Fountain Pens Make Drawing Fun!

Self Portrait in Pen
Pen and Ink

I drew this in my sketchbook as an entry to the Fountain Pen Day contest.  

I was having a little fun with this by making it look like my self portrait was pulling away from the pen.

My Hand

My Hand
Pen and Ink

No sketchbook is complete without at least one rendering of a (my) hand.  I was trying to emulate Robert Crumb's style when I drew this.

Anthony says he can always recognize my hand because of the crinkly knuckles.

TSP2013 - Make Bed / Take Meds

Make Bed / Take Meds
Watercolour with Pen and Ink

Making the bed only takes a minute or so to do and it makes the room instantly look better. It is so nice to crawl into a made bed at night.

I take my morning medications and am now nearly ready for my day to start. I changed the colours of my pills to make them prettier and to mask their identities. I will tell you there is a multi-vitamin and a vitamin D in that mix.


When I was painting this image I inadvertently splotched some yellow-orange paint in the upper part of the circle. It seeped into the paper and bled through two sheets of paper/pages. I grabbed a paper towel, a little too late, and tried to sop up the mess on the other side of the page.

I have included images taken with my iPhone of the pages and the mess it made.

At first I thought I would cut out a piece of art paper and glue it to the back of this page and draw on that. Then, I thought, I may try to incorporate the mess into the next drawings. I was not sure what I would do.  I actually have the whole book already planned out, and although I could possibly do both of the above, neither option really spoke to me.

I posted these photos on Facebook and Betsy Jones suggested I used some white opaque gesso on the page and work over that. I happen to have white acrylic gesso so have painted over the back of the page (and the next three pages) and will see how that works. If I don't like the results, I can still paste a piece of art paper over the page and draw/paint on that.

You'll know which method I chose with the next post.

You may also view my uploads on my Art House Co-op profile for The Sketchbook Project 2013.

Every Day Matters #10 - Draw Your Hand

My Hand
Pen and Ink with Digital Colour

Over the years I have often made drawings of my hand(s). It is a ready model.  Whenever I really want to draw something but am not sure what to draw, I draw my hand.

Hands and feet are frequently said to be the most difficult things to draw. I used to feel this way, but now I have had lots of practice and am no longer intimidated by hands or feet. Noses and ears are another story! 

Here are some previous posts that have drawings of my hands:

• Draw The Palm of Your Left Hand
• EDM 10 - Draw Your Hand (previous version)
• My Last Nerve (and a favourite of mine)
• Errand Day
• March 2, 2009 (at the hospital)

My husband says he can recognize my hands anywhere. He knew immediately that the above was a drawing of my hand. Mind you, he has been looking at my hands for over 30 years!

I have these weird looking knuckles on the middle joints of my fingers with excess skin. It creates valleys and peaks of skin. 

My Hand
Photo with iPhone by Ana Tirolese

I have attempted to take a photo of my hand in as close a pose to the drawing as possible. You can see my knuckles in this photo. (Nails by Bill and Lily of Top Fashion Nails, Sherwood Forest Mall, London, Ontario Canada.)

I took some more photos of my hand (on July 15, 2012) so you can see my crazy knuckles. I have painted my nails silver in hopes of hiding the fact that I am overdue to get my nails done.

My caved-in fleshy knuckles. No matter how thin my
hands are, I always have that excess of flesh around
the knuckles on my fingers.
Photo by Ana Tirolese, taken with iPhone

You can see how my fingers curve upward at the knuckles.
Photo by Ana Tirolese, taken with iPhone

I can do this with my fingers. Yes, it looks awful and painful.
It is not painful. However, it kept me from playing guitar
because they would sometimes get stuck in this position (It has nothing
to do with the fact that I have no musical talent).
Photo by Ana Tirolese, taken with iPhone

A better view of how my fingers curve upward at the joint.
Photo by Ana Tirolese, taken with iPhone

Every Day in June #22 - Draw Some Gloves

Every Day in June #22 (EDM #246) - Draw some gloves

Pen and Ink with Coloured Pencil


This is a blue vinyl surgical glove. You can purchase them at drug stores and use them as you would latex gloves (for cleaning around the house and messy jobs). Our son is allergic to latex so we use non-latex products in our home.

I don't use a lot of chemicals when cleaning. But I do wear gloves when cleaning the washrooms, especially around the toilets.

In the kitchen they are great when making messy meals or when you have to mix ground beef with bread-crumbs to make hamburgers or meatballs.

Every Day in June #21 - Draw the Palm of your Left Hand

Every Day in June #21 (EDM #236) - Draw the palm of your left hand 

Pen and Ink

This is the palm of my left hand. Well, as close to it as I could draw it. I am unable to hold my hand open for very long. I have problems with my left hand and arm. So, I propped it as open as I could get it and rested it against the book. I then drew as quickly as I could with my right hand before my left hand seized-up completely.  This is the end result.

My left hand being pushed open against the steering wheel of our vehicle.  I am not wearing my wedding band and engagement ring in this photo as it was a hot day and my fingers were swollen. Photo taken with an iPhone by Ana Tirolese