Weekly Recap | 7.17

Whew! It's been a long time since my last post... Just returning from vacation with piles of laundry and nothing but crumbs in the pantry has kept me quite busy. After some long thinking, I've decided to take a little break from the free monthly calendar downloads to lighten my personal load. I've had lots of inquiries lately for custom work which I'm throughly excited about starting! But, I've been neglecting my blog and it's something that I miss sharing with my readers. So, I'd like to continue each week with a little "Weekly Recap" series that highlight my favorite images from my Instagram feed. I've really been enjoying the connections I've made with other like-minded peeps, and find my time best spent there over other social media apps lately. And I don't want you all to miss out! So... here we go...

Something once discarded and unfinished is worth taking another look at.
©2015 Jessica Twilbeck | The Pen & Ink Project

Short Sketch Sessions 

Most days when I sit down to sketch, it's not likely that I get more than 20-30 mins to work on something, so most of my sketches are quick and fluid. It's rare that I get to add color, until it's added down the road digitally. I find the most useful way to use this time is to rough out ideas or techniques I've been wanting to play with. The top image was one that I had already sketched, hated it so I left it unfinished but then came back to it months later. I reworked the lady and decided to play with patterns int he background. I'm really liking the new version.

©2015 Jessica Twilbeck | The Pen & Ink Project

I also find that I really enjoy the quick results of a simple no-lift line drawing. No more than a minute long, so you can't over-think your line work. It's so satisfying to fill a page with these little ladies!

©2015 Jessica Twilbeck | The Pen & Ink Project

And lastly, I've been wanting to play around with using washable markers as watercolor. We went on vacation and I wasn't about to pack a set of paints, but I always have washable markers for our toddler. You can really make some lovely marks with lots of water and a little marker and a water brush (you know how much I love those things). The top image was quickly done on our flight back from vacation last weekend. Simple, sweet and noncommittal.

©2015 Jessica Twilbeck | The Pen & Ink Project

©2015 Jessica Twilbeck | The Pen & Ink Project