More Sketches of Faces, Abstracts, Flowers, and a Street

 It's been a minute since I last posted. I've been in a slump creatively, and otherwise, and have gotten very little done. I fell off the wagon art wise and have not been sketching every day, as I had been trying to do. This time of year is always very hard for me, as it is for a lot of people, but the following sketches are what I've done since my last post, a month ago. I tried...

A photo of a very old boudoir doll on Pinterest caught my attention, so I tried sketching her with a Micron pen one day. She had on no clothes, and her arms were torn off, so it was basically her bisque head/chest and cloth stuffed shoulders. Kind of sad, but she was interesting and fun.

This one, and the ones below, are from my imagination, after I sketched some in the last post inspired by Pinterest photos. The one above is with a Micron pen, and the three below are with a pencil. Watching them emerge was interesting. I just noticed that the three below are basically the same face trying on different hats. Ha!

This day, I decided to try out the new set of gouache paints that I bought a few weeks ago. I've never tried gouache before, but assumed it was like watercolor. It's not really, as when it's dry you can't go back and lift the color off, if you want to. Here, I was trying for a landscape by painting stripes of the different colors. I planned to blend the edges together, but they dried so fast I couldn't. I let it sit for a few days before I decided to just draw a face over it and move on. I kind of like it. Maybe, I should try it on a different substrate than paper?

A couple more practices with gouache abstracts, a spray water bottle, some scratches and spatters, and some India ink. I'm learning more about what it will and won't do. Intuitive and I'm still deciding whether I like it, or not...

A mixed-media imaginary bouquet, using Micron pens, Posca paint pens, Zig marker, watercolors, and India ink. I painted watercolor splotches first, then added the marks with the pens. Had no idea how it would turn out when I started it, but I'm ok with it, and I learned some things...

This day, I couldn't find anything that I wanted to sketch, and I thought about the collaged street that I did in a class of Sketchbook Revival, and just started sketching buildings on a street, making it up as I went. A couple of days later, I added watercolor and a few details, just for fun. It was hard to stop on it, but I did. I want to do another collaged one soon, but this little sketch satisfied me for now.

These two, I did yesterday and today. I'm still in a slump, and my heart is not really in it. I couldn't really focus on anything, so I just started doodling with a large Posca paint pen and a Micron pen, inspired by a class I took with Helen Wells and her sketchbooks. Hubby says the one above is too busy, and maybe it is, but that's how my mind was/is right now.

I love the black and white sketchbook pages and shapes. The gray stripe down the side is not part of the design. Apparently, my book is too thick for my scanner and the lid is not closing properly on it, so it's leaving the stripe. I don't want to tear the pages out to scan them, so it is what it is. Just try to ignore it...

I haven't been taking any more of the Sketchbook Revival classes this month, but they are there when I decide to resume them. For now, I'm trying to do some cleaning/organizing, when I'm able, and get in as much sketching as I can. 

The days are whizzing by so fast, especially since the days are so much shorter. Christmas will be here in a blink, and I haven't even started getting things together. I wish the holidays didn't stress me out so much, but they always have. Hubby absolutely loves them. I wish I did...

Anyway, that's it for this post! If I don't get another one done before then, I hope you all have a very blessed and Happy Thanksgiving. We still have much to be thankful for. See ya next post!