Every Day in May: Day 19 – Frankenstein ATC

2.5″ x 3.5″ pen and markers

Last month one of my card trading pals, Coop, recruited me for a mail art project he has going.  He is collecting images of the Frankenstein monster in all styles and media.  I finally got around to making his card on Day 19.  I wanted to capture the sadness and loneliness of the monster.

Mr. Coop has started a new blog,  A Patchwork of Flesh to document his project.   If you are a fan of Frankenstein, definitely check it out.   Frank is drawn, painted, collaged, felted and cross-stitched.   There are some great children’s drawings featured too.

He told me that he already has about 50 cards and more are coming in.  If you’d like to participate in this mailart project click here for details.

Every Day in May: Days 16 & 17 – Completed WIP

Day 17 – Finished

5" x 7" india ink

For days 16 and 17 I worked more on this drawing that I adapted from this self-portrait by Dominic Perry.   I’ll call it finished.    Here is a mini-gallery so that you can see the progression of the picture.

Day 14

Day 15

Day 15

Day 17

First there is the rough pencil sketch, then the initial inking, erasing of the pencil marks, and a light wash to shape things.   The next day I applied washes to  build the tones, shape the face, and add shadows to the shirt.    On the final day I added more hair to the right side to round out the skull.  After that, I worked more on his shirt and face.

So that completes my WIP.   I love watching people’s work in stages so I tried it myself.  Hope you found it interesting.

Now on to Day 18!  I have a stack of artist trading cards to do…

Every Day in May: Day 15 – Drawing for Myself – WIP 2

5" x 7" india ink and wash

Here’s the second day of work with this drawing I started yesterday.  I’m using india ink instead of just using the gray markers I’ve been using.   I inked the sketch with a brush instead of a pen.  Now I wish I had used a dip pen.  But there will be other opportunities.  It’s coming together.  I’ll work on it more tomorrow.

ATCs: Self-portrait by Request

2.5" x 3.5" pen and markers

I made this artist trading card by request.  I’ve had a number of people ask me for self-portrait cards when we arrange personal trades.   That surprises me since I’m a complete stranger to them.   But I suppose that doesn’t matter if you like the drawing.

I did this from a photo I found of myself most likely taken during my brooding late teen years or my early 2o’s.    You couldn’t pay me to be that young again.  I like being in my 40’s, thank you very much!

Ink and Watercolor Wash: Drawing a Crow

2.5"x3.5" pen and watercolor and ink wash

The other day I finally had some success with an ink and watercolor wash drawing.  Isn’t he pretty?  I needed to do a crow card for a trading partner and I decided I would stretch myself a bit and try an ink and watercolor wash. 

ATCs on Request: Black Panther

2.5"x3.5" pen, markers, watercolor

I’ve been feeling rather stunned for the past few days.  I’ll blame it on all the financial turbulence.  I’m having trouble writing, but since this is a drawing blog, why don’t I just post a drawing?  I’ve not been drawing much this week, so I’ll just post  one of the cards I made not long ago.  I did this card by request.  I think I worked hard on this card than any other I have made.  I don’t like everything about it, but I am proud of the way the eyes turned out.   

Back to it: EDM 182 Draw a truck

pitt artist pen sketch

It’s been a while since I’ve worked on my Everyday Matters challenges, but on one of our walks I saw an opportunity to do one.  I saw this 1954 GMC flatbed truck.  I remembered that drawing a truck was on the list and this was a lovely truck to draw.   It’s not really very rusty and appears to be in good condition.   I’m definitely going back soon to do a more detail drawing and then try applying color.

It was so nice to have a chance to recharge a little. My husband had himself a little “staycation” and we hung out and had fun around town.   What he liked  best was sitting in the sun and taking walks around town with me.  He claimed he was practicing for his retirement.  It’s nice that he knows how to relax because I can get pretty wound up about things sometimes.

Taking a Break

My husband is on vacation and so I’m taking a bit of a break.   I’ll be back in a couple of  weeks.  Thanks everyone for all of your kind comments.  I’m always so thrilled that people take the time to tell me what they think about my drawing.    It’s boosted my confidence so much.   Take care and see you soon.

EDM Challenge 185 – Draw a Cat

pen and colored pencils

It’s been a while since I’ve done an Everyday Matters Challenge. To be honest, I didn’t do these specifically for the challenge. I was drawing cat cards for various swaps I had signed up for. So imagine my surprise when I went to check what the next EDM challenge would be. When I saw “draw a cat” on the list I just started laughing out loud. I had cats on the brain and I just couldn’t get away from them!

These are a combination of sketching some neighbor cats from life and some other sketches I had in my sketchbook

Here’s another one:

ink, watercolor, and colored pencil

The King

Pitt Artist Pen and colored pencil

A friend of mine requested a lion card so I spent much of the morning working on sketches. I’ve not had much experience drawing lions so I was carefully, or rather timidly, drawing with a mechanical pencil and so concerned about getting the right details in. After a number of sketches where my lions looked more like somber golden retrievers, I got fed up just grabbed a sepia Pitt brush pen and just started scribbling. This little tantrum actually produced a wonky, but still lordly looking lion.