Gina Lento: Fine Art and Illustration

Inktober 2023 Day 17

Good Morning!!

Today’s Inktober prompt is “demon” but I opted to go with my gut on this one. The temps have dropped considerably where I live in Florida. We are in the frost zone now so we do have to watch for our tender plants when it gets down to frost temperatures. Last night’s temps were down to about 55 or so which for us, is pretty cool. I had to take Mack to Gainesville yesterday which is even further North so I was wearing jeans yesterday! It was chilly up there!

Mack was sitting outside today in the sun, just loving the cool air. Lucy on the other hand, was shivering and would lay in the sun to stay warm. It’s funny how that works,lol. Early this morning, when they went out to go potty, Lucy flew into the house and onto the bed and dove under the covers. Mack sauntered in and looked at Lucy like “really?”

So my little sketch today was my take on the temperature disparity on the two dogs. Mack really does roll his eyes at her in his way. They do have the Bonnie and Clyde thing down, though. I just had to get up and investigate because I her bags rustling and someone left the panty open and the two thieves were trying to open the bags of dog food…..well more Mack…Lucy was studying the process intently. The pair of them are a piece of work.Today’s Drawlloween prompt is “ghoul” and I have been pulling out my pencil stash because some of my mechanical pencils are too light and I have been trying to make them work. I had an “Aha” moment when I realized that one of them was sporting the B lead and the others had come with HB. I just need to get the different sizes in B instead of HB. I had a lot of fun with this one. I love Halloween!

Pen and ink drawing of two chihuahuas sitting in a backyard. The one chihuahua is longhaired and is rolling his eyes at the skinny smooth coat chihuahua that is all bundled up because the high temp in their area of Florida today is 70 degrees. The lizard in the grass has a sweatshirt on. — It’s below 70 in Florida

Have a great day!

Pencil drawing of a ghoul standing in a grave, gnawing some bones. The cemetery his is digging up is old and appears to not being cared for so he has the run of the place.

Inktober 2023 Day 16

Good Morning!!

Today’s Inktober prompt is “angel.”

I did a sketch based loosely on Chloe, as an angel somewhere over the Rainbow Bridge. It’s been a while since I sketched her, and she’s been gone since January. The sting of the pain of her loss is still there, though Lucy is a good distraction. I had to do my sketches in a hurry this morning because I have to take Mack to Gainesville for a specialist appointment. So I did my sketches quickly this morning and I am making my post a little short today as well because I need to leave in a few minutes.

Pen and ink drawing of a chubby chihuahua the has gone on to the Rainbow Bridge. She is sporting a pair of wings and a halo and is floating among the ethereal clouds of eternity. — Angel

Today’s Drawlloween prompt is “Black Lagoon.” Today’s sketch is a mixture of pencil and colored pencil because I couldn’t quite get the effect I wanted in just plain ol’ pencil. I like the light effect of the colored pencils so I may keep using these for the rest of the month.

Have a great day!

Pencil drawing of a black lagoon with a deadish tree and spanish moss. There is a very large gator floating in the water and there is a ring of water indicating that something is there underneath. — Black Lagoon

Inktober 2023 Day 15

Happy Sunday!!

Today’s Inktober prompt is “dagger.”

I wasn’t sure what to draw and any examples weren’t what I envisioned a dagger should look like. So I winged it. I was thinking along the lines of maybe something more medieval where carrying a dagger was necessary for survival and was a way of life. Maybe even a little Shakespearean, with a touch of drama. I was thinking of scenes of movies where the dagger had to have balance, to be wielded with skill and speed. Nothing fancy that would interfere with it’s purpose for existing and it’s use. Something that Pedro Pascal would use in either Game of Thrones or maybe the Mandalorian.

That sort of dagger.

Pen and ink drawing of a modestly decorated but lethal looking dagger. — Dagger

Today’s Drawlloween prompt is “reaper.” This sketch took a little more time because I wanted something less like the everyday grim reaper. A walking decaying epitome of death, looking like it was ready to crumble and turn to dust. Sort of like Death in the Deathly Hallows….searching for the ones that are using invisibility cloaks to avoid detection. You can only get so far being invisible. Eventually Death finds you because you have to take that cloak off some time. The hooded shroud that Death wears is more powerful than any super hero cape. The fact that Death is leaning forward with great age and has to be supported with a cane doesn’t mean that Death is frail and weak. Death has super natural strength.

Amazingly enough, Death is not usually portrayed with any sort of side kick or assistant. Death’s vocation is singular. Death just glides through the After Life, collecting souls. Death isn’t portrayed with any sort of transportation, either. Most curious. Even the headless horseman has a horse. And a weapon.

Well on that note, that’s it for today! A spooky story for the final countdown to Halloween.

