I love seed pods! They are often so architectural in nature. They lend themselves to whimsy and stylised drawings so well too.
I love giving them sturdy stems with tops that look like column capitals. The leaves on these are inspired by medieval illuminated manuscripts, something else I absolutely love!
For the panel behind them, I decided to keep the pattern fairly simple – Tripoli, a Zentangle tangle pattern.
Oh, I got my right royal knickers into a twist today over Narfello! I ended up doing two videos and still managed to muck up with Nafello.
The top design was my first attempt. There are lots of things I like about it. But after nearly an hour and a half video, I convinced myself I’d made a total mess of Narfello. So, I drew breath and started over and produced the design at the bottom, but without the colour; I added the colour while the video was uploading and processing.
Even with the second attempt, I still managed to not get Narfello ‘right’. But I think it’s probably close enough for today.
I’m so glad I did a second version, as I like my Feliz (to the left). I like the way the variations gradually change from left to right (or right to left!). It feels more coherent than the first version of Feliz, where I went to town exploring ways to fill the pattern!
I also like how the Narfello-ish appears from under the Feliz in the second version. I can see that I need to add some quite intense shade to the right of the Feliz to enhance this illusion. However, I’ve just about run out of energy for today, so that is a job for another time.
One thing that I am enjoying is the contrast between the geometrical Feliz and the organic, flowy Narfello.
I’m also pleased with how much volume I’ve created using monochrome Arteza Everblend markers, particularly on the bottom design.
Both of these designs will end up in my sketchbook. There are some variations in the upper one I’d like to try. The lower one is a reminder to look at how I can slowly change the filler patterns, if that’s the right term, to change the pattern subtly.
I really have enjoyed working with this pair of patterns. I hope you take a look at the accompanying drawing tutorial on Youtube and have a go at drawing your own version!
I’ve learned a new ‘trick’! New to me that is. I’ve finally worked out how I can use grey shadow underpainting to increase contrast in my artwork! It’s new to me, but not new to the art world I’m sure.
I’m really happy with the result. Digital art makes it so easy to try things out in layers. So, this is the way for me to go.
Yesterday morning, I started adding shadows to some pen drawn motifs with marker pens. I wanted to see what that would look like. I prefer these shadows to those done with graphite or chalk pastel pencils.
Then, I added colour using watercolour pencils and a damp brush, just to see what would happen. I liked the result! Lots!
I filmed part of this process today, and here’s the video on YouTube
Over the past three or four days, I’ve been quietly working at Sketchtember. I’ve veered away from the list of herbs to enjoy drawing, and colouring, all kinds of seed pods – real and more imaginative.
Working with alcohol markers – Chameleon and Arteza – is the only way to get to grips with them. Marker paper does make it a little easier to blend. But not much more than the drawings on the SeaWhite all media paper that I’ve been using.
Adding highlights, lowlights, and embellishments with various Sakura and Uniball gel pens is a lovely thing to do. I have, possibly, gone a bit over the top on the poppy seed heads! Still, it’s all experiencing and learning from it.
I have quite a few more seed pod drawings done to add colour to, though not enough to see me through to the end of Sketchtember. So, I may change my theme for daily sketches when I start to come to the end of them.
This morning has been an arty filled one. I woke around 5am and have been artsy-busy since then, apart from when having breakfast!
I spent time in bed drawing this design and listening to podcasts. An 0.5 Copic Multiliner on a sheet of Canson XL marker paper were used.
Next, it was time for some breakfast. Then, fuelled up, I did some pen sketches of bay leaves for Sketchtember Day 7. You can see this page in today’s vlog.
Yesterday, I had a delivery of Arteza Ever Blend Architectural Tones marker set. I bought these markers with my own money. I’m not paid, gifted anything nor sponsored by any product/company I mention. Just dropping that in here!
Anyways, I started by doing a swatch of the colours before starting to make today’s vlog.
This set appealed to me because of the more earthy, muted, vintage-y colours in the set. They were affordable, and so I bought the set, thinking that it could be useful for pens to add to an out and about sketching kit.
I had hummed and hahhed about getting the set for a while. After all I have a set of Chameleon color tones (and the color tops). And a set of Copic Ciao markers. Did I really need any more markers?
Well, the Chameleons are my favourites, but they don’t have many earthy colours. It seemed to me that these would fill in the gaps in my Chameleons.
I’m no expert on marker pens, nor in assessing their quality and so on. But they seem to work well on marker paper. They blend well, either on the paper or in the ‘tip to tip’ method.
I have no idea how long they’ll last in terms of ink. Unlike the Chameleons and Copics, they aren’t presently refillable, even though replacement nibs can be bought. Maybe that is something that Arteza is thinking about in the future.
The other thing that I’d like is a brush nib instead of the chisel nib. A brush nib that is more like the ones on Copics than the Chameleon so that I can get into teeny-tiny spaces in my artwork. The fine/bullet nib is OK for this, but won’t work on the tiniest spaces in my art.
Other than that, they do what they’re supposed to do! Color, blend well, and have a nice range of colours, apart from R13 Red which is glaringly bright against the other pens in the set. Personally, I would’ve liked another muted orange, or perhaps a soft greyish mauve or lavender.
Another bit of nit-picky-ness; a colourless blend would’ve been nice in the set. I find them useful, especially if I want to fade a colour out to practically colourless. That is something that is really easy to do with the Chameleons. No doubt I’ll try this out with a tip-to-tip experiment with either a Copic or Chameleon colourless blender to see how things go.
Oh, the pens have a triangular barrel, which means they don’t roll around the desk. My small hands do find it a bit chunky and a bit awkward to hold. That’s only because I’m used to slimmer barrels on pens/pencils/brushes/digital pens that I do most of my work with.
So, overall I’m really pleased with the pens for the price I paid. I’m sure I’ll use them an awful lot, as much as the Chameleons and Copics no doubt, especially as I’ve rediscovered markers and how much I enjoy adding colour to them.
Angela Porter 