portrait

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Inktober Portrait

I am running way behind on posting to the blog! If you want to catch me in real time, I can also be found on Facebook or Instagram. Instagram has short process reels starting to appear also, as I am learning how to create them (and overcome my nerves!)

This year I am wanting to work more seriously on my portraiture. So I asked a coworker if I could draw his son, whom I met at a company BBQ, thus the company hat and keychain. He was such a delight to work on and my first Inktober piece. Nothing like warming up to the inks in the most intense way possible! When Jasper saw his picture he told his dad he wanted it on his wall. What a sweet compliment!

I did the entire piece with a pencil sketch, then this brush dipped in Higgins black waterproof ink (and a raccoon mug of water.) Again – Inktober was about working on the balance of tones and values with the ink. I saw myself progress as the month did. I doubt an artist every feels they have arrived, though, so I have learned to just accept where I am, knowing with each piece I am growing my skill.

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Inktober 2021 – Day 11 Sour

I will be adding watercolor to this one, for sure!

This is my grandma and her bowl of sour lemon candy.

We lost my Grandma to a heart attack at the age of 62. I was 16 and this was my first devastating loss. Grandma made me feel loved – unconditionally. She never once told me I was “too much” of anything. She was just there for me. I never once doubted that she fully loved me. And I have never stopped loving her.

This Inktober is about remembering the loves, the joys and celebrating that which is good in this life.

Turning pain into beauty.

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Inktober Week 2 – Compiled

For the word, Precious, I had to do my newest nephew, Isaac. However, I am not confident with portraits, so I worked him up in graphite pencil first. Then inked it. I plan to keep working on more portraiture, because it is such a challenge with great reward when you get it right.

Flowing is in process. Cruel was next. I did a fast sketch just for fun and have no intention of reworking it. I did not like this prompt until I thought of how cruel it is when birding to discover a wonderful one was behind you the whole time.  In this case, a Sandhill Crane. I shared a throwback to last year to show I really can draw these birds. Cartoon style is still a struggle for me.

I skipped Whale and went straight to Guarded. This was a very technical drawing, so I sketched it first, then inked it.

We ended on clock, which did not inspire me, so I skipped it. I am batting a low average this Inktober. 5 last week and 4 this week. We will see if we can’t beef that up next week.

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Illustration Rework

Two days before my final was due, I had an epiphany and figured out why I was struggling with this painting so much. I spent the weekend re-working and adjusting what I had spent the previous 8 weeks creating. There was a lot of sanding off of what I had put on, then repainting. Fortunately, we were having a 80 degree, summer-like weather and I was able to do this work outdoors.

I can not even describe the amount of rework I did, but thankfully the teacher gave me grace. As long as I promised to complete it, which I will be doing in the next weeks, then he was satisfied with what I had accomplished so far.

It seems that my left side perception must be scewed. I spent my time adjusting that side of the painting, making everything just slightly bigger (well, the guitar a lot bigger) except for Ron’s face, which I needed to make smaller or just move things about (like bring his ear down and nose and mouth up… sounds odd, doesn’t it.) It is like that whole side was just slightly off scale or proportion.

It was quite the operation, and while it is definitely not finished, I was elated once I had created the outlines and positions. I now had a roadmap to the finished piece that I was very satisfied with, and for the first time in my life I believed I might be able to do portraiture- something that has been a very scary impossibility in the past.