Wednesday Work in Progress - Owl Doodle Mandala

I've been working on this one for a while now, and I thought I would share it.  Maybe it will help me get to work on the completion of this particular mandala, this giant of a project.  Please excuse the image quality, I really need a better lens!

Here is a detail shot of the pencil drawing I start off with.

Once everything is penciled in, I work on outlining everything with my Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph pen (.25 mm), then fill the lines in with a bigger pen (.30 or .50, depending on what I have to fill).  Here's the outline.

And about a third of the mandala completed.  I do much better when I outline the whole thing, then fill lines.  My lines are more even when I do.  But I often can't wait to see what the sections look like and go ahead and fill them one section at a time.  

Here's the whole piece.  It's on a 19x24 piece of Bristol, and it is the biggest mandala I have ever attempted.  That's probably the reason it sits on my piano, only 1/3 done, waiting for me to make time to finish it.  

   

Soon I'll have this one done, and I will be sure to post the finished piece.

Eye Mandala Finished!!!!!

Finally got it done, now it's time to work on packaging.  Here's the completed illustration.

And here's a half crop that I will use for packaging.

So, what do you think?  I am so glad to have it finished!!!!

If you want a copy, I am selling digital JPEG downloads in my Etsy shop for $5.



Eye Mandala Inking

So I have been working a lot on my eye mandala drawing, and I thought I would share the progress.  I love working on these mandalas because they take time to finish, so the final reveal is something special to me.  I am about a week away from that mainly because I have to work on it after my two-year-old Lula goes to bed - she wants me to hold her every time I pick this drawing up. 

Here are a couple pictures of the outline work completed.

Outlining is probably the most tedious part.  Once done I get to go on auto pilot and color everything in.  This inking process is very relaxing and satisfying to me.  I just love working on a drawing at this stage.  I have a bit of the inking done, as you can see in the following picture.

I am very happy with the way it is looking so far.  What do you think?

Be sure to stop by this evening...I will be posting a giveaway for a $25 shopping spree in my I Spy Jewelry Shop at 6 PM.

Eye Mandala - Work in Progress

I am working on a new illustration for my I Spy Jewelry shop.  It will be printed on my packaging some time in the near future.  I am in desperate need of new packaging, and I thought I would make something special that I can use for a while. 

Here is a detail shot of the pencil work.

And a picture of the drawing in progress on my Light Tracer II.

A picture of the pencil work done.

And one of my rough draft (in two pieces) on top of the finished pencil drawing.

It takes me a few hours to get my mandalas to this point.  And I still have hours of inking left to do.  Can't wait to get my Rapidograph pens out and get started.  

Sugar Skull Flower Finished

So last night I took a few moments and finished an illustration project.  It was intended for our house, but my friend Julie likes it a bunch and she talked me into selling it to her.  I will end up making another copy for hubby (he says I never keep his favorites, including this one).

 This is the first big project I finished with my Koh-i-noor 7 pen set.  I am so happy with the performance of these pens compared to the Staedtler Pigment Liners I am used to.  And so far these pens have not been quite as high maintenance as I expected.  I get a greater variety of line width with the 7 pen set than the four pen set of Staedtlers, and since these are refillable I will end up saving a ton in the long run.  If you invest in these and have a Hobby Lobby nearby, consider buying them there.  I paid about $70 for mine after the 40% off coupon I printed off.  And I didn't have to worry about them being damaged during shipping. 

Here is the completed drawing.  It was done on a 14x17" piece of Strathmore bristol board, and the image itself is almost 12" across.

I am selling PDF downloads in my Etsy shop for $4, and hope soon to offer prints.

Skull Flower/Mandala - WIP

Here's a new project I am working on.  It is very similar to my owl flower - it is made the same way.  I start out with a drawing and estimate how many times I want to repeat it.  I then size and photocopy the drawing, create a flower center, and make a mock up with lots of tape and cut out photocopies.   Then I place it on my Lighttracer II light box to trace the final drawing.  Here is a photo of this step with the skull flower.

