5 Minute Continuous Line Drawings

My favorite app right now for improving my artwork and sharing it with a supportive community is Sktchy. The app allows people to post photos for inspiration for artists, who upload their artwork for all to see, with a swipe right to see the underlying inspiration image. An endless source of inspiration!

Sktchy has recently been starting some weekly challenges with a Monday Muse, a Tuesday QuickDraw, and a WIP Wednesday, to name a few - as well as their Weekend Art Extravaganzas. I have been particularly enjoying the Tuesday QuickDraws since they force me to loosen up and just go with whatever comes up in the allotted quick draw time frame (usually 5 minutes or so).

This week, Sktchy asked us to attempt some 5 minute continuous line drawings - which I LOVED! I took the time to add some watercolor afterward - but I did use a timer to limit myself to just 5 minutes for the continuous line drawing (no lifting allowed!). Here's what I came up with:

Have you tried quick draws? Or continuous line drawings? What are your thoughts on either?

Inktober Completed!!!

I am happy to say that I finished participating in Inktober 2016 today! I interpreted the restrictions of Inktober loosely and couldn't refrain from using watercolor on several entries, but I do feel like I got a lot of good practice in hatching and using ink washes as well as just committing to drawing in ink (which I normally do though).

Here are all of my drawings for the month.

Did you participate in Inktober this year? If so, what did you think of it? If not, will you join next year? I'd love to hear your comments!

More Inktober Sketches

I've been really good about doing an ink drawing for each day of Inktober so far! In fact, I've used the Inktober prompts more than I thought I would. Here they are, if you haven't seen them yet.

I thought it would be hard enough to just get an ink drawing done each day, but I am finding that using the prompts has helped me to stay inspired. Usually, I just search Sktchy and my Sktchy queue for photos that correspond to the prompts. I also love seeing how other artists are interpreting the prompts!

Here are my latest Inktober entries:

Have you been participating in Inktober this year? If so, are you using the prompts? I can't seem to limit myself to just using ink, but I have tried to for the most part. Sometimes, I can't keep myself from adding watercolor though. And, I've decided to not stress it and just keep trying to participate in Inktober!

To ink or not with watercolors?

This weekend, I talked this portrait of my friend's nephew.

In tackling this portrait, I decided to start with my pencil and then use watercolor. I didn't start with my normal fountain pen with Platinum carbon black ink.

This was a departure from my normal style, but I kind of liked it. So, I posted it on Sktchy and asked for feedback. The majority of the feedback was that I should leave the portrait as is - and the hardest thing with watercolor is knowing when to stop!

So, I thought I would tackle this next portrait of Kiana - in my usual style with fountain pen and ink first and watercolor next.

What do you think? Which do you prefer - watercolor & pencil or ink & watercolor?