Experiments with ink

I was browsing through books at Art Supply Warehouse and ran across Everyday Sketching & Drawing by Steven B. Reddy.

The art was really appealing I already owned most of the supplies* so I tried Reddy's process out using reference from Line of Action. I lightly sketched in big shapes with pencil, drew in lines using a Uniball Vision pen (it's waterproof!), painted in values using Speedball Super Black ink (it's waterproof when dry!), glazed watercolors on top of that, and then used a little bit of white gouache to pop in some light. This was a fun study! I also really like the recommendation of the Uniball pens. They aren't too expensive and the ink flows well on rough paper.

*I have enough art supplies at home to open my own art store. Seriously...you should see my pen collection, I got a gabillion of them stored in various mugs and Talenti gelato cups.

Bonus pic! This is also from Line of Action. I didn't want to add color on top of these values. One of the drawbacks of layering on top of black is that bright colors would get muddy with this method. It works for the donkey above because there was a lot of gray in the reference. Not so much with the green grass this kitty is lounging on top of.

FemFiction Zine V.4

I drew this pirate-skeleton-lass for Volume 4 of the FemFiction Zine that's made every month at FanAlley in Anaheim.  I used a Zebra pen for the line art and a Pentel pocket brush pen to fill in the large black areas with a nice texture.

Lafcadio Illustration

I wanted to share the steps I took to finish the illustration I created for the Roald Dahl/Shel Silverstein Tribute Show at Fan*Alley.  After doing character design explorations, I sketched out a body to match the face I chose.  Once I was happy with both the face and the body, I did some small character sketches on watercolor paper to finalize the look of Lafcadio as well as practice using the media I chose for the illustration.  The image below is one of many I did in advance of the final piece.

After the look of the character was nailed down, I sketched out the sequence for Lafcadio's suit fitting on copy paper making sure to double-check the spelling of words and the overall flow of the piece (pencil drawing not pictured).  I then taped that to a light table, laid a piece of watercolor paper on top, and then used a Zebra pen to trace the linework.  (BTW Zebra pens are waterproof! They are the best pens ever!)  The image below on the left is what the piece looked like prior to color.  Before adding any watercolor, I took a picture of the lineart with my phone's camera and imported that into Photoshop to create a color comp (the image on the right).

Below is the final piece framed and matted and ready to be hung.  I'm very happy with how it turned out.  The show opening itself was a blast!  There were a ton of fun people to chat with at the event!  I'm also happy to say that my piece sold that night!  Hooray!  Huzzah!  w00t!

P.S. Here are some details of the illustration.  They were taken with my phone so the color shifts here and there from image-to-image.

New Sketchbook

I finished one Moleskine sketchbook and started another!  I felt like my creative karma needed a boost so I decided to draw this sketchbook completely in a vertical format.  My posts will probably have more of an up-and-down feel versus the horizontal ones I've had for quite a bit.

This was drawn at Starbucks over a period of about two hours with an 02 Micron.  I like how it turned out, I'm hoping its an omen for the rest of the blank pages in my sketchbook.

P.S. I finally joined Instagram!  Follow me for sketchbook updates!

Dragon Bridge

From my sketchbook... I drew this in Starbucks while sipping on an iced coffee and listening to the Steve Dangle podcast.  What a lovely way to spend an afternoon!

Here's a closeup of the bottom.  I'm happy how the little island, the tentacle creature in the cliff, and the fish monsters all turned out.  I killed my pen drawing all this stuff.  RIP 02 Micron-you served me well!

Poke the Dragon

Drawn with a dip pen on bristol board.

Cat and Rat

Drawn with a dip pen and toned using concentrated watercolors.

Flute Tiger

This was drawn with a dip pen on watercolor paper and was toned using concentrated watercolors and a black Derwent drawing pencil.

Tiger Hug

Tiger luvs his kitty poo... :3
This was drawn with a dip pen and toned using concentrated watercolor.

Life Drawing Sketch Dump

These were drawn in Life Drawing for Animation-the class I am teaching at CSUF for the sixth time. :) The top five pics were drawn with a Zebra sign pen (my current go-to pen) and/or a gray Tombo marker.

30-sec gesture drawings

30-sec silhouettes

15 and 30-sec gesture drawings from a clothed model

Gesture drawings and a couple of longer poses

Gesture drawings from two models from two different class sessions

Ink wash sketch #1- I used a light tone to paint in the silhouette of the model.  I then waited a minute for that to dry before I went back on top and dry-brushed in the shadow areas.

