This design does make me smile gently! I’m rather pleased with the end result. If you’d like to #drawwithme, then the accompanying YouTube video goes live today, 3 June ’23, at 18:00 UK Time.
Distress Ink background.
Design drawn with black Dokumentus ink in a TWISBI Eco EF fountain pen.
Extra colour/shade added with Derwent Chromaflow pencils and Gamsol.
Highlights/shimmer added using a white Uniball Hybrid Gel DX pigment ink pen and gold Winsor and Newton Calligraphy Ink applied with a brush.
Accompanying colour with me video on YouTube.
I so love Inktense pencils! However, I noticed that a lot of graphite was picked up by the brush and dissolved Inktense when I was adding colour. I had a sudden flash of insight; try using a grey Faber-Castell Pitt Artist brush pen to put in the shadows. So I did.
The Pitt artist brushes have india ink in them; when the ink dries it is waterproof. If I was working on larger areas, I’d use a damp brush to soften the edge of the shadow before the ink dries. That wasn’t an option for me with this small drawing.
As I added Inktense, I could tell the colour was much more vibrant, but the shadows subtly show through. There was such a difference between the latest sections added and the ones in my previous video/post that I went back and added another layer of colour to these areas. That then matched the vibrancy and clarity of colour across the whole coloured area.
I decided to add some jewel-toned blue. Though I’m not sure that was a good idea at this point, it kind of works as it is kind of a complementary colour to all those yellow-orange-red tones! I also added the blue to the green areas, which seemed to make them more vibrant too.
I always find it easier to add colour to more abstract artworks, using a fairly limited palette too. I have started adding colour to the Entangled Botanic drawing in my previous blog post. I’m really not sure about the colours at all. Fortunately, I scanned the drawing in before setting to it with Inktense pencils and waterbrush. I also know that if some of the colours are a bit garish, I can always tone them down with a layer of another colour. I also think I may add some golden texture/dots to the design too.
Today, I spent a rather lovely couple of hours swatching all my Inktense pencils, including the new set of 24 released this year. There are some beautiful colours in that set and they fill in some holes in the original colour palette. I may very well scan my swatch in and use it to create a colour palette in Clip Studio Paint.
The pot I keep all my Inktense in is a tad small for them all, so I’ve splurged on a case that will hold all of the Inktense and my set of Chromaflow pencils (as long as I weed out the duplicate Inktense pencils). Putting them in order in the case will reduce the frustration of not being able to find the pencil I need in the pot they’re in now!
For now, I think I need some tea!
I have no idea why, but tall, thin drawings (bookmarks) just appeal to me. Indeed, they always have.
I enjoyed drawing this one, and I’m fairly pleased with the chosen colours. There’s a soft, muted, vintage palette along with the flowers, seed pods, berries and leaves mainly inspired by Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts and the work of the Arts and Crafts Movement artists.
If you’d like to follow a #comedrawwithme video for this design, just click on this link!
A bookmark decorated with whimsical and stylised ‘moon’ poppies.
I really enjoyed drawing this one and adding shades of blue-grey to bring out the volume in the drawing. Of course, there is a drawing tutorial on YouTube showing how I created this bookmark.
Please click on the ‘Watch on Youtube’ button to view this video on YouTube. It helps my stats. Cheers!
Today, I finish the bookmark with some subtle colour and shading. Indigo blue for a suggestion of water, and sepia for the shadows.
In the video, I also give you a peek inside my lettering sketchbook 🙂 I’m actually quite proud of some of the pages!
Today, I start to draw a bookmark using the tangle pattern “Siros” by Simone Menzler CZT. I’ve yet to decide what I do with the background, which is why I’ve stopped part way through.
It was lovely to spend some time drawing variations of Siros, as well as gaining confidence in the steps needed. The reverse ‘fengle’ version vexed me for a while, but I think I’ve now got it!
The large, open spaces in each Siros were perfect for adding pattern to.
Here’s today’s video on YouTube. Please click on the ‘Watch on YouTube’ button, if you’d be so kind.
Having fun today, combining drawing and cardmaking! Zentangle inspired drawing of course.
