What a frustrating evening trying to do this post. My Mac is hosed up and I can’t use it because I lost power in the middle of doing some research which caused my Adobe software to not be able to shutdown properly. Now it’s all hosed because Adobe is a memory vampire. Good thing I have this baby backed up to a portable drive.
I was working on a totally different map but it was more involved than a simple 4×6 and I want it more detailed so I put it aside and did this quick treasure map. Keeping with how the end of the day is going, I tried erasing my pencil marks and I didn’t realize the ink at the top of the map wasn’t dry. That’s why the top left looks smudged.
Anyway, here is today’s Inktober Day 5 complete with smudge.
Treasure map
Also, here is my Drawlloween sketch that I did earlier today. The prompt is Haunted. I did a pencil sketch of two chihuahuas that are demonstrating how to rid your house of ghosts. The ghost has a look of fear of as it is being chased away by the dogs.
Today’s Inktober prompt created a little bit of stumper at first because I wasn’t sure how I would portray that. Then I thought of all the times that our Chihuahua puppy, Lucy, dodged Mack to keep him from getting her bones and the inspiration hit me. I did the first sketch in my “dailies” sketchbook, and I liked how Lucy looked where you could see the twist in her body to cut and run from Mack. (Since this is a frequent activity in the house, I could picture it easily in my head.)
Because I am drawing these by hand and not importing them to Procreate, copying and redrawing a subject doesn’t always have the same spontaneity that the original does. Plus I was moving from a horizontal to a vertical format so I had to put Mack on a different angle.
“Dodge”
I am sure by now you picked up on the fact that Mack is playing a different dog. Lucy became part of our family in May. Because we were grieving from Chloe, Lucy was a big adjustment for all of us, not just Mack. It still hurts that Chloe isn’t with us anymore. Lucy has taken away some of that sting. Mack has been grumpy with Lucy and not very social until yesterday, when we took Lucy to get spayed. Mack looked around the house for her and then sprawled glumly out on the floor, looking a little sad. It was quiet here without Lucy and we all noticed her absence. We almost forgot to give Mack lunch because Lucy stepped into Chloe’s role as official meal tracker. When Lucy came home, the joy Mack had was very clear and he ran up to her. That was a surprise and we are glad he sees her as part of the “pack.”
Daily sketch
The second sketch for the Drawlloween part of Inktober is using “Vampire” as the prompt. Lucy is going through a heavy teething phase, like the whole time we’ve had her so far. Lucy’s markings make her look like a bandit, or like she’s wearing mask and the whole teething thing has earning her the nickname of vampire. Today’s prompt was perfect for a drawing of Countess Lucy.
I have a photo I took many years ago in an area what locals in New Jersey, call “down Jersey.” Down Jersey is along the Delaware Bay and is not really an area that people go to for getting away. Most folks go down the shore, whether it be the congested northern New Jersey beaches or the southern New Jersey beaches. Being a former South Jersey resident, I can say that the “down Jersey” part of the state is worth exploring and I have done that and painted there many times. There are back bays and lighthouses and lots of marsh. The coastal New Jersey back bays and marshes thrive on stories and legends, including the origin story of the Jersey Devil.
This sketch uses the above mentioned photo that I took while I was out one morning looking for a painting spot. I have used it over and over for Halloween settings. It just had a feel to it that I liked. Jersey has legends of ghosts that walk highways, this sketch is a play on that.
The second sketch for the Drawlloween part of Inktober is using “werecat” as the prompt. I have never heard of a werecat but I guess all of those Cat People movies from many years back make more sense now. I popped on David Bowie’s “Cat People” song and jammed to is as I did this sketch. I was going to opt for something larger, like a panther, but then, most witches familiars are black cats so it makes sense that a werecat could be a black cat. Notice that I left the dress on the ground in front of the cat.
Ah, those days of going to parties and letting one’s hair down….the tales that cat could tell.
Inktober Day 2. Prompt is Spider. I had a few different ideas about what to sketch for a spider. I settled on two spiders who are close friends. They made their webs next to each other and they are fishing for insects using fishing poles with light bulbs hanging from the poles. Their goal is to use the light to entice insects to the light and then they snag the unsuspecting bug. Now that I am looking at this, I should have added tackle boxes and coolers. Maybe I’ll update this in Procreate or just use a larger size paper. Since this is a small size sketchbook, I am trying to keep my ideas simple. The texture of the paper keeps things sketchy, not crisp so it’s more forgiving with a stray line.
