New ink technique

I thought I might make use of today's 30min sketch to try out the technique Alison Woodward used in her youtube video.  If you didn't get to see it when I posted it last time, here it is again:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3oUFXq6Msc

There's a tree near my house that produces long bean-like seed pods.  Before it makes these pods it has the prettiest white, orchid-like flowers.  The flowers are falling right now, so I decided to take one home and see what I could make of it in ink with a paint brush.

I drew it out first in pencil and then went over it in ink with a vey small brush.  I used my calligraphy ink again and diluted it with water to create the greys.  I thought it would be fun to do it outside, where I could also try one of the other small flowers in my garden (upper right).  The ink did dry very quickly, but I was able to wet it again in my palette with a little water.

Reading, reading, reading

Not a very exciting post today I'm afraid.  I spent the morning going through the books from the library.  Lots of reading!  At least 2 of the books I am seriously interested in owning already.  Unfortunately the one by James Gurney is out of print.  For some reason this means that anyone selling it can price it from $80 to $700 in new or used condition.  Talk about a mark up!  I guess I'll just have to do my best learning from the book with the time I've got.

Not to leave you with nothing, I found this cool video on youtube by artist Alison Woodward in Vancouver showing how to use ink and watercolour to create an illustration.  I found it very instructive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3oUFXq6Msc

If you'd like to see her website/blog, it's here:

http://alisonannwoodward.blogspot.ca/

The rain is finally at an end here - hopefully I'll be able to work outside soon!