Time for another update of the “30 Days of Sketchbook Joy” challenge progress. I haven’t missed a day yet!
Day 13: Panel Page
This isn’t something I’ve really done before, and I had a hard time coming up with an idea… Eventually I took inspiration from the bat that we see flying around in the twilights and a couple of beautiful nights we’ve had recently, where the moon was surrounded by clouds. Neither night sky actually looked much like this, but at least it was something to draw. The white flowers are pure imagination, as there are few things blooming yet. (We do have some pink camellias, Japanese magnolias, and loropetalum in both pink and white, but nothing like the flowers here.)
Materials used: Watercolor, white gouache and white paint pen for the white details, black ink pen, and a dark brown color pencil for the “frames”.
I’ll probably try this again sometime, if I keep up with the sketchbook habit.
Day 14: Focus on Texture
This prompt sounded so interesting when I first saw it on the list, but when the day came to use it, I just didn’t know what to do… I decided to just do a bunch of swatches to try out different textures, because that’s always fun. They got kind of repetitive, though. Oh well, at least I did something for the day!
Going left to right, from the top down:
- table salt on damp watercolor
- less successful salt texture, followed by… Not sure. Maybe water-soluble crayon?
- damp water-soluble pencil with splashes of more water
- water-soluble crayon gently smudged with damp brush
- watercolor marker used dry and gently brushed over
- watercolor marker used on slightly damp paper (I think)
- watercolor, then different color dropped in while still wet (subtle; didn’t use enough pigment), then color pencil?
- watercolor over clear crayon (wax resist)
- highlighter and brush marker followed by drops of clean water, then some black watercolor pencil where the water drops didn’t do much
- watercolor, with Inktense pencils on top, probably lightly activated with a brush?
- watercolor with splashes of water, didn’t do much, so added something else… watercolor pencil? Inktense? not sure…
- charcoal pencil, softly smudged with a damp brush
- Inktense on try paper, then activated gently with a brush to leave the links
- Not sure, but I think it’s water-soluble crayon
- Various ink pens and pencils, with water brushed over
If I really wanted to use this as a reference, it would have been a good idea to take notes on the page, but I wasn’t blown away by anything here. The ones I like, I think I’ll remember.
Day 15: Butterflies
Despite the fact that this is a “sketchbook joy” challenge, I’m not overjoyed with out my butterflies turned out. I could have done better, but again, at least I tried, and I did learn some things along the way.
Here’s the base layer in watercolor:
And here they are after adding some details in color pencil and marker:
Considering that I was just making them up as I went along, with no real reference photo on hand, they’re not too bad…
Day 16: Line Work First
This day and the next kind of go together: One is for line-work first, and the other is for line-work last/second. It might have made more sense to try to draw/paint the same thing both days, but that’s not what I did. (Could always try that another time!)
This idea is shamelessly copied from a demo I saw on Instagram. Check out “beck_and_rose” to see the reel. It just looked like fun, and yes—it was!
Easy as can be: Just doodle some simple shapes and go back with your choice of colorful medium. I used watercolor for mine.
Day 17: Line Work Second
I did this one in front of the television, which is very rare for me. I practically never watercolor except at my table in the craft room (though one of these days I hope to set up another place in the living room). I just find if kind of messy, usually, but it was a Friday night (my birthday!), and I thought it would be fun.
To minimize the mess, I kept things simple and just painted loose, flowing “fat squiggles” in watercolor. I left it to dry and did the rest the next day.
I doodled very simple houses, trees, and a winding road, using a black ink pen. Then I added white gouache to lighten the houses. A few more touches in pen to add windows and doors, and it was done. I really like how this turned out!
Day 18: A Penguin
I very nearly gave up on this prompt. Penguins just aren’t something I have ever even thought about drawing. I somehow missed out on the penguin craze, back when all those penguin movies and documentaries came out. I mean, I have nothing against penguins, but I just wouldn’t ever think of drawing or painting them.
However, I decided I’d try. I doodled one penguin, then had no idea what to do next. The Endless Art Challenge cards were handy, so I gave them a whirl:
- Fruit
- Cotton Candy Colors
- Use 3 Colors or Less (“Fewer”, mumbles the faded, ghostly remnants of PastMe, who hasn’t completely forgotten all those English/language arts education classes…)
Ok, it’s weird, but let’s give it a try!
Here’s what I doodled in pen:
And here’s what I ended up with:
I broke the “3 colors or less/fewer” guideline, but since it is only a guideline, I’m okay with that. In addition to the three colors reminiscent of cotton candy (pink, blue, light purple), I also used a little of a Payne’s grey-esque mixture to tint the penguins and add a few shadows to the background. Oh, and I used it to color the leaves and stems. Nothing used on this but ink pen and watercolor.
The cotton-candy colors are a bit crazy for fruit, but I think that makes it more fun, in some ways. At least I ended up enjoying this much more than I expected when I started drawing the first penguin, with no idea where I was headed!
