Comics as Performance Art: The Long Weekend in Alice Springs

This summer I'm working to share resources on the internet about comics, comics theory, and comics creation.  There is so much out there from which I can learn!

Today I'm sharing perhaps one of my favorite creations, the video version of The Long Weekend in Alice Springs, by Joshua Santospirito and Craig San Roque, based on the graphic novel of the same name, which was itself based on an academic paper.

This has inspired me to think, off and on, for years about doing a project like this about Holland, Michigan. 

My Favorite Tutorials about Sketchbook Making

Some friends asked me recently to post links to the sources I've found most helpful when it comes to making my own sketchbooks.

I'm happy I found--by accident!--the tutorials made by Sea Lemon which are available on YouTube.

Here are the three I've used over and over.

Coptic binding a text block:

Creating your own bookcloth:

Casebinding:

Once you get in the hang of making your own sketchbooks, it doesn't take too much time.  And the results are worth it!  You get to pick the paper, the size, the orientation and the cover of the book which will hold your art!

Revisiting The Peace Pole, Not Quite a Year Later

How well does a peace pole made with PVC pipe and basic acrylic paints hold up in the weather?

I've had a few readers as me that recently, so I thought I'd give a report on the peace pole I made last year.  You can read all about that process in my earlier post here.

Here are two photos which I hope show you how well the colors have resisted fading.

You can see some of the late summer dirt from the surrounding trees on the pole:  I did not wipe them down or clean them up at all to take these photos.  I thought you'd probably just like to see them as they are.

I thoroughly inspected the pole and found only one place where the paint was compromised--you can see that in the second photo above.  The paint has chipped in a few places from the cap.

I would guess the chips have resulted from being hit with stuff from trees--leaves, branches, and now acorns have begun to fall . I also know that I have seen birds sitting up there, so could be their claws did some of the damage.  It is also possible that when I sanded the PVC to prepare it to better hold the primer, I missed a spot.

The good news is that the cap is removable.  I can easily repaint it, or toss it entirely and run to the hardware store and buy a new one.

None of the vertical surfaces have any scratches or chips that I could find.

Overall, I think this has help up pretty well!

One important reminder regarding fading:  my peace pole is in the woods, and so stands in the shade about 90% of the time.   Even so, I invested in a can of UV protection spray, which I put on after the protective acrylic varnish.  If this stood out in the sun, I would be very sure to respray with UV protection every year.

So, so far so good.  I think the key to good adhesion of the paint to the PVC pole is careful sanding, and then wiping down the sanded surface to expose a clean, slightly rough surface.  Then primer.  Then paint.  Then sealer/protectant.

I plan to leave it out all winter (as I did last winter).  It adds a fun bit of color to an otherwise white (I hope!) landscape.

Thanks to those of you who asked and inspired this update!

Power Washer Sidewalk Art

If ever I wanted to point to evidence that the last eighteen months of concentrated sketchbook scribbling has changed my life, I would point to last week's summertime chore:  power washing the porch and sidewalks around my house.

There I stood, mindlessly shifting the power washing wand back and forth in even stripes to wash away the built up grime that comes with living in the woods when it hit me!  I didn't have to simply erase the grunge on my sidewalks.  I could draw in it!

This resembled an exercise I did once somewhere that starts by filling a blank piece of paper with an even layer of pencil or charcoal, then using your eraser to draw.

So first, just to see if I could control the 1700 psi power washer, I tried to draw a big owl.  And it worked!!!

I liked it enough to snag this photograph, but then, I washed it away and moved on to the next section of sidewalk.

There I tried to work out more of a scene, but making the subjects smaller made it much harder to control the power washer wand!  

I confess I've left this one on my sidewalk so that I can show it to a friend or two before I finish washing it away.

Would you ever have thought about using a power washer to make art?  I know it never would have occurred to me if I hadn't spend the last year and a half drawing all the time, in many situations, using tons of tools to make marks on different surfaces.

So this time I used a power washer as a "pen" and a concrete sidewalk as my "paper!"

Best of all, a kind of boring yard work task became an opportunity to make art, to renew a spirit of fun and share it with others, and to decorate my house (even if only for a few moments).

I wonder what other chores can become art-making opportunities?  (I probably shouldn't admit that I could draw pictures in the dust on my furniture, but it's true.... who has time to dust in the summer anyhow?)

Happy Scribbling to you!

Stylized Sketching Helps Me Capture My Cats! Finally!

For another adventure in stylized drawings and overcoming my creative blocks in sketchbook scribbling, I decided to have a new go at drawing my cats.

