Weekly Mind Sketch

I’ve decided to try color for a change! It’s a whole new world of challenges. Working in color with Micro Pen is even trickier than with colored pencil (blending is a whole different ballgame). It’s a bit tricky to “draw” pen color blends because pen doesn’t blend as smoothly as pencil (you basically need to use thin lines and layers to create gradations). Anyway, it was exciting to use color again—and I think I’m pretty good at it. I’m happy I’ve been drawing regularly now and know it’ll pay off if I don’t take too many breaks. Fingers crossed for another one tomorrow!

Here’s another Micron Pen drawing—another tough one! I’m finding it a real challenge to create layered fingers with all the dark and light details. Plus, shading with pen in shadows is a bit tricky. But the only way to improve is to make mistakes. Tackling difficult tasks highlights your areas for growth. I’m still happy, even though I haven’t seen the improvements I’d hoped for as quickly as I’d like. I’m planning to draw another hand tomorrow!

This drawing was another challenge, and I think it was a great way to learn. I might have pushed the dark a bit too much, but you can’t undo a pen stroke once it’s on paper. Still, I appreciate the expressive lines. I’m aiming for cleaner lines next time. I’ll keep practicing and will try another version with this in mind!

Today’s drawing was quite a challenge! There were so many fingers and layers of shadows and curves. I really enjoyed the composition of hands wrapping around a leg—it was a tough one. I’m learning more with each hand I draw, and I’m hoping to get better and faster at bringing the hand together. This was done in Micron Pen again, and as I’ve mentioned, I’m not the most comfortable with pen sketching. I’m looking forward to another hand tomorrow!

Here’s another pen hand drawing! I’m putting in the effort to capture the hand’s bumps, contours, and shadows. It’s a bit tricky to get the shading right with pen, but that’s what makes it so rewarding—the challenge and the chance to improve my skills. I might switch to pencil next, but I feel I learn more with pen. I was aiming to make the hand look like it’s pressing down (which it was), and I think I got it. I’ll be working on another hand soon!

I’ve reached 80 hands! It’s funny how I remember my first hand from years ago, never imagining it would take me this long to get to 100. But now, I can see the finish line! I drew this in black pen again, and it was a challenge to capture all those shadows and curves. I’m working on my pen drawing skills, and I know it will help my pencil drawings and paintings if I keep practicing. I think of pen drawings like practicing scales on a piano—it warms me up, works out the kinks, and improves my skills. I’ll be posting another hand soon!

I'm trudging along. Here is my hand 79. I'm still working with a Micro pen, keeping an expressive line style. This one was extra detailed, and the veins in the hand took a while. Hands become very detailed when you try to draw the veins and contours of the hand, and you could spend hours trying to perfect it. Also, you just have to stop drawing at some point—it can never be exactly what you want. I am happy though with this as it is, and looking forward to hand #80!

Well this was a tough one. Trying to draw glass with a pen is really difficult. It is much easier to use pencil or some other smooth medium. I do like parts of this though, and know I'm learning something new each drawing I do. I am getting closer to my #100DaysOfHands. I'll probably switch to another art medium soon, but pen is helping me get more accurate and I feel I'm on a roll. Anyway, another hand coming soon!