Inktober Day 27 and THANK YOU!

October 27, 2022October 28, 2022 | Gina Lento

Before I start the post with my Inktober sketch of the day, I just want to thank all of you for following me. I really appreciate the “likes” and comments (If I missed your comment, please let me know!). I don’t want to overwhelm you with a ton of blog posts or emails, so I really appreciate the patience and support during Inktober, when you are getting the daily posts. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Today’s prompt is “SNACK” and I almost posted the wrong prompt!! LOL. I have Plumchester square sketchbook from Artsnacks that I have been sketching my ideas in first, before I do the final. I sketched an apple and did a couple of “ego” ideas, then I moved on to another page and did more “ego” ideas and a sketch for tomorrow’s prompt. Without thinking about what I was doing, I completed tomorrow’s prompt in my Inktober Sketchbook, LMAO. I was like “Oh crap!” when I caught it before posting the wrong one. So now they are out of order in my sketchbook.

Oh well, glad I caught it.

I sketched an apple for today’s “snack” prompt. Partly because I am telling myself I should eat more natural snacks, and partly because our elderly neighbor gave us a bag full of Red Delicious apples. The problem with Red Delicious apples is they aren’t good for cooking. Although I may try in order to get them out of the fridge. Any ideas?

My son and I were just discussing apples the other day. He likes Sweet Tango and Cosmic Crisp. I can’t find those here in Florida. But I can find my favorite, the Pink Lady. Which is indeed, pink. Wonderful combination of sweet and tart. Try one if you can find one.

Enjoy today’s sketch!

Inktober Day 27
"Snack"
Pens and ink drawing of an apple with leaves. — Inktober Day 27 “Snack”

Inktober Day 17

October 17, 2022October 10, 2022 | Gina Lento

It’s Inktober Day 17 and today’s prompt is salty. One word with so many ways to represent it. I opted for the good old fashioned Philly pretzel. There’s nothing like a hot Philly pretzel straight out of the oven, slathered with brown mustard, spicy or not, I don’t care. Philly pretzels are amazing. Delis and shops, food trucks and food carts all over the Philadelphia region sell Philly pretzels. The best are the salted ones but you can get them unsalted.

I know, some of you like the Auntie Anne pretzels. Yeah, those are dessert pretzels. Philly pretzels are a savory dough, they taste like a hot buttered roll, not a rolled up doughy cookie. Philly pretzels are sort of like a twisted bagel with salt. They are usually a long shape, not your traditional round pretzel. They aren’t like the Bavarian soft pretzels you get in gastropubs this time of year. Once you try a real Philly pretzel, you’ll understand the difference.

Philly pretzels straight out of the oven are hard and crispy on the outside. The inside is soft, bread like; some folks like to pull out the soft inside and eat it like an oreo, soft inside first then the harder outer crust. (Or if you are in a schoolyard, the inside dough balls are used to bean someone in the head. Only Philly kids could use soft pretzels as a weapon.)

I think some of the pretzel companies ship them around the US. I haven’t tried that yet but maybe I should. Some things like Philly pretzels, cheesesteaks, hoagies, scrapple, Irish potatoes, Taylor Pork ROLL (it’s not Taylor ham, it says ROLL on the box) and Jewish Apple cake are best when acquired in the Philly Region.

Oh, and the piece de resistance? Birthday pound cake from Stock’s Bakery on Lehigh Ave and chocolate from Lore’s Chocolate on 7th St.

And I am not a fan of Pat’s or Geno’s cheesesteaks. Those are for tourists. Some of your best cheesesteaks come from the neighborhood bar or deli. Or Jim’s on South Street. My favorite place is Somerdale Deli. In South Jersey.

Inktober Day 17
Salty
Pen and ink drawing of Philly pretzels with salt — Inktober Day 17 – Salty

Let’s Bake

April 20, 2022April 20, 2022 | Gina Lento

This is a portfolio assignment in the course by Mike Lowery, “Getting Paid to Draw.” The Assignment was to create icons for a category of our choice. I chose baking since it is a commonly used illustration and is part of the 3X3 Illustration challenge. (In essence, I am killing two proverbial birds with one stone.)

The Coco Sculpture is finished!

March 9, 2022 | Gina Lento

Well Coco is painted. I really like how it came out and it was fun! What a happy sculpture to hang out in my studio.

Coco Moloko figurine

March 7, 2022 | Gina Lento

This is the finished figurine before I bake it. I really should do a maquette of my characters because it makes drawing them a lot easier when there is a model. I find that I can translate the idea in my head to clay much better, too.

Plus working with clay is so relaxing. Off to the oven!

sketch pattern to stuffed doll

March 6, 2022 | Gina Lento

Here is the stuffed version of my Coco Moloko using what I had around my studio. I thought about going to buy glittery fabric for the frosting, or even just getting another color for the frosting and a different pink for the feet, but in the end I just used what I had in the studio. There are some things I would tweak if I made another one of these. Plus I would explore how to make other flavors. LOL

I also took Coco’s photo with the two kitties I made last year around Halloween. Both kitties were made from homemade patterns that I have been experimenting with.