Finally finished! This project took many long hours (about 8-9) and reduced my brand new 6B pencil to nothing but a tiny stub... “Black Gold” is done in graphite on 80 lb drawing paper. If you are interested in prints please contact me via my website.
I've been so impressed with the ball point pen art that I have seen on this site, that I decided to give it a try. This is a Betta fish (Siamese fighting fish) done in red, blue, and purple ball point pens. Obviously, I have much to learn....but it was great fun and I have ordered some more colors since I plan on experimenting more. I've enclosed a photo of the work in progress and the various reference photos I used. The colors are more true to the final scan than in the flash photo of my drawing table.
More ballpoint pen experiments. This was trying to "blend" colors, using ball point pens in a similar way to colored pencils. I found Layering evenly to be pretty difficult, esp with the pens blotching and very very limited burnishing. The interesting thing is that the paper doesn't seem to get "tired" the way it does with pencils. This is just cheap printer card stock.
Seemingly trapped indoors and inside your head indefinitely, the possibility of living a normal life after COVID seems like a fevered dream. Still one of my favourite drawings from 2020 and a technique breakthrough. Ballpoint Pen on Archival 8.5" x 11" paper
"There's a North in us all, but my North can't hold me anymore." Oh man, what a day/week/month it's been. Today was the end of first semester, a bit hard to believe half the year is gone, a bit hard to believe we still have half of a year left. The past 24 hours have been nothing less than mental chaos (maybe my coach was foreshadowing all of this when he asked if I was ok last night...) Anyway, here I am, here we are. Llemette on the left (name credit to Josefina), February journal on the right.
Imagining a better future in the time of COVID isolation seems like a fevered dream.
Bic4 Ballpoint Pen, Sanrio Novelty 10 Colour Ballpoint Pen on Archival 8.5" x 11" paper
The challenging thing with just using pen is that I can't paint over a mistake. I usually redo a face more than once. I didn't mean to make their face so stoic, it makes them look like a statue.
Completed my first commission of the year — inspired by my Dream Tree mural in Bristol, for a couple from the neighbourhood who walk by the mural nearly every day
Pink tulips on toned tan sketch paper. This was my first time burnishing. I used the toned tan paper so that I could better see the effects of burnishing with a white pencil. I used Prismacolor soft core pencils.
I've been seeing lots of new bird species around my neighbourhood, like robins and magpies!
I like to think this bird is watching me from the sea of uncertainty, and looking at all the things I will create in the future and secretly telling me to go on, without me knowing how they will turn out. And strangely, that is some kind of motivation for me. : .
