Buttnekkiddoodles

 
Noggins. In the drawing above, the two heads were drawn while on the #22 bus using Ochre and Dark Sepia Pitt Artist Pens. Later I added the green blue tints and black. The bottom two were drawn as is in a cafe.

       
With the exception of the last sketch of my brother Bob, this collection was drawn this August in the Chicago/Evanston area. Bob, was drawn watching the t.v. some 27 years ago in Austin, Texas.

Fountain pen and Pitt Artist Pens, most on a Rhodia unlined notebook. Bob was drawn on a repurposed diary from someone had kept notes in from the Second World War.

 
Got in a few hours in the magnificent Cleveland Museum of Art. Fantastic buildings, superb collection.
Drawing #1 one of the Biglin brothers from Thomas Eakins’ The Biglin Brothers Turning The Stake.

#2 two views of a bas relief marble head and a quickie of a Adolph Mengs portrait of Infante Don Luis de Borbón one of King Philip V of Spain’s nere do well trust funded brats. The side label/comment mentioned how characters like him were the subjects of interest when rational skepticism in the Age of Enlightenment began to confront absolutist hereditary power. Kind of brings to mind the spoiled brats like D Trump and his offspring.

#3 gored and dying dogs from a hunting scene by Lucas Cranach the Elder. A little bronze of a dog scratching itself. And a wooden carving of St. Andrew

#4 rt to lft the backside of some dude in a print, the still clenched hand of a dead Christ in a wooden Pietá. Many times the hands of the dead Christ are depicted relaxed, but the graphic realism of this one grabbed me. And a difficult to see sketch of a polished bronze figure with a Fu Manchu that resembled Kenny Rogers after he got plastic surgery “face lift”

Drwg #5 the last drawing before leaving the CMA a sketch of a Civil War Union soldier carving a pipe. Dressed in red cap, blue jacket and billowing red breeches the units known as Zouaves were comfortable and looked great but were compelling targets of Confederate sharp shooting snipers. This small painting by Homer is a gem! Well known for his Maine seascapes and his watercolors, he was a monster draftsman who was a war correspondent and combat artist. He’s knocked me dizzy with a number of his drawings and watercolors. I adore this figure and his hands carving the pipe were so accurately dexterous with brilliant brushwork.

Drawn with a Warm Grey IV Pitt Artist Pen Chisel nib and Brush nib because they appear to be pencil drawings, especially on paper that allows you to smudge ‘em, BECAUSE… museums don’t want you to draw with ink.

p.s. the dog scratching itself was drawn with ink from a fountain pen.

Went out a couple days ago and made an attempt to capture one of the bridges over the North Shore Channel in Evanston. I love this simple scene and the frozen surface of the channel in the low light. Nor sure what the daredevil graffiti crew were trying to declare here but I did my best to be faithful to their temporal effort. Well, I roughed in the whole scene and was trying to get some of the woods and general feel of the concrete walls as my fingers were slowly going numb. I think I lasted 15, maybe 20 minutes and then snapped a pic and left, because…., well, because I’m a sissy. Came home and finished the drawing with a cup of hot cocoa at hand. #fabercastell Pitt Artist Pens and fountain pen on #clairefontaine Goldline Watercolour sketchbook.

 
David is a very good spirit who works in the grocery store in my neighborhood. He and the staff have done a good job resupplying the store during the pandemic despite some binge buying. And David and crew have kept a Upbeat and helpful attitude when many customers became frustrated or contentious. Finally, if you come into the store you must mask up which helps protect these workers and their families.

  
Tools used: Faber-Castell Essentio Black Leather fountain pen, DeAtramentis Document Black Ink, Pitt Artist Pens on Clairefontaine Goldline Watercolour sketchbook. #fabercastellusa #clairefontaine

Dreary weather at end of April. Stuck indoors because of the pandemic and cold wet day, so, making the most of it by sagging a sketch from the window by my drawing table. Giving y’all a glimpse of the building across the street from me. Not delighted by the final results and had already grown tiered of drawing it as it was being erected.

At this point I need to make a full disclosure as I am now receiving funding as an “influencer”. My sponsors are Faber-Castell which should not come as a surprise to anyone who’s followed me for any of the past 12 years and knows that I like their product and have worked as a demonstrator on their behalf. For a number of those years I traveled the country demonstrating tools and techniques in the brick and mortar world of art stores as well as at trade shows. I’ve also made my way to teach and lecture at colleges and schools around the country, an experience I greatly enjoyed. All during my travel to these venues I documented my treks here and there and there on the Internet on this site and on the internet as Don Colley’s Road Trip. Faber-Castell was the entity that made all that possible and now I am very appreciative for their sponsorship of my online blogs.

In addition to Faber-Castell, I’m most delighted to be working with Clairefontaine and Stillman & Birn (now owned by the parent company Clairefontaine). I wholly support both lines of paper and sketchbooks by these companies and have made considerable use of their products as you may have noticed in my posts over the years.

There are loads of wonderful products in the marketplace to work with and I’m a big advocate for experimentation and trying them out. When I find pens or sketchbooks I enjoy, I keep going to the well more so these days.

As always, this format is suited to me answering your questions and I do encourage followers to strike up a dialogue regarding the craft of drawing, the tools of the trade, or the themes I may be working around.

The above drawing was made with Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens, an F-C Basic Black Leather fountain pen using a waterproof ink, I’m currently using several as long as they hold up to over washes and don’t clog my pens. Mind you, regular cleaning is necessary for any fountain pen ink that claims it is waterproof. The sketchbook is a Goldline Watercolor Sketchbook by Clairefontaine.

#fabercastellusa #clairefontaine