The Sketchbook Challenge Blog Hop… and a giveaway!

Welcome to today’s stop on The Sketchbook Challenge Blog Hop! This is the ink sketch I made for this month’s theme — Houses and Hideaways — based on this photo of my house:

Perspective is always an issue for me, since I never learned it formally. One thing I do sometimes is to put a piece of tracing paper over the photo and sketch in the main lines. Then it is easy to see how the lines get closer together as the object (the house, in this case) recedes from where I was standing to shoot the photo.

 

Next, I work in pencil to sketch in the main lines:

I often get comments about my cross hatching. Maybe it’s because I am rather obsessive about it! Let me show you what I mean. Here’s a photo I took of some beautiful berries last fall in Michigan (I don’t know what this plant is; do you?):

And here is the sketch based on that photo:

 The cross hatching adds wonderful detail and texture to the background:

Here’s a photo of a beautiful red coneflower:

 

And my sketch:

 

I used cross hatching here to create the effect of many layers of leaves back behind the main flower:

The cross hatching between the petals helps to make them pop forward:

 

Here’s a photo I took on Election Day several years ago:

And here’s the sketch based on it:

I used lots and lots of cross hatching to differentiate the different shades of blue and red in the flag, and the black of the tree trunk. Cross hatching was especially useful to show the wrinkles in the fabric of the flag:

Here’s a photo I took of a big grasshopper on some Swiss Chard:

 And the sketch based on the photo:
 

I used cross hatching to make the background darker, more dramatic, so that the grasshopper and the leaves took center stage. It is also useful for doing shadows, like this one under the grasshopper’s body, to create depth.

This Lenten Rose photo…

was the inspiration for this sketch …
 

Here, the crosshatching behind the stamens helps them really stand out, and become a focal point in the sketch:

 

And around the petals, it makes the background darker, so that the petals appear to come forward:

GIVE-AWAY!

I’m giving away a custom-designed sketchbook cover, and a Moleskine sketchbook that fits inside – similar to mine above. Leave a comment after this post and tell me a little bit about your favorite house or hideaway. I’ll pull one name at random at noon, Friday, Oct. 4, and contact you to find out your favorite colors, so I can design a sketchbook cover just for you! The winner will be announced at the end of this post on Oct. 4.  

Note: If your comment does not show up right away, please don’t freak out. Please post only one comment. I now have to moderate/approve all comments, because I was getting a ton of Japanese porn spammers leaving comments on my blog! I’m a busy person, so it might now show up for a while, but I’ll approve it as soon as I can. I promise. (I am teaching all day Friday, Sept. 27!)

We have a winner! Loretta has won the sketchbook. 

Doodling around on "The Sketchbook Challenge"

On The Sketchbook Challenge, this month’s theme is Garden Doodles. Check out my post from yesterday here, to see my comments about doodling, or lack thereof. Here are some of my attempts (the photo first, then the doodle, then the doodle watercolored):

Sketching water for The Sketchbook Challenge

Water lily ink drawing by Susan Brubaker Knapp

This month’s theme on The Sketchbook Challenge was “natural surfaces,”and I decided to try sketching water. The drawing above is about 7.5" x 10", and is based on this photo I took several years ago:

 

I did this drawing in a small sketchbook I take with me when I travel to teach, and worked on it over the past month. I printed out photographs of things I wanted to sketch, and took them with me so that I could work from them on the go. 

I used crosshatching (lines drawn in at different directions) to get at the ripples in the water, and the changes in value. But I don’t think I captured it. I definitely don’t have the darkest values in yet. 

It is helpful to look at the drawing next to the photograph and examine the differences in value. I am also considering adding color to the ink drawing, and using dark shades of color to increase the values where they are needed in the drawing.

One of the tricks with ink drawings is to use different drawing/shading techniques on things that have different textures. The water was rippled; the flower was velvety. To add shading on the flower, I used dots, which look softer than the crosshatching does on the water.

 

Here’s a detail shot of the leaves and the stems, which were underwater. It was tricky to make the stems look like they were underwater, and add just enough shadows. 

 
By the way, if you’ve been wondering why you haven’t seen more fiber art and art quilts here, you’ll be glad to know that I am working on some (and I’ve been teaching  a lot!). It’s just that I’ve been working on a few things that I’m not allowed to show you yet! One is for an exhibition, and one is for a magazine article in the works. Stay tuned!

 

Circle study for The Sketchbook Challenge

I’m one of the host artists for The Sketchbook Challenge this year. One of my primary goals for working in a sketchbook is to get what I draw out of my sketchbook and onto my medium of choice: fabric. For me, a sketchbook is a way to collect and try out ideas, but it is not the finished art. I usually work very realistically, but I decided to try just doodling some circles in my sketchbook, using a black ink pen. Here is one of the results I liked:

  

I photocopied my doodle, and taped it under a piece of Pimatex PFD (prepared for dyeing) fabric. I can see my lines through this fabric, so it’s easy to paint the circles. I used PROfab Transparent Textile Paints and PRObrite Pearlescent Paints from Pro Chemical & Dye. After heat-setting the painted circles, I mixed up a little bit of Liquitex Acrylic Ink with water (to dilute it and tone it down) and painted the background.

After it was dry, it was time to stitch! What motif? Circles, of course! Lots and lots of circles. Here it is after my free-motion machine quilting. I’m thinking about adding some hand stitching. Maybe some little Xs in hand-dyed thread, kind of like my original sketch.

It rather reminds me of algae, or frog spawn.

There is more information about how I created this piece on The Sketchbook Challenge blog. 

I’m in Sue Bleiweiss’ book about The Sketchbook Challenge

In January, I decided to participate in The Sketchbook Challenge. The project was developed by Sue Bleiweiss, and a team of fabulous artists, including fiber artists, art quilters, and mixed media artists. The idea was to inspire artists to work in their sketchbooks, and to share their work with others through an online photo site. It took off in a big way, and major retailers of art supplies kicked in some amazing prizes for those who participated. 

Each month, the group announced a new theme, and provided tutorials or insights to inspire readers. In the middle of the year, Sue wrote to ask if I’d like to have my work featured in a book she was working on that detailed the Challenge, and showed examples of how artists worked on themes to create sketches that they then made into artwork. I was really honored, and of course, I said, “Yes!”

The book will be out this summer, but you can already pre-order it on Amazon.com. 

Next year, I’ll be one of the artist hosts for The Sketchbook Challenge. I encourage you to join us!

I’m joining the artist hosts of The Sketchbook Challenge!

I am so happy to announce that I am joining a group of artists I much admire: the women of The Sketchbook Challenge! I will be one of the host artists for 2012. 

In January of 2011, Sue Bleiweiss and a group of other artists came together and started The Sketchbook Challenge as a way to encourage others to start working in a sketchbook, or revitalize their sketching, with the belief that keeping sketchbooks is extremely valuable to artists. 

Some of us are fiber artists, and some of us are mixed media artists; we all love to write about what we do! 

Each month on The Sketchbook Challenge blog, we will announce a new theme and then post images from our sketchbooks related to that theme throughout the month. The idea is that by providing a look inside our sketchbooks, you’ll be inspired to keep a sketchbook of your own. You can work in any medium you want, and create as many pages as you wish.

The other component of this project is that participants are encouraged to post photos or scans of their sketchbook pages, and share them in a flickr group. If you do, you put your name in the running for some fabulous prizes by the group’s sponsors.

If you have not participated in 2011, I hope you’ll decide to turn over a new leaf in 2012 and join me on this journey! Participating host artists for 2012 are:  

Jill Berry :  blog    /  sketchbook profile

Sue Bleiweiss :  blog  /    sketchbook profile
Pam Carriker  :  blog   /   sketchbook profile

Jane Davies  :  blog    /  sketchbook profile

Jamie Fingal :  blog    /  sketchbook profile

Leslie Tucker Jenison  :  blog   /   sketchbook profile
Lyric Kinard :  blog   /   sketchbook profile

Susan Brubaker Knapp  :  blog   /   sketchbook profile

Jane LaFazio  :  blog    /  sketchbook profile

Kelli Nina Perkins :  blog  /    sketchbook profile
Carol Sloan :  blog   /   sketchbook profile  
Susan Sorrell :  blog  /    sketchbook profile

Diana Trout :  blog    /  sketchbook profile

Laura Cater Woods :  blog   /   sketchbook profile

Gift of October: Persimmons

This is a sketch I completed today. Yesterday, I went out to take photos, because I really need a nice landscape photo for a class I’m taking with Japanese fiber artist Noriko Endo at International Quilt Festival in Houston in about a week. I am really excited about this class… partly because it is so totally different from what I do, and how I do it. Noriko is a master at portraying woodland scenes, and I was hoping to get a shot of trees showing their autumn colors. 

So I headed out to a local state park on a lake near me. It was a gorgeous, clear day. I hiked a bit, took some photos and was almost back to my car when I spotted the most amazing persimmon tree, branches bare, with its golden orange orbs hanging like polka dots against the cornflower blue sky. I must have stood there for a half hour, shooting up. Here are some of the best shots:

When you take photographs, how often do you look straight up? Try it! 

