No Pencil drawing.

One of the things I want to do this year is to improve my drawing skills. I know from experience that drawing  with a marker or pen not only force you to really look before you make a mark but it also help you to overcome the fear and insecurity in your own creative and artistic abilities. I love to sketch and draw and do it all the time and whenever I can even if it is only little doodles while I am on the telephone. 

I usually sketch or draw all over in different journals but this year I dedicated a journal for these kind of sketches. I have only one rule in this journal - NO PENCIL OR ERASING are allowed on any of the pages and it must be real time life drawings.  It doesn't matter if some of the drawings are totally wonkers or lines are not straight. I will sketch and draw as often as I can and I will not let 'bad drawings' sabotage my future drawings. I will just push on because I know that I will have a big smile on my face when I look back through the pages at the end of the year and see how I have improved. 

This is a page from my journal showing the tools I will be using. The journal itself is one I made with a sheet of watercolor paper and the rest of my tools are small, compact and easy to carry around.   

What do you say? Challenge yourself and keep a journal that you fill with drawings going straight in with a marker or pen. Do it for a month as an experiment. You will be amazed to see how it force you to really observe something and your ability to make marks and draw fluent lines will improve drastically. 

Best of luck and happy drawing! 

Ansota :)

My Compass

Sketch of a compass. Not a perfect sketch but I tried. I am still struggling with perspective and really have to train my eye how to look at things. It was a good practice round though :) 

Happy drawing, sketching and painting everyone!

Ansota

Sketchbook Project

Pages from my sketchbook. I used collage elements, watercolor pencils and markers. 

Search for Meaning

SearchforMeaning, a photo by Ansota on Flickr.

I have been reading the book by Frankl, Man's search for meaning. Raised all kinds of questions and I have been searching within to find some answers too. Wonderful book about the human nature.

Focus

Sometimes you need to go for a walk early in the morning to set your equilibrium for the day ahead. It helps you to focus on the things that are important.

Page from my Moleskine Watercolor journal.

Ansota

Pending

Page from my Moleskine Watercolor Journal.

Ansota

Shoes

From my Drawing Journal and done with Lyra Rembrandt-Polycolor pencils. I don't get the chance to wear these shoes often but I  love them!

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Madame Zingara

Me and all my co-workers went to see Madame Zingara last Wednesday night and had a great evening! Great show and good food and only came back after twelve. We all went with a mini-bus and these two pages illustrate the evening. From my Illustrated Daily Journal.

©Ansota

Getting Whimsical

Just playing a bit with watercolors and markers. Doodling is good for you! :)

Ansota

Art Journal Pages

Random pictures off pages from different journals I am currently working on.
Owl was done with colored pencils on paper. I cut it out and glued it onto the pages.

 

Watercolor pencils

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Ballpoint pen and colored pencils

The two pages above were done with an ordinary ballpoint pen.

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Pages From My Everyday Matters Daily Journal

Wow, time flies! Can't believe my last post was on the 6th of March. Following are some of my pages about everyday life. My way of visual journaling about me, my day, things around me and things that I read, hear or do.

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Everyday Matters #7

Some pages I did during this past week. This was when my daughter came to visit the previous Sunday and she was sitting on the couch with her laptop busy editing a novel she has been working on for some time. She was totally unaware that I was sketching her so when she left I finished it with watercolors and when she came to visit yesterday I told her I wanted to show her what I have been doing and showed her this sketch. She immediately shouted: 'But that's me!!' Well that was good enough for me :)

This is the view when I lay on my couch and stare out the window so I just cushioned myself against it and started drawing this big old fig tree. 

During my lunch break I was looking for something to draw and found this dripping tap at the back of the building where I work so I just sat down and did this quick sketch which I finished at home that night.

 Our boss at work was very thoughtful on Valentines Day and presented each one of us ladies with a single rose (6 of us)  so I put it in a vase and did this watercolor sketch.

 And that is me for the week! Take care everyone and happy creating!

©Ansota

Everyday Matters #6

 During lunchtime and she was totally unaware that I was sketching her. I love these quick little sketches because I have limited time and it forces me to just trust my ability to draw without thinking about the end result.

And another quick one which I did the other night while watching the president's speech on TV.

©Ansota

Everyday Matters #4

The view down the street from my veranda. I love the big palm tree two houses from where I am staying. The bougainvilla's are blooming all over. You see these bright patches of flowers all over the gardens this time of the year. The one thing I love about the Western Cape and the part where I am living is the fact that everything stays green all year round because of the lovely rain we get and the fact that the mist from the see keeps everything moist.

©Ansota

Everyday Matters #3

More pages from my journal about everyday matters.  After I finished  washing my car on Saturday I decided to make a drawing of it. I started the morning when I had my morning coffee with a drawing of my cup and then I saw my keys and started drawing that as well.

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Everyday Matters #2

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Everyday Matters

I recently came across the blog of Danny Gregory and his work inspired me so much that I decided that I am going to move away from the way I have been journaling for two years now and do it the way he is doing it. For those of you who do not know him please do yourself a favor and visit his blog and read his story. It is heartwarming and very inspiring indeed and if you can get your hands on some of his books or even all of them it will be a treasure you can keep and work from. 

Here are some of my pages I did so far. I didn't like the way the watercolors reacted to the first two pages I did so I quickly made a little journal with watercolor papers and did my first sketch in my new book today. I used an old moleskine cover and simply made some signatures and placed them inside this little sketchbook which I ruined by the way hence for using the cover and getting rid of the inside by replacing it with nice thick and yummy watercolor paper. It is small enough to go with me in my handbag and I must admit that journaling the things around me gives me so much pleasure. I am not trying to make art I am simply trying to journal with illustrations about my daily life. Like Danny says "Everyday matters" so just draw and illustrate wherever you are, whatever is in front of you and feel how it helps to change the way you look at life. It's liberating!

©Ansota

Daily Exercise #4

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Two more pages from my daily life

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Growth

 

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