Pen and Ink Challenge: #2

I won't be doing Heidi sketches for ever, but while the mood is upon me to do them I shall!

This sketch was really just a quick one to fill in a gap! I used a brush for the large dark areas. I might do some more sketches with the brush; I like the affect.

Where I sketched, what I sketched, what I sketched from, and with what I used to sketch. =)

From a Corner of My World

Quite by accident everything in this photo describes me and my life. As you can see I have to compromise with space when I come to do larger paintings! This is a painting I'm doing on commission though it is the best kind of commission because I could paint almost any horse I wanted! I used as reference a sketch of Sam Savitt's from this book:

It was only a small sketch with not much detail. I changed the horses head around and tried to figure out the colours. Colouring is hard for me, especially with oils, pastel colours are so much easier to work with because you don't mix them just blend them on the painting. Maybe I should do a 70 oil sketch challenge next!!

Pen and Ink Challenge: #1

My first page of sketches! 

I am using real pen and ink and it's quite hard to control as I haven't got used to in yet; unwanted blotches have a habit of dropping in from nowhere!

I have decided to fill one sheet of paper per day as I don't currently have a good sketch book to do them in. A clip board is easy to carry around. 

  I copied these girls from Heidi Grows Up by Charles Tritten. The illustrations are done by Pelagie Doane.

70 Day Pen and Ink Challenge

   I have been inspired by this blog post of Brenda Swenston's to begin a Seventy Day Challenge. Every day for seventy days I will draw a sketch in ink. I thought about allowing myself to sketch in pencil too but then I would always be rubbing out and what I need to practice is making accurate lines the first time. I haven't done allot of pen and ink drawings but I love them.

From the sketchbook of Conrad Martins (1801-1878)

Here are some of Beatrix Potters works.

  I will try to post my sketches every day; it will help to keep my standard up if I do, I don't want to get lazy and just do a quick scribble!

  While I was looking for images I came across this very fun pen and ink related page! Have a look.

Painting by Tom Lovell, illustrator

Lots of photos, be warned!

To begin with, let me introduce you to this pretty buckskin, Simba.

My friend and I have been given him as a project horse only a week after we sold Calypso, that big dark horse you have often seen in photos here.

He's finally settling in after having been badly picked on by the other horses.

My Tigger is becoming tollerant of him!

He  is nice to ride and very soft and responsive

But also very speedy, he just wants to get places fast!

He is skinny too, and needs to be fattened up before I do heaps of work with him. So he will be nice when we sell him which we have to to for I can't afford to keep him.

Unfortunately my camera lens was dirty and I didn't notice, hence the blury streaks, sorry!

Ex reacehorse galloping down to join the fun.

The donkeys...

A good roll, ahaaa..........

It was the bluest of blue days, not a cloud.

This was yesterday by the way

Isn't it a beautiful place I keep my horse and ride, I'm so blessed

Exhibition!

I have been working on a pastel painting which is going in an exhibition on Thursday which lasts for two weeks! The art group which I have been going to for the last month in organizing it, and they encouraged me to enter one of my horses. The theme is book week, create a painting illustration the title of a book or a passage of writing from the book. It's a theme I would love to explore more given time, but I only had two weeks to think about it so I've done a horse which is easy for me. My book is My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara.