Opposite Seasons

California Redwood National Park notebook by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

My seasons are spent completely opposite.  Winter is when I am mostly outside gathering ideas and I spend almost all of my summer days inside, working.  Along with another set of Simple365 b&w photos of my everyday life, today I am sharing a few in-process photos of  this book I made as my husband’s birthday present.  Included is the photo of the redwoods that inspired it.  I have another Outside the Lines art supply review of my favorite brush pen for you today as well.

 

 

Simple 365 – Set 14

 

Here is another set of  Simple365 photos from a year of everyday black and white photos.  We had rolled into the first few days of October by this time.  Naturally, I started taking October-themed photos.

 

Please Click on the image thumbnails to see the photos.

 

 

 

I created a page with all the previously shared photos from Simple365.  That way I can relive my journey through the year via black and white photos, like in an old photo album.

 

 

 

 

We made one special trip to Los Angeles to bring our kitties home.   The haze of the California desert at Hwy 395!

 

 

 

 

Tavish, the orange one, Pemberley in the middle, and Merwyn at the front – the merry band of the Ink Torrents Atelier staff! 

 

 

 

Prussian Blue Forest Watercolor Monochromatic Painting by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

The colored photo of the winter forest painting that appears in b&w in the Simple365 set.    As I mentioned in the previous post, I enjoy working on monochromatic watercolor paintings. 

 

 

 

Tiny Hand Bound book by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

On the last post, I shared process photos of tiny little books and travel inspired paintings.   If you missed that post, you can read it here.

I am really happy to share that the last post and other recent posts were featured on these link-ups. 

 

The Really Crafty

Weekend Traffic Jam

Crazy Little Lovebirds

Monday Morning Blog Club

 

Thank you so much ladies!! 

 

 

Outside the Lines – Art Supple Review

Kuretake No 8 Fountain Brush Pen

 

 

Kuretake No 8 Fountain Brush Pen drawing and review by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

Brush pens are mostly used for calligraphy, but I use them  for drawing too.  The variable line width that can be created with a brush pen makes it very versatile.   On my search for a brush pen that is refillable, I came across the Kuretake N0. 8 fountain brush pen.

 

 

 

Kuretake No 8 Fountain Brush Pen drawing and review by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

To get a feel for the pen, I filled it with permanent fountain pen ink and scribbled a few coffee cups with it.  The coffee-addict me approves.

 

 

 

Kuretake No 8 Fountain Brush Pen drawing and review by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

This pen uses cartridges.  I like using my own ink.  Kuretake does not make a fountain pen converter, but a Platinum Fountain Pen Converter can be used with this pen.  It’s the middle piece in this photo; it holds ink for fountain pens and can be filled with any ink of your choice.

Since the pen does not have the capillary action of a fountain pen, I fill the converter by dipping it into an ink bottle directly.  Since I use permanent, non-water-soluble ink, I always fill the pen half way.  Permanent ink left in a pen can clog it up pretty badly.  By filling it halfway, I can use up the ink before that happens.  Every now and then, I clean up the pen thoroughly with water between uses.

 

 

 

Kuretake No 8 Fountain Brush Pen drawing and review by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

Once the converter is filled and attached to the pen, I push the ink to the brush tip by turning the screw of the converter gently until I see ink tinting the brush tip.  Once that happens, I prime the tip by drawing lines until I get a set of smooth lines starting from thin to thick.  Then I know it is ready for use.

 

 

 

Kuretake No 8 Fountain Brush Pen drawing and review by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

I created lines of varying thickness for the trees and then used the same pen for shading.  Once I finished drawing the picture, I used watercolor for the background.  I kept it super simple by using just two colors.  

I really love this pen.  It is one of my staples for not only drawing in journals, but for writing too!  If you do calligraphy, I highly recommend it for that as well.

 

 

Girl and her cat at the forest - Kuretake No 8 Fountain Brush Pen drawing and review by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

 

Here is a very quick painting I did of the Girl and Her Cat standing at the edge of a forest.  It’s a misty day and they love playing in the forest with leaves and butterflies on such days.

