Hello and welcome to my blog! My plan is to make this a weekly thing. I’d like this to be a space to show off notable bits of my sketchbook, doodles about daily life, or whatever’s on my mind.

It’s October, and the beginning of a new phase for me. I’ve started up my daily sketchbook again and I’m using Inktober as an opportunity to start posting my work online and motivation to be drawing regularly. My hope is that I can use some of my sketches from this month as a springboard to more finished works. I still don’t know exactly what I want to be doing, I just know that I like drawing and I want to get better at it!

I’m not following a theme or a prompt list (I don’t usually), I’m just taking it one day at a time.

Day 01:

Full disclosure, I did the day one and day two drawings on the same day, October 2nd. Actually it worked out well since I could work on one while the ink on the other was drying. I started with an underlying sketch in graphite, then put down layers of inkwash, building up the values. Finally, I added black lines with a nib pen.

©Amy Blicharz 2022

I had no idea what I wanted to draw on day one. I’ve been so out of the habit of a daily sketchbook that I didn’t have much floating around in my mind. So, I turned to old sketchbook pages for inspiration.

©Amy Blicharz 2020

Day 02:

I used the same inkwash and nib pen techniques as I did on the day one drawing. It was nice getting to use inkwash again! I’ve rarely used it since my university days because it’s so difficult. Once it’s down, it’s down, there’s no lifting it if you make a mistake. That’s why it’s important to build up values slowly or know exactly where you want the values to be.

©Amy Blicharz 2022

For this drawing, I was again inspired by an older page of my sketchbook, also from 2020.

©Amy Blicharz 2020

This time, I was thinking about dragons, as you do, and what it would be like if dragons were domesticated. And, say, the size of dogs or horses. I’m certain that Anne McCaffery’s Dragonsong series was floating around in my brain somewhere. I also remember a picture book I saw in the library once, millions of years ago, that explored a similar concept with dinosaurs. (Not Dinotopia by James Gurney, though that’s also worth mentioning here.) I wish I could remember the name or the author of that book.

I decided to combine it with a famous portrait by John Singer Sargent, with a vaguely Regency-era twist. Why all these things mashed together? I really can’t tell you. Sometimes that’s just how inspiration works. Sargent is one of my favorite painters, and I love the work of Jane Austen, so there you go.

Lady Agnew of Locknaw by John Singer Sargent

Day 03:

Again on day three, I’m using inkwash with nib pen, because why fix what’s not broken? I’m having fun using the medium, and it’s a good challenge for me.

© Amy Blicharz 2022

There isn’t a first doodle for this one. Instead, I wanted to focus on drawing a character in a pose, doing something, in contrast to the first two days. I’m not very good at playing the ukulele, but I deeply respect people who are, and musical people in general, so I wanted to portray someone like that. I used a combination of reference photos from online for the placement of the hands, the rest is from my head. I really liked the way her hair turned out and the rendering of the stripes in her skirt. I wish I had pushed the contrast in the values a little more, but I was afraid of going too dark and ruining it. This is one that I think has some potential for a colored drawing later on, maybe added digitally.

Days 04 and 05:

Look, I promise I did do ink drawings on both these days. They just didn’t turn out the way I wanted. I was maybe a little too ambitious on the day four drawing, and my skill didn’t rise to meet the occasion. I thought about sharing them anyway, just to be like, “See! Everyone has a bad drawing day!,” but in the end, I don’t want to clutter the page with drawings I don’t think are up to par. If I do a better version later on, I might post it!

Day 06:

Now I’m starting to be more in the groove, and not so dependent on older doodles for ideas. I recently listened to the audiobook for Susanna Clarke’s “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell” for the second time, and it was definitely on my mind. I love the way she describes magic and faeries.

© Amy Blicharz 2022

One of their characteristics in her work is that they have a closer communication with animals, plants, natural features, etc. So in my drawing, we see a faerie lady speaking with a bird ally. Why is her hair blowing in the wind? Because it’s fun. Why are there outlines of flowers or leaves in the background? Again, it’s fun. Also, I try to avoid doing a simple solid background when I can, because it’s boring.

Day 07:

I’m finally switching it up a little with the media I’m using. I love inkwash, but it’s kind of a pain to set up and clean up. This drawing was made with brush pens. I still did an underlying graphite sketch, then went over it with the grey Pilot brush pen, then added the black with a Pentel brush pen. What this means is that there’s only one value of the grey, so I have to make sure there’s a good balance between black, white, and grey, without relying on other lighter or darker shades. In some ways, this is easier because it’s less complex. It does mean that I’m more reliant on line than I have been in the previous drawings. I really liked how this one turned out!

© Amy Blicharz 2022

As for the subject matter, I’ve always liked plate armor. Actually, armor in general is pretty interesting. It’s so different from daily wear, and it makes for a cool silhouette. This one is a fairly simple, practical suit of armor, but I like some of the more decorative styles too. The metallic texture is fun, lots of contrast and bright highlights. I added flowers because, why not? I like the contrast of delicate flowers with strong protective gear.