As an artist one of the scariest things for me is a white sheet of paper. Or getting to a certain point in a drawing or painting about half-way and it can either come out the way you imagined or need to start over. Especially when working with ink on bristol board.
First a careful pencil sketch, being mindful not to press too hard or erase too often.
I got this far on this one, but didn't like the eyes or the way the ruffles on the cap was looking.
So I re-inked and made some changes, started to pencil in the framing around her and for me another fear: the great fear of lettering. Now at one time, BC (before personal computers) I worked at a nursery/garden center and my job was to make signs for the entire store. I worked with huge markers and heavy illustration board. The amount of signage varied from week to week and season to season but at the least I made 25 signs a day. All nicely calligraphic with little illustrations added here and there. It's been awhile since then.
Out came the ink, the pens and brushes. I played around for a bit and then dove in.
Not perfect, but I'm happy with the way it looks with the portrait.
Tomorrow I will erase the pencil lines and scan her in. I want to print this on some dictionary pages.
Look for her in my Etsy shop soon.
