Today’s prompt is “bouquet.” When I first saw the prompt, I had a few ideas for what to draw, but sometimes falling back on what’s in your sketchbooks, or previous paintings you have done, can save you a lot of time. A few years ago I attended the Lima Bean Festival in Cape May. There was a florist attending the festival selling bouquets in pumpkins. I thought the idea was so amazing that I bought one and when I got it back to the house, I did a painting of it. The painting sold a long time ago, but I have the scanned image as a reference. I still love that image although sometimes I lament selling the painting. That painting inspired today’s sketch.

This was another sketch that I did in my Plumchester sketchbook first and then redrew it in my Halloween Sketchbook. I should probably post both because sometimes the sketches have more life and spontaneity than the final drawings. The brush pen also acts differently on the Arches Text Wove paper than it does in the Plumchester, too. I should probably experiment more with that as well.

Incidentally, the Kuretake Cambrio brush pen that I have been using to add the grey washes isn’t holding the original ink anymore. I found a way to refill these pens and I am using Herbin’s “Gris Nuage” ink to refill the pens. I have two of the grey pens, one for travel and one for the studio. I really like them a lot and I use them everyday. I love these these pens and I received the first one as an Artsnacks giveaway in NYC at their first Inktober Meetup a few years ago. I met Jake Parker at that meetup (really nice person, too).

I also have a tube of Sailor’s Ink (another grey) that I received from the Goulet Pen company that I will try as well, to see which grey I like better. Now what did I do with that little sample? It’s around here somewhere.