A quick look at the art I’ve created in the past week in a vlog.
line drawing
Pattern Explorations #1, Day 5.
Some serendipitous ‘accidents’ with fineliners.
I’m almost done with this first page of pattern explorations. I think I have some fussing around and embellishing left to do. However, I will take a fresh look at this page later today.
I thought I’d use Chameleon Fineliners to add some details. And I discovered some interesting effects when applying a waterbrush!
A gold Sakura Pentouch pen was used to add some small areas of dots and metallic accents. Sadly, they either don’t show up in the photo or show up as dark areas. That’s the problem with photographing metallics, especially by someone (me!) who isn’t a very good photographer.
Of course, there’s a video where you can see how I add to this page today. And here it is:
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Pattern Explorations #1, Day 4 and Template Thursday.
Pattern Explorations
The sketchbook page for pattern 1 is filling up nicely! Some more variations added today. The pinky-purple and greens look nice together, adding a kind of playful feel to the drawing added today. Joining the motifs in a Morrisseau tangle pattern way also adds interest and plenty of spaces that may be begging for colour and/or patterns! Who knows what tomorrow will bring.
Here’s the video/vlog that shows the addition of the next bits and pieces of this page.
Template Thursday
Here’s the partly coloured sample of this week’s coloring template for the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group.
Sample is quite an apt word as this drawing does remind me a bit of an embroidery sampler. It’s been a while since I last designed one of these, and it’s always fun to do.
This kind of sampler template is perfect if you get overwhelmed by the thought of completing a full sized, intricate template. As this one is split up into small sections for you, you can spend as much, or as little, time as you wish adding colour.
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Template Thursday…On a Wednesday? A sneak peek at this week’s coloring template!
I’ve had a busy morning/day! First, it was working on the Pattern Explorations #1 page in my sketchbook.
Then, I turned my attention to drawing this week’s template for the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group. I did video the process, but realised close to the end of the drawing I’d mostly worked out of view of the camera. Duh! I got so engrossed I forgot to check the part of the page I was working on was in frame.
Members of the facebook group suggested things to include in the template. I’ve included a fair number of them, but others will have to be included in future templates.
This was a really fun drawing to do. I pushed past the various points where I wasn’t sure about what I was drawing. The end result is something I’m quite happy with.
I’ve been awake since before 5am, UK time. It’s now nearly half past midday (UK time again!) and I’m so tired! I think a nap is in order very soon.
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Pattern Explorations #1 | Day 3
Day 3 and the first page of my Pattern Exploration sketchbook is about half full.
I’ve used Carbothello pastel pencils with both a water-brush and tortillon to add colour to some of the elements on this page.
Thoughts, ideas about how to embellish the individual motifs on the page are starting to wander through my head.
Of course, I filmed this mornings half-hour of art and here’s the video on YouTube:
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Pattern Exploration #1 – Day 2
Some more work has been done on this pattern, named #1 (maybe just for now, maybe forever).
Yesterday afternoon, I added colour and shadow to the first drawings. Another drawing also crept in – the top middle one.
This morning, I drew two more variations and added colour to them. And filmed the process too.
I’m really enjoying this. So much so that it’s difficult for me not to add more drawings to the page between filming sessions in the morning.
A new camera angle was tried out in today’s vlog. I’d like to know if people prefer it or not.
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Pattern Exploration #1
It’s a new month. Inktober is behind me, so today I start a new series of explorations of motifs, patterns and tangles.
To begin, I decided to start a new A5 sketchbook. The pages are coloured and patterned with Distress Inks and stencils. I do like a coloured background to work on. White is so stark, clinical, austere, even cold, and often intimidating. A coloured page feels so warm and inviting. Drawings instantly feel they have some life in them.
That’s not to say I always draw on coloured paper, as I often do draw on white, especially if I’m planning to add colour digitally.
The very first motif/pattern I chose is one I’ve used a fair number of times in the past. I don’t know where the original inspiration for it came from. Maybe scientific botanical illustration or microscopic images, or maybe something else. I like the shapes and the possibilities that they present.
I’m not aiming to fill and complete one page a day; that would be too much given my contractual obligations for Adorable Dogs. That also takes some of the pressure to complete artwork every day that I feel with challenges like Inktober. Instead, I can do as much or as little as I like in a day. Video or not. All depending on time and inclination.
