7 x 10 inch pen & ink house portrait: closing out for Christmas

A couple of nights ago I finished this house portrait, which was the last one I needed to get done with a due date of Christmas. Whew!  Now I can take a breath...but I also need to start on a few more that I owe for people who have gift certificates.  There are two of those, and the people who hold the gift certificates have been very patient.  After those two, I have another commission, plus two more probables that I discussed with someone today.  That should keep me busy into spring, but I hope to get a chance to work on some drawings and paintings on my own.

This drawing is 7 x 10 on Bristol board.  I didn't use any thinned down sumi ink on this one.  In the reference photo, the big tree was right in front of the door.  I had to judge from other, older reference photos was the door would look like from this angle, and moved the tree forward and to the right just a little.

It's been another busy year.  I am immensely happy that so many people have liked and admired my work enough to commission artwork from me.  There are so many other artists--some known to me personally--whom I admire as being more diligent, disciplined, and skilled than I am, so it's hard for me to feel too proud of my work.  ...But I am thrilled by all the compliments I get, and very happy that people enjoy the images I produce.

I hope readers of this blog have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a great New Year.

7 x 10 inch house portrait in pen and ink

Pen and ink house portrait

Ballpoint pen doodle

11 x 15 inch pen and ink house portrait

This was done with a combination of disposable technical pens plus sumi ink/dip pen.  It's 11 x 15 inches on Bristol paper.

pen and ink house portrait

Detail:

pen and ink house portrait, detail

House portrait in pen & ink with watercolor

This one is about 10 x 10 inches

detail:

Upon reflection

House portrait in pen and ink, 11 x 15 inches

detail:

Drawing on a Saturday night

Coming along

Close Encounters of the Third Kind Pumpkin

The Shining Pumpkin

Here is a photo from before it was quite finished. I still had to cut around the bottom of the door and the lettering on the sides ("all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy")

The Martian Pumpkin, Flying Monkey Pumpkin

The Martian - Jack o' Lantern Spectacular

Flying Monkey - Jack o' Lantern Spectacular

I cut these a couple of nights ago for the Jack o' Lantern Spectacular.

Flying Monkey Pumpkin

Pen & ink, 7 x 10 inches

This is 7 x 10 inches.  I did most of it with sumi ink, using a metal nib dip pen for details, and a homemade bamboo pen to draw in the tree foliage.  I used a brush and ink wash to fill in the lower windows, then went back over them with the dip pen.  I think the dip pen was a Hunt 101 but I can’t ever remember which ones I use. 

Well, after that, I wasn’t quite satisfied with the value and definition in some areas, so I used disposable technical pens on some areas, especially the black doors and trim at the bottom, and the windows above.  I also added more darkness and detail to the tree foliage, and darkened the sky above the building.

I really like how dip pens look, but working back over areas can be difficult; the already-inked areas tend to pull extra ink from the nib when I go back into it, even after it has had time to dry.  That was my main reason for switching.

I’m pretty pleased with it overall.

detail:

House Portrait, black and white

I finished this one on Friday. It's 11 x 15 inches.

House portrait, 11 x 15 inches

House portrait in watercolor

This is my first house portrait in watercolor, a medium in which I am getting more interested.  I forget the dimensions -- I think it's about 13 x 19 inches.

Watercolor house portrait

CFAC art show

My daughter with her tree painting at the re eption for the Children's Free Art Classes art show. The walls were packed with very good kid's art.

11 x 15" house portrait in black and white

I finished this last week.  I found the just-unfurling hostas in the front yard to be a particular challenge for some reason.

House portrait, 7 x 10 inches

I finished this one a few days ago.  I like the house's proportions and think I captured it well but, as is almost always the case, my favorite part is the trees.

Sketching with walnut ink on lunch break

I took my sketch pad and walnut ink out on my lunch break today for some quick sketching. I went over to A. P. Sawyer State Park.  I used some homemade cane bamboo pens and some twigs I had cut.  It had been a while since I had gone out to draw on my lunch break, probably late last summer?

House portrait details

Here are a couple of details from the house portrait I just posted.  I usually enjoy the close ups more than I enjoy the work as a whole because I like to see the pen strokes.

Walnut ink house portrait

Black walnut ink house portrait

11 x 15 inches, finished yesterday.  This is a beautiful limestone block house overlooking the Ohio River.  There is a steep hill along the driveway, and the house is so broad across the front that I could not back up enough to get the entire house in one reference photo.  That made the layout a little more challenging, but the clean lines and right angles of the architecture helped.

New Art of the Loom at The Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to drive on a field trip to the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft.  The 2nd and 3rd graders were there to see a weaving exhibit: "The New Art of the Loom."

I expected to enjoy the show, but I more than enjoyed it: I was very impressed.  The first floor was regional weaving artists, and the second floor showed international works of the loom, and all of them were beautiful.  Some were intriguing and abstract, some were strikingly representational; some were brilliant and shimmering, some were hauntingly toned-down.  All of them were fun to look at.

Unfortunately, the show ends this Saturday, but we are going to try to get down there as a family before it closes for a final visit.