Drawing

WIP Wednesday

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Angela Porter Wednesday 11 April 2018 This is my current work in progress, with a little bit of wisdom thrown in.

I planned the lettering out on Rhodia dot grid paper before scanning it in. I then re-drew the letters digitally.

I did a blog post with tips for hand lettering  yesterday, but there’s also some in my upcoming book A Dangle A Day, available for pre-order.

The patterns around the quote were also drawn digitally, using my faithful Microsoft Surface pen, along with my Microsoft Surface Book and Autodesk Sketchbook Pro.

I’ve started to add colour, though there’s quite a lot to do, including adding textures. It’s a pleasant way to spend time.

What I’m quite pleased with is the stone background behind the letters.  It’s not perfect, but I got my head around how I could achieve this.  Working in layers means I can do things I can’t do with traditional media, try as I might, but it involves working out how I can use layers to do different things as well as becoming aware of what I could use layers for.

Yes, I could watch and read tutorials, but there’s something satisfying about working out for yourself how to do things, and creating things in your own way.  That’s the sheer bloody-minded independence I have at times.

Perhaps I could learn quicker with tutorials, but I also know I can become quickly overloaded with information and instructions and ideas (something that frustrates me as before my two episodes of severe depression and anxiety I had no trouble at all…) so bit by bit I discover what I need to be able to do at any one time. Then practice using it until it’s easy to do and natural.

I do love how I can flip-flop between traditional media and digital work, as well as combining the two, whether it be a sketch that is then worked on digitally or using traditional media backgrounds to draw upon digitally. It also takes me a little bit out of my ‘comfort zone’ too, but in an enjoyable way.

Monday motivation

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Angela Porter 8 April 2018

#motivationmonday #mondaymotivation

Sunday funday

Angela PorterLeave a comment

experiment 8april 2018 angela porter It’s Sunday, so that means it must be #fundaySunday #Sundayfunday.

This was my bit of fun for the day.  I created a background using Distress Inks, a mini-blending tool and a stencil.

After scanning it into my Microsoft Surface Book, I imported it into AutodeskSketchbook Pro and started to draw entangled patterns on the top of it.

It was just an experiment to see how it worked out, including the use of colour gradient fills for the entangled patterns.

I think it worked out ok.  I think there’s some more things I’d like to try out using this method; scanning backgrounds and then working on them digitally opens a new world of possibilities for me, as well as keeping me playing with more traditional media.  I do love the mix of the old with the new.

Of course, drawing on my Surface with the Surface pen is a lot like drawing with pen and ink on paper but with more possibilities…

It’s Dangle Day!

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Angela Porter April Bujo 2018

This is my Dangle Day dangle design – for the cover of my April 2018 section in my disc-bound BuJo (bullet journal).

Yes, that’s right, a disc-bound BuJo.

I love my Leuchtturm 1917 journal, however I wanted my collections all in one place, and wanted memories together, more like a traditional journal, and my planning pages and trackers all in another place.

I also realised that a lot of my collections are references for art projects and I didn’t want to have to either hunt through a pile of BuJos to find the collection I wanted, or to have to redraw them every time I started a new BuJo.

So, the light came on and I realised a disc-bound (or ring bound) journal may be the way for me to go, as it doesn’t just offer the flexibility of design/layout/space that comes with bullet journalling, but it also allows me the flexibility to organise things as I need them, as well as to archive the planners and memories and so on as I need to.

I also get to use the paper that I need to use for different purposes as well…

I had some of the Arc by M journals lurking around my home, so I re-purposed one of them for this, along with some bigger discs so I can get more pages in the BuJo.

I am notorious for flipping back and forth between ways of journaling.  This could be the solution to that.

As to the April design, I drew it with Copic Multiliner SP pens and coloured it with Faber-Castell Polychromos and Caran D’Ache Luminance pencils, using a Derwent Blender pencil to smooth the transition between colours.

Don’t forget, you can pre-order my upcoming book, A Dangle A Day, which is all about drawing dangles, such as the ones dangling from the mandala.

Friday is Dangle Day!

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Angela Porter Artwyrd 29 March 2018 Dangle Cards

Angela Porter Artwyrd 29 March 2018 Dangle Cards1

That’s right!  From henceforth Friday shall be known as Dangle Day.  Well, on my blog and the other places I can be found on the interwebs.

As you may know, I have a book coming out later this year that’s all about drawing dangle designs; it’s called A Dangle A Day and is available to preorder now.  In it, I’ll be leading you through, step by step, drawing dangle designs, amongst other things, so you too can create dangle designs like these!  Yes, you can do it!

So, I plan to post at least one completed dangle project each Friday, and this week there’s a bumper crop of five of them.

The cards I’ve made over the last day or two are dangle designs, but not ones to be found in the book. These are all drawn with pen on paper and coloured with either Tombow Dual Brush pens or Kuretake’s Zig Clean Colour Brush Pens.  I’ve also added dots and highlights using Sakura’s Metallic and Stardust Gelly roll pens, not that you can easily see them in the photos.

