor and Pen & Ink on 140 lbs block 9x12

Body Builders -- multi-media

Back in the day when I was (power) lifting, I would read Muscle & Fitness, Flex and other similar magazines to see what crazy new lifts I could try out (because doing stuff called "skull crushers", "hang cleans" and "bam bams" was apparently not enough).  The magazines were also good for figure drawing references. Over the years, I have done many sketches, drawings and doodles based on the pages of these magazines. Recently, I tried doing something in watercolor.  And below that are host of other older drawings in other media.

                                     The other Jay Cutler watercolor

                                                   Pencil

Grey markers

Prismacolor Markers

Neighbor's Tree -- Winter

I have not had the opportunity to get out and sketch, so I have returned to a favorite subject, my neighbor's backyard tree. Even without the lush greenery of Spring/Summer it is still a majestic subject.

I think I might paint a picture of this tree every month as a season study.

                                     Watercolor on 140 lbs paper 7x10