a) Yes, my neighbor is a really cool guy with plenty of stories to tell
b) I'm a little better with graphite than ink for portrait work
c) Yes, he has strong feelings about John Deer
d) When I asked him to model for me he asked "Will I have my clothes on?"
Yes, Jim. You had damned well better have your clothes on.
The walnut project yielded a quart of brown ink (boil the hulls, strain it with the big strainer, strain it again with the fine strainer. It goes on the paper as a medium brown, so perhaps I should simmer it down to reduce it and make it darker. Right now it looks like I have a quart of the most vile, over-brewed cowboy coffee you'd ever want to see.
I'm not sure ink was even a viable project for me, since I paint in oils. However, I'd been wanting to do it for several years, and perhaps I can use it as a wash under colored pencils or pastels. Sometimes - I just Want to Do a Thing. It cost nothing, so why not?
In other brown&black news, Marilla:
who is extremely spicy™ of temperament, and Meadow, who has the temper of a bowl of unflavored oatmeal, have decided they hate each other. And somehow Meadow is 'winning' whatever war this is? Which leads to Marilla sometimes being found fifteen feet up the poplar tree, looking aggrieved.
I have several more small illustrations to do for the children's book author. Not feeling great about that, but I will take a deep breath and get it done. Last night, though, I got a call from a local acquaintance, semi-tearful, about commission rates. I was literally talking to this woman last month about her aging-but-still-spry dog, and how she was a bit worried about her family coping with eventually losing the pup. And, six-shades-of-damn, the poor dog just had a very rapid onset of severe illness and had to be euthanized days ago. So - she wanted a painting/drawing asap as a means of coping with the loss.
The photo she sent me was ok to work from - not ideal, an informal snapshot at best, but the light is nice and I can see the dog clearly. The human figure I'm going to have to adjust a bit, but . . that is part of the job. Rest in peace, Bella, you were very loved.
This particular shade of toned paper, I will note, is *perfect* as a background for a brown dog.
This is so old, but still one of my favorite drawings. People have told me so many stories about what they think happens next!
[ID: Ink drawing of a scaly dragon sleeping peacefully on the edge of a large, stone bridge. Its tail is curled gracefully behind it, with the tip twitching slightly as it dreams. There is a hunched up tabby cat staring intently at the end of the tail, reaching its paw forward. Something is about to happen!]
[id: comic by @ahedderick done by request. 7 panels
panel 1: person approaching a horse panel 2: person sitting on ground, dumping seed out of boots panel 3: person setting up net fence with a sheep on one side of the fence and chickens on the other panel 4: person sitting on a stump, dumping seed out of boots panel 5: person unspooling a reel of polywire for a steer panel 6: person sitting on a bucket dumping seed out of boots panel 7: same person much later surrounded by colorful plants and memories of the animals they were tending while (unintentionally) collecting the seeds
end id]
Thank you so much, @ahedderick for taking this out of my head and putting it on paper! I appreciate the diversity of scenes (not just with the animals, but also in the boot dumping). And I am especially grateful that you figured out how to make the last panel work since I wasn't as clear in *my* head about how to make that one work. :)
So glad it worked out the way you wanted! After I took a minute to think about your explanation of what you wanted, it brought a tear to my eye.
Brown paper, my beloved. What can’t it do.
Charcoal with white colored pencil
Ink drawing with a bit of colored pencil for emphasis
Colored pencil drawing with a bit of ink for emphasis
Just ink, black and white
Boy, this is an oldie. This oak used to grow about a mile from my house, near the creek. Now long after I drew it, it finally lost the battle with gravity and fell over.
Ink and colored pencil - a form of mixed media I’ve gotten very fond of the last couple of years. It lets me do some things I just couldn’t do with oil paint. The turkey tail fungus, though, felt like it took a liiiiiittle too long to finish!
[ID: Ink drawings of a morel mushroom, scarlett cup fungus, and blue-and-gray turkey tail fungus. Colors are added with colored pencil.]
Not a new work for Inktober, but an oldie that I’m still fond of. All the cats seem to enjoy hanging out on the stone walls of a tumble-down root cellar here at the farm. I use the interior space for large-item compost, like dead branches and anything I prune from the orchard or shrubbery. All hail ‘Sunny’, who was King of the Cats here from 2009 to 2019.
Trying to psyche myself up to finish a wip; here are some end of summer / beginning of fall paintings and drawings. I will note; the wildflowers at the edge of the pond looks like an artistic exaggeration. However, all those flowers are really there this time of year. Purple ironweed, pink Joe Pye and knapweed, orange jewelweed, white boneset, yellow goldenrod and wild sunflower. September is the wildflowers’ finest season!
Ok *deeeeep breath* I will stop stalling and work, now.
Years ago one of the ladies at church told me she wore outfits with lots of glitter because it made her ‘look awake’. I told her I didn’t think that would work for me; then I thought about what would happen if I put on a glittery outfit first thing in the morning.
You can’t scan glitter, though, so it looks different irl.
[ID: line comic of a farmer waking up and sleepily getting dressed in a magenta shirt with glitter. At the barn, she asks the cows, “Do I look awake?” The three cows reply:
“Ooh! Sparkly!” and “Um, oh my!” and “You look like you flunked out of the fireworks academy!”
The farmer thanks the nearest cow while the mean one squints at the shirt and states, “My eyes hurt.”
“Git in the barn, girls,” the farmer calls. The cows grumble to each other, “My eyes still hurt”, “Did you say Ooh! or Moo!”, “Feel free to kiss my . . ”]
Learning-from-Tumblr post: I’m looking for a better way to use black ink. I love my Micron pens, but I’d like to try one of those brushes that has a reservoir of ink - like a brush/fountain pen combo? I tried some internet searching but I don’t think I have the right terminology. I did find fountain pens - that cost hundreds of $! No, thanks. Anyone have a favorite they can recommend?
Feb 11, 2022
all men know how to do these days is scamper and scuttle
absolutely not. thats disgusting
YOU KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS
[ID: a drawing of a young girl lying flat on a wooden dock reaching toward the surface of the water and her own reflection. The scene is in daylight but the sky reflected in the pond is night-time with stars and a crescent moon.]
I want to get some time to paint or do a sewing project - but I have not had enough energy lately. Looking back I’ve realized that I’ve had at least four solid years of issues; the chronic illness of my son, the Bastardy of the school system (in relation to the chronic illness), my father’s aging process, some school issues for my daughter, a few livestock issues, one year of homeschooling for my son because his immune system was Like That, and now Covid. I just - this goes back to 2016! I’ve been thinking “things will get better any time now” since 2016!! And they are not, definitely not getting better.
Looking back at paintings or drawings that I’ve sold does cheer me up a bit. This piece I actually sold twice; after a lady bought it at a show I had another offer for it so I made a second version. My daughter got her ‘modeling fee’ twice, too! This is the farm pond where we swim in summer. Hopefully it will freeze this winter and we’ll be able to get some ice skating time.
Jan 10, 2021
Happy holidays!
I love the ‘negative space’ lights on this! Gorgeous.
If you can’t run with the Big Business Dogs, stay on the porch.