For me, if dogs are hard, cats are impossible.  I hardly even try, they are so impossible.

Does anyone else out there have a problem drawing cats?

Anyhow, as I've shared in the last few posts, I've enjoyed drawing highly stylized scribbles of my dogs because by focusing on the style instead of on any sort of likeness, I am actually succeeding at catching some of the nature of the beasts!

First up with my cats, I continued with the high contrast drawings.  After drawing my earlier dog portraits with a fine line marker (and spending forever filling in the big blocks of black) I used a plain old medium point Sharpie and some marker paper for this portrait of my cat, Hattie.

Scribbling success for me, right here.  This took me only a few minutes to draw (always important, because on many days, I only have a few minutes to stop and really pay attention to the world around me).  And, hey, it looks like an actual cat!  Huzzah!!

Most importantly, thought, this scribble captures a bit of Hattie's indomitable personality.  Hattie is a large presence, both physically and psychologically.  Frankly, she is queen of the house.  And as such, she believes that all boxes should accommodate her.  I see that in this sketch and it makes me smile.

My other cat, Tim, is another story entirely.   For one thing, he is striped and orange and thus, wouldn't fare well in a highly graphic black and white drawing.

For another thing, he is the household sprite.  Nothing ever bothers him.  All is always well.  He derives pleasure and entertainment from everyone and everything.  Frankly, everyone in the world needs "more Tim."  

I wanted to do a stylized drawing, but it needed to be lighter in spirit and tone than the one of Hattie.

So I dug out some of my old cartooning books to get myself in a different sort of graphic frame of mind, and then drew this in under five minutes.

It took me a bit longer to watercolor it, because every layer had to dry before I could put on another. 

Now, does this look like Tim?  Not realistically, of course, no.  But does it capture a big part of Tim's personality?  Yes!!  Especially because he really does sit on or near that cabinet with an ever-hopeful look on his face almost every single evening.  Ten years from now, I know that this silly cartoon scribble of my cat will bring back everything about him that I adore now.

Well, that's probably enough of stylized drawings of my pets for a while!  Still, I hope you have found some useful ideas here for drawing your own pets, or for smashing through your creative sketching blocks. 

High Contrast Drawings of Dogs Really Work!

Last week I talked about how using highly stylized techniques can help you get unstuck when you find yourself unable to sketch something to your liking.

One of the techniques I had just begun to try involved the use of big blocks of black in my scribbles.  The sketches could remain black and white or have a little color added to them or whatever.

What interested me?  Adding heavier contrast and a more graphic feel to the work.

I shared a very quick scribble I did of my Dutch Shepherd, Nik, in this style.  I had tried this with him because I often find myself frustrated in my attempts to draw my dogs.  This was the result.

I took the time to try this technique out on the last German Shepherd I owned, Desmond, who died only a few weeks ago.

The result really intrigued me.

By eliminating the need to capture an accurate face, this style of scribbling frees me to capture bigger shapes and a sense of weight and movement.

The unanticipated result:  these very quick drawings (under 10 minutes each, and most of that because I was filling in with a fine tipped marker) capture these dogs better than anything else I hvae tried.

So much of dogs, of course, is their body language.  You live with a dog for years and you know their patterns, know what the slightest tilt of ears or curl of tail means.

As a human, I think I focus too much on faces when I try to capture a likeness, and I'm not sure I need to do that with a dog.  The body postures convey a lot--I recognize these animals in these scribbles and that recognition brings a lot of powerful memories with it.

This feels like a breakthrough of some sort--not so much for my scribbly drawings, but for creativity and achieving our creative goals for meaning.

Keep at it.  Try lots of different things.  Don't expect the expected to deliver what you expect--and be ready for the unexpected to really deliver the goods.

Get Unstuck with These Two Stylized Sketching Techniques

Getting stuck trying to sketch a particular subject?  Give some stylized drawing methods a try!

Stylized drawing--scribbles that aren't intended to look like the subject but to capture an essence of the subject--helped me make a lot of progress in one of my sketching frustrations.

Here is my story, plus two methods that you may want to try.

I've mentioned before that I really want to learn how to better scribble likenesses of my dogs.

That is what got me started trying to learn to draw in the first place--the desire to capture more of my dogs than what a photography could.

I struggle with it.  I delight in all the other things I scribble away at, including other people's dogs and cats, but I am not quite as free or delighted when I draw my own dogs.  Lots of reasons for that, I suppose.

