Pen and Ink

Fantastical Vegetation

Art

It’s finally spring again! The sun in shining and the world is coming back to life. While many people see this as an opportunity to get outside and garden, I prefer to get outside and draw pictures of vegetation. Or in this case, pictures of fantastical vegetation.

I have always been fascinated by J.K. Rowling’s mandrakes and thought it would be fun to represent this personified plant in pen and ink. But once I had finished my drawing however, I noticed that something was lacking.

Unsurprisingly, it was missing color. Such a vivid combination contrast of sienna and bright green, I decided that my drawing would in fact be much more captivating if it was upgraded from black and white.

  
I used Prismacolor pencils to fill in my drawing, adding extra shadows and highlights while adding hues. I am certainly glad that I did decide to add color and am quite pleased with the finished product.

  
So whether you are a gardener or an artist, I hope you are enjoying the warm spring weather!

  

Sketches from the Nutcracker

Art, Holiday

For whatever reason, I am fascinated with nutcrackers. They are one of my favorite Christmas themes and I have acquired several in the past year (the beginning of what I hope will one day be a large collection). Naturally, I also love the “Nutcracker Ballet.” It is a story that I loved as a child and continue to adore to this day.

Inspired by this time of year and this play, I recently drew some Nutcracker-themed sketches. So, in light of the holidays, I thought I would share these sketches with you and some insight on their creation.

The first sketch is my own personal rendition of the Mouse King. When I began this drawing I was not intending for it to be this well-known character, I simply wanted to draw a rodent. However, bored with my simple rodent I decided to give him a crown and scepter, making him my own (perhaps friendlier) version of this famous mouse villain.

the mouse king

This drawing was done with an average, every-day pen on glossy sketchbook paper and probably only took about 15 minutes. These things considered, I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

The next drawing is of a nutcracker. After googling different kinds of nutcrackers, I started to piece this one together, drawing imagery from multiple sources and making the nutcracker my own. While he is drawn using ink and a nib pen, he is colored in using colored pencil.

the nutcracker

He is definitely very flat and cartoon-y, and posed as a nice break from creating realistic drawings. He is also (obviously) unfinished. But then again, most sketches are “unfinished work.” If I had had the time, I w0uld have loved to have made more of them and turned them into Christmas cards.

Making these two drawings was both fun and nostalgic, two characteristics true to Christmas. Whether you are drawing or partaking in some sort of Christmas event, it is difficult not to reminisce back on the magic you felt as a child. So whether you or not you find Christmas magic with pens and pencils, I just hope you find it.