I had this class bookmarked for a while and I finally got some refills for my Pentel Pocket Brush so this was the perfect opportunity to practice and try some new things. Once again I enjoyed Marie-Noelle's teaching style tremendously. Just letting go and having fun is such an important approach when playing with an art medium one is not yet accustomed to.

So here are my first attempts at mark making and creating some abstract little doodles:

In retrospect I wish I had given each drawing a little more room and white space to breathe on, but I guess it doesn't matter. At first I practiced a bit using a water brush I filled with some watered down indian ink, before committing to the deep black ink of the pentel brush pen.

The next sketchbook page I dedicated to drawing from life, using some random objects I found on and around my desk (yes, it is a very messy one). Somehow having a real life reference always makes me stiffen up. I just got so focused on "getting things right" and lost the fun I had with the no pressure abstract experiments I did before. I think this is evident in these drawings. I am also a bit heavy handed and getting a more uniform and delicate thin line is very difficult for me. So getting a more dynamic and contrasting line is definitely something to work on for me. I also want to focus more on different textures in the future. I guess I need to work on modifying my rendering stlye more on a case to case basis depending on the object's material.

Next I tried a little self portrait using a mirror. Again, I think the shading needs some work.

And then I did a random little doodle combining some abstract and some more figurative elements. I just started without having any idea what I wanted to draw and this is what I ended up with.

 

Thank you so much for this wonderful class, Marie-Noelle!