MARCH CHALLENGE DRAWINGS 1, 2 & 3

I was anxious to try out my challenge, so this afternoon I went looking for some interesting materials to draw with. I used walnut ink drawing with a stick, sharpened wooden match, Japanese Brush Pen with a black ink cartridge and then I discovered the oiler boiler (finest tip) from Cheap Joe's.

The first image is on Cold Pressed Arches. I wetted the paper and then started drawing with the stick. It fuzzed out quite a bit. I went back into the drawing with the Japanese brush pen. I used a flat brush and started adding some value, painting with the walnut ink. I drew back in with the sharpened match stick. Finally, I loaded an oiler boiler with the walnut ink and made some additional lines. I had a real "Eureka" moment when I saw that the oiler boiler was making such an interesting line. I also spritzed the paper for texture as well as dropping small dots of walnut ink into the wet areas for textural interest. I tried to be conscious of the light and dark pattern I learned in Geo. James' workshop. I had fun trying different tools for drawing and experimenting with the walnut ink. It lifts fairly easily. This came in handy!

I loved how the oiler boiler worked in the first painting. I thought I would try to draw with it on dry watercolor paper. WOW!! It became a 3 dimensional line as I drew. The ink was just sitting on top of the paper. It surprised me how the sensation of making a 3 dimensional line was so exciting to me. It looked like a fine wire sitting on my paper. I wish I could figure out how to keep it like that when it dried. Anything that would hold its shape when dry will clog the fine needle. Eventually the ink gets absorbed but it took a long time. The nature of the fine needle and bottle creates an irregular line on textural paper and these little "dots" of ink when you pause ever so slightly. This is my favorite piece of the day.

Now I was running around trying to find different papers to see how the oiler boiler would work on other surfaces. I got out my sketch book from Summer with the parchment like paper. The ink was instantly absorbed as I drew so I had a wider line and totally different look. This is the 3rd drawing in the post. Next I tried it on Tyvek, first on a dry surface and second on a damp surface. Again, totally different look. It dried looking a little like a reed pen....darker on the edges of the line and slightly lighter in the middle. I just wrote my name on a scrap of paper and then dampened a spot where I made a few marks just to see what would happen, Lastly, I took a piece of scrap YUPO and drew on that. Loved the look on YUPO and Tyvek.

Now I have to order more oiler boilers so I can have them loaded with different colors so I don't have to empty and clean the one I have every time I want to work with a different color.

Today was a perfect art day...having fun, discovering new things and generating ideas for future paintings. The joy of art is in the "doing"