#Inkober2017 Magical Binoculars.

I read a quote by a man I hadn’t heard of before, Wayne Dyer.   I made such a connection with the quote,  that ‘Magical Binoculars’ became the inking you see in the photograph.

If you could have magical binoculars that you could focus and look at the field of intention, you would see what the source of all things looks like.   It’s a source of love and kindness and beauty and creativity, and it’s a source that excludes nothing and it’s a source of unlimited abundance.

Wayne Dyer.

Isn’t that lovely?  If you don’t get the ‘lovely’ first time, read it again. Read it as many times as you need to in order to use your own internal Magical Binoculars, and not only see what that quote is saying, but to feel it too.

If you look at the InkTober picture for today you’ll see a pretty standard view of a scene, looking out from a beach, as night is falling.  It’s not dark, but it’s not light.  You can still see the land and the edge of the sea in the distance, but you can’t really see anything other than that.

#InkTober2017 ~  Magical Binoculars, by Cobwebs @ The Cobweborium Emporium.  Photograph taken with the flash.

Photograph taken without the flash.

But …  what do you suppose would happen if you looked through the Magical Binoculars?  What might you see then?  What wonders would open up for you, I wonder?

Would you see the birds, flying in the sky, having one last stretch of their wings before going home to bed?

Could you see the man, stood on the end of that land in the distance, with his fishing rod in his hand?

Would you perhaps see the Mermaid, playing in the moonlight?

Who knows … for your sight may be different from mine.  Perhaps you will focus your eyes in a different direction. Perhaps you will lift your eyes to the sky above and see the Gates of Heaven.  Would you maybe, see the Angel?  Or perhaps you will look to the Edge of the Sea, in the distance, and see what is there and has been there all the time, but we miss it because we don’t use our Magical Binoculars.

Magical Binoculars. #InkTober 2017

The inks I used for this drawing were: 

• Black Ink
• Brown Ink
• Teal Drawing Ink
• Metallic Drawing Ink in Rose Gold and Silver (see pic. below)
• Yellow Drawing Ink
• Blue Ink

… in addition, I used a white Jelly Roll Pen for the highlights on the Magical Binoculars, and a tiny amount of Acrylic white paint in order to help the moon and clouds to be what I wanted them to be.  But apart from that, everything else you see is ink.

Use your Magical Binoculars today.  See if you can find the things you might normally miss because you’re too busy,  or not see at all, even though they’re right there, under your nose!

Wishing you a Magical Monday.

 

 

 

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#InkTober2017 – If the Hat fits, Wear It!

Well since we are in the Bewitching Month of Ghosts, Ghouls, and adorable little ones dressed up in their finery …  I thought I’d better get in the mood, so I ‘inked’ a Witches Hat while the Witch was wearing it …. but she’s only allowing you to see her Ruby Red Lips!  She’s clever like that.  Magic!

I made this inking for #InkTober2017 on a Postcard!

I bagged a bargain of over 90 Kanban Postcards for just £3.99 a few weeks ago in a Create and Craft sale.  The postcards came in a selection of 3 different sizes, with sweet little pictures on the address side,  and a simple, decorative background on the other side.

Since I like to use postcards quite often in crafting projects, it was a no brainer.  I jumped at the chance of buying them, as they were such a bargain.

They’re rather good quality and very thick, so I knew that they’d take the ink without it bleeding through to the other side.

The Witches hat was first drawn with an ink pen, then I filled in the colour of the hat using black writing ink as I wanted to ensure that the writing I was planning to team with the hat were the exact same colour of black.  The ribbon band on the hat was made using teal coloured Drawing Ink.  (The buckle was added with a fine paint brush, using copper drawing ink)

#InkTober2017  – If the Hat Fits ….

The Witches Ruby Red Lips were coloured with an Ink Pen in a deep red colour.

I added highlights where the light would naturally hit the hat, using a silver drawing ink, applying it first with a brush and then moved it around with my finger tip.  I’ve taken the next photo with the flash on, so that it really showed up where I’d added the highlights.

 

#InkTober2017 – Taken with the flash turned on, so that you could see where I added the highlights.

Once the hat was inked and the lips were in place … I first pencilled out the words (to make sure I got them in the right places), and then inked them.  The highlights on the letters were all done with a Gelly Roll Pen.

Finally …. I dabbled some black ink on my glass mat and added a few drops of water, then picking up a little ink on my brush I spattered some ink over the card.  I then did the same with some copper ink.

Of course … any Witch worth a cauldron, wouldn’t be complete without a Wand!  ….

#InkTober2017 – The Wand was also made by Cobwebs from The Cobweborium Emporium

The Wand  was one I made a while ago, meaning to put it for sale, but it got packed away when we were moving house and was never sold.  I came across it, along with a couple of others, fairly recently, so thought I’d include it as the Witches Wand to make the whole thing ‘complete’.  All she needed now was her black cat.  Which I have (Alf Capone) … but it’s so difficult to photograph black cats!