Today, I drew and vlogged.
The Last Hallowe’en Drawing of 2021
I spent much of a sleepless Saturday night, as well as most of Sunday afternoon, drawing this hallowe’en artwork. The original is a black and white pen drawing, but I added colour to the lines digitally. I’d run out of time to actually colour the drawing in.
There are bits inspired by A Nightmare Before Christmas. I had to turn some Trelina tangle patterns into oogie-boogie men!
There are places that I wish I’d added shading with lines to add the illusion of shadow. However, I can always return to this drawing when I need something relatively simple to do.
After I’d posted this in the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group, there were requests for it to be available to colour. So, I did just that and posted it as a template for coloring for members of the group.
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Inktober Tangles 2021 | Day 31 “Eke”
Eke, by Zentangle Inc, is the last tangle pattern in the Inktober Tangles 2021 challenge.
It was a bit of a challenge as it seems so simple and not much you can do with it. But I managed to get creative!
So, that’s Inktober 2021 done for another year. I feel rather weird about it. I feel I’ve got that sense of satisfaction when something is completed successfully. But there’s also a sadness and an emptiness that comes with the ending too.
I’m in a liminal place at the moment – a point in time where I’m between an ending and a beginning. Quite fitting given that it is Hallowe’en, which is a very liminal time. A time where the veil betwixt the living and the afterlife is thinnest. A time where in older, pagan times, the time of harvest was over and winter was beginning to take hold.
And that quite happily fits how I feel today really. I do have a project to focus on from tomorrow – the Adorable Dogs colouring book. However, I’d like a focus for a daily practice that helps me keep my hand and eye coordination tip-top and encourages creativity too.
So, I already have some new A5 sketchbooks in my stash, and I’d like to continue this practice of filling a page a day. Or maybe one page over two or three days so I don’t take my focus away from the Adorable Dogs. I also think videoing this practice and sharing may be useful for some people.
It won’t just be tangle patterns, but other patterns and motifs that I use a lot in my artwork, whether coloring books or the more abstract art or mandalas I create.
It’s also making me re-evaluate whether to take part in CZT training, but that will only take place if there are online sessions.
Later today, I’ll be posting a video where I look back over all the Inktober Tangles 2021 sketchbook pages I’ve completed. I’ll post the link in a separate post.
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Sketchbook Saturday | My Week in Art
Saturday morning is the time I look back on my art this week.
I’d like to say thank you to all who’ve subscribed to my little arty corner of YouTube, as well as those of you lovely people who have liked my videos and left such lovely comments. You are all very, very much appreciated.
Tomorrow, I will take a look back at the whole of Inktober Tangles 2021 in another video. And think about how to go forward now too.
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Inktober Tangles 2021 | Day 29 “Tree Leaf” by Debbie New CZT
Tree Leaf is a lovely tangle pattern by Debbie New CZT . It is, to me, an unusual way of drawing a branch of leaves, but it works out. I have to say that I fell into my way of drawing branches where I use the gaps to attach the leaves. Either way seems to work just fine and dandy for sure.
The branch I kept fairly consistent in my drawing today. However the leaves…it was fun to use my favourite shapes of leaves, and a few others. A couple of berries and acorns have sneaked their way in as well.
This tangle pattern makes it really easy to layer leaves; very useful for me in my work creating coloring books!
To add colour to the leaves (and berries), I’ve used a whole host of media – Pitt graphite matt pencil, Graphitint pencils, Graphitint paints, Inktense blocks used like watercolours, and Sakura metallic, starlight and moonlight gelly roll pens. I also used white Gelly Roll and Posca pens to add the higlights.
I’ve not done much in the way of shading. There comes a point when I really need to take a break from the work. I’ve reached that point with this page. I may return to add shadow and more highlight, I may not. Regardless, this page is a great reference for me going forward. In fact, I have an idea to incorporate it into one of my other drawings I’m working on at the moment.
Tomorrow, I’ll film my thoughts and reflections as I look back on my week in art. But for today, I have filmed a video of the drawing and colouring of the small branch in the top left.
Art is the Adventure 