Have a great evening!

Pencil drawing of a reaper that leans toward the reaper from deathly hallows. a decaying dusty looking creature in a cemetery setting complete with skeletal mouse. — Reaper

Inktober 2023 Day 14

Happy Saturday!! Happy Annular Eclipse Day!

Today’s Inktober prompt is “castle” but since it is the annular eclipse day, I decided to use that as my prompt instead. I was a little bummed that you had to be in the Southwest to see the ring of fire part of the eclipse, but Florida got a partial eclipse. I had to look up what times the partial could be seen in my area, and I tried so methods (that failed) to “see” it. (cutting out circles on 3×5 cards doesn’t create the desired results.)

On the Weather Channel, they kept saying to use a colander. I was like, “seriously? A colander?”

Yeah, guess what? The colander worked. It was pretty cool. We were almost 50% covered here. I had to run and get hubby and show him. I have to say, the sun wasn’t as strong during the eclipse but the colander showed it’s happy little moon-sicles. That was really cool. I’ll have to remember that trick.

Pen and ink drawing of two chihuahuas in a back yard setting. They have eclipse goggles on and they are watching the partial annular eclipse from Florida — Day 14 – Annular Eclipse

Today’s Drawlloween prompt is Goth Moth. I have no idea what that was supposed to mean so I researched it on Duck Duck Go. (I don’t use Google.) I couldn’t find anything specific except a few wild looking moths and a lot of drawings so I moved on to the Museum App. The Museum App (formerly the Sktchy app) on IOS is chock full of all sorts of reference photos, posted by artists and non-artists, hoping inspire someone to create art from their photo. I used one submitted by Joan Martin, that was especially intriguing. There were a lot of good photos to choose from and I wondered how folks were seeing all of these cool moths. I need to go looking for moths. Anyway I digress and this is my Goth Moth.

Well that’s it for today! Have a great weekend.

Pencil drawing of a moth meant to be a goth moth. Interesting patterning on the wings — Goth Moth

Inktober 2023 Day 13

Good morning!! Happy Friday to you all!

Today’s Inktober prompt is rise.

I introduced Lucy at the beginning of this month. We were all mourning the loss of Chloe, but by May, the emptiness from the lack of Chloe’s presence hung around the house like a dark shade. Lucy brings a spark back into the household. Mack has been getting his paybacks for all the times that he pushed (shoved) Chloe out of the way so he could hog up all the attention. Lucy is the new attention hog, using her puppy cuteness and feigned helplessness to get love and play time.

Mack hasn’t been well the past few months, the vets have being trying to find the cause (we think it’s sinus but it could be dental). The vets aren’t completely sure it’s his heart (he has a murmur) but they aren’t ruling it out so they have him on a few meds to help with lungs and heart and he has to go for dental x-rays and a few other tests to see what’s going on. This has been an ongoing issue since he had his teeth cleaned back in the winter of 2019.

n the meantime, he’s been doing well and trying to push his way back into the spotlight. (We give him lots and lots of love, but Mack wants it all LOL.) This means stealing Lucy’s bones and setting her up for getting in hot water. He’ll make the announcement to go out to pee, we’ll let him out, she runs out, he comes back in and steals her bone, where we’ll hear a wail of protest when she finds out. She’s so dramatic. It’s actually pretty funny to see her throw a fit at him, she slides under the furniture upside down and pops out near him, shrieking because she won’t mess with the grumpy old man directly. John usually intervenes. I take the “you snooze you lose” approach. She has other bones, a whole collection that she stows away on the couch because Mack can’t jump up anymore. We call it her bone garden. I’ll put them in her play yard and she takes out all the bones and her favorite toys back out of the play yard to put them back on the couch. She has a meltdown when Mack goes in her play yard. She’ a pip.

Today’s sketch pretty much sums up their relationship.

Pen and ink drawing of two chihuahuas in a back yard setting. The long haired Chihuahua on the ground has a few bones at his feet. The other chihuahua has a balloon tied to her harness and she it floating away. The one on the ground is looking very smug at his trick. — Rise

Today’s Drawlloween prompt is Frankenstein. Try as I might, I couldn’t make him look monster-ish. This Frankie wanted to be his own person, and he looks like a younger Frankie so I let it be. Ol’ Frankie isn’t getting so much “air time” today with Mack and Lucy stealing the show. But he’s pondering life, or maybe what to have for lunch, which is what I will be doing shortly.

Well that’s it for today! And the Phils have made it to the National League Championship again!! Woo hooo!

Pencil drawing of Frankenstein, looking a little younger and sort of in the Rodin Thinker pose. He’s sitting on a wall in a park setting with a squirrel checking him out and he doesn’t seem to notice the squirrel next to him. There’s a bird above on a tree branch, probably hollering at the squirrel. — Frankenstein

Inktober 2023 Day 12

Good afternoon!!

