Tag: Pen and Ink

Innocent Vixens

First Camellia of Spring; watercolor, painted directly without drawing first — First Camellia of Spring, Watercolor

Yesterday’s rainy-day post was a bit dreary so I wanted to post something bright and cheery today. When the first camellia on the bush bloomed I painted her directly in watercolor, without drawing in pencil or pen first. This little vase looks as intended; it is nearly flat in really life, probably intentionally squished by the potter, with just a sort of slot in the top.

I think this sketch makes good use of the watercolor paper in “The Mutt” (the name I’ve stenciled on the outside of the sketchbook I bound with watercolor paper.) I named it that because it’s a little homely and imperfect but still perfectly lovable.

Innocent Vixens, the full page — The full page

Here is the page where the above sketch resides. I like to make good use of my sketchbook pages. Lately I’ve been grateful for messed up sketches because they become pages that I use for journaling right over the bad sketch. More about that in another post.

Innocent Vixens(?), BART riders, sepia pen — Innocent Vixens, BART riders, sepia pen

And if you were wondering about the post title “Innocent Vixens,” it was from something I heard on the radio. Someone said “innocent victims” and for some reason my mind wandered to “innocent vixens.” It seemed like a concept that might be fun to sketch someday and I wanted to remember it, so into the journal it went, above these innocent (though a bit dorky) BART subway rider guys.

Tags BART, Drawing, Flower Art, flowers, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages, subway drawing, Subway drawings, Watercolor, watercolor painting, Word Play

Animals Drawing Gouache Painting Sketchbook Pages

Crow Planet

Ever since I saw a crow repeatedly drop a walnut onto the street from its perch on a wire above, fly down to check it, pick it up and drop it again, I wanted to learn more about them. So I’m reading Crow Planet: Essential Wisdom from the Urban Wilderness, a sort of “how to” for amateur naturalists who want to explore nature where it lies (or flies) without having to journey out to Nature with a capital “N.” I learned that crows drop nuts on the road, hoping a car will drive over it and crack it open.

The crow in the sketch above had been hanging out with some crows and a few squirrels on a neighbor’s front porch. This odd group was bickering over who got the peanuts and who got the walnuts that my nutty (pun intended) neighbor lady puts out daily (hourly?). When I showed up he took this more watchful stance.

I used to dislike crows because they seemed to overwhelm the landscape when they showed up and their noisy caws drowned out the softer, sweeter sounds of smaller birds. But I’ve learned to appreciate these fascinating birds.

Crows mate for life, have strong communities who help care for the young and sick members, and are quite smart. They play games with each other, can recognize individual human faces, can reason and use tools as this video demonstrates:

Crows are helpful too, since as omnivores, along with plants, they eat insects considered as pests by gardeners, and enjoy fresh roadkill, thus tidying up the neighborhood. They are well-suited to our increasingly urban, concrete jungle, which is why their population has increased. It is estimated that in the U. S. there are as many crows as households—about one crow per family.

If you want more information about crows, there is a good Crow FAQ here by a Cornell University professor who also seems to find them endearing, despite their usually undeserved bad reputations.

Tags Animals, Birds, crow planet, crows, Gouache, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages

Art supplies Ink and watercolor wash Painting People Places Sketchbook Pages

Signs of Spring

Signs of spring were sprouting everywhere on my walk and I couldn’t resist stopping to sketch and paint. But I stopped so many times that before I’d gone half a mile I was so hungry I had to return home for lunch before heading out again.

The sketch above graces the first page of my new sketchbook, bound with Arches 90lb cold press watercolor paper. It’s quite different from the Fabriano Venezia sketchbooks I’ve been using the past year.

Princess flower bush blossoms, ink & watercolor

I’m really enjoying the way the book opens flat, it’s size (7.5″ tall x 5.5″ wide) and weight, how comfortable it is to hold and to hold open for working across the spread, the texture of the paper for painting and the way the pages don’t ripple, pill, or show through to the other side. The paper takes a lot of abuse and layering, which is both a good and a bad thing. Good because it holds up, but bad because it allows endless diddling around which isn’t really the point of sketching (but is a bad habit of mine).

And what’s a nice walk on a spring-like day without a stop at Peets for a Cappuccino at a sidewalk table and a bit of sketching/painting. I’m still finding my way with this paper, trying to get a sense of how much paint to use, and which pens work best with it.

