Black Cherry Sketchbook Spread

© Chromeheart

PR Black Cherry is quickly becoming one of my favorite inks, with just the right amount of saturation for my taste.  The sketch on the right is of an archway cut into a wall, with steps leading down directly into a canal.  Although that seems quite strange at first glance, I assume the purpose is to get on and off a boat with ease. This is the Venice you don't see in glossy, oversaturated tourism photos.

Little Luna Part I

There's one moment in Venice that I remember very clearly: I tried on a gilded mask shaped like a crescent moon with a strikingly androgynous face.  It was a beautiful mask, but it looked strange on someone with my height and build.  I bought a Tarot jester instead, but I couldn't stop thinking about the Luna mask.  Why don't I simply make a Luna mask of my own?

sculpture © Chromeheart Illustration

I began with a small scale mock-up of my Luna to get a feel for the basic process.  I'm a little nervous about this, being that I never had an interest in sculpture before recently discovering its function in mask-making.  Little Luna is made out of Roma Plastilina no. 2, an oil-based clay that is often used for mold making.  

The next step will be to pour a plaster negative of Little Luna.  I've never used Plaster of Paris before either, so this is going to be a bit of an adventure.  

© Chromeheart Illustration 

Truth be told, I'm having a blast with the Luna character.  I did this little sketch earlier today, inspired by one of the more elaborate Luna e Sole masks I came across in my research.  Ink: Private Reserve Black Cherry.  I'm already in love with the color.  

sketches © Chromeheart Illustration

These are the preliminary sketches I did for my Luna mask, and some inspiration references from the Internet.  I want my Luna's facial expression to be relaxed and dreamy, with an underlying intelligence and that slight smirk that almost seems to whisper, "I have a secret." Luna is a monarch of the night, of sleep and dreams, and the night is for secrets.  The facial expression will be more distinct when I build the full scale mask.  

Happy 2014!

If you know me, you know that I don't really believe in New Years' resolutions.  I believe that we should be 'resolving' to be a better person than we were yesterday, every day.  Rather than making a grandiose list of things you want to do differently but probably aren't going to, I guarantee you'll make a much more significant difference by incorporating small goals into your everyday existence.

Case in point: my attempted "drawing a day" project that is ongoing.  It turned into something more like "a drawing a few times a week," but that's okay, and here's why.  If I flip through my Handbook, I can see improvement from one week to the next.  That's the goal, isn't it?

That said, one of my goals for the next... significant length of time is to tackle the largely intimidating project traditional Venetian mask making.  After researching the process extensively, my plan is to start with a small scale model and work my way up to creating wearable face masks as my technique improves.

See?  Got my supplies.  Nothing you can't buy at any art store, or even Amazon Prime.

Step 1: make mask positive for molding purposes out of oil-based clay.  The crappy factory made mask is just there as a three-dimensional reference that I don't have to worry about messing up.  My authentic Venetian jester isn't going anywhere near odd-smelling grease clay.
Step 2: use clay positive to cast plaster negative.
Step 3: use plaster negative to create "stuck paper" positive (noted as being different from paper mache)
Step 4: cut out eyes and nostrils; sand edges smooth.
Step 5: coat "stuck paper" positive with several layers of white acrylic paint
Step 6: decorate!

Tanzanite Venezia

© Chromeheart

Venetian streets are very narrow, often dark despite full daylight.  Looking down one of these narrow streets is like peeping through a keyhole; you only get to see what's straight ahead.  You see faded, sunwashed partial scenes through (that hackneyed) dark tunnel.  Indistinct.  The City's alive, and she's choosing what she wants to show you.  If you want to see more, it's up to you to put one foot in front of the other and make some moves.  It's not like, say, Boston or NYC where you can see what's ahead of you at least a few blocks in any given direction.  Nah, Venezia wants you to get to know her the old fashioned way.

My pen got skippy toward the end of this sketch, so I had to improvise a bit and added the wash.  I think I might have dropped the pen on the floor one too many times.  Don't buy a Pilot Metro if you're a frequent pen dropper.  The ink handles nicely in Private Reserve fashion, but I'm more than a little disappointed that "tanzanite" is warm blue instead of... tanzanite color.

Interior sketch

Had some extra time today, so I did a more involved sketch than usual.  My apartment building has a policy about decorations that are visible from outside, but fortunately, they don't care much about little lights in the windows.  If I stuck up a giant LED santa claus, that would be a different story.

Morning Sketches

Dec. 10, 10:01am

Diamine Salamander, Lamy Safari F, Hand.book journal, wet Q-tip.  Almost-done votive candle.

Between my cream sketchbook paper and the warm lighting in my snapshots, the green tint of the Salamander ink often gets lost.  Diamine Salamander is actually a top notch example of what I consider to be a good ink: an ink that darkens almost to black, and shows a prominent hue when it's thinned out without being too saturated.

Plus, Diamine inks come in these nifty vintage style bottles.

© Oscura Photography
www.viaoscura.blogspot.com

Now, if only they'd ship the bottles with a handmade glass pen!  Nabbed this one at a glass art gallery in Stone Harbor, New Jersey.  Glass pen feature coming soon.