Bank holiday biro pen drawings

In true lazy bank holiday fashion I've left it until now to write this week's post. It's going to be a short one as I'm exhausted from the weekend's antics!

The weather was amazing for our two night camping trip to Gwithian, Cornwall, even though it was a little cold in the evenings and in the wind.

As the waves were good on Friday, I sat on the beach and did a bit of drawing while Sam went surfing. The sun was shining so I found a sheltered spot next to some mussel-covered rocks which made for an interesting drawing subject. This is a biro sketch which took about 45 minutes.

This is the group of mussels I was drawing. Excuse the fuzziness, some numpty (erm...me) put a fingerprint on the lens right at the beginning of the weekend and made all the pictures cloudy.

The rock was covered from top to bottom with mussels making wet, squelchy noises the whole time I was drawing.

The beach itself was beautiful and only a five minute walk over the dunes from Gwithian Farm campsite where we were staying. Backed by grassy dunes, the golden sand stretches for as far as the eye can see. This photo really doesn't do it justice.

We went to St. Ives on Saturday which was really pretty, if a bit busy with tourists! It's not hard to see why everyone loves it though; numerous gorgeous beaches, lots of pretty boutiques and galleries and enough pasty shops and cafés to try a new one each day for weeks!

The wind came along with the sun on Saturday though, so instead of getting blown to bits on the beach after our trip to St. Ives, I stayed on the campsite to do some sketching while Sam surfed.

I didn't get too far with this ballpoint pen drawing, but you get the idea!

I had a play with paper when we got back. This is a silhouette I cut of Sam's head. Pretty good fit, eh?

I'm sharing today's post on the following blogs: Handmade Harbour, Sunny Simple Life and Manon Popje's Illustrations.

Ballpoint pen drawings - Mum's sewing box

Deep in Christmas shopping, card writing and festive baking here so I only have a couple of drawings to share with you today and I'm cheating a little as the second one is only half finished!

They're both drawn with ballpoint pen. This one's A5 sized.

It's not really obvious here but this one is on cream A4 paper. It's drawn from a photo of an interesting fashion pin board which I found on Flickr. I still have the other half to do :)

Here are the mince pies that have also been keeping me busy!

Today I'm linking up to the following blogs: Lorik Art and Manon Popje's Illustrations

'Pinspiration' - pen and ink drawings in ballpoint pen

Pinterest is one of my favourite ways to find new inspiration. When 'artist's block' strikes and you want to create something but don't know what, just a little browse through Pinterest will have you bursting with ideas and suddenly not enough time to try everything you want. I often look for craft inspiration, but it's also a great place to get painting and drawing ideas and tips.

I found the artist Andrea Joseph who draws incredible illustrations using just the humble ballpoint pen. Her Flickr page is a feast for the eyes, keep scrolling down to see examples of her biro work. I've done biro sketches before but seeing her work motivated me to pick up a trusty Bic again and get drawing.

Andrea incorporates little snippets of writing into her drawings, sometimes including tips for artists. One suggested trying to sketch yourself drawing in an imaginary room. This is what I came up with.

The sofa and me are the only 'things' which are real, the rest is from my imagination. (Not particularly imaginative, as you can see!)

I keep noticing (on Pinterest, where else!?) drawings on coloured paper which I've been meaning to try myself. It seems to give the picture more depth and warmth than if it were done on a plain white background.

This is the chest of drawers in our bedroom. As it's getting pretty chilly here now, every potential indoor hanging space has to be utilised! I didn't finish it, but I quite like the unfinished look.

On to a drawing I did finish. Last weekend we went to Bude in north Cornwall. It was freezing cold and overcast but I managed to brave it for an hour or so to do this sketch of this...winch thing...while Sam was surfing.

While I was drawing a man came to touch up the paint on his boat which I was sitting right next to. We got chatting and it turns out he's an artist and has a gallery in Bude! I checked out his website when I got home and he does lovely watercolour paintings of the coast and surf.

I've got a few unfinished projects on the go, which will probably remain in a state of half-doneness for a while because...drumroll please...we're moving house to North Devon next week! Bring on some more lovely scenery to draw and paint!

In other news, I have a shiny new cover picture for my Facebook page!

 

 Today I'm linking up to the following blogs: Cornerstone Confessions, Manon Popje's Illustrations and Thirty Handmade Days.