Ink wash sketch #2- This was done in the same manner as the one on top.  The difference though is that I didn't wait for the original wash to dry before I dabbed ink to suggest shadow areas.  I really like the serendipity of this piece.

Ink wash sketch #3- Yeah...I know this is cropped oddly.  I bobbled the top but I liked the way the legs turned out at the bottom so I'm only posting that half of the image.  This was painted like #1 but I thought the image was too light versus the paper so I dry brushed in the negative space so the body would pop.

Ink Wash Kitty

This striped kitty was drawn on watercolor paper with a dip pen and ink wash.

Moar Kittiehs

Both of these were drawn with the mysterious pen from my last post and colored in PS.

Treasure Hunting

This was drawn in my Moleskine sketchbook with an 02 Micron, the gray values were later added in Photoshop.  I also included a screenshot of my sketchbook with a Micron to give a sense of how small I typically draw.

Wondercon Art

I spent this last weekend at Wondercon in Artist Alley with the ever-dapper Kevin Woody.  I had a good time meeting fellow creatives and talking to the nice folks that stopped by.

I drew these three pieces at the con using an 02 and 05 Micron on textured drawing paper.  I've been on an aquatic kick as of late for some odd reason.  My sketchbook is filled with all sorts of mermaids and octopi and fish monsters. Perhaps my subconscious is telling me I need a vacation. :)

Inktober Book #1

I've been participating in Inktober by inking a small piece on bristol board everyday.  Keeping the upcoming Halloween in mind I drew monsters and creatures and odd-looking things.  I collected the 17 drawings I've inked so far and assembled them into an accordion fold book with a matching slipcover.

Ink Wash Birds

I've been having fun drawing pigeons and other assorted birds as of late.  The ink wash sketches below were painted on Bristol Board with Speedball Super Black.  From top-to-bottom there is a chesty pigeon, a fancy pigeon, another fancy pigeon, a dapper pigeon, a horned owl, and a fancy rooster.

Sushi Bear

I'm participating this month in a group show with the OC Illustrators called "A Bunch of Malarkey." The show is at the La Habra Art Gallery in La Habra, California.  Stop by and see the all of the art if you're in the area, I'm honored to be able to share walls with this wonderful group!

"Sushi Bear" is a framed print.  It was inked with a brush, colored in Photoshop, and printed out on watercolor paper.

Illustration Friday-Tree

This was drawn with a brown PITT artist pen and was inspired by all of the lovely trees I saw on a recent camping trip in Big Sur, CA.

T-Rex Sketch

I was drawing aimlessly yesterday waiting for inspiration to strike when I was hit by a yen to draw a terrible T-Rex.  This was done with a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen on Xerox paper.  I really like the texture this pen can give you.  It just a matter of holding it at an angle so you are mostly using the side of the bristles and moving your hand rapidly enough so the pen skips across the surface of the paper.

Inking Process

Here's some pics of my inking process for a piece I did for a gallery show.

 

These are the pencils of the main character, a woman in a steampunk outfit.  Since I was going to place a second character in the black silhouette of her outfit, I concentrated on creating interesting shapes in the outline of her clothes and in the swirls of her hair.

Once I combined the the pencils of the two characters (image missing) I scanned that into Photoshop and quickly threw in the blacks to double-check everything was in the right spot.

After I made some minor corrections to the pencils, I taped the them to a light box and then placed a 11" x 14" sheet of Vellum bristol board on top of that.  I inked the piece using a Hunt School 56 nib and Speedball Super Black.  It took me a couple of hours-I remember watching the last two periods of a NHL game during this part.

Once the linework was dry I scanned that into the computer.  In Photoshop I made some slight corrections, filled the blacks, and added a spot color.  The final image is digital.

After I submitted the digital file for the show I went back and finished the inks by filling the blacks in with a brush and making small corrections with a 005 Micron pen.  This can be a time consuming process so I usually do this after the deadline so I can sell the inks at a later point.  (Note: In the photo the inks look uneven because the camera flash is bouncing off of them.)

I'll post a link to the final image once I hear that my piece has been accepted.
2/22/12 EDIT: Good news!  I was accepted to the show.  Here's a link to the finished piece.
3/2013 EDIT: The catalog of the show is now up on Amazon.