This card is 2½” x 7″ in size, and the paper I drew on is a 2½” x 6″ piece of Canson Imagine paper.
I chose to use Sandswirl and Holly tangle patterns in the design. After all, they were my tangle pattern and fragment of the week! Plus a couple of other bits and bobs – flowers, crystals, a bit of mooka and a sprinkling of flux.
I did make a boo-boo though. I didn’t let the silver ink dry long enough before I used an eraser. I checked that it was touch-dry, but it wasn’t eraser-dry. Ho hum, dash and darn it!
I used the same metallic silver to draw a border and add a little bit of embellishment. The embellishment is under my fingers, duh!
The sketchy diagram to the right are the dimensions for making an envelope for the card. Red means cut out, blue add glue.
Of course I made a video for this, and you can see it by following this link. (It’s a new link – I managed to re-upload yesterday’s video as today’s one. Duh go me! It seems to be one of them days…)
It’s been a lovely day today. I’ve spent time drawing, which is always a pleasure and relaxing to boot! I had a lovely long phone chat with a pal too, partway through filming. But it was lovely to chat!
I’ve decided that on Saturdays, I’ll focus on arty projects that could be useful or gifted. All about taking time out not just to feed my creative soul, but to share that with others.
A bookmark seemed a good idea for today. It’s a relatively small project. Useful too! I’ll laminate this when I’m happy with it. I already have a recipient in mind.
Of course I’ve scanned the drawing in and I’ll be using it to practice adding shadow, colour, highlights/lowlights digitally.
There’ll be no social media posts from me tomorrow – I have a day with many pleasant online events. I’ll be back on Monday for sure!
Oh, before I forget, here’s today’s video.
7″ x 2″, St Cuthbert’s Mill Bockingford watercolour paper, White Nights watercolours and a Faber-Castell Pitt Artist pen.
Abstract patterns, bright, almost 1960s psychedelic colours and a small project that doesn’t overwhelm me are what I need today. I’m feeling under the weather, and bright cheery colours and a simple project are what I needed to do.
Another week has gone by, so it’s time for a new template for members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group.
This week, it’s another of my collections of little windows. Yesterday was a day where I needed to draw a template that wouldn’t overwhelm me, and a collection of tiny drawings and patterns is a way to break the task down into bite-size, cute, whimsical pieces. As I result, I enjoyed the process and found some contentment and peace too.
In fact, some of the colorists in the group have told me that the really like the way the page is broken down into pieces that can be finished quickly if they are limited for time. The different sizes allow them to choose something that can be coloured in the time they have available. That part can then be left finished, freeing them of the worry of leaving something unfinished.
Coloring, like any creative activity, can help calm, relax, soothe and give a break from negative self-talk, to name a few of the benefits. I know that scientific studies have shown this to be the case and that losing yourself in coloring has a similar effect on brain activity as mindfulness meditation.
I use art to help me with times when my emotional weather is stormy, dull, unsettled. As I said earlier, drawing a collection of small designs was far less overwhelming than drawing a full page illustration yesterday. Yet, I still end up with a full page of mini-templates to colour.
I feel I struggle with colours. I tend to try to put all colours available to me into one template. Every now and then I do work with a limited palette, which also has it’s own problems. My window templates take away any pressure I put on myself regarding colour. Each window is a unique image in it’s own right and I can use whatever colours I wish in it without worrying about the overall cohesiveness of the project.
These window templates are also great fun for trying out different colour combinations, for blending colours, and even for trying out new techniques. You could make notes on the template, or cut out the pictures you want to keep and start an art journal where you note down the media, colours and techniques used to get the effects/blends you like. No longer any need to remember what they are, just refer to the journal!
Talking of cutting the designs out, that is a perfect way to make use of a finished coloring page like this one. The individual images, or groups of them, can be used to make greeting cards, bookmarks or to embellish art journals, journals, scrapbooks, diaries, planners and bullet journals!
As always, I love to see what people create using my templates – share with and/or tag me on social media :
f: @artwyrd
t: @artwyrd
i: @artwyrd
Angela Porter 