Student working

Sometimes my students need a role model on what a working artist looks like. They will often chat, and chat some more and chat some more and forget to do work. So I will sketch and work beside them to give a silent example. That means my other students who are working make great models. The past few days the sun has been shining and reflecting off of the snow making fantastic shadows. I didn't capture the shadow very well here, but trying is half the battle. 

[Pilot Brush pen and Copic CG1 marker in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape]

Sketchbook #17 (catchup--including deer heads)

Okay, you caught me, I haven't been updating my blog as of late. For some reason the blogger site was blocked at school (even though we are a google campus) so my updates that usually took place at lunch were put on hold. Now I have to do the updates at home, and, well, there are other distractions here (namely Black Ops 3). 

Enough of that. Here is the art.

1-An open mic night with the sketching group at Boulber Coffee. I challenged myself to fit them all on one page, and draw smaller. It worked!!
[blue pumpkin nib on a wooden dip pen with DeArtementis Document ink, D+S watercolors in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape]

2-A sneak peak performance of "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe". For a high school play the sets and costumes were AMAZING! I wish I had popped in sooner to sketch some of the rehearsals! All I had with me was one pen and a VERY dark theater.
[Lamy Safary EF nib with Lexington Gray ink, a brush pen with water and J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape] 

3-A fun sketch of my girlfriend's art box. Well, my art box, she just happens to be using it.
[namiki falcon with DeArtementis Document ink, a Pilot Brush pen, and a water pen with water and J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape] 

4-What else do you need to pay attention at an Art teacher conference? 
[Lamy Safary EF nib with Lexington Gray ink, a brush pen with water and J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape]

5-We had a nice lunch break at our conference and I sketched the bottles behind the bar as I inhaled a mac and cheese-burger. Yeah, you read that right. (No, I did not drink tequila at lunch). 
[namiki falcon with DeArtementis Document ink, a Pilot Brush pen, and a water pen with water and J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape] 

6-This was my view at Longhorn steakhouse waiting for my guests to arrive. 
[namiki falcon with DeArtementis Document ink, a Pilot Brush pen, and a water pen with water and J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape] 

7-So my family is a bunch of rednecks. I grew up around until hunting, deer hides, deer heads, venison in my chili and general dead deer stuff. So my uncle asked if I wanted to help process a deer and I could take home some of the meat--including home made jerky! I wanted to document the process a little better, but he is a machine and has his ways for doing everything. So I had to sneak in what I could. 
[Pilot Brush pen and D+S watercolors in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape]

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Last pages of sketchbook (lucky) #13

Here are the last few pages of sketchbook #13. I started this book on 8-16-15 and wrapped it up on 11-8-15. Not a bad run for a 64 page book! 

If you had seen the last post I sketched some dishes drying with some minimal tools--pentel brush pen, brush pen with some grayed out black ink. It was fun to think with minimal distractions, and I had to concentrate on translating the view I was looking at with only a few marks. That weekend I was in a coffee shop and they had a pile of dirty dishes and I used the same tools and got to work. The best part was that they kept on adding on to the pile and I kept on sketching! I could have been there for weeks if I wanted to! 

I got tired of doing the dishes, so I moved onto some folks sitting starring at their laptops or phones. I tried out some new "Graphtone" water-soluble colored pencils from Derwent.























My last page of sketchbook #13 was a very quick attempt at capturing a cool sunset on some buildings in town. Once I got the outline done the sun had set and I had to paint like Superman trying to reverse the earth's rotation. I cheated and added some details at home where there was light and warmth. 

Watching dishes dry.

While waiting for the chicken to cook in batches I sketched the drying dishes. Much better time waster than surfing Facebook.