Falling in love with the humble ballpoint pen

Contentment
8x10 inches
Coloured Ballpoint pen on Ampersand Claybord

I was doing some research the other day in preparation for a new artwork and stumbled across some ballpoint pen drawings which really inspired me to pick up the ballpoint pens and attempt another drawing using this medium. I attempted one a few years ago, but combined it with ink and inktense pencils so it couldn't really be called a ballpoint pen drawing. This time, after trying the pens on an assortment of papers, I tried them out on the Ampersand Claybord, which really helped with some of the problems you can come across when using pens. At least if you make a mistake or get one of those unsightly blobs of ink, you can very gently scratch off the surface and resume your drawing and this is a huge plus. There are some concerns about whether drawings done with ballpoint pens could fade over time. I have sprayed this one with 7 generous coats of varnish and am going to hang onto it for 6-12 months and then rescan it to see whether there actually is any fading. You can view a speed drawing of this artwork on YouTube. The reference photo for this gorgeous tiger was provided with kind permission of DigitalART2 on Flickr.  I found this piece really exciting to work on, and will be experimenting with a few more pieces - so watch this space :)

WIP - Mei

This is a WIP of my latest commission - a beautiful leopard called Mei. Doing this commission gave me a renewed passion to do some more artworks featuring Big Cats and so we took a flying visit down to the Canberra Zoo, where they have a wonderful array of big cats. Considering it is the middle of school holidays, we were amazed how quiet it was at the zoo, giving us a glorious day of meandering from enclosure to enclosure. Some of the Big Cats were more co-operative than others in posing for photos. I must admit I had to chuckle a few times, as I got the distinct feeling that a few of the gorgeous Cats knew exactly what I was there for and were deliberately playing cat and mouse with me. As they paced up and down, I would wait up one end of the enclosure for them to return from their pace, upon which they decided take a stretch or a roll up the other end. Quick as a flash I was up the other end for that amazing shot, only to find that they had resumed pacing again. Reminded me so much of my contrary Siamese cat!

Completed Eyes of Steel

Here is the completed piece - there is something so awesome about Big Cats - so beautiful and yet intimidating, I love to draw them. This ACEO is available to purchase from by ebay store. Wishing everyone a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by :)