The Artistic Biker

Sketches and Musings

  • Li'l Red

    You can always tell which of these I like better.  I almost always put it on top!  Tonight, the EDM challenge was to draw something with folds.  I have my motorcycle gloves lying on the dining room table, which my bride finds to be terribly disquieting.  Especially this month.  Seems between the EDM challenges and the Thing-a-day, I’m not putting away my art gear quite as thoroughly as I should.  She did quietly remind me that “til death do you part” doesn’t have to be as far away as it sounds.

    Speaking of Thing-a-day, tonight’s proved to be more of a challenge.  We went to Barnes & Noble with the intent of me sketching while the wife and girl2 had story time.  What ended up happening was the two adults trading off a three year old as she ran from aisle to aisle.  She *LOVES* the bookstore.  Get ’em hooked young!

    EDM
    EDM 41: Draw something with folds

  • Playing in the Blues

    Tonight, it was important to play in the blues.  I call this “Boys Don’t Cry”.  I think I will have to revisit this much larger with bolder colors.  Probably not watercolor next time.

    Kimberly watercolor pencils, waterbrush, memory brush pen black, on canson watercolor paper 90#.

    Tonight’s EDM was to draw my toothbrush.  The biggest challenge for me here is shading the bristles and still distinguishing the shadows between them.  Again, I desparately wanted to reach for the colors!  Those of you following along will notice that I skipped EDM 39 and jumped straight to 40.  That’s because 39 is “Draw at a museum”.  I am 40 miles or two days from an open museum.  So I will do that one on Saturday when one of the local museums opens.

    EDM
    EDM 40: Draw your toothbrush

  • Halloweeny!

    My beautiful young bride is a Halloween nut!  If it’s creepy, ghouly, bloody, spooky, she’s all about it.  We used to start planning our Halloween parties in March.  This is the same woman who will stand on a pile of books and shriek until I come pick up the spider and take it outside.  If she walks through a web, if a grasshopper jumps near her, if a moth wing brushes her skin she will run away, arms flailing, screaming in a pitch that only dogs and dolphins can understand.  She has never seen any of the Friday the 13th, Halloween, or Nightmare on Elm Street movies.  That is why I call her my Halloweeny.  Tonight’s EDM challenge was to draw something related to Halloween.  I just grabbed the nearest candle holder and off I went.

    As for tonight’s Thing-a-day, well, it’ll all work out.

  • Self Portrait

    To continue playing with my new brush pen, I decided to attempt a self portrait.  Tonight, I present to the world my first ever self portrait.  Never before attempted.  Done on Canson watercolor paper (9″x12″ 90#), brush pen, and kimberly watercolor pencils.

    For the record, the ink that came with the brush pen is NOT water proof.

    Tonight’s EDM challenge is to draw some keys. Here are my keys, complete with my nail clippers and my “I heart my dog” key chain girl1 made for me.

    EDM
    EDM 37: Draw some keys

  • Brush Pen!

    My new Memory Brush Pen came over the weekend!  I have been doodling with it off and on ever since it got here.  As I said in an earlier post, the first thing I have to learn is that when you touch the paper with the brush, there’s a permanent mark.  Unlike a ballpoint pen, it’s a big blobish thing.  I’m really getting a kick out of it, though and tonight I spent about 30 minutes drawing things around the room.  I don’t trust it to not run out of ink, so if I take it out somewhere, I’ll either have to have a replacement ink cartridge, or a backup pen.  Still, I like the character of the lines.

    Tonight’s EDM challenge was to draw in public.  I have been drawing in public for years.  I just went to the aquarium to draw.  My bride asked if I couldn’t just post one of those pictures.  I could, but what would be the point?  The challenge is to draw everyday stuff every day.  Besides, I usually use ink and watercolor.  This time around I’m only using the .5mm mechanical pencil with hb lead.  I want to build up my basic drawing skills so I can capture scenes more accurately more quickly.  So tonight I trotted off to Wal*Mart and sketched in the art supply aisle.  “Acrylic Painting for Dummies” seemed appropriate enough.

    EDM
    EDM 36: Draw in public