Head Sketch #11 - Happy New Years

This is Head Sketch #11.  This is a pencil drawing I have copied from a sketch book on soldiers in combat.  So Happy New Year and I hope 2019 brings health and good luck to you all!

Head Sketch #10

Back to the head sketch series.  This is a pencil sketch of a America GI from WW2.

Switch up - Octopus

I started working on head sketch # 10, but it was not working out.  So I switched up to this octopus design.  It is based on a Kona Hawaiian Cream Ale Beer can design.  My son James liked all things Octopi so I did this version of it.  It was done with black and brown pen.  It was completed with metallic pens.

Head Sketch # 9

I worked a variation on the head sketch.  This one in on grey paper and I used charcoal and pastel pencils of sepia and other earth color pencils.  This is a decent start on this type but it will need work to be better.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve

A break from head sketches today.  I finished this yesterday and posted it today.  I have a who;e sketch book of trees and this is one of the blank pages left in it.  This is all pencil work.

Head Sketch #8

As the title says this is sketch 8.  It is of my niece Sophia, though this sketch really looks like her mother, my sister.

Head Sketch #7

More of the Head sketch series.  This is a profile sketch in pencil.

Head Sketch # 6

This is Head Sketch # 6 in the 50.  More pencil work on white paper.

Head Sketch #5

I am back from a little vacation visiting the daughter in Utah.  I am continuing the head sketches.  My goal is to get to 50 head sketches.  It should make a difference in my abilities.  So I am working the pencil skills and portrait skills.

Head sketch #4

This is another head sketch.  I used white paper and toned it with pencil I blended in.  Then I used a 6B, 2B, and H lead pencil.  I used a kneadable eraser to get the white areas.

Head Sketch #3

Another Head sketch done in pencil.

Head Sketch #2

A pencil sketch of another head, part of the work on making sketches of heads.

Head sketch #1

So I am back on the art horse and started this sketch of 3/4 head profile.  I am going to do a series of these to get better on the head.   This was done in pencil with a blending stump to blend.

Black Bear

I am back from some travel for work.  I have not been working on much.  I only managed to do this pencil sketch of a Black Bear.  Since everyone does Turkeys for Thanksgiving, I decided a Bear would be better.

Daisy's in beach pail

This is an oil painting, I had worked on a while ago and I had let it sit.  I was not happy with it.   I pulled it out today and saw what I could do to fix it.  I reworked the background and modified the pail some.   It will need more work on the leaves.

Mule Deer Fawn

A little pencil work for the deer practice set.  This is solely done with pencils and a blending stump.

White Tail Deer Buck

This is a watercolor pencil drawing of a White Tail Deer.  You color in the color with a pencil and then can use a wet brush to blend the shapes.  I then reworked the dry pic with more pencil to make the shapes and colors.

Darth Pug

This is a card for my sister and her upcoming birthday.  She has three pugs so this is a good card.   I did this with markers and an ink brush.

Arctic Loon Sumi

My Monday work is a Sumi of an Arctic Loon, done in Ink Brush, Red marker, and Grey Blue marker.

Ruby Throat Hummingbird Sumi

Tonight's contribution is a simple Ink Brush rendering of a male Ruby Throat Hummingbird.   Simple is good and sometimes harder to make convincing.

Rose Finch Sumi

It has been awhile since I have posted.  Regular job has been stressful and I have been distracted.  I step that aside and I have gone back to working the ink brush.  I will try to stick with doing something every day as I feel better when I do something.

Blue Chalk for a Blue Agave

Happy Friday, this is a study of a Blue Agave plant done with two types of Blue Chalk.

Elk Girl Part 2

More pencil work on a female Elk.

Elk Girl

More pencil work tonight.  This is a sketch in support of the elk painting I have been working on.  I wanted to have a better roadmap to how complete the head in the painting.

Elk dinner

Tonight's work, pencil sketch of a female elk chewing her cud.

For James

 Part of the motivation for this blog is to honor James Matthews, my son.  He passed away five years ago now.  I decided to stop thinking about the day I would do art, because I realized that would be a mistake.  You never know when your time will be up.  So if you keep thinking about doing something "some day"  you need to do it now.  Best Son ever and always ready fort an adventure with me, like Belize to scuba dive. That's him in the water on his open water certification dive in Belize.

Manga Octo-Robot

More of a favorites of James.  This is an Octo-Robot, manga style.  It can explore the depths of the sea and it have eight arms.

Manga Style Octo-Ghost

Happy Sunday, I decided to try something different.  James, my son liked Octopi.  Manga or Japanese style comics have a series of Octopi tentacled ghosts, villains, and heroes.  This is my pen version of one for him.

Vietnamese Girl in a boat

Some times the simplest are the best drawings.  A simple ink brush drawing with two tones of grey is tonight's work.

Dancing Girl Sumi

More Sumi now I am back from a weekend college reunion.  This is a ink brush of a girl dancing with a laurel wreath, done i  the style of Norman Rockwell.

White-Crowned Sparrow

Tonight's work, this is a White-Crowned Sparrow done with marker and ink brush.

Standing Dead Ponderosas Trees

More brush work.  This time I worked these standing Dead Ponderosa trees.   The colors are markers and the black is brush ink.

Jack-In-the-Pulpit Flower

Hope you have had a good weekend, this day's work is a Jack-In-the-Pulpit Flower in colored markers.

Geisha Tower

I went to Japan recently.  This was a sketch of a sandstone tower named for Geisha Tower.  This was done with markers.

Tiger Sumi

I like doing these.  They are the right amount of challenge and easiest to do in the evening after a day of work work.  I used the ink brush and three colors of grey Coptic markers.

GoldFinch Sumi

This is a GoldFinch bird done with Sumi ink brush and grey marker.  I actually did this last night but I got tired and forgot to post it.

Butterfly Sumi

The unknown type of Butterfly in Sumi black ink and colored markers.  I did this on one of my flights last week.

Autumn Foliage Sumi

Welcome Back, I was out on travel for the regular job.  I did this to get back into artwork. This is a multiple color marker and ink brush work.

Puffin Sumi

More work to the 10,000 hours to mastery.  Outlined in ink brush, contours and color in marker.

Razorbill Auk

I took a break from Kitchen rehab and worked on this this evening.  This is an Arctic seabird done with Ink brush and grey markers.

Elk Bull Bugling Sumi

Sorry, I have been working on a home improvement project so art work has suffered.  I did that a break and return to work on ink brush and grey marker sketch of a Bull Elk bugling to challenge other Bulls for the right to mate.

Bighorn Sheep Sumi

This is solely Ink Brush of a very mature Bighorn sheep male.  The more the horn curl the older the Ram.

Caribou Sumi

More Ink Brush work.  Nothing much to say about this, just practice and work.

Bull Elk Sumi

Happy Sunday, I worked on a Bull Elk Sumi with black ink brush and grey marker.

Elk Maiden - More work again

A long weekend of work on the house with kitchen demo.  So not a lot of time to paint, but I did put some time into this.  I worked on the far background reflection and some of the shadow on the left of the Maiden.  I worked a little on the fur and defining her head.  The water reflection  is going to be the hard part of this painting.

Wolf - Ink Sketch

I inked this Wolf Sketch tonight after a day of work at the office.  It is a nice way to relax and finish up the week.

Dachshund Sketch

I worked on this this evening after a long day at work.  This is a simple Dachshund sketch.  Very interesting dogs with crazy bodies.