My Sketch Book

Dimetrodon

This is a Dimetrodon which means "two types of teeth". I have been reading a book called The Fossil Hunter by Shelley Emling. It is about Mary Anning and how her fossil discoveries changed the world. It is a great book and now I am really into dinosaurs. I was only mildly interested in dinosaurs before about a month ago, I am not sure what happened but now I am really excited about them. Strange how things change. Anyway I went to the library and I got a book called Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life to draw from. This is my first attempt at drawing a dinosaur. I am loving the teeth, they are like my cartoon fish. I would love to draw from some real dinosaur bones but there aren't many places to do that here. There is supposed to be a place at OSU that has a sloth from the ice age but parking around there is horrible so when it warms up I want to ride my bike over to see it. This drawing was done with a purple .01 Sakura Micron pen. Why purple? Why not?

Panther Chameleon

This is a Panther Chameleon drawn from a picture out of a book I got from the library called Firefly Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. It was fun to try to draw all of the texture on this lizard. It is sometimes hard for me to figure out how to show light outlines when I am using a black pen though I feel I am getting a little better at that. I used a Sakura Micron pen and added a little color with Pan Pastels. My favorite part to draw was the eye, chameleons have such strange eyes. Have you ever drawn a chameleon? 

Blue Bird

This is the last bird drawing I did before taking the book Birds: A Visual Guide back to the library. I am very happy with this drawing. It was done with one of the Sakura Micron pens in my handmade journal. I am not sure what size pen I used. I colored it with just a little bit of Pan Pastels. I seem to really have a thing for textures right now.  The weather is getting warmer so hopefully I will get to go outside and draw real things instead of having to use books for reference. Do you prefer drawing from life or photos?

Coral

I was digging through my shells from Florida again looking for something to draw when I found this piece of coral. I knew it would be difficult but I wasn't doing anything else so I thought why not try it. About half way through I wanted to quit and just put it away really bad but I pushed myself to finish it and I am pretty happy with how it came out. I think I would do it differently if I tried again but I am defiantly not up to trying again anytime soon. I used Strathmore Drawing paper, a Sakura Micron pen, and Sakura Koi watercolors. 

An owl and a bat in a tree

I drew/painted this on Friday. I am not a fan of this paper for watercolor even though it is supposed to be watercolor paper. The paint just kind of sits on top of it until it dries. Also there is way too much texture on the paper for me. I don't really like texture on my paper. Anyway, I drew an owl and a  bat then drew a tree around them, notice the heart shaped knot on the tree truck. 

Shells

I have a bunch of shells from my trips to Florida. They are sitting in a jar on the mantle. I dug through the jar and picked out three that I thought might be fun to draw. The large one is a piece of a sea biscut, I am not sure what the other two are called.  No matter how many times I get them out and shake them they still produce white sand. It was very cold today, since I can't actually be in Florida at least I can day dream about it and play with my shells. I used a black Sakura Micron .02 pen for this drawing. My favorite Faber Castell S Pitt Pen had to be thrown out because it was broken in an unfortunate incident of someone's (not mine) over enthusiastic drawing. I really need to get another one. I would trade all of the pens I have for just one Faber Castell size S. (no I am not being paid to say that) What have you been drawing?

Drawing Cords

Cords seem like a mundane subject until you actually try to draw them then you realize how each one is just a little different. Drawing multiple cords is a difficult task because of the way they weave under and over each other. I used a Pilot rollerball pen. I didn't enjoy drawing with that pen so it is not going back into my bag of drawing utensils. It is great for writing, I just do not like it for drawing. If you can't think of anything to draw, try some cords.

Fish Scales

This is the third and final drawing from last Thursday's open mic night at the Bethel Rd. Pub. I knew I had a lot of time to kill so I went wild with the scales. I would like to see this one in color but I am not actually motivated to color it. Today was a super busy day but I wanted to maker sure I still post a sketch. What are you sketching?

Fish Lines

 

This is the second drawing I did at the Bethel Rd. Pub last Thursday. I realized that drawing these silly fish critters really makes me happy no matter how many of them I draw. I don't know why I draw them or what they are really. For awhile I thought I should stop drawing them because I have drawn so many, what is the point. I realized the point. The point is that they are fun and they make me happy. I really enjoy coloring them too! What do you draw that makes you happy?

Sassy Cat

When we got to the Bethel Rd. Pub last Thursday I had my sketchbook and my pen but honestly I did not feel like drawing. I knew I had to but I really didn't have any ideas. I just put my pen on the paper and drew an eye, then a picture of my dearly departed Sassy Cat came out of the pen. I decorated her with a pretty aura and gave her lots of fish. Later when I showed the picture to Greg he saw a mouth with a big tongue until I told him it was Sassy. He told me my drawings are like mind benders. I thought that was pretty cool. The original drawing did not have whiskers, Greg drew them. He also drew the blue waves and water at the bottom. I let him tell me what colors things should be too so this was a nice collaboration. Do you like to collaborate?