Ian’s 100-Day Art Challenge: Faces, People, and Places

[Ian Coltman]

Days 73-74 | Queens of Heart (sketch spread in progress)  – reference: Google Images

More practice with the fountain pen with a tiny bit of gel pen and watercolor thrown in.

[Ian Coltman]

Day 75 | Kamala Harris Study  – reference: Google Images

Testing some watercolor hue integrations with the nightshade inks. Also trying to get a better feel for Senator Harris before drawing her into the spread from yesterday.

[Christopher]

Hi Ian,

Thanks for your in depth answer. My rotring should arrive today  but I’ll definitely will check out the noodlers ahab in the future. Sadly even if the cost of inks and fountain pens doesn’t have to be as high compared to other materials it added up quickly 😁

So I made a list of pens I may try out one after another but for now I just get the rotring + converter and normal water soluble black and brown ink by Waterman (I think I saw that in Steve Huston’s videos).

But for me it’s fine to have different materials so if I don’t like mine I know what to try next after looking at your thread 😁

 

To your two new images:

Your washes are getting better and I can’t wait to try that out too. Your faces look also decent maybe you could try to mix technique and leave some hatching or add a new layer of hatching in the shadows.

Thanks again for your help 👍👋

[Ian Coltman]

Hi Christopher,

Thanks for your interest and advice! I’m still in mad science mode but all of your recommendations are on the list!

 

Day 76 | Dusk at the Woods Edge

 

  

 

I got my second Ahab today along with Apache Red ink.  This is watercolor combined with two fountain pens using Noodlers Nightshade and Apache Red which appears golden orange in lighter doses.

[Bryan Mccabe]

The mixture of ink and watercolor is really cool Ian. I really like your style that is developing.

[Ian Coltman]

Thanks Brian!

 

Day 77-78 | Pen Skulls Study  – reference: Google Images

 

 

Skulls study done with my new Pilot Namiki Falcon.

I told you all about it… but the website erased my post… sorry.

[Ian Coltman]

Day 79 | Ink Portrait Experiments – reference: Taryn

 

 

Portraits sketched with 3 Ahabs using Navajo Turquoise, Apache Sunset, and Nightshade inks, and a white gel pen.

[Ian Coltman]

Day 80 | Rubens Copy – reference: Rubens anatomical drawing

 

 

This is an attempt at one of Rubens’ anatomical studies. Some challenges you accept knowing that you will fail… the gel pen helped make sense of some of it.

 

[Ian Coltman]

Day 80 | Head Geometry Study – reference: NMA The Planes of the Head model (Vilppu layer)

Beaten back by the Rubens study, I decided to turn to a simpler subject to improve my pen stroke and my understanding of the head.

The NMA head plane model is very useful and nicely built… kudos to Joshua and company for their work on that!

I’m looking forward to continuing the study of Vilppu’s head geometry tomorrow.

[Ian Coltman]

Day 81 | Ink Experiment: Finger Wag – reference: Lillias

 

Got jars of Noodler’s Shah’s Rose Red ink and Yellow in the mail today and had to delay the Vilppu planes exercises to try them out.

First mixed 1 part Nightshade with 3 parts of yellow to achieve a sepia.

Then mixed  2 parts Navajo Turquoise with 2 parts Shah’s Rose to achieve a purple.

[erikdennes]

Nice work as usual Ian.  I especially like the skulls and forest scene.  I too have a Namiki Falcon and they are fabulous.  Have you tried Pentallic Paper for Pens?  It takes the ink really well and is a complete pleasure to draw on.

[Ian Coltman]

Hey Erik, nice to see you back at the race track… from the looks of your latest work, I don’t think you ever rolled out of fifth gear!

Thanks for the encouragement… I think we can probably both agree it was time for me to stop living vicariously in your landscapes and start creating my own. LOL. 🙂

I will make sure to check out the Pentallic paper since you recommend it.

Cheers!

 

[Ian Coltman]

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[Ian Coltman]

Day 81 | “Thanks, but no thanks” Ink Portrait – reference: Monika

 

 

More portraiture in ink… three Ahab pens with mixed sepia, mixed purple, and Shah’s Rose palette.

The purple goes black on sepia which became an interesting asset to this scheme.

[Christopher]

Hey Ian,

I can just repeat myself that I really like your ink work. First of all because I got not much experience with it. So following someone more advanced is great to see how it’s done 😅 Additionally I aim towards a totally different style with just simple monochromatic washes on preferably toned paper, so it’s just interesting to see what others do with it.

Your Vilppu planes also look really good I tried them too but they were to complex for me but you did a great job!

If it’s about critique I would say that your rendering is really strong but your structure/proportions are sometimes slightly off. The skulls are a great example for that, their rendering looks really good but if you look closely either are some features not aligned on their proper axis or they are proportionally in the wrong place. Not by much so it’s hard to see 😅

Besides that the skulls are one of my favorites from your recent work 👍

[Author]

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