Pen, Ink and Watercolor Wash Sketching.

In the sketch above, I tried a limited palette to emphasize the brown color of the ink that was used to create the hatched shadows. The sketch is tinted with washes of antwerp blue, a little burnt sienna, and raw umber. A touch of quinacridone red was added to warm the acorns. I used the pen's filler lever to express some brown ink from the pen onto my palette and mixed the ink with some of the washes. 9" x 6", Strathmore 400 Drawing paper, vintage fine nib pen with mix of Noodler's Eternal Brown and Noodler's Bulletproof Black inks.

The sketch and photograph above are a switch on the usual reason for showing a photo along with a sketch of the same scene. Here, I was sketching the drawing above while my husband took a picture of me sitting on the beach making the sketch. Back at the hotel, I decided the picture needed a focal point with a touch of warm color, so I added myself in my red jacket to the sketch. 7.25" x 5.25", Aquabee Super Deluxe Sketch Book, vintage pen, Noodler's Black Bulletproof ink.

A visit with family in southern Oregon lets me sit on a lovely deck and sketch as I look out over a valley toward the Siskiyou Mountains. It's August, so the sun is strong and the air is clear. Strathmore Aquarius II, 80 lb. watercolor paper. 7.25" x 5.25", vintage pen with Platinum Carbon Black ink and bright watercolor washes.

The State Beach just south of Carmel is a pristine spot to sketch in January. I used a Wahl flexible nib pen filled with a mix of Noodler's Eternal Brown and Bulletproof Black inks. The black ink is concentrated and can easily turn the brown into totally black, so add the black cautiously, one small drop at a time. The washes were done with one of the new water brushes. The tints were pulled from the lines while they were still wet and from a drop of ink that I put on my palette. I used only water from the waterbrush and no watercolor. 8" x 6", Strathmore 400 Drawing paper. You can find the waterbrushes online at JerrysArtarama.com.

It was November and there wasn't much in the garden, so I cut these strands of lavender and put them in a copper and brass dish. I completed the line sketch above and duplicated it in a copy machine before adding the watercolor washes. This original sketch was done on 8.5" x 6", Strathmore 400 Bristol Vellum surface. This vellum has a natural, slightly cream color.

I then used the duplicate copies that were on multipurpose office paper to try various methods of adding tones with scribbles and tints. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the multipurpose paper. The pen's nib felt very smooth against the paper, and you can see in the sketch above that adding texture and tone with pen strokes was a lot of fun.The 24 lb. multipurpose office paper was labeled as acid free. The ink lines on both versions were done with a vintage Wahl Personal Point flexible pen and Noodler's Bulletproof Black ink.