Inktober 2018

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2018promptlist.jpg

“Note: you can do it daily, or go the half-marathon route and post every other day, or just do the 5K and post once a week. What ever you decide, just be consistent with it. Inktober is about growing and improving and forming positive habits, so the more you’re consistent the better.

That’s it! Now go make something beautiful. 

*Post it on any social media account you want or just post it on your refrigerator. The point is to share your art with someone. :)” – Inktober.com

Jeez, I’d forgotten it’s Inktober.

I’ve never taken part before, but this year I thought I would.

I’m going to limit the size of my art as I do have a book to complete before the end of the month. However, I think this may be a good way for me to practice drawing everyday as well as expanding my scope too.

After a week or so away from the drawing, I really need the practice too!

Q. Can I work digitally?

A: Yes. Initially, the challenge of Inktober was focused on traditional inking. Although learning how to ink digitally is a skill separate from traditional inking it is no less valid. If you want to improve your digital inking skills then doing Inktober digitally is a great way to challenge yourself. Just be cool to those who want to use traditional inks. And traditional inkers, be cool to those who are trying to improve with their digital inking. – Inktober.com

Great! I have a choice of what medium I use. I have good traditional skills and I’m working on drawing digitally, though for me that means using a surface pen on a surface studio screen in Autodesk Sketchbook Pro just like I would a traditional ink or marker pen on paper! I rarely use smoothing or predictive lines in my digital drawings, so really, it’s just a smudge-free, easily correctable way of working! Especially as the brush ‘pen’ I’ve created for myself leaves a line that is lumpy-bumpy on the edges, very similar to a Sakura Pigma Micron or Uniball Unipin on paper!

I don’t see why there’s so much fighting ‘twixt digital and traditional artists; each has their own skill set, each has their strengths and weaknesses, and each requires a lot of work to master and find your own artistic ‘voice’ in.

Yes, there are tools that can be used to make some tasks a bit easier – I do love to use the symmetry tool in Autodesk Sketchbook. But, then there are some that are really tricksy to use and I’m only just touching the surface of how I can get digital artiness to work for me the way I’d like my art too look.

So…. there’s a chance my Inktober challenges are likely to be a mix of digital and traditional depending on how I feel and where I think I need the practice.

Q. Can I do calligraphy?

A: Yes. If calligraphy, typography, lettering, etc is how you create your art, then by all means do that every day for Inktober. We’ve even heard of writers taking on the Inktober challenge and crafting a poem or short story every day that follow the prompts. – Inktober.com

That’s good to know as hand-lettering is something I like to use from time to time and also something I need to work on a lot more than I do at times. I do like to letter a word then add ‘decoration’ around it, so to match that ‘decoration’ with the meaning/feel of the word would be an interesting thing to do perhaps.

Q: Do I have to use the official prompt list?

A: No. The prompts are there to help spark your creativity. If you have another great idea, go for it! – Inktober.com

Uh-hu, that’s good to know! Some of the prompts don’t really speak to me. However, to produce a response to something that doesn’t initially inspire or interest me is one way to push the boundaries, isn’t it?

Also, it’s nice to see how people interpret a prompt in such different and individual ways.

Ok then, less of the words (unless it’s hand-lettering) and more of the drawing!

October’s Coloring Template

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Angela Porters Coloring Book Fans facebook group October 2018 small

It’s that time of the month again – the release of my ‘freebie’ coloring template in the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group.

Autumn is my favourite time of year and Hallowe’en is my favourite ‘festival’. Not the dressing up or trick or treat and rowdiness, though I do appreciate the excitement that the little ones have about the spookiness and slight scariness that it all brings.

I just enjoy the atmosphere at this time of year that the darker nights and changing colours and falling leaves bring. It’s the time of year where I really appreciate candle light during the evenings, creating a cosier environment at home.

There’s a little more to it than that, but I can’t quite find the words for it at the moment.

Anyhoo, this whimsical, cute colouring template is available only to members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group. It’s free to join. I create one template a month just for the members (sometimes I surprise them with a second one, and in the run up to Christmas I try to do a couple a week to help with de-stressing). Pop over and join a fair number of like-minded, friendly people.

October’s Bujo Spread

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Angela Porter October BuJo Spread 2018Can you believe it? September is just about all and over with. Time does seem to be flying by at the moment.

This was a really quick bujo spread due to me being away last week.

It’s also a very messily coloured one. I can tell I’ve barely wielded a pen in the last week! Talk about shaky and wobbly and lacking the fine skills I had.

Goes to show you gotta keep working it daily, even if it’s for a short while.

Mind you, I have new glasses and getting used to them is going to take a little while. For work, I have ‘occupational varifocals’. This means the lenses gradually change from intermediate distance at the top to reading distance at the bottom. I didn’t get to use them much last week, so it’s going to take a little while and some practice with them.