 

 

A Book from the Time in the Forest

 

California Redwood National Park photo by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

 

We love visiting the redwood trees in the north of California during the winter months.  This is a very narrow and twisty road at Redwood National Park.  We drive up there during the early evening hours and stay until the darkness completely envelopes us.   The looming darkness makes these towering trees look even taller.  Perfect for story time!  Sometimes we listen to audiobooks; sometimes we read sitting in the car. 

 

 

 

California Redwood National Park notebook by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

 

For a book for my husband’s birthday present, and I drew this tiny, tiny picture with our car on that road.

 

 

 

 

 

After that I started working on the book itself.   Book cloths are paper lined so the glue does not seep into the cloth.   I made the book cloth for this book myself using cotton quilting fabric that I had at hand.   I left an inset in the cover for the picture.  I also added little matching black and silver bands at each end of the book aligned with the spine.  Finally I affixed the picture on the cover inside the inset.

 

 

 

California Redwood National Park notebook by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

I wanted to make something for him with our shared times in mind.  The drawing and the book felt right.  I should mention that I finished the book way after his birthday.   He was surprised, and very happy too.  That made my day!  Since then, I get requests every now and then to make books for his notes and I am happy to oblige.

While I am looking forward to being outside again, I am using this time to work and spend time with the kitties in my atelier.  I hope your summer days are going well.

Until next time,
-Soma

 

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Links page.  Please pay a visit to some of them.

 

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The Girl and Her Cat stories - treasure hunting in the rain together watercolor painting by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

Little Stories – Travels And Tales

The Girl and Her Cat stories - treasure hunting in the rain together watercolor painting by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

I had to take a break from post writing for much longer than I had anticipated.   Need of a change of air took me to Yellowstone for a few days, and then to the Eastern Sierra mountains.  Back at home, I have been painting and binding books with new inspirations from recent travels, as well as making tiny arts in my old bullet journal.  I also have another art supply experiment to share today. So here we go.

 

 


 

A few photos from Yellowstone

 

Please click on the image thumbnails to see the photos –

 

 

 

Yellowstone was profoundly overwhelming.   I was hoping for late spring snow, and mother nature listened.  It snowed there every day during our stay.  The landscape transformed with mist and smoke from every part of the ground when the sun came out after the snowstorms.

 

 

Upper Geyser Basin Yellowstone photo by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

The storms also gave me this beautiful contrasting dark sky. During an early evening walk we heard a loud noise and saw an ever-increasing plume behind us. Not sure which geyser went off, as there are many in that area.

 

 


 

Off to Tioga Pass

 

Please click on the image thumbnails to see the photos –

 

 

 

Then we went off to my favorite Sierra mountains.  The trails were still closed due to snow.  We took it slow with walking around a few new and old areas, and simply reading while listening to the rain.  

 

 

Alpenglow on mountains Tioga Pass Yosemite photo by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

 

Even though it was warm in the valley, it got cold in the mountains with oncoming nightfall.  I was glad to have packed my winter jacket as we waited for the mountains to take on the colors of Alpenglow.  I really missed these mountains.  Now I am back home until the weather cools off again, and I can breathe freely outside with pollen-free air.

 

 


 

Outside the Lines – Gesso and Watercolor ground

 

Outside the Lines is a series where I share my experience with new art supplies.   This time it’s watercolor on Liquitex gesso and watercolor on QOR watercolor-ground. 

I converted my last year’s bullet journal into an art journal.  That’s when I thought of using gesso and watercolor-ground to cover up the writings.  To see how they each perform, I covered two discarded paintings with gesso and wc-ground each.

 

Watercolor on gesso and watercolor ground by QoR by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

Gesso on the left, Wc-ground on the right, both after 3 coats

 

I needed to apply multiple thin coats in order for the paper to not warp.

Gesso covered and sealed off the darker under-painting and writing much better.   Wc-ground didn’t perform very well with the coverage even after three coats.  When used to cover up writing, it picked up the ink color and got tinted by it.   It’s a bit more wet than gesso, so the paper warps more too.  

At the end, I ended up applying gesso first, then wc-ground over that.  

