White House Pumpkin

White House Pumpkin. Artist: Mark Tabler

White House Pumpkin. Artist: Mark Tabler

 Drawn and carved for the Jack-o'-Lantern Spectacular at Iroquois Park

Wyoming Pumpkin: unlit vs. lit

Drawn and carved for the Jack-o'-Lantern Spectacular at Iroquois Park. This is, at least so far, my favorite one I've done this year.

Wyoming pumpkin - drawn and carved

Here are two views of one I finished yesterday (for the Jack-o'-Lantern Spectacular at Iroquois Park).  I think it's the best I've done this year.

Yellowstone pumpkin (drawn and carved)

Trump Pumpkin

Created with ink and acrylic.

Wyoming Pumpkin drawn but uncut

Here is the first pumpkin I drew for this year. The cowboy is based off a Charlie Russell painting (I did a report on him my junior year in high school and have had a fondness for his artwork ever since.)

I took the photo from two angles to try to work around the awful glare.

Jack-o'-Lantern Spectacular preparations

Lots of pumpkins and artists hard at work. I think I took this photo on the first day of drawing (Sept. 21).

Scritch, scritch, scritch goes the pen nib

black walnut ink - work in progress

House portrait in black walnut ink, 11 x 15 inches

Details:

House portrait in walnut ink, 8 x 10 inches

8 x 10 inch pen and ink house portrait

House portrait in pen and ink, about 8 x 10 inches

In Louisville's Highlands

I spent a little time last weekend adding colored primer to some old store-bought canvases in anticipation of getting out to do some plein air painting soon.  Not sure when I'll get the chance...but I sure want to.

Small painting of a cicada

This is an acrylic painting I did of a cicada about 15 years ago.  I found it recently in a stack of stuff.  It's about 6 x 10 inches, on museum mat board.

Louisville Skyline in Pen and Ink

This is a drawing I completed a while back (last summer, I think), but I set it aside to consider later, and then forgot about it.  I found it again recently, and decided I really liked it. The size is 10 x 14 inches.

I was interested in drawing the Louisville skyline, but it's a bit of a cliched subject around here.  So, I considered avenues to make it a somewhat fresher take on the scene.  I decided to make it an evening scene, with a large expanse of sky above it, and the moon.  I am pleased with the result.

Louisville Skyline, pen and ink, 10 x 14 inches

details:

Pen and ink house portrait, 8 x 10 inches

Samoa cookie drawing

My 10-year-old daughter drew this cookie with a pencil and markers. When I first looked at it, I thought she had cut it out of a photo. I am impressed!  The white highlights on the chocolate stripes really accent the dimensionality, but she said that part was an accident.  I told her that fortunate accidents are a key component to many great works of art. 

Two pen and ink house portraits

Here are a couple of house portraits I finished over the past few weeks. Both are in the 8 x 10 range.  The second one below is actually a little longer than that; the house was so broad across the front that I had to increase the size a little for it to look right.  Both were done with a combination of sumi ink/dip pens, and disposable drafting pens.

pen and ink house portrait - St. Matthews

Pen and ink house portrait - Crescent Hill

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: