Day One Hundred Eighteen

Mmm. I took this Monday slowly; gradually easing into the week while escaping doing any actual work. Bliss. I hope your Monday was as equally relaxing, or at least you can forgive me for so thoroughly enjoying mine.

So, time for some art. I took some serious time with my piece today; working my way through while attempting to break out of the drawing routine.

mum adj. Silent, not speaking.

I wanted to use “mum” in a darker, more in-your-face way. I decided to illustrate a character “keeping mum” against their will. I began, for once, with the eyes. Instead of crafting a face from a quickly drawn oval, I decided to begin with some seriously adorned eyes. After I finished the pencil sketch, I went over it in pen:

Then, I pulled out the pastels and worked to get some definition and color into the piece.

This piece was both interesting and surprising to me for several reasons. For one, I rarely, if ever, work in this large of a format. I did not expect this piece to be this large, and was shocked upon finishing it! I liked the addition of the bow-its bright, pink, girly look almost mocking the fact that she is tied up and kept from speaking.

I hope you enjoyed both today’s post, and this piece. As always, thanks for reading!

Xx

-r

Day One Hundred Nine

I spent a long day inside; curled up and hidden away from the sudden and unwelcome return to winter. Not much to report on as far as the day is concerned. Ah, well. I’ll just get down to work. After packing away some incredible, delectable, cream-and-cherry-filled Gâteau Basque courtesy of my pastry chef of a mother:

it was time to get to posting...

Today’s piece signaled the return of the drawing pen, and the temporary abandonment of my beloved pastels. Without really thinking, I grabbed a sheet of paper and began to doodle. Oh, wait...the word! I’m getting ahead of myself...

tack n. A small, short nail with a flat head; a sewing stitch used to hold something temporarily; the changing of a sailboat from one direction to another. v. To change the direction in which a sailboat is going.  

I had forgotten about the other use of “tack” as a verb (Maybe I’d blanked out the memories of dashing across our sailboat, nearly missing knocking myself out cold on the boom, lunging for the rope to pull hard against the winch while bracing my feet against the side of the boat and finally tying off after letting loose a stream of cursing aimed at the captain for letting the boat tip more than 5°.) and decided to focus more on its use as a noun. I thought it would be funny to illustrate a celebration of sorts centering on a tack. I, myself, have found that I have an ongoing love/hate relationship with tacks. As soon as I am hanging up a bit of art, they are the greatest invention mankind has yet to create. The story changes quickly, however, when a floor-residing stray decides to embed itself in my heel. Despite their occasional scream-inducing effects, I got a kick out of creating today’s piece.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and your night. Thanks for reading!

Xx

-r

Day One Hundred Eight

I'd like to start of by mourning my poor dictionary, who, in his old age, has finally become two dictionaries. I believe the introduction of tape will be required if we are to continue in our partnership. 

As I have been bringing my camera with me everywhere I go for a week-long project, I had plenty of material to share with you about my evening. As some of you art folk might know, today was the Final Friday art walk on Mass. There wasn’t much going on, though, as it was incredibly windy and cold and something to do with testosterone and sports was keeping the whole town around any large screen they could find. But, we stopped in to see our friends at The Phoenix Gallery

And paid a visit to the Hobbs Taylor Lofts to check out some art. I practiced shooting from the hip so as not to alarm the people gathered around the art. (I always feel as if I will get pulled aside and accused of stealing ideas.) Anyway, I ended up with an interesting shot taken indirectly into a couple of halogen lights. Although it doesn’t actually display any art, I thought it embodied the sort of low, jazzy, vibe that pushed its way through the crowd.

After seeing some art, I returned home to snarf down some long-awaited food and throw together some art. I was inspired today to attempt a piece *gasp* without the aid of pen or pencil. Pastel and the abstract stayed heavily in my mind this evening as I tossed the use of fine lines to the wind and stared, in a somewhat terrified manner, at my box of pastels.

Taking a giant, dizziness-inducing breath, I got down to work.

em-press n. a woman who rules as an emperor’s wife or widow.

My first attempt ended in disaster as my father yelled in exclamation at an item on Antiques Road Show.

Having gotten an idea of the piece I wanted to create, I ran, cursing, for another piece of paper before “the magic left my hands”. The piece came together nicely, though it did not exclaim “empress”, but seemed to whisper “geisha”. I added a background of cherry blossoms-I have always found them to be one of the most beautiful backgrounds.

I started by drawing the piece lightly, 

and then blended the pastels to soften the look. 

I really enjoy the way this piece came out. I wish I could have let go more and done something more abstract, but, as they say, “baby steps”.

In other news, my website is now live, and will serve as an easier and more interesting way to not only read The Ink Drop, but to get to know this artist's work outside of the blog a little better. If you would like to check it out:


rubyloveartist.com

As always, thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed today’s post.

Xx

-r

Day One Hundred Seven

I’d like to begin this post with a shout-out to my incredible father who turned 85 today. Happy birthday!! I returned home from an outrageous sushi dinner, and got right down to work before I passed out.

Today’s word was really interesting; I began to draw without knowing quite where I wanted to end up, and the sketch seemed to pour from the pen without much guidance or consciousness on my part.

smash v. To break into small pieces; to move forward violently, as to shatter; to ruin.

Although the final sketch is nothing near this, the word “smash” reminded me of the scene in The Runaways where Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) smashes a pill underneath her shoe and snorts it from the stage before the band begins playing. This got me thinking about smashing things under-foot.

This sketch ended up with a woman smashing a heart with her foot. I love the strong, confident expression on her face. As it finished, I looked down and was surprised at how it had turned out-I really enjoy it.

Thank you for reading!

Xx

-r

Day One Hundred Six

Today began with a panicky clawing at consciousness-the kind of awakening that begins with a gasp, continues with a desperate flailing about, and ends with a shin being slammed full-force into a bedside table. The morning took a turn for the better, though, after a cup of black coffee and a trip to the auntie’s. I completed a top-secret project, and returned home to labor away on my laptop for the remainder of the day.

As a disclaimer, I will state that someone *cough* my father *cough* stole my only working mechanical pencil, and I was forced to draw today’s piece without the ability to erase. The result? An interesting, out-of-proportion/perspective pen and ink cartoon.

ra-di-o n. The technique of communicating by radio waves; the business of broadcasting programmed material to the public via radio waves.  

As I sat staring at the TV, I remembered (okay, not technically remembered but remembered hearing about) a time when radio shows were as common a source of entertainment as television is now. I thought about the largely lost relationship between families and their radios. Now, when every detail is presented in full; thrown harshly in the faces of audiences, I think it is sad that almost nothing is left to the imagination. It is as if people participate less in their entertainment and, therefore, are less able to play-to be creative. For example, a book, even a radio show, forces the audience to make decisions (consciously or not) about how to interpret the story. After a while, a reader/listener will begin to create their own personal version of the story-to build on the framework provided by the author in order to supply the senses left alone by the entertainment. With TV, this does not seem to be allowed or encouraged. Oh well, I’ll stop lamenting and start drawing.

I drew a quick sketch of a young girl lying in front of a radio. Up on her elbows, she’s listening intently. I like this sketch because the character is in an unusual pose for me as an artist, and I really identify with the posture.

Thanks so much for reading; I hope you have a great night!

Xx

-r 

Day One Hundred Three

First off, I’d like to explain the recent drastic changes to the look of this blog. I spent most of the day yesterday (as I said in yesterday’s post) working on an online portfolio for my work. Published within that portfolio will be my new, shiny, clean Ink Drop blog! As soon as I have my domain name secured, I will be posting a link to my website to enable all of you readers to have one art-filled location to explore.

Onward! Following a long, long day kayaking on the Kansas River, we collapsed at home.

Yay! Crazy face. 

Rolling off the couch full of enchiladas, I decided I’d better get to work on today’s piece. Having had younger brothers, (Well, I guess I still have them. But, ya know.) I really identified with today’s word.

tug v. To strain and pull vigorously; n. A hard pull; a strong force.

It made me remember having long hair and, also, having it yanked, pulled, and tugged by the younger kids. Gah! I remember how, after a while, I began to get used to it and stopped reacting. Around this time, I think, was when they stopped being amused by it. (There’s nothing fun about getting zero reaction when you’re trying to bother someone.) So, for today’s piece, I decided to illustrate this (somewhat fond?) memory.

I liked that the person doing the “tugging” was much, much smaller than the girl. I thought that her expression was adorable; she’s kind of in pain, but also confused by the rather strange little character tugging on her hair.

Thank you so much for reading; I’m looking forward to getting to show off my new portfolio soon! Have a great night.

Xx

-r

Day One Hundred Two

I awoke this morning with a sense of renewal; a motivation to quit wasting time and get down to work. I’m not one that subscribes to the new-age, eh...what-have-you of spiritual messages and such, but when motivation to change, to work, or to grow comes along, I try not to ignore it. Today happened to be one of those rare (almost nonexistent) Saturdays that, leaping out of bed at 8:30 (okay, shuffling out of bed at 9:30) I was ready to go! Not that the cup, or two, or three of coffee hurt my situation, but I really do believe today was a little different in terms of morale? motivation? m...mojo? Well, whichever “m” word it is, it worked.

It took most of the afternoon, but a plan to work at a coffee shop downtown finally came to fruition at a tiny table in a moderately crowded Z’s. Seems like, with the rain and a slight chill, everyone in town had the same Saturday plan. After returning home, I managed to set up (most of the way) my online portfolio. At last! A link will be posted soon; it hasn’t been “published” to the internets yet.

Partially because I was feeling motivated, and mostly because I needed a distraction from 127 hours (Could you? I could. Could I? Could you? *shudder*) I began today’s project much earlier than usual. It started, as it has literally one hundred one times before, with a word...

sky-light n. The light of the sky.

I decided to go with the other definition (well, I guess it is sort of the same definition) of skylight; you know, the one that goes in the roof of a house. I’ve always, always wanted one of those no matter how much they can supposedly leak around the edges. (That’s what buckets/jars/mugs/pans are for, right?) So, with that in mind, I decided to illustrate a small girl sitting under a skylight.

