Getting Loose

I've really enjoyed looking at the loose style of many sketchers, so I bought a bamboo pen and decided to see if using that would loosen up my drawing.

This was my first attempt, in a Canson Mix Media sketchbook.  Drawing this, I felt like I was back in grade school. Sometimes, I just had to go where the pen wanted to go.

Next, I drew my new gym shoes, and again, I had to accept the changing thickness of lines and having less accuracy. (You can't pause too long while holding a bamboo brush.) This sketch was done in a Holbein Multi-Drawing book. The Noodler's Heart of Darkness ink didn't dry as quickly as when it comes out of a Lamy pen, so it ran a bit when I added watercolor.

The next one is Picasso with bread rolls for fingers. It's drawn from a postcard I've always loved: a 1952 photo by Robert Doisneau, 'Picasso and the Loaves.' I've got to say, I did have fun with this, but was it the pen or the topic?

This last one is kind of a mess on Yupo paper, complete with smudges from my inky fingers,  but it shows the bamboo pen. It's taking forever to dry, but when it does, I'll fill it with color and distract you from the crazy lines!

Here are a couple more, drawn with my familiar Lamy pen, perhaps a bit looser than usual.

By this time, I added some cheat lines (pencil) and used the Lamy again. I think I needed some more control after all that looseness! I'll finish it up and add some color and see how it compares.