Lesson from "Lesson"

"Ever seen one of these???"

So....I got so busy with posting my Illustration Friday illustration for "Lesson" and then enjoying other artists' submissions and blogs that I forgot that I had cookies in the oven.  Oops!

Illustration Friday: "Lesson"

I don't know what the lesson is that I should be taking from all the things that have happened recently in the world and in the United States.  Maybe everybody's lesson is different.  Who knows?  Creating this was comforting in a way so maybe my lesson is here somewhere.

For a follow-up lesson, click here!

Quiet Time Doodles

This is my latest sketchbook page, done quickly in a bit of quiet time.  I was so disappointed that I didn't have my trusty ballpoint pen with me but I had a felt-tip.  There are things about the felt-tip pen that make it trickier than a ballpoint though.  You can't make really light lines to lay out your idea;  every line is dark.  And felt-tip blobs a little bit and you tend to get little ink spots on your hand if you rest it on the drawing before the ink is dry.  You can't really get a feel of shading as well with a felt-tip either.  All that being said,   it was still fun to sketch with and perfection isn't an option because, like the ballpoint, there's no erasing!

Illustration Friday: "Bicycle"

I sketched this in Photoshop to experiment with the idea for this week's Illustration Friday and then I ran out of time!  I decided to post it anyway in its very rough form because I really wanted to post this week and, honestly, I kind of like it rough and unfinished.  I hope you do, too!

Illustration Friday: "Bottled"

Another ballpoint sketch, scanned right out of the sketchbook and quickly colored.  It's all I have time for this week.  But I ended up liking it!

Illustration Friday: "Duet"

This illustration was developed from the ballpoint sketch posted here.

New ballpoint sketches

With these sketches I joined two things I've been really interested in lately:  trees and drawing with ballpoint pen.  I really like the fact that the pen can't be erased as I work, and it has the look of both pencil and crow quill pen.  And I'm getting a real kick out of making tree personalities!  I think I'm going to develop the one on the left into a submission for Illustration Friday.