I’ve been practicing with ballpoint pens again. I drew this portrait of Jana D in my tiny pocket Moleskine using two Hema 6-colour ballpoint pens and a Paperchase 8-colour ballpoint pen. The pens aren’t great quality- they ‘re quite leaky and they also dry up frequently (hence all the scribbles on the opposite page to get them going again) but they have nice fine nibs which are great for such a tiny Moleskine.
This is Ahmet, drawn in my A4 Moleskine sketchbook with Copic markers and coloured pencils.
I haven’t managed to post many Christmas cards this year but I have managed to draw one Christmas portrait – of the very handsome Ogim, dressed up in his Christmas hat. This is my way of wishing all my followers a very Merry Christmas or happy holidays if you don’t celebrate Christmas.
I played with some of the new Procreate brushes to create this portrait, mostly the Hartz and Aurora brushes. I’ve also turned the portrait into a GIF – my first ever use of the animation feature in Procreate, which was fun. You can see that in action on my Instagram feed.
I drew Ogim in Procreate 5 on my iPad Pro using an Apple Pencil.
P.S. I’ve just discovered that Instagram doesn’t allow GIFs, so you can see the GIF on my Twitter account here .
This is the last portrait in my current watercolour portrait sketchbook. I messed up Mae’s hair and had to add some highlights in Procreate, which gave me a chance to experiment with some of the lovely new digital brushes. And because I have finished a sketchbook I’ve filmed a quick flip through of the whole sketchbook, which you can see on YouTube here if you’re interested.
I drew Mae’s portrait in my Laloran sketchbook with a Micron fineliner, painted it with Zecchi Toscana watercolours, added some Prismacolor coloured pencils and then finished off with some digital editing in Procreate.
Finally, after what feels like weeks of struggle, a portrait I’m happy with. I haven’t quite captured Ania’s likeness here, which reminds me once again that it isn’t a perfect likeness that I’m striving for, but I’ve definitely caught a sense of her gracefulness and her porcelain-like beauty. I made a mess of a number of my lines , especially under her eyes and in her hair, but that doesn’t matter. Overall I’m happy with what I achieved. The hair frames the face well and draw attention into those beautiful eyes and that lovely freckled skin. That’s what I wanted from the portrait.
I drew Ania in my Moleskine sketchbook with Micron fineliners, Copic markers and Prismacolor coloured pencils.
I’m still struggling to find time to draw but I’m hoping that as work winds down for the Christmas holidays later this week that will get easier and I’ll find some good creative time. My daughter’s internship ends on Friday too so I won’t have get up early every day to drop her at the train station – it’s shocking how much that eats at my spoons and leaves me with no energy for anything else by mid-afternoon. But I did manage a sketch of Noel for this week’s Old School Sktchy anatomy challenge.
I drew Noel on my iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil using the Procreate app and the new Peppermint pencil brush in Procreate 5.
I’m still struggling to find my drawing/painting stride after weeks of work and political stress. I was woken up by a migraine at 3.30am this morning so I’m just happy to have completed this portrait of Alexis today.
I painted Alexis in my Laloran sketchbook with Zecchi Toscana watercolours and finished the portrait with coloured pencils.
Still expressing my own emotions through my portraits of others, this time in my portrait of Rocio.
I drew Rocio with Copic markers and coloured pencils in my Moleskine sketchbook.
Blue is my favourite colour. I find it soothing, cooling, calming. I also have a long history of severe depression and blue is, of course, the colour associated with sadness. Today I am feeling blue (post-election blues after yesterday’s UK election) and it felt right to draw a blue portrait. It so happens that Sktchy is having a Blue Portrait Party this week, which gave me even more of a reason to draw a blue portrait. So here is Adah looking much paler and bluer than she does in the inspiration photo!
I drew Adah on my iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil using the Procreate app.
Alexander’s face ended up a little wonky but never mind. I’m snowed under with work at the moment and really struggling to find drawing time, which I’m finding frustrating. I hate not having enough time to settle down and focus properly on drawing but everything I’m doing feels very rushed at the moment. I’m so looking forward to the Christmas break, when I’ll have two whole weeks with no work and plenty of time to draw!
I drew Alexander in my Laloran sketchbook with a Micron pen, painted him with Zecchi Toscana watercolours and finished the portrait with Prismacolor coloured pencils.
drawing faces 