I love how the depth of field on these photos draws attention (and focus) to the branches in the foreground.

They were up so high that I couldn’t pick any, and only the rotten fruit had fallen to the ground. According to Wikipedia, the American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) is native to the eastern U.S. and is higher in vitamin C and calcium than the Japanese persimmon. In the midwest, it is the key ingredient in a steamed pudding, and sometimes its lumber is used as a substitute for ebony in musical instruments.

I am not crazy about the typeface I used in my sketch. It’s a bit blocky and heavy for this subject, I think. I enjoy using type in my sketches; I want to work on better integrating it into the sketches as I do more with The Sketchbook Challenge in the next year. I also need to work on ways to handle the depth of field issue. The branches in the background are too heavy, and too well defined; they don’t recede as much as they should. 

I also think I'll try doing something more graphic with the same photo… perhaps in a more limited palate of solid black, blue and orange. The wheels are also turning while I consider ways to use this photo – and my drawing of it – in something fabric related.  

Back in the saddle

I am trying hard to get back in the habit of sketching in my sketchbook. I joined The Sketchbook Challenge at the start of the year, and was doing great until my mother died in late January. But it is something I really want to do, so I will begin again! Here is a sketch I did today. One of my goals for next year is to do more pieces of fiber art based on my sketches, rather than my photographs. This one might be really fun to do!

I sketched this in pencil, then drew the black lines with a Micron pen, then watercolored it. October is my favorite month! Here is a poem about it that I love:

October’s Bright Blue Weather

    O Suns and skies and clouds of June,
        And flowers of June together,
    Ye cannot rival for one hour
        October's bright blue weather; 

    When loud the bumble-bee makes haste,
        Belated, thriftless vagrant,
    And Golden-Rod is dying fast,
        And lanes with grapes are fragrant; 

    When Gentians roll their fringes tight
        To save them for the morning,
    And chestnuts fall from satin burrs
        Without a sound of warning; 

    When on the ground red apples lie
        In piles like jewels shining,
    And redder still on old stone walls
        Are leaves of woodbine twining; 

    When all the lovely wayside things
        Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
    And in the fields, still green and fair,
        Late aftermaths are growing; 

    When springs run low, and on the brooks,
        In idle golden freighting,
    Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
        Of woods, for winter waiting; 

    When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
        By twos and twos together,
    And count like misers, hour by hour,
        October's bright blue weather. 

    O suns and skies and flowers of June,
        Count all your boasts together,
    Love loveth best of all the year
        October's bright blue weather. 

– Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885)

The Sketchbook Challenge: Sketch #10

Okay, I've now completed ten sketches for The Sketchbook Challenge so far this year. Ten sketches, 18 days. Not too bad. Today I sketched my reading glasses. “Highly prized” (this month’s theme) because it is getting to the point that I can’t do much of anything without them. Sigh. It makes me really mad, really crazy. Can you tell? 

I think the glasses look pretty good, pretty realistic. But perhaps I should have done the lenses with some of the color showing through? At least they stand out from the background this way. I am loving working with type in my sketches. It makes me wonder if I should do some fiber pieces using type. With my graphic design background, it makes sense. 

This is the kind of visual brainstorming I was hoping would take place by sketching regularly. It will be very interesting to see where this takes me this year, and how much the sketches affect my fiber art. 

Note: This is black ink on white paper, with water color and pencil (the words in the background). The size is about 8.5" x 11".

The Sketchbook Challenge: Sketches #7, 8, 9

 

I did the pencil sketches in this post for The Sketchbook Challenge during my trip to Maryland last week. I took along a little Moleskine sketchbook, and drew this one (of my Dansko clog, above) at the gate in the airport, without taking my foot out of the shoe. I highly prize comfortable shoes, especially after my 18-month bout of plantar fasciitis, a very painful foot condition, several years ago. (If you are wondering about the scribbles all over the shoes, these clogs have French writing all over them.)

 

 This is a sketch of my host Coralyn’s lovely antique dresser, which was in the room where I stayed at her house. 

When I joined the Sketchbook Challenge, I vowed to take on faces and bodies, my greatest fears. This is a drawing of a young woman seated across from me at the airport waiting area. The proportions of her body to her face are not quite right, but it is not too bad, considering that I never draw people. Maybe I can do this after all! 

I am considering getting a book on drawing faces and figures, and working my way through it. Any suggestions on books you like?