An artist friend was kind enough to give me a referral to a wonderful project, “Coloring Nature”, an on-going series of coloring books featuring different regions and ecosystems of the United States. The next one will be the Atlantic coast from north to south, including tidal areas. I signed on immediately. Perusing the species still […]
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It’s that time of year when flowers start to go to seed. These are from Papaver rhoas, the Flanders poppy, named when millions of bloomed in the summer following the end of WWI, covering the pulverized ground in France where huge battles were fought. To this day, in England and France, this red poppy is […]
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It’s been quite warm this August for Humboldt County, so nice weather to sit outside and sketch. Above: “Silk Road Lilies” Kakuno fountain pen with Prismacolor pencils. I drew them directly with the pen, no pencil underdrawing in a Stillman and Birn Zeta sketchbook.
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I sketched some of the flowers in our garden yesterday morning and worked directly with the pen, no pencil underdrawing. From sitting in one spot on my rucksack/stool I did Gaura Lindhemeri, Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ and the still-green seed heads of a Papaver somniferum. I used a Pilot Kakuno pen with a Pilot Black Namiki cartridge […]
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Come check them out! The originals are dip pen and ink drawings on Clearprint Heavy Vellum. All the of the images are from photos I’ve taken myself on my travels over the years. You can buy them here: Above: “Cheetah” “African Elephants” “Assateague Pony” “Yellow-headed Blackbird”
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Continuing on from Part 1, which you can read here, I want to show you another way to approach seeing the big shapes and capturing those before you dive into detail. At the top is a finished pen and ink drawing of a white rhino. But you can draw just this… and anyone who has […]
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I did this test last week because I’d like to be able to combine dip pen drawings and watercolor for working on location, either drawing first or watercolor first or back and forth, my choice without having to worry about it. The former means that I need ink that can take as wet a wash […]
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I had some time between appointments on Tuesday so I went to the Arcata Marsh, which is a wildlife preserve and also a sewage treatment system for the city (no smells!) and did a couple of quick sketches. Neither took more than 10-15 minutes. There’s great views to the south of Humboldt Bay and the […]
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Last month we took a short trip down to Santa Rosa and then came back on Highway 1 via Bodega Bay and Fort Bragg. We stayed two nights in Fort Bragg at the Beach House Inn. Super dog-friendly and the rooms have balconies overlooking an estuary. We saw lots of birds, including a pair of […]
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I’ve spent the last three mornings “test driving” a variety of dip pen nibs. There are quite a few nibs intended for drawing, but most were made just for writing. Some are very fine, some make a heavier line, others are monoline or do both thick and thin lines. Most are not expensive, one to […]
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SketchWild 