I also have varifocals of the usual kind (distance, intermediate and reading). They’re great if I’m sitting down and out sketching, or drawing, or knitting and watching TV. I find them a bit disconcerting for walking around and going up/down hills or stairs or twisty turny ways they cause me to feel a bit dizzy. I know my problem is that I have really good peripheral vision and there’s a part of the varifocal lens on the outside and innermost areas that causes fuzzy vision.

So, yesterday I took my favourite pairs of glasses which double up as sunglasses (they’re very cleverly designed to have removable polaroid lenses that look like they’re part of the glasses, which essentially they are) to have single vision distance lenses put in them so I can use them for walking around and driving. I can drive with the varifocals, but that fuzzy bit bothers me.

Anyways, I have a lot of practice to do with drawing in the next day or two before I return to my next Entangled Coloring book. I’m half-way through the templates and I have some lovely reference photos from my trip for the next ones, including some ideas inspired by Forbidden Corner, maybe.

Back to the BuJo spread. I drew the design on dot grid paper using Sakura Pigma Micron pens and coloured in with Chameleon pencils.

I like the design, not fussed on my colouring skills today that’s for sure.

What theme should I go with for November? Remembrance, bonfires, fireworks…feel free to leave suggestions!

Whimsical flowers 29 Sept 2018

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Angela Porter 29 Sept 2018

I’m home! Back in the land of reliable, fast internet. Even though I have things to do, I wanted to do a little artsy stuff after a few days with little artsy stuff. So, I coloured/textured this sweet little whimsical botanical design.

I saw a lot of landscapes, architecture and plants that caught my arty eye in my time oop t’Yorkshire Dales and it’s likely to take me a goodly long while to process it all – either in artwork or in words.

I do have a travelblog – Curious Stops and Tea Shops – for things to do with my journeys (and my pal Liz if she chooses to contribute to it) if you’d like to take a look and follow it. I suspect there’ll be more posts there in the coming days and weeks as I process my experiences and as Liz helps me to put names to places!

It’s been nice to spend sometime doing something arty, even if it is just a tiny image. No doubt I’ll do more.

For now, though, I have to get back into the routines of life back at home.

Curious Stops and Tea Shops

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Forbidden Corner 02There’s been a lack of posts from me this week, and there’s unlikely to be more before the weekend at the earliest.

The reason? Nothing to worry about, I’m just having some fun on a trip to the Yorkshire Dales in the UK with my friend Liz.

Lots of artsy inspiration so far – the haunting beauty in the variety of landscape in the Dales, the amazing architecture of Fountains Abbey and the beautiful Dales towns and villages, the fun and laughter of Forbidden Corner, and more. And tea. Lots of tea to keep the creative thoughts flowing.

If you’d like to see more about my travels, visit a blog we set up to share our experiences.

It’s called Curious Stops and Tea Shops.

Tiny botanical tile 23 September 2018

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Angela Porter 23 September 2018

Yesterday, I had an enjoyable couple of hours drawing fairly cute designs that are 6cm x 6cm (approx. 2½” x 2½”).

I drew my little designs (twelve of them in total, and not all of them I’m all that fussed on at the moment) on Rhodia dot grid paper with a Uniball Unipin 05 pen. Then, I scanned them into the computer and did my usual magic to remove the dot grid and create a transparent background.

Finally, I used Autodesk Sketchbook Pro and a Microsoft Surface Pen, along with my Microsoft Surface Studio to colour the image.

I used various brushes and brush textures to achieve the colouring.

It’s really small, for me. A 6cm x 6cm size would look darling on a small greetings card or note card. I also think they’d make a lovely addition to a BuJo, Planner or Scrapbook page.

Autumn Equinox 2018

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Angela Porter Autumn Equinox 23 September 2018 coloured

I’m a day early as tomorrow is the Autumn Equinox (Spring Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere), but here’s my mandala for this year’s equinox.

I’ve made the uncoloured template an exclusive ‘freebie’ for members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group. Terms and conditions apply to it’s use, so please make sure you read them if you choose to wander over and join in.

Drawn and coloured in Autodesk Sketchbook Pro using a Microsoft Surface Pen and Microsoft Surface Studio.

Dangle Day Friday 21 September 2018

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Angela Porter Dangle Day 21 September 2018

It’s Friday, so that means it’s #dangleday!

A simple, elegant design with a sweet sentiment for this week’s dangle design. I like the symmetrical nature of the dangles.

I did sketch the design out in pencil on dot grid paper which I scanned in to ink in digitally and make use of the symmetry tool in Autodesk Sketchbook Pro. I also coloured and added texture with various brushes in Sketchbook. Naturally, I made use of a Microsoft Surface Pen and Microsoft Surface Studio to do this.

