Tuesday 12 August 2014

A Drawing a Day.

Starting this month, I am trying to do a drawing a day. There are many people who have started this sort of challenge. Some have lots of rules. All pen. No pencil. All from life. Only black or blue. For a year. For 75 days......Whatever.

I just plan to do a sketch/study/drawing/painting in a sketchbook every day. If I miss a day, I'll do two the next day. Some will be started in pencil, some in pen, some with a wash. No rules :-) In the meantime, I also plan to 'try on' a couple of different drawing styles by other artists. First up - ball point pen, in the style of Andrea Joseph, famous for very detailed drawings that fill a page with ball-point pen studies. There is a great video of her drawing in ball-point pens here

This double page spread was done over a few days during the first week of August. I added another item each day, or a bunch of buttons.  I am amazed at the sensitivity of drawing with a ball-point pen! Now I need to find a good brown one....apparently Fisher make a sepia...
Right side of the page in progress - Buttons, drawn with brown pens of various sorts and pencils - in a Moleskine Watercolour A4 sketchbook.

Left side of double spread in progress - Red things. Drawn with red and black ballpoint pens, with the centre section in blue pens.
This study of keys was started with a brown Pilot pen then black ball-point added over the top. I started to draw the pens in. It takes a very long time...like the one above, this is rather a work in progress. I love the Pilot for writing with but it is more like a felt tip pen for drawing. The ballpoint is wonderful for drawing but not comfortable to hold for a long time and I have never liked them for writing.


A tiny study of a piece of Pumpkin Crunch in ballpoint with some coloured pencil added. Drawn in Bic cristal black pen.

Cufflinks, made from bits of Swiss watches - really testing the limits of my medium Bic cristal pen. I had to add watercolour using a fine brush to get the finest details.

10 comments:

  1. Jane, your drawings are so helpful for pen choice considerations, especially the pros and cons of each. Amazing what details and subtleties you can get with the BIC! I love the way your button sketch has a dividing line, past which the colors change from one to another. I need so much more practice with cross hatching. I'm a newcomer to it since SBS...since Tommy and Andrea!

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    1. Thank you Elsbeth. I'll make sure I continue to add details on materials. I majored in etching at college, which is all about cross hatching! It's rather nice to get back to some fine detail drawings. In the button sketch I wanted to try as many of Andrea's techniques as I could, and she does a lot with blue pens so I thought it needed a blue section to try them out. I am also amazed by the Bic. I avoid writing with ball-points so actually had to buy one to try it out. Now I am adding it to my sketch kit!

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  2. Jane, I enjoyed seeing more of your ballpoint sketches. I love the word "red" that seems to stand up on the page. Like Elsbeth, I never cross-hatched until Tommy's class. I didn't like doing it then, with a Micron, but I enjoyed Andrea's assignment with the ballpoint. I used a PaperMate Inkjoy 100 1.0M. I found it more comfortable to hold than the regular Bic. If you ever give the Inkjoy a try, I'd love to hear your take on it.

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    1. Hi Susan. I want to explore more of that 3D calligraphy. Have to choose some easy words :-)
      I generally use a very fine fountain pen for sketching and cross hatching rather than a rollerball like Tommy - it's a Sailor with an EF nib, or a pilot with a flex nib. Gorgeous and fine. I'll see if we have any PaperMates in the house. I really don't want to buy more pens but am intrigued at how nice they are to draw with. :-)

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    2. Yeah, I don't need any more pens either, but the PaperMates came in a pack of 8 neon colors for less than $2.00. I thought the colors might be fun. I should say, I don't need any more cheap pens. I would like to move into some dip pens or fountain pens; I haven't tried them yet.

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    3. Dip pens are lovely. I use a 'post office nib' which you can see pictured in my current sketching tools at the bottom of this blog. You can use pretty much any ink or even mix a watercolour wash and brush it onto the inside of the pen nib. I'll do a post about pens eventually. I love the Lamy EF nibs and have really enjoyed the Naminki/Pilot flex nibs.

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    4. I saw an example of using watercolor in a calligraphy pen here:

      http://www.lesliefehling.com/2014/05/bleeding-heart-sketch-with-watercolor.html

      I thought it was so pretty. Definitely going to try that!

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    5. Lovely Susan. Yes that's exactly what I do. Gives great detail and perfect colour matching :-)

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  3. Good luck Jane with the Drawing a Day - I will watch your progress with interest. I have good intentions with a daily sketch (and SBS helps) but I find that I take for ever to do just one sketch and those hours pass by ...... Love your drawings above.

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    1. :-) Yes intentions are all very well. Notice I haven't said how long I plan to keep it up? Some will be very small like the ones above (which are about life sized). Some may even be adding a few buttons to the button page. I just think that if I set out to do it without any restrictions, and with the idea of trying out a whole range of different techniques, it will be fun. I will continue to post them up in groups rather than daily though.

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