One thing I’ve determined for sure is that I prefer painting on site when I go out sketching, as I did with these, and not just drawing on site and adding paint later as I did last week with my sketching group. I just spent the evening painting the drawings from last week’s outing and it just didn’t have the zing that painting from life on site does.

You can make many more sketches and have more control of the paint when you save the painting for later, but then you either have to work from memory (of which I have too little) or photos (which never capture what you really see in person) or by using a pencil to softly write “Y” in areas that are yellow, “B” for blue, etc.) While I loved those “paint by number” kits when I was a kid, I’m not crazy about painting by letter now.

Tags Art supplies, Cafe Sketch, coffee, El Cerrito, Flower Art, flowers, Ink and watercolor wash, Peets Coffee, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages

Drawing Ink and watercolor wash People Portrait Self Portrait Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings

Last Pages of the Old Sketchbook

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date February 5, 2010
14 Comments on Last Pages of the Old Sketchbook

Last page self portrait. Ink & watercolor, drawn from life

In Louise Stanley‘s “Rules for Keeping a Sketchbook,” her rule number two is “Start on the third page to get your courage up.” Number three is “Go back to the first page and do a self-portrait when you’ve got the nerve.” At her exhibit it was great seeing some of her (often comical) self-portraits from journals spanning decades.

For my own journals, I preferred the idea of making the last page a self-portrait instead. That way it still creates a record of the YOU that put all that stuff in the journal, but it’s not there staring back at you every time you open the book. So this is my self-portrait on the last page of the Fabriano Venezia sketchbook.

And this is the second to last page. Just a couple of subway riders with a bit of watercolor added later. I’m about a quarter of the way into the new journal I bound myself and am really loving it. My next posts will be from that journal.

And now it’s Friday night and what has felt like a very long, exhausting work week is finally over and I get to transition back to my art life. But that will be tomorrow. Tonight I’m just interested in a good night’s sleep.

Tags BART sketch, Ink and watercolor wash, Louise Stanley, Pen and Ink, People, self-portrait, Sketchbook Pages, subway drawing, Subway drawings

Drawing Life in general Sketchbook Pages

Fixed It!

I was actually on time for once, but couldn’t remember how to get where I was going so I plugged my GPS into one of the outlets in my car. When I pulled it back out to move it to another outlet, the charger thingee seemed to explode, flying to pieces.

Using my key chain flashlight I found something that looked like a fuse, and a spidery silvery thing that seemed to fit atop the cylinder but everything else was missing. I searched the floor and the seats but it was dark, getting late and I had to go.

I quickly checked the GPS to see the route from Highway 80 to 580 to 24 to the Claremont Exit. Then I turned it off, saving the last bit of battery for it to guide me on the final confusing steps around the one-way streets that would take me to my destination, where I arrived, late as usual.

Buying a new charger unit would be expensive because it has a built-in traffic receiver. So the next day I searched my car again and found two missing pieces in one of the many storage compartments, and another two pieces hiding on the floor (easier to see in the daylight).

Amazingly, for spatially-challenged me, I figured out how to put it all back together. And even more amazing: it still works!

So of course I had to celebrate in my sketchbook.

Tags Drawing, GPS, Ink, ink sketch, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages

Animals Drawing Gouache Painting Photos Sketchbook Pages

I Otter Go to the Zoo

…but my son Robin did instead. And he took wonderful, soulful photos that he shared with me. So of course I had to sketch them, starting with this otter whose expression really struck me. It came out a little different in each sketch.

Worried Otter, drawn with icky Pigma Brush Pen

I finally threw away the Pigma Brush Pen I used for this sketch. The point seemed to fray on first use and only got worse. The Pitt Artist Brush Pens seem to hold up better.

Perplexed Otter, Sepia & Black Pitt Artist Pens

I think this one is my favorite either because of his expression (why am I assuming it’s a boy?) or because the drawing reminds me of a series of children’s books I used to read to my sons when they were little, about a little badger named Francis.

And here is Robin’s original photo:

I wonder what this cute little guy was thinking. Doesn’t this just call for a caption? What would it be?

Tags Animals, Drawing, Gouache, Ink, Otter, Pen and Ink, Photos, Sketch, Sketchbook Pages

Drawing Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Painting Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Catching up with Carrots

Did you know that organic carrots with the greens still attached are sweeter than the big chunky ones in the grocery store without tops or the little shaved ones known as baby carrots? They’re also more fun to draw. Except for the feathery greens which confused me when I tried to draw them.