Today’s Inktober prompt is “spicy. ” (Just a quick note, it’s spelled “spicey” on the official list.)

I thought of a few things to illustrate today’s word, but as someone who used to grow hot peppers, spicy has a more focused meaning. Back when I had my garden in South Jersey, we grew many varieties of hot peppers. I used to get the Shepherd’s Seeds catalogs and they had some really unusual varieties. There were Firecracker piquins, poblanos, cayennes and the piece de resistance, the Red Savina Habanero. Ooooo, this critter was HOT. The Red Savina was was supposedly the hottest pepper ever, even hotter than scotch bonnets……I would chop up one and put it in a huge pot of chili and WOW.

Then, a new comer appeared, and grabbed the title of the hottest pepper, known as the Ghost pepper. The Ghost pepper actually got its name from a mistranslation of it’s name from it’s county of origin. And it’s a red pepper. I was expecting a ghostly white pepper, just ready and waiting to scare down some taste buds.

I figured the Ghost pepper would be the perfect subject today, making them ghostly in color and giving the little heaters some sinister faces. Their smug nasty little smiles are going to fade when they find out that the Carolina Reaper kicked their a$$ as the newest reigning hottest pepper. All hail to the King of heat.

Pen and ink drawingof ghost peppers growing on the plant. The peppers are shaped like ghosts and they have sinister faces that reveals their spicy nature — Spicy

Today’s Drawlloween prompt is toad. I figured I’d use something a little more benevolent than the Bufo toad. I actually wanted to practice my toad drawing skills so I went to the Museum App to look to see who may have posted a Toad reference photo. There were about 30-ish so I scrolled until I found one and sketched it. If you ever need reference photos, the Museum App is free and lots of people post photos, hoping that an artist will use their photo. Lots of fun.

Well that’s it for today! Have a good evening! Go Phils!

Pencil drawing of a toad. He’s hanging out in some leafy grassy underbrush, just chilling, no particular plans, just hanging. — Toad

Inktober 2023 Day 11

Pen and ink drawing of a two dogs wandering up a trail. There is vegetation on both sides and they look like they have a purpose for their stroll. — Wander

Good afternoon!!

Todays prompt is wander. Mack and Lucy’s favorite. They are constantly on the look out for an open exterior door. Lucy is an escape artist and we have to be ever vigilant to ensure she doesn’t sneak out. Mack just wants to wander and pee on everything outside the house to set up his perimeter. He won’t go far, unless that tree down the street catches his attention or that tall blade of grass that looks really tempting.

Lucy, on the other hand, would take off and we’d find her in the next county (Yes, she was spayed last week.). One thing about missing Chloe; Chloe did not like unnecessary exercise so bolting out the front door was not an issue. Chloe was so smart, too, she ran the household. Mack is stubborn (aka pigheaded) and Lucy is a space cadet. Yes, she’s cute and adorable, but she’s “no thoughts, just vibes.” Lucy is very athletic and we thought about obstacle training her because she would love the interaction and the activity. We’re just not sure there’s a brain attached. Well, maybe we could rely on muscle memory. It’s a thought.

Anyway, when I look at this little sketch and their little Bonnie and Clyde escape jaunt, I am thinking that their soundtrack would be Rusted Root’s “Send me on my Way…”

Today’s Drawlloween prompt is web. I was going to draw a web and a spider, but the other day we say this web on a fence and so I decided to do a close up of a spider web woven on a wrought iron fence. You see these occasionally around the area and they twinkle and glisten in the early mornings. We live in Florida where there are a lot of newer communities so down here, we have to go to the few older Florida towns that still exist to see older structures. Sadly, developers want to destroy the old Florida communities, especially by water. There’s a developer that wants to turn Jensen Beach into another Boca. I don’t know why they have to destroy the old instead of just updating and keeping the charm of the older buildings. I love traveling around Florida to find all the old charming communities.

Well that’s it for today!

Pencil drawing of a spider web hanging delicately between two posts of a wrought iron fence that seems to be loosely shaped like a fleur-de-lis on each post top. — Web

Inktober Day 10

Good Day!

Todays prompt is fortune. Mack and Lucy can think of nothing better than the good fortune of a huge bags of dog bones and treats. I thought of sketching a fortune cookie with a fortune in it but I had to let Lucy an Mack out to go potty and then they went right to the kitchen for their treat so I decided on the doggie theme.