I began with a very simple pen-and-ink drawing of a girl sitting on a bed.

Then, I laid down layer upon layer of pastel. I started with shades of blue (darkness always seems to me to have a blue tinge to it) and then covered the blue with gray and black. I added a smidgen of yellow pastel to the lightest area of the illustration to add a nice soft glow. I then “framed” the illustration with a hand-cut piece of mat board to add some dimension and emphasize the off-centeredness (Woah, is that a word?) of the piece.

I really like the way the shading came out in this illustration; it was a pleasure to create. I’m not entirely sure what direction this piece shows for this blog or for my art in general (or if there is one, or if I should even care) but it’s sure nice to have even the slightest bit of change. I hope you, as a reader, enjoy this post even half as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Thanks for reading.

Xx

-r 

Day Forty Two

It got cold again. Not that I would know; I didn’t actually set foot outside my house today... I drew the line at staying in my pajamas after 2 o’clock, and traded in my sweats for a pair of skinny jeans and the closest available pair of rather festive socks:

I believe I have fallen in love with pastels. For yet another day, I am using them to add dimension to my staple (pen and ink). Today’s word threw me; there are so many possibilities for this word, but I decided to go with a rather sweet and simple take on it.

dir-ty  adj.  Not clean; grimy; indecent; obscene; mean; despicable; lacking in brightness or clarity; relating to excessive radioactive fallout. v. To become or make soiled.

Looking for inspiration, I came across a song I hadn’t heard in a while...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV1rZa9bUxA

I really like their style-that kind of goofy, energetic, crazy sound. Although I may be entirely misinterpreting it, I drew from this song, especially the chorus: “Do you really want to hold my dirty hand?” I liked the idea of a cute little character being more than a little in love. Judging by the insistence in her eyes, it may be unrequited...

I started with the girl, added a big heart behind her, and colored it and her cheeks in with pastel.

I’d added a few lines at her feet and coming up to add “dirtiness”, but used the black and gray pastels to add more to it.

I then added a little yellow to give it an even more childishly grubby feel. Ah, what a sweet thing.

I hope you enjoyed today’s piece! Have a great night and stay warm!

Xx

-r

Day Thirty Seven

Sadly, today was a designated school day. That means no art, no television, and no music. Well, I cheated a little on the “no music” front. Feeling deprived, I decided to take some extra time today’s project.

I had an uncarved linoleum block sitting around, and decided to use it. After the experience with linoleum block print Christmas cards, it seemed like a good art form to explore.

Before I tell you more about the carving process, I should probably tell you today’s word:

romp  v.  To run, play, or frolic in a carefree way.

Okay, back to the carving...

The original sketch was of a girl (seen from the back) running through the forest. This block was very easy to carve; cutting down considerably on time and amount of accidental stabbings. (hooray!)

I spread some paint on a sheet of glass with a silkscreen squeegee, and placed the carved block onto the paint to ink it.

Let me just say that many of the fine details did not come through in the carving (the blades I had were much too wide for this task) and the girl herself did not come through as much as I’d hoped.                                                   

The first time, I’d put too thick a layer of paint on the glass, and the print came out "blobby".

The second print had too little ink, and barely came out at all.

The third and final print was lacking some paint around the edges, but I decided to go with it.

The two people (other than myself) that have seen the print can’t quite tell what it is *sigh* but I hope at least some of you can. Thanks for reading!

Enjoy your night!!

Xx

-r

Day Thirty Six!

Holy cow!! I have never before been this close to NOT posting!! Oh boy..came pretty close, there. I was wondering to myself if anyone missed me? I was curious if there had been any readers checking in only to find...nothing... Well, to those readers (if you do exist) I am very sorry.

Would you like to know what happened?

I’ll tell you anyway.

As you may have guessed, The Ink Drop is far from being my only artistic outlet...

Recently, I have been attempting to master (or at least become friends with) the art of silk screening. Tonight, I was finally able to come close. I’d burned a screen with two images on it to save time (before printing one, I’d tape over the other) and decided to do three print runs in one night. The results?

This is a print from a high contrast photograph I’d taken of my younger brother in France. I burned it to a screen and printed it on 5x7 backing board.

This is a print from a photograph taken last year (date unknown) in an alley downtown during a construction project. (Those of you who live in Lawrence: that stupid “night club” called Tonic...this was the construction of their back patio...you know...the one with the giant fake palm tree...)

I decided to play around with some 80’s style pop art colors. I hand-painted the background, did the first layer in pink (or green) and then did another layer over that in black.

I then had to wash out my screen...

My small army of paint:

Now, back to the reason you are here...

Today’s word is PERFECT. I could not have picked a more perfect word for today...

sat-is-fac-tion  n.  Anything which brings about a happy feeling; the fulfillment of a need, appetite, or desire; a source of gratification.

Ahh...just the way to describe my evening.

I decided to use some of the paint that had been sitting around, and draw the sound that came to mind:

I painted the girl (over a pencil sketch) and left her face in pencil-the brush was much too large for that fine of detail.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s post! (Most of you will no doubt read this tomorrow) For now, I will be sinking into bed and not moving for at least 10 hours.

Good night.

Xx

-r