Both sketchbooks are assembled. I did them today so I wouldn’t have to sketch on unbound paper. I decided on a small vertical format using Arches text wove paper torn down to 4.5 x 6.5 per page as my size. (my signatures are 9×6.5 folded to form the 4.5 x 6.5 page).
The second sketch for the Drawlloween part of Inktober is using “witch” as the prompt. I am doing Drawlloween in pencil and I may transfer my favorites to better paper or Procreate to clean them and define them more. Maybe even pull these into Photoshop after Procreate to do the color in Photoshop. Haven’t decided yet but the best thing about doing these sketches is that it gives me more art to create designs with later. Even better, Freeform has their 31 Days of Halloween which I have on in the background as I draw and as I am writing this.
Well Day 2 is under my belt. Wish me luck on finishing the month!
It’s Inktober….again….and that must mean that Instagram feeds will be blowing up with ink art the entire month of October. I don’t know how many years I have participated in Inktober. I have lost count. Usually I spend a little time coming up with ideas but this year, October sneaked up on me unexpectedly. It was more like, “Oh crap, it’s OCTOBER already!”
My Inktober drawings are just sketches in my sketchbook and I have to admit, most of them are done with me flying by the seat of my pants. I got up this morning with the intention of getting my Inktober drawing done first thing this morning, following up with a Drawlloween sketch, and here I am whipping through 2 sketches late in the evening while my husband tortures himself watching the Jets play KC on TV. At least the Eagles won.
I am going to try my best to do both lists this year. The Drawlloween prompt list is more Halloween related whereas the Inktober prompt list is pretty general. Until I think of a theme or what direction I want to take with my drawings, I am just going to draw stand alone drawings that ties into the prompt but not a thread, but one will pop up, I am sure.
To make matters even more complicated, I usually have a sketchbook ready that I use just for Inktober. I was using a Bee Paper Super Deluxe 4×6 sketchbook but I filled that one up back in 2020. I bought an Innovative Journal Halloween refillable journal back in 2020 and started to use it, but I used that one up last year. I remembered this afternoon that it’s full and I needed to make more refills so had unpack my paper and clear off my worktable to tear some signatures. I haven’t stitched them yet because I wanted to make sure I got the sketches done first. I’ll probably sew them in the morning tomorrow.
It was time to get out out to do some sketching. We took Mack for a ride to sit on the causeway. You can always find a nice breeze here. Even in the middle of summer, we still get a breeze.
As I am writing this, an osprey just snagged a fish out of the water. There were terns earlier. Mack is barking at some dogs and their people. How dare they walk so close to our vehicle! He’s sitting on John’s lap getting his belly scratched and protecting the Realm.
We pulled into a shady parking spot but the sun slowly dropped beneath the horizon. We should go on the North side and look for the meteor shower.
A photo of my twilight sketch complete with the on location photo…
I wanted to do this map sooner but other projects got in the way. I am taking Mike Lowery’s “Getting Paid to Draw Course” and I am doing it as a repeat because he has a whole new group of artists and special guests for 2023. I started the class early because we are going to be busy over the next couple of weeks so I wanted to ensure I had my projects done for this class and what I had going on in the studio. I have lifetime access to last year’s class so I am able to rewatch the lessons before Mike releases them in this year’s class. This way I can timely submit my class work.
This map was on my “to Do” list so I finished it as I was listening to the second week’s lessons. The nice thing about repeating this course is I get updated information in the design and illustration world while working in a class environment which helps inspire me to create more work.
This is not an art class. It is a class for artists wanting to learn how to get their work out there to art directors of companies needing illustrations and designs. It’s fun because you get to talk to other artists and Mike has mini workshops and drawing sessions throughout the year after the course is over. The course itself runs 8 weeks but it’s great when Mike does additional Zoom parties that are really helpful with keeping us on track with our goals.
Mike is a great instructor with a lot of information and he’s very supportive with his students. The registration for the class is over but if you are interested, I am sure he’ll run it again next year.
This map is from our trip to Jekyll Island and I wanted to do it to keep honing my map making skills.
John and I went to Jekyll Island this past weekend to get away and to also celebrate his birthday. It was a spur of the moment decision. The weekend’s forecast for Jensen Beach for this past weekend was high 80’s, possibly hitting 90. We were vegging out and decided on a whim to go exploring so we made reservations and departed North to Georgia. We just weren’t ready for summer yet.
