a quick doodle i did trying to mess around with a few new ideas! I would love to get better at drawing people this year so i don't have to keep shrinking them down to ant size haha! hey practice is practice right! :)
i really want to re-do this guy soon. i really messed up the lines on the cabin and i think the sky could use a bit more attention but i was really into the colors on this so i think ill give it another go! :)
I've been sketching animals and nature on location since 1989, usually in pen and ink. I saw this takhi/Przewalski's horse at Hustai National Park in Mongolia. Takhi are the only surviving species of genetically wild horse and Mongolia is the only place in the world when they can be seen running free in their native habitat.
I did this drawing from a photo for the 2018 Inktober event using a Pilot EF fountain pen and a Prismacolor white pencil in a Strathmore Toned Tan sketchbook.
I photographed this baby elephant at the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park some years ago. He had to walk close to twice as fast to stay with his mother. Created for Inktober 2018. Drawn with a *takes a deep breath* P. Soennecken Bremerburseneeder EF nib, Perle Noire ink on Strathmore 300 vellum bristol (my current go to pen and ink paper).
During a trip to England in 2015 I got to spend over an hour working my way around Stonehenge doing sketches of it from various angles. A crow landed on one of the big sarsen stones long enough to add it to my sketch. It can seem smaller than one imagines at first, but its presence grows on you as you make the circuit. Sadly, a rope barrier had to be put around it years ago due to soil compaction, so it's not possible to walk out among them. But it's an amazing sight in any case. I used a Sakura Micron 0.1 pen in a Pentalic Nature Sketch sketchbook.
This is how I've been "doodlng" recently....doing direct (no pencil underdrawing) ink sketches of animals and other subjects to try out various dip pen nibs that I've been accumulating. All are from my own reference photos. Dip pen nibs and Platinum Carbon ink on 9x12" Strathmore 300 vellum bristol
I do quick sketches during my travels in just pen and ink, but when I have more time I'll also add color with water soluble pencils and sometimes watercolors. These three are from last year's Mongolia trip. Ulaanbaatar, the capital, is pretty crazy, but I've grown to like it in 3-4 day doses. I actually rented an apartment last year, so got a feel for what's its like to live in the city rather than just stay in a guesthouse or hotel. What I really love is camping or staying in gers (what we learned to call a yurt, which is a Russian word; "ger" is the Mongolian word and simply means "home") in the countryside. l spend most of my time in the countryside the farther out the better.
These two storks were part of a larger flock I saw during an art workshop/safari in Kenya in 2004. Pilot EF fountain pen on Strathmore 300 vellum bristol. Originally done for Inktober 2018.
I started work today to do small drawings using various dip pen nibs, also adding lettering (I've worked as a sign painter, calligrapher and hand-lettering artist in the past). I used my own photo reference and did them quickly without fussing. I did the turkey vulture with a Gillott 291 Mapping Pen nib and the river otter with a Gillott Artist 1950 nib. In both cases the paper is Strathmore 300 vellum bristol, about 4x6".