And they’re even more challenging to draw when wrapped in a cellophane bag (above).

And they felt even harder because I was feeling tired, spaced out, catching a cold, and needing to go to bed. So despite really wanting to figure out how to capture the feathery greens in ink and wash, I gave up, glued the label in the book instead, and went to bed.

I’ve been sketching the several days, but have been too tired and/or too busy with or from my day job to post so now I have a bunch of catching up to do, starting with carrots.

Tags Carrots, Drawing, Food sketch, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages

Life in general People Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings

Subway Sketches on BART

Just a few recent sketches on our subway system, BART, that I ride twice a week, in a 13 minute ride to the office. (I work from home 2 days a week and in the office 2 days a week).

It seems so decadent to be sketching while really late for work. Fortunately I make my own schedule and can stay later to make up the time and get everything done. I usually work from 10-6 so at 10:40 on BART I was really late!

What can I say? Being late seems to be a common theme. I like to take my time in the morning and not rush and given my slim grasp on time to begin with, it’s easy to get late. I’ve vowed to mend my ways and start getting up earlier which seems to be the only solution. But then I need to go to bed earlier too. That’s harder.

Tags BART, Drawing, ink sketch, Pen and Ink, People, Subway drawings, Subway sketch

Animals Ink and watercolor wash People Photos Places Sketchbook Pages

Lion Door Guard and Cathy’s Bike Guy

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date January 23, 2010
5 Comments on Lion Door Guard and Cathy’s Bike Guy

The Lion Doorguard & Cathy's Bike Guy — The Lion Door Guard

Here is the lion that guards the door at the hotel beside the chubby cherubs on Harrison Street. I love his big nose and stylized fist. I sketched this from the photo on my monitor from across the room, to simulate drawing from life as best I could. I did a complete pencil sketch with shading and then drew over that with my Pentel Pocket Brush Pen and then decided to erase all the pencil shading and paint him with watercolor. Here’s a photo of the building.

A couple weeks ago when I posted my sketches from the library and Peet’s Coffee I mentioned the old man in a weathered, WWII leather aviator cap and his 1940s era bicycle that Cathy sketched. I adored the way she captured this funny old character who was selling bike parts to a young man so I asked her to send me scans. She did, and now I get to post them below.

Tags Animals, Bicycle, Bike, Drawing, Ink and watercolor wash, Lion, Micron Pigma, Oakland, Oakland, Peets Coffee, Pen and Ink, People, Photos, Sketchbook Pages

Albany Food sketch Glass Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Painting People Sketchbook Pages Still Life

Sketching Dinner at Zaki’s Kabob House

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date January 21, 2010
10 Comments on Sketching Dinner at Zaki’s Kabob House

Jerusalem Lemonade and Lentil Soup, ink & watercolor

Last Tuesday night we met at Zaki’s Kabob House in Albany for some delicious Mediterranean food and sketching. It was a cold rainy night but the restaurant was busy. Sonia had called ahead to confirm it would be OK for us to spend the evening there sketching. We were further encouraged by the bumper sticker on the door that said “Make Art Not War.”

If you wonder why this sketch has a note saying “Paste Menu Here,” it’s because when I said I’d ruined the composition (pre-watercolor) by adding that glass on the right, Cathy said, “Just paste a piece of the menu over that spot.” I solved the problem by just not painting the glass and leaving the note instead.

Sonia and I painted at the table but Cathy didn’t like the dim restaurant lighting for painting so made many more sketches instead. I was happy that my colors turned out well despite not quite being able to see them while working.

Usually when we’re sketching in cafes we are unable to avoid eavesdropping on nearby conversations, always a source of amusement or amazement at what people say in public. But shortly after we sat down, Ellen, a member of our plein air painting group, arrived to join her realtor for dinner at the next table. After some introductions, and passing around of sketchbooks (including an invitation by the realtor to show them in their office “gallery” which we declined), we returned to sketching while they dined and chatted.

It was odd eavesdropping on someone we knew. Cathy appreciated it though, since they were talking about sofabed shopping, and Cathy is in the market for one too.

Tags Albany, cafe sketching, Drawing, eavesdropping, Food sketch, Glass, Ink and watercolor wash, Micron Pigma, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages, Zaki's Kabob House