A little side portrait sketch from Youtube

I was watching a YouTube video from the SketchbookSkool staring Koosje Koene, who was describing how to sketch a building.  She was such a cheerful, smiling person, and stayed in more or less the same position as she spoke at the beginning of the video.  I had my little Handbook journal nearby, and grabbed a ballpoint pen and started to sketch her.  I think I liked using the ballpoint better then the Micron pen as I could vary the value of the shadows more comfortably.  The wide line on the right is actually the ribbon bookmark for the journal which sneaked into the scan. 

Sktchy 9 and 10

Sktchy No. 7 and 8

Iris Sketch

I did this sketch yesterday in my backyard, in my 9 x 12 Super Aquabee sketchbook.

Sktchy Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6

Summit Ave. in Spring Sketch

Done in 3 x 5 inch Handbook journal with markers.

May Sktchy sketches 1 and 2

I'm going to try doing a sketch a day from the Sktchy app.  I have to make sure it's a good close-up, because I'm working from a small size iPhone, and many of the photos are too small to make a good reference.  The first one was a cute pose, but I don't think I got much of a likeness.  The second one was better.  The photo was an older black and white, and I think I got a pretty good likeness, except that the mouth is a little too wide.  I have trouble doing shadows on the face with pen, because it always looks too stark.  I'm using a pen which is somewhat dried out, and even then I'm not sure that I like the way the shadows look.  I may have to resort to pencil. 

I do plan to do other things in May, hopefully outdoor landscape sketches, or flower studies, while everything is in bloom.  But I won't be doing these daily.

IFJM 2017

April was International Fake Journal Month, and this year my alter-ego was a 10-year-old.  My "fake journal" can be found here:
www.michellesfakejournalblog.blogspot.com