Author: hareinthemoon

I love drawing things. These days I am rarely found without a pen, pencil or stylus in my hands. In my working life I spend a lot of time in meetings and classrooms, reading papers and strategies, so my home life provides a creative antidote to all that! I also have chronic pain, lots of it. I have scoliosis, fibromyalgia and CRPS, so my life is a balancing act, trying to balance work, which make me feel part of the real world, with pain, which is ever present, and art, which soothes my pain.

Lilo

This portrait of Sktchy muse Lilo was a real challenge. I finished it in coloured pencil and then decided I wasn’t at all happy with it, especially with the angle of the head. So I imported it into Procreate, chopped off the head, seated it at a better angle, works on the whole portrait some more in Procreate and I’m much happier with how it now looks. This is one of the many benefits of using both a sketchbook and an iPad for drawing – it’s possible to meld the two drawing methods together for a better result.

Bethany

Such a lovely face but some difficult light and shadows to capture here. Didn’t manage it with watercolour alone so I worked over the top with coloured pencil to add more definition. I was using my usual Zecchi watercolours in a Laloran sketchbook and Polychromos coloured pencils.

Coffee truck

I know, it’s not a face. It’s a coffee truck for a Sketchbook Skool “Draw This!” photo challenge. I’ve always loved drawing vehicles and this truck is so gorgeous – it’s an irresistible drawing challenge for me. I drew it on my iPad Pro in Procreate with an Apple Pencil using a whole range of brushes but mostly my favourite Blackwing Pencil brush and a watercolour brush.

Jennie

There are some Sktchy muses who are almost iconic- every Sktchy artist has to draw them at least once! Jennie is one of those muses (and she’s also an artist). She’s known for her huge range of inspiration photos and her willingness to experiment with poses, makeup and cosplay. This portrait is drawn from an awesome series of photos featuring “Good Omens” cosplay.

I drew this in an A4 Moleskine Sketchbook with Copic multiliners and markers.

Giada

I have an ongoing problem with placement of portraits on the page. Giada’s portrait today is a case in point. I always start drawing with the eyes. I thought I had placed the eye far enough across the page to fit in the whole head but by the time I got to drawing the hair (pretty much the end of the portrait) it was clear I was wrong. And I’m much too lazy to start again at that point.

It also left me with the problem of what to do with all the space on the left hand side of the page. I did think initially of making a pattern out of the letters painted on Giada’s cheek, but I don’t know what they say and I didn’t want to be rude or disrespectful by writing them incorrectly or changing their meaning by writing them into a pattern. So I dug out my huge collection of washi tape and Japanese stickers and found a sticker that matched the mood of the portrait and used that to fill the space.

I painted this in a Laloran sketchbook with Zecchi watercolours and finished it with coloured pencils.

Lilian

I have a slight obsession with images that make me think of space. Lilian’s Sktchy photo that inspired this image was possibly derived from a motorbike helmet, gloves and jacket (and some ivy :)) but it immediately made me think of space and astronauts. As I was drawing it I was most definitely drawing an astronaut, or maybe now I think about it I was drawing Jules, hero of Hugh Howey’s Wool trilogy and probably my favourite science fiction character.

I drew this on an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil using the Procreate app.

Layla

Still finding my way with coloured pencils. I’m only really comfortable hatching and I’m still trying to figure out how to represent form, colour and light and shade with pencils using hatching. It’s a slow process and I’m finding that I’m exaggerating form much more than I do with other mediums – I’m not quite sure why its especially obvious in this drawing, where I’ve obviously elongated Layla’s torso quite a lot. I was aware that I was doing it but it seemed quite a natural thing to do with my pencils.

I drew this with Polychromos coloured pencils in a Hannehmühle Nostalgie sketchbook,

New Paint

I am so in love with Zecchi watercolours. I found the Zecchi shop on a trip to Florence a couple of years ago, bought some of their handmade watercolours and haven’t wanted to use anything else since. So once a year or so I place a new order and stock up. The paints aren’t expensive- €4 or €5 a half-pan – but the shipping is (€15.50 to the UK from Italy by Fedex) which is why I only order occasionally and I make sure I stock up well.  

But the joy of opening this little box is priceless. Especially this time because I ran out of Ultramarine Blue Light three weeks ago and Zecchi were closed for August! 

And yes, this time I splurged and bought entirely unnecessary half pans of silver and gold to play with.

If you want to half a look around the wonders of the Zecchi website you will find them here – http://www.zecchi.it/ Click on the 🇬🇧 at the top to translate the site into English.

Tara

I used Zecchi watercolours with some coloured pencils over the top for my portrait of Sktchy muse Tara.

Riley

Back in my Copic comfort zone I enjoyed drawing Sktchy muse Riley so much. For what I think is the first time ever I also remembered to take photos of my work in progress so I’ve added a collage photo of those below, so you can see how I build up my layers of colour as I’m drawing. I worked with Copic multiliners and markers in an A4 Moleskine sketchbook.