I kept to a really simple colour scheme, using just one pink, golden, blue and green colour gradient for the design, with the exception of the rainbow beads in the central dangle.

It would be really easy to put a different sentiment or greeting in the box, but I like this one.

A different colour scheme, of course, would result in a very different ‘feel’ to the card, matching all kinds of seasons and occasions.

This would make a lovely greetings card or note card. I think I’d like to use it for the beginning of each month in a BuJo, planner or diary, changing the colour scheme as appropriate for that month. I do like playing with themes for my BuJo, but there’s something in me that likes a cohesiveness in design/style.

What would you do with this design? Let me know by leaving a comment.

Of course, I could print the uncoloured version out and colour with different media. It would be no great chore to re-draw the design on paper more suitable for, say, watercolours, where my printer doesn’t cope with decent quality watercolour paper.

Just a little reminder that my book ‘A Dangle A Day’ is available for pre-order, just click on this link. In the book I give help, guidance and advice on creating your own dangle designs, as well as providing many examples of monogram dangles and dangle designs that you can use for your own projects.

Repeating patterns 20 September 2018

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Angela Porter Seamless Tiles 20 September 2018 small

The other day I had a bit of fun with a program called Repper Pro. It allows you to easily make tiles from any image you have saved on your computer. These tiles can then be turned into tiled patterns which are seamless.

I used just two of my latest abstract botanicals and after less than an hour I had saved over 100 tiles to my hard drive! You can see some of my favourite ones above.

Some of these tiles were made from tiles I’d created rather than the original artwork.

I would love to see some of these as patterns for cushions or framed pictures in canvas work or cross stitch. I also think they’d make beautiful fronts for greetings cards or note cards just as they are. In fact, some of the patterns I prefer as single tiles rather than as repeating tiled patterns.

Here are just four of these as tiled patterns. I think they’re lovely, and I’m amazed how easy it is to use the Repper software and how my artwork can be used in this way too.

I’m not sure if they’d make wonderful fabric, they could be too busy for lots of applications, but then this is all personal preference for sure.

Angela Porter Repeating pattern 20 September 2018 04

Angela Porter Repeating pattern 20 September 2018 03

Angela Porter Repeating pattern 20 September 2018 02

Angela Porter Repeating pattern 20 September 2018 01

Abstract Botanical 19 September 2018

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Angela Porter 19 September 2018

It’s a lovely, sunny late summer morning here in the UK and it’s been a perfect time to finish this design off.

Yes, it’s another abstract, zentangly, entangled botanical design, which seems to be my signature style of art, though I do dabble in other styles, as you know, particularly my kind of dangle designs.

This one, like many of my previous ones, was completed in these stages:

  1. Draw the black and white line art on Rhodia dot grid paper using a black 08 Sakura Pigma Micron pen.
  2. Scan the drawing into GiMP. Use tools to remove the dot grid and remove the noise. Save with a transparent background.
  3. Import the image into Autodesk Sketchbook Pro. Any edits to lines can be made here using a pen ‘brush’ that mimics the texture of the Micron pen on the dot grid paper. Then layers are used to create the background, add colour to the design before adding texture and highlights.

It takes a day or more to create a piece of art like this. The drawing of the design alone can take anywhere from 2 to 10 hours, depending on the intricacy and size. This one was A4 in size and isn’t very detailed; I let the colour and texture add details to the design in this instance. I want the colours to shine. The colouring etc. has taken a few hours to do.

It takes me at least as long to create a piece of digital mixed media art as it does to draw and colour the design using traditional methods such as Chameleon markers or Inktense pencils.

What I love about working digitally is the ability to change the colours I use for the elements, and then being able to add texture and highlights/shadows. I can see where I need to go back to the image and add or deepen shadows to increase the sense of depth in the design. A drop shadow on the background isn’t really needed as I think the background is like a sunset sky or alien sea.

The other thing about digital work, is the ability to use the black and white outline to re-work the design using a different colour palette, different textures. I also have the option to print the design out and colour using other media, such as marker pens, perhaps changing the size of the image so that I can create, say, a greetings card or note card, or even a page for my BuJo.

I spent some time on Monday playing with Repper Pro and had some fun creating repeating patterns using the last couple of abstract botanical images. Just from a couple of artworks, I have more than a hundred seamless tiles for patterns; it’s just sorting through them and working out which are the best. I may post some of the best ones later today or tomorrow, and maybe create some based on today’s art above too.

I actually think some of the tiles would, with a border, make amazing patterns for square cushions/pillows worked in tapestry, canvaswork, cross-stitch or similar. You can decide for yourselves when I post them.