 

 

Watercolor on watercolor ground by QoR by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

Watercolor on wc-ground lifted off completely, even after a full night of drying, showing the white surface underneath.   That’s fine with mistakes, but it made it very hard for me to layer colors.  The colors simply lifted off or moved around, which made them very muddy.   When not layering though, it worked well enough.  I couldn’t get any definition on small things like the girl or the cat.

 

 

Watercolor on gesso by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

I sanded down the gesso paper just a little to get a smooth surface.  Watercolor on gesso lifted off too, but much less with some drying time in between each layer.  Watercolors tend to slide on gesso, but I could layer on colors with caution.   In the large areas, I could keep the subtle colors with ease.  The girl was a little better here, but I had to use pencil for the cat.

 

 

Watercolor on gesso and watercolor ground by QoR by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

Overall I liked gesso better for my journal, even with its limitations.   Wc-ground would be great for fixing small mistakes in a painting.  The colors stick on gesso more with proper drying time.  The covering and sealing up is much better too.  Both of these qualities were lacking on wc-ground.  Additionally, since I have to use gesso to cover the writing/work first anyway,  I might as well stick to that for my converted bullet journal.  

If you are using a clean surface and do not paint watercolor in layers, you might like the wc-ground better.  Always remember to a couple of small test paintings first.

 

 

The Girl and Her Cat stories - Watching sunset while camping by the lake at the mountains painting on watercolor paper by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

Here is the same painting on paper only.

 

 


 

Art Journal

 

Art Journal from bullet journal by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

Ever since school, I have always used a planner.   Last year I hand made this book for my planning.   Instead of discarding it, I converted this bullet journal to an art journal.  I am mostly using Tombow dual brush pens for colors and various pens for drawings.  I am covering up the previous dates and writings with darker marker,  bits and pieces of discarded paintings,  darker washi tape,  printing and drawing paper, and now occasionally with gesso.

 

 

Bullet Journal converted art journal by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

I only work on it for 15-20 minutes before bedtime.  Sometimes I draw one day and color it the next day.   I am filling the pages with random small drawings, paintings, writings of my own, and occasional quotes.  It has been really wonderful for calming my mind before sleep.

 

 


 

Little watercolor cards

 

As part of my art study, I started painting these little watercolor cards more regularly.  A lot of times it takes a while to get what is in my head down on paper.

 

Alpine Gentian flowers in the Easter Sierra Tioga Pass Yosemite watercolor painting by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

 

Tiny Alpine Gentian flowers grow in the meadows at the Sierra mountains – a reminder of cool weather and the gorgeous outdoors.

 

 

Eastern Sierra hot springs watercolor painting by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

 

A Hot spring – somewhere in the mountains that is in my head.

 

 

The butterfly Effect watercolor painting by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

 

My friends came up with a couple of beautiful names.  Fluttering by Kim and All Aflutter by Dixie.   The Butterfly Effect is what I came up with afterwards, after reading more about it.

 

 

Oak and butterfly sword scabbard watercolor painting by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

 

I really love the art of sword and archery disciplines.  This little painting of a scabbard took close to two days to draw and paint.   According to me, scabbards are blessed by dragons and imbued with special powers.  The butterflies light the dark path and the oak leaves warn the carrier of this scabbard of nearby dangers.  

 

 

The Girl and Her Cat stories - treasure hunting in the rain together watercolor painting by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

 

The Girl and Her Cat – she wants him to get under the umbrella. He needs to go into the hedge to find the thing they came here for.  “Also, cats don’t get sick from a little rain” was his answer.

 

 

The Girl and Her Cat stories - Watching sunset while camping by the lake at the mountains painting on watercolor paper by Soma Acharya InkTorrents Graphics @ InkTorrents.com

 

 

With increased study load,  I am forcing myself to take more breaks so I don’t repeat another crash.   I hope these photos, art and the stories brought you much joy and respite.   I will wrap up here with these four lines I wrote along with this painting –

 

Life is wonderful in my boots,

Exploring from roots to shoots.

Into the mountains, here I go,

Finding myself, no friend nor foe.

 

Until next time,
-Soma

 

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page.  Please pay a visit to some of them.

 

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