Anyhow, recently, thanks to the "Stretching" class I am taking at Sketchbook Skool, I have made two drawings of my Dutch Shepherd Nik which I not only like quite a bit, but which capture some of what makes my relationship with this particular dog so special to me.

First, thanks to a lesson by Lapin (check out his work!), I did a "Big Head" style drawing of Nik.  The idea here is that you draw so that the face and head of your subject commands the biggest portion of the page, and then you shrink the body to fit.  Proportion is not a goal.

Lapin recommends drawing your subjects while they look directly at you, starting with the eyes.  Of course, Nik wasn't going to hold still that long, but I was able to take a photo of him looking directly at me.  Then, he fell asleep right next to me while I drew.

Later, inspired by the fascinating use of big blocks of black in the work of Miguel Herranz (his stuff here), I tried a completely different approach using only black and white.

Each of these drawings took less than 10 minutes--in the first case drying layers of watercolor took up most of the time and in the second sketch I spent nearly the entire time filling in the black (I should have used a thicker pen!).

So, doing the exercise has me asking some questions that I think are important for us when we use our creativity.  I know how important it is to be gentle with ourselves and not too critical, and for the most part, I enjoy the heck out of my scribblings.  But why am I so hard on myself when it comes to drawing my own dogs?  And why did these stylized drawings delight me?  What can I learn from these scribbles that will take me to the next steps of both drawing and encouraging myself?  What can I learn from my own experience that will help me help others in the future?

I do think that one reason I like these two drawings of Nik is that they are so stylized.  I had no intention of creating even a reasonable likeness.  And voila!!  I captured the essence of the dog.  His highly connected look (which also means he'd like a treat now, please) and his ever-eager stance with the Frisbee as he entices me to play.

In fact, in both cases (and most of the time, whenever Nik is not sleeping) he is enticing me to something!  He is an enticing dog!

Here's a photo for those of you who wonder what a Dutch Shepherd looks like.

So, remember to be kind to yourselves--and when you are having trouble getting the results you want, give stylized drawing a try!

No Need to Beware of the Blob! Blob Drawing is Pretty Fun.

More like a treasure hunt than a psychological assessment, discovering images within random blobs or scribbles feels more delightful than many kinds of sketching.  It provides a good break if you find yourself frustrated with your work.  And when the drawing blahs strike (and they strike all of us at one time or another) and you think there is just no point to continuing to scribble in your sketchbook, try blobbing and then discovering what's there.

Since you have already made the mess, there's nothing to fuss about.  It's just pure fun.

I spilled some ink the other day and in wiping it up, I made quite a mess on a sketchbook page.  But after it dried, I went searching for the images, and here is what I found.

These three folks don't go together, which I figure is just fine when I look for pictures in blobs.  They don't need to. Sometimes my blob findings aren't even all oriented to the same up and down!

Jonathan Twingley (whose super interesting stuff you can check out here) recommends splotting some ink on a journal page, then closing the book.  You get mirrored blobs on two facing pages.  You can try to make related scribbles.  Or not.  Up to you!  It's all just a creative game.  Here is an example of two facing journal pages I recently did this way.

For me this process feels like magic.  I can't explain it very well, other than to say, I stare at the blob and wait for whatever is there to rise up from the depths.  It's kind of like something floating to the top of water.  

Almost every time, I think of the scene from the film Excalibur, where the Lady of the Lake rises from the depths to give young Arthur the sword of power, Excalibur.  

Not that my blob scribbles are Excalibur--but it does feel pretty cool when something you were not planning just shows up and a picture appears!

Another artist who does fine and fun work with blobs is Carla Sonheim whose work you can check out here.  She does a lot with what she calls "the art of silliness."

Hope this gives you some fun when you're feeling the drawing blahs.  Or when you just need a warm-up. 

Give it a try with some kids some time too!

More Practice Scribbling People Using Blind Contours and the Television

I always like to change things up in my scribbling, so after drawing a bunch of different single-line blind contour portraits of TV personalities (I shared my work with Lester Holt of NBC news in my last post), I decided to try a few modified blind contours on a game show host.  These exercises were just as fun for helping me pay new attention to something I had seen many times and for improving my drawing.

Here is one example I did, with apologies to Alex Trebek.  I didn't label it clearly, but the drawings are blind, five looks, and ten looks (with hair and shadows added later).

I had great fun doing it and feel like I want to try him again.  Even in the final scribble where I looked ten times, I couldn't get his chin right.  Ah, well.  There is always another drawing to come!