Packing for this trip was a little tricky because although it would be shorts weather when we arrived, it would be cool the rest of the weekend. We threw a little of everything in the suitcase and away we went.
We took Mack with us because it was a last minute getaway. He still misses Chloe, as we all do, but the three of us are coping with her loss. We commented on the trip up what she would have been doing in the car. It was our first road trip without her.
Jekyll Island is about 30 minutes above the Florida State Line which was awesome. It is a very small quiet island that you have to pay a toll (they call it a parking fee) to enter. It is surrounded by salt marshes and the island itself is not very developed so there are a lot of trees. Our hotel was in the Beach Village which is right after you enter the island. We checked in to our room and we immediately went out onto the balcony. We had a nice view of the ocean but what really struck me was all of the bird calls. This was very exciting because some of these calls I haven’t heard in a long time. We could sit outside on the balcony and also hear lots of birds! So AWESOME!
We grabbed dinner and took Mack for a walk. It was getting dark so this walk was a bit of a challenge. The island is very dark at night, especially since they use sea turtle friendly bulbs. We could see a lot of stars and we walked along a path that runs along the beach, which is very nice. They really have the Beach Village planned out nicely.
On Saturday the three of us took the nature trail to check out the historic part of Jekyll Island. The nature trail had sooooo many birds chirping and singing. My app was going berserk identifying all the calls. We came upon a clearing that was roped off and there was a huge gator lolling on the banks of a large pond. Whoa! We expect these guys in Florida but we forgot that they can be found as far north as North Carolina. Good thing we didn’t meet that critter the previous evening!
We checked out the little shops and strolled by the historic homes. We saw people playing croquet which was fun. We got attacked by no see ‘ums until we stopped and bought a spray. We even sprayed Mack. They were brutal.
What we really liked about Jekyll Island is the layback atmosphere and that you really didn’t need a car. Once you park the car, you can walk or bike to everything. We didn’t bring our bikes but we will the next time we visit.
I liked the salt marshes which reminded me of New Jersey. We came upon a park that was along the back bay/salt marsh side of the island and I wish I had brought my plein air gear because it was the sort of landscape I would have painted. It’s in the sketch above.
One last thought, we saw mistletoe “balls” in the trees everywhere. I sketched the Mistletoe cottage because of all the mistletoe we saw. They also have water towers that looked like giant golf tees! And it was March and their azaleas were blooming. That was pretty cool! We definitely want to go back.
I was playing around in my sketchbook trying to work on some illustration “to do” lists and one of the items on my list is to do more maps. I usually go very project detailed and would post them on They Draw and Travel but sometimes just freeing up my creativity to play in my sketchbook and allow myself to make mistakes takes the pressure off to explore, play and create art for the fun of it.
Map of Jensen Beach, Florida
I started the map the beginning of the week and made all these really cool icons. However, I decided to do the map while in the car when John and I were out and about. We were listening to the Yellowstone Podcast. I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing until I realized that the paint marker I used was awful for this project. I didn’t like how the first map looked and the acrylic was shiny, not matte and you couldn’t write or draw over the acrylic. Well that was big a fail.
When I came back to the house, I had to go back to the drawing board, pun intended, and redo how I thought my map should look, minus the shiny marker. (The shiny marker came from an Artsnacks box.) I have Posca paint pens and Molotows which are much better for what I wanted to do. I drew the whole map again in pencil, playing with my placement of few things and I like this one much better.
I have included the image along with a version that shows what supplies I used. My Lamy Safaris are filled with Carbon Ink so they were perfect for this project. One Lamy is an extra fine point and the other is a medium point and I am really happy with how the map came out. There’s a few things that I would correct digitally but overall I really enjoyed doing this map.
Today is the first day that I have been able to sit down and type this.
On Monday, January 30, 2023, our beloved Chloe moved on to the Rainbow Bridge. John and I are still trying to make sense of this. One day she was normal and the next, we’re saying good-bye. She was only 12. Chihuahuas can live much longer than that.