Anyhoo …  as I am want to say …  That’s all there was to it!  🙂

Happy Monday!  May your day be blessed with love and may you bless someone else with your own love.

 

 

 

#InkTober2017 ~ Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head…

Another painting for InkTober, but this one is more simple in its design.  However, it’s ALL done in drawing inks. Even the colours are drawing inks.

You can buy drawing inks from various places and from cheap as chips to a years salary.  The inks I have are on the cheap as chips scale but, as you can see, if you know how to make them work for you then they’ll work for you.  And, since I was, for the first time, joining in with Inktober, and wasn’t sure that I would take this form of art up as part of my crafty loves, I didn’t want to invest in expensive equipment.

The drawing inks in the above photo are the coloured inks I bought to try, and which I used for this inking.  I bought this whole set of glass bottles of coloured drawing inks, 6 bottles of Black, Brown, Green, Blue, Yellow and Red, all of them in screw top bottles with an ‘eye dropper’ set into the lids, so that you can lift as much or as little ink out as you need.  The whole set cost me just £6.00, and (so long as you’re in the UK) you can buy them from The Works  <–Link to these inks, opens up in a new window for you.

It’s quite a thick looking ink and not the thin runny stuff you might be used to. It’s not the sort of stuff you can use in an ink pen.  But you can, to some extent, manipulate it and dilute it with water a little.  I would strongly suggest that if you buy some, you play with it first on some scraps of watercolour paper so that you get accustomed to how it likes you to play.

I also have some Rose Gold, Copper and Light Silver Drawing Ink, made by Ocaldo.  Again, I found these as a set of three for £6.00 at  The Works  <– link opens in a new window for you.  The link takes you to the set of three inks, but they are available as individual inks for £2.50 each. (in the search bar at The Works simply type ‘Drawing Ink’, and it should give you the various selections it has).

I used the silver for the central rod of the umbrella, and tiny touches of it for the silver bits inside the umbrella which make it hold its shape when it’s open.  (I have no idea what those silvery bits are – possibly, maybe the ‘frame’ – perhaps?).

#Inktober2017 – Taken with the flash on to make the silver ink show up – but the flash has dampened down the red of the umbrella.  It looks more like the first photo at the head of this post

The blue of the raindrops was made using the blue from the Crawford and Black set of inks, and the pinky red of the umbrella was created using the Red from the same set.

And that’s about all there is to it.  A simple little ink drawing.  It was about all I could come up with as  ‘inspiration’ has apparently taken a sick day.

For those who are singing the song … (and for those who like a little movie nostagia now and again) …  the song and clip from the movie ….

I hope your Tuesday is or has been a truly lovely one.  May the rest of your day be blessed.

#InkTober2017 6th ~ Love – is all you need!

I’ve not really ‘done’ a Zentangle before.  I’ve dabbled and kind of began drawing one, but begin is as far as it ever got.  Words were said, such as:  “I can’t quite understand the joy of this…”  and ….  “.. it’s pretty … but … I’m not sure I’m cut out for it.”.  And that’s as far as my venture into this unknown thing got.

So when I was trying to think of something to draw for a daily drawing #InkTober2017 and Zentangling popped into my head, I should have wondered why.

What was I thinking?  I know that a Zentangle looks like a quick bit of doodling, but I’m here to tell all those of you who haven’t tried their hand at this form of artwork, that it’s anything but quick.  Of course, it would have been a couple of hours shorter had I not began by measuring it out, cutting the right size of paper and got to the drawing of ‘V’ (I’d already drawn and coloured L and O – I didn’t want to lean on any artwork and dirty it, so thought I’d colour it in one letter at a time) …  and it was after I began to draw the letter V that a slow dawning realisation came about that although I’d measured out correctly the size of the letters, I’d forgotten to add in the space between the letters which I’d require, so I had to start aaalllll over AGAIN!  Grrrr!

To be honest I’m not sure if it’s the planning and sketching out which takes the time, or the then drawing and colouring, but the whole lot adds up to a lot of work. It’s harder than it looks and I now have a new-found respect for anyone who does this as their chosen form of art.  Seriously so.

Anyhoo …  I didn’t get to post a photo yesterday for Inktober 5th so I’m missing a day, but I’m sure I won’t be expelled for it.  So this colourful bit of Zentangled Art is my #InkTober 6th inking.

When I look at it, now that it’s done, I can’t help feeling that maybe this type of Artwork is this modern ages version of Illuminated Manuscript.

I kind of planned it out in pencil before hand, but then added the loops and coils and danglings and curly bits, twirly bits, hearts, dots etc etc, as I inked the words using a Zig Memory System Ink Pen by Kuretake.  Everything was drawn out in that pen.  From thin to thick lines – all the black you see is that one pen.