Pen and ink drawing of a two dogs eyeing up a huge basket/bag of bones and treats indicating that their idea of a fortune is food and treat related — Fortune

As I was sketching, I had the movie “My Life in Ruins” playing in the background. I was listening to Halloween movies all week, but today has a bunch of movies I already listened to and didn’t feel like another round of Twilight, and definitely not into the whole gory and incessant screaming films thing, so I scrolled through and saw that “My Life in Ruins” was on TV. I love that movie so I clicked on that channel. I like Nia Vardalos and really enjoy her movies and her dry sense of humor. Richard Dreyfuss is very endearing in the movie, as well. There are e few scenes that have me laughing out loud. It’s over now and I have Fantastic Beasts/Dumbledore on. I never get tired of Harry Potter or Fantastic Beasts and I wish there were more because I was really enjoying Newt and Jacob’s adventures.

But apparently I DO have “The Crown” to look forward to next month. Whoohooo.

Pencil drawing of a large pumpkin with two small dogs trying to figure out what it is. There is a bird on the pumpkin leaning down to get a better look. The pumpkin is carved and it appears to be checking out those creatures that are checking it out.

Today’s Drawlloween prompt is pumpkin. We have this huge (Uncarved) pumpkin that we picked up at Costco and because we live in Florida, the pumpkin isn’t going outside until Halloween. Although it’s been cooler here, pumpkins cook outside because our autumns aren’t refrigerated. Better to keep pumpkins inside until the big day. In the meantime, Lucy has been trying to figure out what it is. Mack could care less. She sniffs it occasionally and so far has met her “I guess it’s ok” criteria.

Inktober Day 9

Good Evening!

Before I move on to today’s prompt, I just want to point out that my Inktober/Drawlloween sketches and drawings maybe aren’t as polished as some of the ones that are on Instagram. I have been doing mine daily and I have been trying to put a time limit on them because I have to get other things done as well. The list for Inktober comes out in the beginning of September. That gives artists plenty of time to work ahead but I wasn’t able to so now I try to get them done either first thing in the morning or in the evening. Then I also do these blog posts, which also takes some time. I am working on two lists this year instead of one because I want the pencil drawings so I can scan them and develop them further in Procreate and Photoshop.

Pen and ink drawing of a chihuahua puppy playing with a ball in a living room setting — Bounce

Today’s prompt is “bounce.” I can’t think of anything more bouncy than a 7 month old Chihuahua puppy, well maybe that same puppy chasing a ball through the house. Lucy loves to play with balls. She has a favorite that looks like a plum. It’s fabric covered, with “leaves” on top and it has a face and Lucy carries it all over the house, chasing it while playing with her other toys. It’s hilarious. One of our neighbor’s from our old neighborhood gave it to her and she has loved it ever since.

She also has doggie tennis balls that squeak and they come in handy when Lucy goes AWOL. As soon as she hears the squeaks she comes from wherever she’s hiding. But she loves that plum colored ball.

Pencil drawing of mermaids swimming among fish and dolphins — Finfolk

Today’s Drawlloween prompt is FinFolk. I just sketched this out spontaneously and I just let the drawing develop. I learned to do more of this after taking Mike Lowery’s course “Getting Paid to Draw.” I don’t know where the ideas come from but I just keep the pencil or pen moving to see what develops. I really enjoy making scenes up out of my head.

Intober Day 8

Good evening….just want to point out that for some reason my Day 7 post did not launch to my website last night and I am just finding this out now, so it just posted. Well, at least my Instagram was timely.

Today’s prompt is “toad.” When you live in Florida, especially south of Orlando, being a vigilant and protective pet parent becomes a priority. Of course there are the usual threats; bobcats, coyotes, extremely large reptiles with lots of teeth, panthers and bears, and if you are a toy dog parent or a parent of a smaller cat, you have to worry about large birds of prey flying off with your fur baby. But in the southern part of the state, there are other threats, huge non-native snakes and an amphibian that is so poisonous, you could lose a small dog or cat pretty quick if you don’t seek instant help.

What sort of amphibian, you ask? It’s a Bufo toad, also known as a cane toad. They are very large when fully growth and extremely poisonous. They are so poisonous that you need to be careful walking with flip-flops at night because they can make humans sick if you touch their poison glands. The poison has been known to kill small pets. These toads are so bad, Floridians have an open season on euthanizing them, humanely, of course. There are actually pest control folks that will remove the toads from your property.

You would never think that you need to teach your dog NOT to play with frogs and toads but that’s one training I would recommend.

The Drawlloween prompt for today is “mushroom. This one is pretty much thinking along the same theme as the fairies from the other day. I could have also sketched a faerie ring, too. I’ll sneak that one in this month. I like mushrooms and I like the thought of faeries who take care of living things, like mushrooms. Mushrooms are also one of my favorite things to eat. I try to sneak them into as many dishes as I can. I love them cooked. I can eat them raw, but my favorite is cooked mushrooms.