More #inktober: Shadows and Hatters

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Inktober's been good to me--been working with pen and ink and throwing in some cast shadows, too.

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Inktober has put on some pressure too, so I sketched this fellow while I was waiting to get an oil-change for my car--a time-waster that kept me from other pressing projects.

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And then there are the (so far) unfinished ones. But the incentive has provided this drawing and others that I will use down the road.

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 I've always been enamored with pen and ink, a love born from looking at nineteenth century illustration engravings as a kid. I still study them, as well as the elegant pen-lines of those great Irishmen, Joseph Clement Coll and Harry Clarke. Just because I study them, doesn't mean I come close to their refinement, but my temperament leans toward rough and quick crosshatching--can't really help that.

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I'm leaving you with a mummy-scribe and a wish for a Happy Halloween--Thanks for the visit!

Inktober Continues!

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Inktober continues, and I've been able to keep up with an ink drawing or at least an ink sketch every day. I'd initially thought that most of the works would be scary or Halloween themed, but Inktober's taken on a life of its own for me. And that's fine--I prefer to be surprised. This peasant-bird, day thirteen, could be seen as sort of witch-y.

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And this raven, from day fourteen is at least mad, if not scary.

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The door detail above is number fifteen, inked and ready to be available in early December. The surface is a piece of old sheet music, glued to wood.

I drew this bird while waiting to get a haircut on October sixteenth. Used my brushpen and some Prismacolor pencils that I carry in the car.

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Number seventeen really did come out of nowhere. That morning the atmosphere seemed charged and moody, and I was having trouble concentrating. Before I headed to the studio, I happened to look out the bedroom window at the neighbor's yard, bisected by a Catalpa Tree-branch. Compelled to draw it, I hope I captured some of the strange ambiance I felt.

And so it goes--Inktober continues.

Thank you for the visit!

Inktober Landscapes

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I very much like landscapes. Someday hope to visit Europe--not just in this lifetime, but also in the next--when I'm hoping time means nothing, and that accessing 18th and 19th century views will be easier (and much more interesting) than strumming a harp on a cloud.

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 I also like buildings, preferably very old ones. These three sketches were done for Jake Parker's Inktober Initiative http://mrjakeparker.com/inktober They are all tiny--approximately 2.5" x 2.5", and were lots of fun to draw. I used ballpoint pen and micron pen, with watercolor and white ink added.

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I like to mess about with black outlines, experimental perspective, and especially, proportion. A fellow recently complimented my works by saying that they "have a timeless quality, as if they came out of the pages of a fairy tale or legend." If that is true, it makes me one happy person.

Thanks for reading!

Inktober: One Through Five

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October 1

Finally decided to commit to Inktober this year. Because I've been using a lot of ink lately, it dovetails nicely with an upcoming show I'm working to fill. The goblin above--and his antagonist-- may end up in a larger, finished work.

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October 2

Dragged a beautiful old chair-back carving out from under a pile of neckties in a shite-store one day. (It really has both sides, but I was too lazy to sketch symmetry that day.) I'm using it for an above-door carving in a small painting.

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October 3

This little guy--a mug with a mug with a mug with a mug--will be finished in watercolor. Was working on that before I took a break to blog.

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October 4

Random--sorry. But that morning I was sick of figures. And all I had with me was a ballpoint pen.  Added the watercolor wash and white prismacolor later.

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October 5

A clockwork, steam-punky sketch. He came out of nowhere, while I was drinking my morning cup of coffee. When a character just develops on the paper without any thought from me, well that is one of the best feelings!

Jake Parker came up with Inktober back in '09. He comes up with many creative things. 

He must be a character. 

Here's the site: http://mrjakeparker.com/inktober

Got a few more days to go before November. Maybe some Halloweenie stuff will be next.

Thanks for reading!