A blog about writing, sketching, running and other things
There’s a waterlily pool near where I work, and it would be so easy to paint them with watercolours and so difficult to sketch them in pen and ink, so of course I sketched them in pen and ink. It is inktober after all.
Platinum 3776 UEF, Sailor Epinard, A4 Midori MD Cotton notebook.
This is a quick sketch of our family friend Joe during our weekly zoom meeting with him. Joe is one of the smartest, funniest and kindest people I know, he’s 97 years old, and he’s been a family friend since I can remember myself.
Do you have a similar inspiration in your life?
This was sketched using a Platinum Plaisir fountain pen on an A4 Midori MD Cotton notebook.
As I was running a few days ago I saw some workers packing up the plastics in the sea exhibit and I stopped to take a picture of them as they tried to figure out how to fit all the statues into their truck. I sketched this purposely very loosely and very quickly, to see if I could capture a complex scene without getting overly absorbed in the detail. It’s a good exercise to try out, and one that I intend to do more of in the future.
TWSBI ECO fine with J. Herbin Emarald of Chivor on an A4 Midori MD Cotton notebook.
A friend was at a local vintage Indian motorcycle meeting and she took a photo of a 1948 Indian chief, so this is today’s sketch, directly in pen and ink. 3776 Plantinum UEF fountain pen with Sailor Epinard ink on an A4 Midori MD Cotton notebook.
My memories of autumn in Regina Saskatchewan are what inspired this small series, and so I thought that it would be fitting to draw a small panorama of autumn leaves in Regina.
Drawn with various brush pens and Staedtler markers on an A4 Midori MD Cotton notebook.
You can see the full page here. I kind of like the resulting effect:
And if you want a process video, here it is:
This is the last sketch that will focus on individual tree foliage, and this one is dedicated to the striking Japenese Weeping Maple and it’s vivid red leaves.
Midori MD A4 Cotton notebook and various brush pens.
The grey bark of the sugar maple make its orange foliage pop even more. Drawn with a Kuretake fudegokochi extra fine brush pen which I do not recommend for any sort of artwork – it takes ages to dry, and isn’t stable until it’s completely dry, and even then you can’t trust it not to make a mess of your artwork. Also used Faber Castell Pitt brush pens (which I do recommend) on an A4 Midori MD Cotton notebook.
There are a few trees that turn purple in autumn, and the purple ash (Fraxinus americana) is one of them.
This was sketched using a Pentel ultra fine brush pen and Faber Castell Pitt brush pens.
There’s no real autumn here, and I really miss the leaves changing colour and an actual autumnal season, so I decided to dedicate the next few inktober sketches to trees in autumn. The first is ginko biloba, with its gorgeous golden leaves.
This was sketched with a Pentel GFKP brush pen, the king of brush pens, and Faber Castell Pitt brush pens on an A4 Midori MD Cotton notebook.
I felt like sketching London again, so this is from a photo taken during one of my runs in Hyde Park in September.
Tombow Fudenosuke hard brush pen, Faber Castell Pitt brush pens on an A4 Midori MD Cotton notebook.
And here’s the full page:
Writing at Large 