Avonlea

My drawing mojo is so up and down at the moment for a whole host of reasons and most days I’m having to push really hard to get myself to sit down and do any drawing at all and, especially, to stick with it when it’s not going so well. This ballpoint pen drawing of Avonlea is a good example.

I am really fighting with myself when it comes to drawing hair – anyone who knows me well will knows that this is a familiar battleground. I really struggled in the past when I only drew with Copic markers working out how to draw hair. Eventually I found a way that worked well for me with markers but I still haven’t got there with ballpoint pens and watercolour. And so when I’m struggling I just want to give up.

I know, from past experience, that the struggle is usually a good sign. It generally means I’m getting close to a breakthrough, to making some real progress. But this time around it feels like I’ve been stuck in this hole for a long, long time and I’m getting weary of it so I’m hoping that breakthrough comes soon.

Tanza

The prompt for day 3 of Inktober is “vessel”. I’ve drawn Tanza from Museum by Sktchy for this prompt – interpreting both the body and the bath as a vessel.

Nathan

A portrait of Nathan for day 2 of Inktober 2021amd today’s prompt, which is “suit”.

Weston

Today is Day 1 of Inktober 2021 when artists worldwide draw in ink for the entire month. Today’s Inktober prompt is Crystal and I chose to draw Sktchy muse Weston WIlliams with a Bic 4 colour pen.

Vazha

I’m still struggling to draw at my desk due to lower back problems but it’s improving slowly with treatment. I’m managing a little bit of drawing most days so here’s a portrait of Vazha from the Museum by Sktchy app drawn with Bic 4-colour ballpoint pens.

J

I’ve lost my pencil case with my drawing ballpoint pens in it. This is a major disaster. It’s taken me several days to replace my 4 colour Bics (especially the one with turquoise & light green) and I can’t find another golden yellow ballpoint anywhere. Paperchase don’t make the one I had any more. Aargh! I don’t know what happened to my pencil case but very afraid someone (not saying who) accidentally knocked it into a bin bag when emptying the rubbish bin under my desk… So making do while I rebuild my ballpoint pen collection. Moral of the story is to treasure your precious drawing supplies and guard the hard to replace ones jealously.

This is J from the Museum by Sktchy app, drawn with the three Bic 4 colour ballpoint pens I’ve replaced.

Luis

This is Luis from Sktchy drawn with Bic 4 colour ballpoint pens. I made a mess of his hair – a series of poor decisions about how I was going to tackle it… But I like how a lot of the face shading worked out. I’m getting better at representing the different planes of the face with just vertical lines and it worked well with this expression.

Isabel

A little watercolour and pencil sketch of Isabel from Sktchy.

Madgie

Scribbling away with my 4-colour Bics today for this portrait of Madgie from Sktchy.

Polina

This was fun! A very straightforward Copic marker and coloured pencil portrait of Polina from Sktchy in my Midori cotton sketchbook.