I will, in the near future, have an announcement to make about a giveaway.

Entangled zendoodle

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Angela Porter Artwyrd 26 March 2018

I’ve just finished this drawing; the first zendoodle/zentagle type drawing I’ve done in a while.  I enjoyed drawing it – drawing always is an enjoyment.

I’ve temporarily coloured the background; I will be colouring it in ‘properly’ as time goes along.

Materials used :

  • Claire Fontaine Dot grid paper
  • Unipin pens
  • Pencil and eraser

I have scanned it in and cleaned the image up and created a transparent file I can work on digitally.

Derwent Procolour Pencils and some cute bugs

Angela PorterLeave a comment

IMG_20180321_120333

Today, I wandered into my local stationers – Churchill’s – and found some items for my stationery stash.  Included were some coloured pencils from Derwent that are new to me.

They’re called Procolour and I picked up a tin of 24 of them. and you can see how much I paid on the tin, though they are available for less on Amazon.

cof

I tried them out in my Leuchtturm 1917 Dotted BuJo on some cute bugs I’d drawn earlier today (yes, another collection is being assembled in my BuJo).  You can see the colouring at the top of the page, though I adjusted the brightness and contrast a tad.

The blurb on the tin says

Derwent Procolour pencils are the perfect combination of a strong point and smooth lay-down, with a texture that has the covering power of wax yet glides like an oil.  The richly pigmented pencils maintain a sharp point for detailed drawing; while minimal chipping and dusting keeps your work clean and smudge free. Suitable for a wide range of drawing techniques, available in a carefully selected range of 72 rich and vibrant colours.

I didn’t choose the best paper to test them on, though they’re more like to be used in my BuJo than anywhere else, but the colours are vibrant, even on the creamy coloured Leuchtturm paper.

They do lay down well, with a gentle pressure, and they layer nicely.

What I do like is that they have quite a wide ‘barrel’, which makes it a lot more comfortable to hold than other coloured pencils; my old, slightly arthriticy fingers don’t like narrow barrels when I need to press hard.  That’s why I tend towards water-based media or digital media these days; they keep my fingers happy and working.

The colour palette of the 24 set is actually nicely chosen, with plenty of my favourite colours.

I am very tempted to get the full set of 72, but I think I’ll wait for a little while.

 

Happy Valentine’s Day

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Valentine’s Day 2018

Angela Porter Valentines 2018

I designed this colouring template for the facebook group Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans for them to post coloured versions today.

This is my coloured version.  I drew on paper with pen, but coloured it in using Autodesk Sketchbook Pro on my Microsoft Surface book using my Surface Pen.

Why I’ve been so quiet…

It’s been nearly a month since my last blog post.  The reasons?  Focusing on a book at the moment.  It’s called A Dangle a Day: Lettering Alphabets and Seasonal Designs with Charms  , though there’s no cover image for the book yet on Amazon it is available for pre-order.  It’s not a colouring book per-se, it’s more of a tutorial book, but colouring does play a big part of course.

It’s a new direction for me, I’m learning new things about publishing, and enjoying the challenge.  I have to focus on this project for now, and not sure I can do ‘sneak peeks’ yet, but when I can, I will!

I do have another colouring book to do after this one …more about that later on.

The other reason is that I’ve been unwell.  Nothing serious, thought to be a ‘viral wheeze’ (which is affecting me like asthma) but it’s got worse again, and is stopping me sleeping properly and lacking energy to do more than what I need to contractually do.

 

WIP Wednesday!

Angela PorterLeave a comment

DoodleworldsFrontCoverwithwatermark

First work in progress (WIP) for this Wednesday is the Doodleworlds colouring book.  It is currently in the last phases of approval and proofing at CreateSpace.com, so it should be ready to purchase soon!  There will be a pdf version available on Etsy at the same time.

The coloured cover art on the front and back covers has been done by the winners of the contest run in the facebook group Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans.

Here’s the back cover with the list of winners and their images on the covers:

DoodleworldsBackCoverwithwatermark2

Congratulations to them, and thank you for your work as well!

WIP Wednesday is a weekly event in the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group, so pop on over if you’d like to join a whole heap of lovely, creative, friendly coloring fans!

And here is my contribution to this week’s WIP Wednesday:

ItMakesSuchADifferenceQuoteWIP29Nov2017

Happy Hallowe’en and a Blessed Samhain to everyone!

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Halloween2017AngelaPorter3

Quickly created this morning – took around 3 hours to do.  Lots of gradients used, and working with layers – learning new stuff still, as if that ever stops!  Very sketchy kinds of drawings, but fun ones.  I used a pencil brush to do that as well as for the colouring, along with a blender brush.  I had fun.  My cat is annoyed as I wanted to finish this and not go upstairs with him.  I have a busy day ahead of me and may not get to do much art after this…

#createdonsurface #surfacebook #microsoftsurface

#autodesksketchbookpro #sketchbookpro

#halloween #samhain #allhallowseve