Chloe was a spunky Chihuahua that we had since she was two months old. John and I had been married a little over a year and Chloe was our first “We” dog. She was so tiny but she had such a huge personality. She let us know from the beginning that she was a little Princess but she was also fragile and vulnerable and needed us for love and comfort,
Chloe
When you take a dog or cat into your life, and fall in love with them. You know from the first day, that you have to make ALL of the days count. When we are younger and have families, we sometimes forget this and miss bonding opportunities with the four legged family members. We forget in the chaos of life that our four legged friends are only here for so short of a time. But they wait patiently and unconditionally for that love and attention. We take them into our lives, knowing that we’ll have good times, and then we have to make the hard choices for when they become terminally ill. When you bring a dog into your life, you “sign up” for the whole enchilada; the beginning, as well as the end.
Fortunately, Chloe had the best life ever for a dog. We could work from home. There was always someone home because we also shared our former home with my husband’s parents, who lived downstairs. If John and I went out, there was Nanny and Pop pop downstairs. Two of our daughters were still living at home so Chloe always received a lot of attention.
When we traveled, many times, Chloe came with us. She was smuggled into places like Panera and fancy Italian restaurants. She watched her “daddy” drive his racehorses from the backstretch at Monticello. She’s been to the beaches of New Jersey, Virginia and Florida. She rode on a bike in Cape May, helped with horseshoe crabs on the Delaware Bay. She rode the Cape May ferry and even flew on an airplane. She’s been to Chincoteague and many hotels too countless to mention, She even traveled to Key West.
Scientists say that dogs have a limited vocabulary. That’s a bunch of BS. They didn’t know Chloe. She knew every meal related word, she knew our names, she understood so many words and when some words got too well known, we started to spell them and she figured those out, too. She would stand in the kitchen, look at us then up at where her food and treats were kept, and then back at us. “Hello, Human, feed me,” her eyes would say. When we didn’t react quickly enough, there was a sharp bark to keep us in line until the humans were trained better than she was.
She had a daily schedule and we were trained to stay on it. In case we would forget, we would get pre warning alerts. Especially for meals. We would crack up with the pre meal alerts.
She would stay, sleeping in our bed until SHE was ready to get up, then I could make the bed. She and her half brother Mack (who came into our lives a little later) had a doggie door so they could go in and out whenever they wanted to. Chloe was trained to go potty on command and then we were trained to give her a treat after she went potty. (My daughter swears that Chloe would “fake Pee” to get a treat.)
When we moved to Florida and she didn’t have a doggie door, she would walk to the door and announce that she had to go out. Usually this happened when an episode of our favorite shows were on and when we just at down to veg for the night. Chloe had a bewitching hour around 8PM where she wanted to play and move around.
She was healthy and her passing was like having the rug pulled out from under us. She was fine over the weekend. The only bad thing that had happened was that she fell down stairs back in November but she seemed ok. She had a nice Christmas. During January we noticed a cough. We called the vet to have her checked and we mentioned the fall but there appeared to be no ill effects from it. However, from that vet visit on a Tuesday, to a second visit on Thursday, to another visit on Saturday and then off to the pet ER that same day, she went from a cough to the tough decision of doing the most humane thing for her.
Her last day, we took her home, and spent the day with her. We took her for a car ride. Gave her whatever she wanted to eat, although the growth surrounding her trachea made it difficult to eat hard food. The tumor in her brain was killing her as well. We held her and loved her and kissed her and in the hour before the end, we took her to the park so she could see the squirrels one last time and then she was gone.
It’s been one two weeks and we are still in shock. We are still adjusting to life without her. We didn’t realize how big of an impact she did have until she was gone. There was no one to remind us to feed Mack. No one to wake us up early in the morning. No Chloe to keep us on schedule. No yips or yaps. No gentle snoring from under my desk when I work. No more cuddling her in bed at night. It took me a week to be able to sleep without her snores. No little doggie sleeping in the living room. It’s so quiet now.
Mack has had to adjust to a life of being without another dog in the house. He’s spent his whole life with Chloe, going from his biological family to Chloe. He used to drag Chloe, bed and all, across the floor just to annoy her or to try to get her to play with him. He used to lay in her pretty floral bed just to annoy her. He won’t go near her bed now. He comes in now and grumbles when it’s meal time. But he doesn’t sleep at my feet and I miss that so much.
The French call pets “l’animal de compagnie.” I think they have it correct. Dogs aren’t pets. They are companions and our dog children.
Don’t forget to hug your ‘animal de compagnie’ today and every day because each day you have them is a blessing in disguise.
Gina Lento: Fine Art and Illustration 
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