(Plus, I just realized I spelled the man's name wrong in my sketchbook--apologies!  But I don't proofread what I write there...)

Here are the steps I used for practicing drawing portraits using modified blind contour drawings and TV personalities!

Practice Drawing Portraits with Modified Blind Contours

1.  Find someone to sit for you.  Or choose a TV show (like many game shows or talk shows) where the people sit fairly still.  If you have a DVR and want to freeze the screen, I would not consider that cheating!

2.  Grab some paper and smooth quick flowing pen.  It's important to be able to move your pen as quickly as you wish.

3.  Decide what part of the person's face you are going to start on.

4.  Look at the paper and select where you are going to start the drawing.  Put the pen down.  For the first sketch, do not pick it up again!

5.  Look up at your model.  Move your eyes slowly around the person's features.  As you move your eyes, move your pen.  No matter what the speed, keep your eyes and your pen together.  Remember not to pick up the pen if you can help it!

6.  Finish and look at your drawing!  Appreciate for just a few seconds what is lively and keen about it. 

7.  Pick a new point on the person's face to start your next drawing and put your pen down on the paper.  Draw the person pretty much the same way as you did before, only this time, allow yourself to look a few times.  Maybe twice.  Or three times.  Or five.  It's up to you.

8.  Have a look at this drawing!  Appreciate it.  

9.  Pick a new point on the person's face and put your pen down on the paper.  This time, draw the person, but allow yourself to look a few more times.  Maybe twice as much as you looked during the last drawing.

10.  Do as many as you wish!  Try to do at least three, so you can see the differences in your drawings. 

When you are done, sit back and have a look!

What do you notice about the similarities and differences among your drawings?

What do you appreciate about your subject that you hadn't noticed before (no matter how many times you've looked at him or her)?  Any surprises there for you?

What did this drawing exercise help you learn, not only about drawing, but about seeing and appreciating?

How to Practice Scribbling People Using Multiple Single-Line Blind Contours and the Television

Recently, I put together a few different techniques to help myself practice drawing portraits, even though I have a nasty cold and no one wanted to be near me, much less sit for me while I drew them.  So I used multiple single-line blind contour drawings and the television to help be get some scribbling practice into my sketchbook.

I have done a few more blind contour scribbles in the last few days to help myself warm up before I do something more "serious" in my sketchbook.

The funny thing is, often I kind of like the weirdness of the blind contours better than the slower sketch!

On the other hand, the blind contours always warm up my hand-eye coordination and help me do a better scribble of anything, no matter what I'm working on.

The other evening I decided to give it a try using two television personalities.  First, Lester Holt, the anchor on the NBC Nightly News.  These are single line contours for the most part.  In other words, I drew them with my eyes glued to the TV, and without lifting my pen.

You can see how some sections of the face stay together pretty well, but once your hand loses its spot, well that's when things go wonky!  On the left scribble above, I really like how the glasses moth and chin stick together, but the nose is all on its own there in the middle.  And the eyes--how did they wind up so far to the left?   You really learn a lot about how your brain receives information from your eyes and transfers it to your hands by doing these.  Look at the upper right:  where is the man's chin?  I don't know. 

To me, perhaps the most amazing thing about this exercise is how you can look at the same person or picture and do several blind contours one right after another only to have them turn out so completely differently!  I think this happens in part because I challenge myself to start from a different place each time.

Here is a scribble I did of Mr. Holt after the blind contours, looking at the page as much as I liked:

I'm rather pleased with this as it sort of looks like him!

So, to summarize, here are the steps I used for practicing drawing people using multiple single-line blind contours and--when no one else is around to sit for you--TV personalities!

Practice Drawing People with Multiple Single-Line Blind Contours

1.  Find someone to sit for you.  Or choose a TV show (like the news) where the people sit fairly still.  If you have a DVR and want to freeze the screen, I would not consider that cheating!

2.  Grab some paper and smooth quick flowing pen.  It's important to be able to move your pen as quickly as you wish.

3.  Decide what part of the person's face you are going to start on.

4.  Look at the paper and select where you are going to start the drawing.  Put the pen down.  Do not pick it up again!

5.  Look up at your model.  Move your eyes slowly around the person's features.  As you move your eyes, move your pen.  No matter what the speed, keep your eyes and your pen together.  Remember not to pick up the pen if you can help it!

6.  Finish and look at your drawing!  Appreciate for just a few seconds what is lively and keen about it. 

7.  Pick a new point on the person's face to start your next drawing... and repeat.  

Try to do three or more of these single-line blind contour drawings in a row of the same subject.