All the colour on the other hand comes from ‘Kuretake Clean Color, Real Brush’ Ink Pens.  Try as I might I cannot find a better pen than these to colour with ink.  They blend so, so beautifully, and with so little effort on my part.  And clean up is so easy.  If you (for example) use a bright yellow pen against a deep red one and get a dirty brush (nib)  you simply do a tiny scribble on a scrap of paper and the pen is clean again.  VOILA!

Well … that’s my  #InkTober 6th offering which was missing.

Now the observant among you will notice that there was something missing from today.  I’ll give the unobservant a clue:  Today is Friday.

Ding  Ding  Ding  Ding  Ding.

Yup …  there was no Friday Post.  There is a very good reason for that.  A very good reason indeed.  And when I think of it I’ll let you know.

No … actually, to be serious.  The truth is …  [hangs head, looks down at toes and kicks imaginary dirt around with the toe of her shoes] . . .   I er, umm … well … it’s like this … . . . .   I  [cough] …  I fell asleep in the chair and when I woke up I went straight to bed and forgot that I had a date with you.  I’m sorry.  I shall feel guilty for ages about it.  Well … for a moment or two anyway.  I shall make up for it by inviting you all round for coffee and cakes next week.

Until then …

Have a truly wonderful weekend.  May you find something to smile about;  find something to do which you enjoy;  and …. don’t forget to put your feet up at some stage and just watch what’s going on outside … even if nothing appears to be going on outside.  Just keep watching.  Something is bound to happen – even if it’s just a bird flying past; a squirrel running up a tree or a cloud floating by.

Sending love ~

The #InkTober 2017 Initiative.

A couple of weeks ago I read about something called Inktober from a fabulously talented fellow blogger.  She talked about Inktober and gave a link, [Inktober Link – will open in another web page for you] so I went to have a look.

In 2009, Illustrator Jake Parker set out to refine his inking skills and develop positive drawing habits.  That year, for the month of October, he challenged himself to create a drawing every day using only ink-based products.  After watching how his technique evolved, Jake decided to dedicate every October to his passion for ink drawing – and “InkTober” was born.  Since then, InkTober has grown into a worldwide movement with thousands of artists taking on the challenge every year.

Jake says on his blog that anyone can join in the fun.  You don’t have to be a fully paid up member of anything, nor wait to be invited.  You just pick up your ink pen and draw!  You might not call yourself an artist … but once you pick up your pen and draw … YOU ARE AN ARTIST!

The ‘rules’ are:

You don’t have to do it every day.  You can do it daily if you wish, or go the half-marathon route and post every other day, or just post once a week. What ever you decide, just be consistent with it. InkTober is about growing and improving and forming positive habits, so the more you’re consistent the better.

So … now it’s my turn! 

I roughly pencilled out my drawing first then using my Kuretake Zig Millenium (005 size) in Pure Black (this pen is recommended for drawing and scrapbooking) I drew a Daisy.

But … me being me, I couldn’t leave it there, and I had to add a little colour so … this is what happened:

The pens used in this drawing/picture are all made by Kuretake, and the colouring pens used are called Clean Colour, Real Brush pens.

The colours used are:

• Flesh
• Gray Tint
• Yellow
• Bright Yellow
• Mid Green
• Pale Green

I bought a full set of these pens after seeing them demonstrated.  I’m not a colourist by nature, I’m a painter – and because of that I have a real problem making colourists colouring pens behave in the way I want them to.  But … I’m finding these Clean Colour pens to be outstanding.  There is no need to use those special blending pens which I’ve found you need to use with some other artists colourist pens.  These just know exactly what you want them to do and do it – as if by magic.   And clean up is moments.

So …  now you know what InkTober is about … how do you fancy joining me on a bit of drawing this month?  You don’t have to be Picasso, Dali, or Degas.  You just have to be able to pick up and pen and draw anything you want to.  Boxes, triangles, trains, fish, mouse, sheep, a flower, … anything.

Please ….  come and join me in the journey with a pen.  Any journey is way better when you have a friend to hold hands with.

NB – Although I’ve sung the praises of Kuretake pens, please know that I receive nothing by way of a gift or monies or payment of any sort or description.  I simply tell you what works for me and what I’m impressed with.  I don’t work for Kuretake or represent them in any way.  (It might be a dream, wish or even on my bucket list. But it’s only on a post it note pinned to the wall of my brain.  lol)

Please consider having a ‘go’ at this.  It’s all just a bit of fun and you’re not competing with anyone, and there’s no prize.  It’s just a few minutes of fun every day, while you’re having a coffee.  Do it.  Take a photo and simply post it on your blog!

Happy October, by the way!  WHITE RABBITS!

Have a blessed rest of your day.