Audacity can be seen everyday on CNN. As American history unfolds tweet by tweet, I continue to sketch, listen and watch fascinated to see how my great country is going to fare under the leadership of the new guy and his gang. They claimed they'd make America great again. Instead, I think they shoved it into a dark, murky, dirty Game of Thrones power struggle that the next gal will have to put to rest. This homeland turmoil is not conducive to painting, but sketching goes on with a major difference: my subjects come from news sources or from what's going on at our house: my honey's recuperation from a lobectomy. He, unlike the government, is doing just great.
This week I moved away from my General 314 and Berol pencils and tried a new pencil: a Derwent Inktense pencil. It's like a charcoal pencil, but can be wetted and marks becomes ink. I used it for the first three sketches below, which were done on Strathmore drawing paper. The Inktense did not erase well with a knead eraser, but may pick up better with a colored pencil eraser on this paper? A learning curve is to be expected when using new materials. To thin down lines and correct the drawing, I used a piece of white pastel--but was dissatisfied. The white was too blue (as you would expect from a Titanium white if I had thought about it). A cream more in tune with the paper would be better. While I don't think the fluid line that ink and pen with changeable nibs can give is achievable with these pencils, I do like the gestural freedom they offer fast, daily sketching.
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Migrants Marooned in Belgrade, Serbia from a reference photo by Srdjan Stevanovic, Getty Images for Time Magazine.
Inktense pencil on 6" x 8" Strathmore Drawing Pad.
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| The Women, Inktense pencil, white pastel and coffee on Strathmore Drawing Pad, |
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, An Impressive World Leader, Inktense pencil and water on
Strathmore Drawing Pad 6" x 8"
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| If Looks Could Kill, Charcoal pencil on 8" x 6" Strathmore Drawing Pad. |
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| Off The Top of My Head, General 314 pencil on Strathmore Drawing Pad 8" x 6". Sometimes I draw from memory. |
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| In The Waiting Room, General 314 pencil on Strathmore Drawing Pad 6" x 8". |
Good job on Merkel. Hope everything is getting back to routine..Hope Ellis is doing better. Keep drawing and painting. Miss your watercolors
ReplyDeleteThanks Chris! We're doing fine thank you--going out more and more, but shortness of breath is still a problem and all painting is set aside due to being on call 24/7. Sketching keeps my eye sharp. Chancellor Merkel is rather one super woman; I felt sorry for her having to go to lunch with the Prez after that press conference. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall of the plane that flew her home.
DeleteDitto on the Merkel comment.. did u see the last episode.. she looked like she was in pain.... I wish he'd go away.
Deletehe's not going away any time soon. It took three years for Watergate scandal to force Nixon to resign. This Russian connection could take that long to be thoroughly investigated--even though while on the campaign trail Mr. Trump openly invited the Russians to do what they could to sully his opponent. It was right then and there, I thought this guy was playing dirty. I knew it for sure when the Sunday before the election all that crap was stirred up again by our security agencies. That was the day this Republican absolutely became a Democrat. The candidate was a thug.
DeleteFabulous sketches! Merkel is great! I follow the American news closely, almost everyday in the news in Europe. I recently saw a documentary about Watergate and the comparison with the present. It is striking if all is true.
ReplyDeleteWho knows? People love intrigue. But a Russian connection is being investigated. By the time the truth is discovered, his term in office will be almost over. It took three years for Nixon to resign! Meanwhile Nixon was presidential, Watergate and all. This fellow is not. Thanks Judy.
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