When you are done, sit back and have a look!

What do you notice about the similarities and differences among your drawings?

What have you noticed and appreciated about your subject that you hadn't noticed before (no matter how many times you've looked at him or her)?  I am always humbled when I draw something I've looked at many times before and feel like I have really seen it for the first time.  Even, it seems, a TV news anchor...

Learning by Copying

Some of my most spirited and energetic scribbles happen when I copy someone else's work.  Not to pass off as my own, of course.  Instead, I copy to absorb some of what I admire--the technique, the impact, of a particular author.

I've done this for years in my scribblings with words.  I keep what I call Mentor Novels on my desk when I write my own fiction.  When I'm writing and hit a slump, I can open to any page of my well-read mentor novel and simply start typing.  Yep, I actually just type right into my own document the words straight out of that novel.

I know those words aren't mine and of course I cut them from my document only minutes later.  But the act of typing them--not just reading them--never fails to job my own words and energy loose from whatever has it stuck.  Usually within a couple of minutes, my own unique scribblings start to flow again.  My authentic voice is actually more free to emerge when given permission and inspiration by someone else's creative voice.

I have found this technique so useful, I've taught it to my writing students for years.

And I have used it in my visual art as well, copying drawings and paintings from too many artists to count.  What can I learn?  What can I absorb?  What will help me create my own art?

Recently, thanks to a prompt from Sketchbook Skool, I sat down to "copy" the oil transfer monoprint "Angelus Novus" by Paul Klee.  You can read more about it here.

Source:  Wikipedia

Of course, the goal (at least for me) is not to produce an exact copy.  Instead it is to learn a little bit about how Klee did what he did so that I can use some of that technique in the future in my own drawing.

Here is mine, done in watercolor and ink.

What I learned:

• variety in background wash adds interest to the drawing.
• spatter is cool.
• what feels almost monochromatic isn't--and that little splash of read in the middle matters.
• geometrics (which I didn't do very well) produce really interesting effects and I should plaly with them more.
• the eyes looking off the page add intrigue.

As I drew, this reminded me of the watercolor and ink work of Felix Scheinberger, whose work (and book on watercolor sketching) I love.

I want to try copying this piece again, just to see what happens a second time!

DIY Tips: Make Your Own Bookcloth

Ever wished you could make your own bookcloth out of some of the many wonderful cotton fabrics out there?  Then you could use that cloth to cover your own art journals and sketchbooks.

Perhaps even more fun than making books for yourself is making them as gifts for friends and family.  If you know how to make your own bookcloth, you can pick out cotton fabric that really matches the personality of your loved one.  That makes the handmade gift even more meaningful.  You crafted it and you crafted it with them and their passions specifically in mind!

Here is a book I recently finished for a friend for Christmas.

The paper measures 8.5 x 5.5 inches and it is bound in horizontal or landscape format.  This one contains Aquabee Super Deluxe paper, which is one of my favorites for multi-media work.

The super cool part is the bookcloth:  this is a batik cotton fabric that she brought back from a trip last year.  I asked for a scrap of it (about 11 x 21 inches) and used it to cover the book.

But I could only do this because I knew how to make my own bookcloth.

Did you know that you can't simply glue cloth to book boards--or else the glue seeps through the cloth and makes it look very yucky?

That's why you generally need bookcloth--the cloth has a paper or impermeable backing that allows you to glue it to book board without any seepage!

So how do you get that sort of on a fabric you just love?

All you need to make the bookcloth is some lightweight cotton fabric, a product called Heat 'n' Bond Ultrahold, an iron and some scissors.

I didn't figure this out on my own. I learned by using the wonderful tutorial YouTube videos by SeaLemon.  She provides clear instructions for everything she presents.  I recommend them highly.

However!  What I have figured out on my own are a few tips to streamline the process of bookcloth making.

1.  A "fat quarter" piece of fabric (a cotton piece pre-cut to 18 x 22 inches and sold in most craft and fabric stores in dozens and dozens of colors and patterns because people use them for quilt-making), will cover two books based on 5.5 x 8.5 paper.  You just have to bind the books with the same horizontal or vertical orientation.

2.  Most people like the 8.5 x 5.5 size book.

3.  Though you can buy Heat 'n' Bond in pre-packaged amounts, I buy it at the local fabric store, where they sell it on a bolt.  That way I can get an amount to match the number of fat quarters I'm planning to work with.  Nothing is more frustrating than trying to make bookcloth and running out of one of the two most important components.

4. Cut the Heat 'n' Bond to match the fat quarter.

5.  Iron the fabric so it is nice and smooth.

6.  Carefully align the Heat 'n' Bond and start ironing it on.  Important tip:  go very slowly and pay particular attention to the edges.  The instructions say each portion needs 2 second of heat to bond well, but I find it needs closer to 5 seconds, especially on the corners and edges.  You'll know it is bonding because you will start to see the pattern of the fabric showing through the paper backing of the Heat 'n' Bond.

7.  When it is all bonded, but before you turn off your iron, peel back a bit of each corner to be sure the bond is strong and the paper peels easily.  When you are all done, you'll have a new piece of fabric with a nice, strong backing, ready to be glued to your bookboard and made into a book!

8.  Cut the newly-backed fat quarter in half to create the cloth you'll need for two books.  Here I cut it for two horizontal books.

9.  When the time comes to actually cover your books, remember to peel the paper portion of the Heat 'n' Bond off!  Then you'll apply your PVA glue and the cloth will stick beautifully to your cover board without the glue bleeding through!

I will often do this to several pieces of fabric all at once, so the bookcloth is made and ready to go whenever I have time to put a blank book together.

Check out the SeaLemon videos, add on the tips I have here, and you'll be making your own bookcloth in no time.  Then, when you use it to cover blank books, art journals and sketchbooks just waiting to be filled, you'll have meaningful gifts to give to friends, family, and even to yourself!

Sketch a Complicated Thing Without Completely Freaking Out

One of the greatest lessons I've learned in Sketchbook Skool (everyone check it out!) involves how to approach scribbling something really complicated without a panic attack.  Without quitting.  Or without even walking away from the potential drawing before even starting because it will be too dang hard.  Life is complicated.  The stuff in and around us in life is complicated.  Scribbling from life--whether in words or pictures or both--makes things a lot less scary, at least for me.  And when I'm not busy being afraid of something, well, then, I have a lot more space in my heart and mind to let interesting things in!  

This month I'm starting the New Year off right by participating in SBS Bootkamp--a kourse of exercises designed for SBSers who have completed the three klasses.  It serves as sort of a review and challenge.

The latest challenge I tackled came from SBS co-founder Danny Gregory (everyone read his books!):  draw a crumpled piece of money.  Money is complicated--in more ways than one, but here I mean in terms of drawing.

You can see there is a lot of stuff to draw! In fact, I never realized exactly how many tiny marks there are on a dollar bill before I looked at them and tried to figure out how in the world I was going to draw them!

If you have read Danny Gregory's wonderful book The Creative License, you know that he advises drawing the outside shape of an object first.  He advised that again the instructions for this exercise.

This reminds me a bit of the advice to "start with the end in mind."  There's something about getting the overall gestalt of a thing, or a task, in mind that helps me begin to see how one might get from beginning to end.  It makes it less overwhelming to consider.

Here is my initial outline scribble.  Nothing too beautiful!

You can see that I included the major shadows in this outline.  This helped me "see" the shape of the bill as it curled up off of the surface.

The next step is to begin to mark off the large sections within the complicated object.  Actually, you can see that I started that in the above drawing, having delineated the major fold in the middle.  I needed that line to draw the entire outline in proportion.  But then I went on to find what, to my mind, seemed like the major sections.

Scribbling the quick edges of George's face in there helped me clarify that messy center section--to begin to see what I was going to include and what I was going to leave out.  No way could I catch all the details!.  Then, I started with the numbers in the corners and began to slowly work inward.  Not sure why.  It just made sense to me as I tried to keep things in proportion.  I wanted to be sure everything would fit!

Finally I finished all the line work.  I had decided that I was not going to do any tonal work--shading--with the pen because the bill itself contained so many fine marks.  Instead I would let watercolor wash do that for me.  By the way, I did this ink work with my new $5 Jinghao fountain pen which I have fitted with a $15 Goulet Pens fine nib.  Wonderful drawing pen for $20.  And I used Platinum Carbon ink because I know it to be utterly waterproof.

Here is the final drawing.  It took me about 45 minutes from crumpling of the bill through washing my brush.  That included several minutes at the start of looking at the thing and dealing with some mild "I can't possibly do this" panic.  

But here's the thing about Sketchbook Skool Bootkamp (and taking classes in general, at least for me):  you can't question what the drill sergeant or teacher tells you to do.  I want to get better at this scribbling thing.  So I decided I just had to do it.

Besides, really, so what if I completely screw it up?  I just get to do it again!

Sharing My Favorite Tutorials for Painting Figures

Today I thought I'd share two of the best online videos I've found to help me paint figures into my journal and sketchbook work.  Both of these emphasize suggesting figures and not getting too anxious about faces and other details.

First, is an episode of Drawing with Robert Burridge--How to Draw Figures in Landscape.  Carrots!  Who'd a thunk it?  This is one of the many art tutorials available on Cheap Joe's Artists Instructional Videos.

The second one I have found helpful is How to Paint People Using Watercolors featuring artist Chuck McLachlan.  This one makes me laugh out loud as the artist gives each figure a name and a bit of backstory (including bad breath or a bag purchased on sale).  I also appreciate the emphasis on practice in this video--no worries about being perfect the first or even hundredth time.  "As long as you practice... they only take you a few minutes...and you'll get to where you're pretty good at it!"  I appreciate that sort of encouragement. This is one of the many tutorials from Jerry's Artarama.

Hope you find these as delightful and inspiring as I have.

Bonus Writing Prompt
Sketch some blob people with no expectations--just let the figures emerge.  Then, using the picture as the prompt, write a bit about who they are, their strengths and flaws, their relationships and triumphs, their fears (listen to Chuck McLachlan do it as he draws).  Can you develop characters for a piece of fiction this way?

DIY Peace Pole for Garden Art

I love peace poles outside of homes and churches and other buildings.  But between not being able to afford a fancy carved one and always wanting mine to be a little brighter and to say something a little different, I've never purchased one.   Then I decided I could surely make one myself and stick it in my own garden!

Here are two photos of my finished peace pole, each showing two sides of the pole.

                      

Honestly, the process was not too hard.

1.  Decide what words you want on it.

I have known for years what words I wanted on it.  I wanted words and phrases from a Gaelic Blessing, which I had sung for many years when I performed in choir at college.  I love the phrase "Deep Peace" which seems so perfect for a peace pole.  And I love the way that blessing winds through different parts of nature--wind and waves and earth and moon and stars--looking at all the different ways natural creation provides us with peace.

This is also a great opportunity to write your own words for the pole.  Just because these are traditionally called "peace poles" doesn't mean the words have to be about peace.  What about a welcome?  A list of favorite words or wishes?  What about no words at all?

2.  Work out a basic color scheme.  

I knew I wanted a bright color scheme based in blue because I lived in a wooded area, with lots of green and brown.  I wanted something that would look natural, compliment the colors in the scenery, but still stand out a bit.  Then I waited for a sale and stocked up on Liquitex Basics Acrylics and did color mixing tests on sturdy paper until I had what I was looking for.

3.  Buy the pole (also the cap and post).

I had already decided I wanted to work with PVC, not wood or metal, because it is inexpensive, sturdy, clean to work with and lightweight.  At first I thought I would be stuck having to create more of a Peace Pipe, because I only knew of PVC coming in tubes for plumbing and what not.  But my local fencing supply company had an outdoor display of PVC fence for yards, made to look like wood and stabilized by PVC poles that mimic wooden 4x4s.  Hooray!  I went to Lowe's (the local hardware store) and got a 4 x 4 inch PVC pole, 6 feet high, plus a cap to close the top for less than $20.  I also knew that I wanted to be able to move mine, so I bought a thin metal fence post, 5 feet high,  that I could easily pound into the ground, and pull up and move it I wanted to.  More on how I used that later.

4.  Work out the design. 

You can, of course, do anything you want.  I don't see things very well in my head, so I sketched it out.  In particular, I knew I wanted the top images to flow into each other in a circle, forming basically one image, but so that each quarter of the image would appear on a side of the pole with the appropriate words.  You can see here the sketch in which I worked that out in my sketchbook.

The numbers across the top of the image indicate which side of the square post it would go on and correspond with the numbers in the list.  Therefore, section 3, with the trees, would be above the words "Quiet Earth."  You can see that in the pictures at the top of this post.  Then, because I'm really insecure, I did "draft" versions of the sides full-size on pieces I cut and taped together from newsprint.

5.  Buy other supplies.

I purchased the paints, a drop cloth, some 1 and 2 inch-wide inexpensive paint brushes, sandpaper, PVC primer and a sealant/varnish designed for outdoor use and for UV protection against fading in the sun.  As I mentioned above, I used Liquitex Basics acrylic paints for the colored areas.  However, I used Golden Fluid Acrylics for the black line work, along with a small round brush (I think it was a size 6).  That paint flows more like a thick ink and was perfect for the finishing detail work I needed to do.