The next step is to trace the outline of the flower with a pencil.  I also add on to the drawing if I feel it is necessary.  I added a little heart tip to the petals of the center flower and some tiny flowers on the outside to make the drawing a little more full, and to tie the skull nose design in with the center flower.

When I am done with the pencil drawing I start to ink the entire illustration, starting with the outlines then filling everything in.  Before I would use a Staedtler pen set to do this, and I would burn through a set with every drawing.  Now I have my Koh-i-noor 7 pen Rapidograph set and I get more even lines, better details, and I don't have to worry about buying a $15 pen set for each drawing.  The pens were expensive ($70 at Hobby Lobby after a 40% off coupon), but they will pay for themselves after 5 drawings, and I really prefer them.   Here are a few pictures of the inking process. 





I am not quite done with this one, but when I get done I will post a picture for you to see.   I was hoping to have this one displayed in my house, but my good friend Julie has already spoken for it.  I do plan to make another one for our home, especially since hubby really likes it.

New Pens!!!! - Koh-i-noor Rapidograph Set

Wow guys, I am super excited!!!!  Hubby is pastor at a local church called Faith Tabernacle, and we celebrated pastor appreciation Sunday.  We had a guest speaker (Brother Thrasher) and a nice dinner.  The church not only gave hubby a love offering, but me one as well.  And do they know me or what?  They got me a Hobby Lobby gift card!  I was so touched I cried.  They knew I love to make jewelry, but I decided to use the card on something I have wanted for a while but have not had the extra money to invest in - a set of Koh-i-noor Rapidograph pens.  There happened to be a 40% off coupon running this week, so I did not have to wait long at all to get this set of wonderful pens.

I read online for a couple of days to make sure this was really what I wanted.  After reading about 100 reviews I found there was basically two types of people - those who love Rapidograph pens, and those who hate them.  Really.  Here is a basic set of complaints:  the pens are hard to fill, the nibs break too easily, the pens clog easily and when they do the pen is ruined, too expensive, the components are too fragile.  But most people who enjoy the pens have used them for years and have found with proper care and maintenance the pens can last for years.  One reviewer had a set of pens for nearly 30 years!  Basically if you clean your pens often, use them regularly or clean the ink out of them between uses, don't draw too hard with them (they require only a light hand), and don't shake them, they will last for a long time. 

I read reviews and watched videos of people using the pens.  I also did a Google search and a Flickr search of illustrations and drawings done with Rapidograph pens.  By the time I went Tuesday to pick them up I was practically drooling!!!!! 

I got them home, opened them, scanned over the directions, and started filling.  I found that could not get the reservoir off the pen.  I tried but couldn't open any of them.  I reread the instructions and they said to remove the reservoir with a "slight twist."  I tugged and strained for a moment, then went back to the instructions.  Duh!!!!  I had really just glanced at the pictures - which are in black and white.   I was forgetting to unscrew the colored clamp ring from the holder.  So simple once I figured that out.

I got my pens filled and started doodling.  Here is an illustration I did with the .25 and .50 sizes.

And one I did using just the .30 size.

I love how much detail I can get with these pens.  So far the performance is far superior to any of the pigment liners I have tried.  The line width is consistent, and the ink flows easily.  My pen set came with Trans-Mix Media Brilliant Ink which I like, but I would like to try Koh-i-noor's india ink as well. 

One thing I did not find was a close up of the tips or nibs of these pens.  So I thought I would post one of the smallest and one of the largest tips.  Click on these pictures for a full view.

Wow, so far these pens are awesome!!!!  One thing I did notice is that one of my pens leaked a bit.  It was the one I used the most yesterday, but I also notice that the clamp ring was loose.  I cleaned it and tightened the clamp ring.  I will keep you guys posted on these pens and their performance.