5.  Prepare the pole. 

First I scrubbed it with rubbing alcohol.  This seemed to take off anything too oily or just residual dirt.  Second I sanded it lightly, mostly to get some texture to the surface so the paint would stick.  I rubbed that down with a damp cloth to get the dust off.  Third, I painted the whole thing with white PVC primer, which I bought in a spray at the hardware store.  I let it dry overnight.  Here it is, with my cat Tim supervising the drying.

6.  Draw a light map of the image on the pole.

I did not draw the entire image on the pole because I knew I was going to paint over it with my background colors.  But I did measure out the basic dividers.  And because I had drawn my practice images in full size on newsprint back in step 6, I could lay them down beside the pole to use as a guide when I painted.  Beware:  I found that even light pencil marks did not erase well.

7.  Paint your pole. 

I found it easiest (after some messy trial and error) to prop the pole against a table and paint each section around all four sides, rather than to paint one side at a time.  I am sure this happened because I conceptualized my design as a circular one, rather than as a panel-by-panel one.

While I don't think there is one best way to paint your pole, I do taking the time to think about how you'll do it with such an awkward object will pay off!

8.  Finish it up!
Let it dry completely.  Add extra time to be sure.  Then start coating it with the UV-proof varnish.  As I mentioned earlier, I am insecure, so I gave it double dry time in between coats and I put on an extra coat or two for good measure.  Then I let it dry inside my home for a good week before I put it outside.

9.  Put it outside.

Because I wanted to be able to move my pole, at least for a while, I just picked a spot and pounded my metal garden post in.  Then a set the pole down over it.  Of course, the garden pole is much smaller than the inside of the peace pole, so the peace pole wobbles quite a bit.  But this is easily fixed!   Simply fill a bucket with dirt or sand and, making sure that the peace pole is upright as you like it, pour the sand down inside the pole.  Use a second bucket if you need to.  Soon, that will fill the bottom foot or so of the inside of the pole and stop the wobbling!  You'll have a stable pole without having to permanently mount it in place.

10. Enjoy!

Of course, the very day after I put it outside, it snowed.  But the pole looked terrific in all that white and I felt super pleased with it.  The project cost me less than $50 total for supplies (though I admit I had a lot of paints already) and probably took me a total of 10 hours to do, not counting the thinking and design time or the drying time in between coats.

I have no idea how long it will last, having just made it.  But that's part of the fun of it.  Kind of like prayer flags and sand mandalas.  The making held the most meaning.  I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

I'm happy to have made this peace pole out of the words and colors that have such deep meaning for me.  I am thinking that making them as gifts for other people might be a very cool thing--customizing the design and words to reflect who they are and what they find meaningful.

Merry Christmas to Me: Jinhao X450

I bought myself a little Christmas present the other day:  a Jinhao X450 fountain pen from China.  Can't wait to try this new pen out and, I hope, add it to my art supplies.  I think it will be a fun tool for sketching--and it only cost $4.50 on ebay!

So my interest in this pen started--as so many of life's adventures do--when a friend sent me an email with the subject line "Interesting!!!!" and a link to a video review of the Jinhao x450 fountain pen.

It was those three exclamation points that got me.  Three!  How could I ignore that?

Here's the video she linked me to:

After watching this and wondering how I could have missed out on such an inexpensive pen that seemed so wonderful, I googled it.  First stop: The Goulet Pen Company site, where they sell the pens.  I read the reviews, watched the videos, and learned that people love these pens but tend to swap out the nibs for better ones which Goulet makes and sells for $15.  People raved about this great pen for under $20.

More hits on Google brought up the same theme.

I had to try this pen.  I mean, my friend told me it was "interesting!!!" with three exclamation points.  And I need very little encouragement to purchase a new art supply.  So I ordered one.

Well, okay, the truth is, I ordered four, in four different colors, as a package from an ebay seller in China.  I paid $4.50 each with no shipping, so got for for $17.95.  And I ordered two fine nibs from Goulet.  I don't expect that the pens will arrive in time for Christmas, but when they do arrive, I intend to give at least one away as a gift.

You might think I'd give one to the friend who turned me on to them in the first place.  She of the "interesting!!!" email.   I might have; however, when I contacted her to curse her for tempting me into buying yet another pen...and did she want one too (because, of course, buying art supplies is always more fun if you share it with a friend), she told me she had several of them already.

We plan to get together to swap out the nibs over coffee as soon as mine arrive.  That is the kind of geeks we are.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all!!!!