ink

Jekyll Island

| Gina Lento
Pen and ink sketch with images of our weekend at Jekyll Island. Images include a golf tee water tower, wild mistletoe, birds, a landscape, flowers, azaleas and some historic buildings like the Mistletoe Cottage and the Jekyll Island Club Resort
Jekyll Island Sketch Page

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.

Jensen Beach Map

| Gina Lento

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.

A playful hand drawn map of Jensen Beach, FL with blue, light orange and teal green color. Done in a square Plumchester Sketchbook. Image has not been digitally retouched to remove imperfections.
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.

Sketchbook spread of the art supplies used to create the hand drawn map of Jensen Beach. Posca pens, Lamy safaris and Molotow pens were used,
The full page sketchbook spread with supplies

A Sunday Morning in November

| Gina Lento

Today, John and I decided to get out of the house. I have been working on some ornaments over the past couple of days and John installed some sun shades yesterday for our patio. We really didn’t veg out too much yesterday so this morning we just sat outside and enjoyed our morning coffee. We try to leave the weekends open to just relax and, gasp! do absolutely nothing. After coffee and breakfast, we decided to get out of the house. We had no plan in mind until we drove past a new local coffee shop, just a few minutes from the house. After deciding to pop in to see if it was open yet, we were surprised to find that it was open! Apparently the shop is open every day from 7-1 every day and I was ecstatic because now we have two local shops to go to for coffee that are both in Jensen Beach and within biking distance.

After getting two iced coffees, we found a table in the shade. (Almost all the tables are under trees and in the shade, which is nice.) This shop is just across the road from the Indian River Lagoon, and beyond that, Hutchinson’s Island and the Atlantic Ocean. We couldn’t see any of the above because of all of the vegetation but we did enjoy the benefits of a lovely sea breeze.

I have been trying to get out of the studio and back in the habit of outdoor sketching so this seemed like a great opportunity for that. I love Bismarck palm trees with their blue green leaves, so I chose to do the one at the edge of the property, which had lights hanging from it. I pulled out a mechanical pencil and my trusty Lamy Safari sketched the scene. Then I added watercolor. I didn’t have a water container with me but I had water brushes. Unfortunately they chose today to make things difficult. The watercolors I used were a gift from a friend plus I also had use my mini palette, which has colors that I just can’t do without when painting anything green. The brushes were annoying but I managed to get by. (I’ll probably pull them apart after this to see why the water wasn’t flowing down to the brush from the barrel.)

This sketch is the end result of sitting outside drinking an iced coffee and dodging a rain sprinkle or two. It was a nice relaxing morning and John and I had a nice chat while I sketched.

Perfect way to start the day, and week.

Plein air watercolor and ink sketch of a Bismarck Palm. There are two strings of lights on the tree. Sketch has lots of greens, with a little touch of red blooms on a shrub.
Plein Air Sketch at the Crazy Dog
Plein Air sketch scene with art supplies and subject
Plein air sketch with subject and supplies
Plein air sketch with art supplie including a Stuart Semple watercolor palette.
Close up of sketch with supplies

Happy Halloween and the last day of Inktober!

| Gina Lento

Today is Halloween and it is also the last day of Inktober. I can’t say that I am not glad to Inktober go. It was fun to do the prompts but tough to squeeze it in. I am happy it is Halloween and I am sad to know that it is the end of October.

There is a special treat today where I am adding a Halloween sketch along with the Inktober Sketch. Today’s Inktober prompt is “farm.”

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving and we were in BJ’s Wholesale Club and they had turkeys already! They were reasonably priced so we bought ours and stuffed it in the freezer.

Now that we are coming into November, I will be running around doing my Thanksgiving dinner scavenger hunt, because that is pretty much what shopping for my Thanksgiving groceries turns into, especially now since the pandemic.

The scavenger hunt starts with which store has the stuffing bread (I make my stuffing fresh, I don’t use those premade bagged stuffings), Publix makes fresh stuffing bread and they will even cut it and cube it for me. I pick that up right before Thanksgiving. Then its off to find who has turnips/rutabagas, getting the cream of mushroom soup, green beans and French’s onions for the green bean casserole for my daughter….buttermilk becomes hard to find because everyone is buying it, baking aisle items that are gone by Thanksgiving week. Oh hey, can I find chestnuts in Florida? Get that pound of uncased sausage for the stuffing….ANNNNDDDDDD, BEAUJOLAIS NOUVEAU DAY! woohoo! Have to get a few bottles of that for the holiday season before it’s gone.

And eggnog, which is usually everywhere.

Then I have to get pie making ingredients. Believe it or not, I already picked up melting chocolate because Sam’s Club got their shipment in already. The worst part is storing everything and running out to get the fresh produce right before Thanksgiving.

We have a running joke in our house that it takes almost a month to prepare for Thanksgiving, and the eating the meal take about 30 minutes tops.

But there are all of those yummy leftovers……..

Happy Halloween!

Inktober Day 31 Farm Pen and Ink sketch of a farm stand with produce under a tree. There are some pumpkins scattered about
Inktober Day 31 “Farm”
Happy Halloween 2022 A little bird with a witch's hat sitting on a branch.
Halloween 2022

Inktober Day 30

| Gina Lento

Two days to go! I can’t believe October ends tomorrow! So sad because this is the best month of the year. The sad thing about October ending is we jump from Autumn right into the Christmas season without being able to enjoy Thanksgiving as an Autumn holiday. I mean, it’s nice to hear the Christmas music but I am not usually ready for holiday music until the day after Thanksgiving. What’s even more annoying is that the Christmas season ends in January, on the Feast of the Epiphany, but the music gets cut off Midnight on Christmas. Really? Like, at least play it until New Year’s Eve.

Sigh. Putting the soapbox away.

Today’s prompt is “gear” and I opted to sketch my backpack with some of my art supplies. I haven’t used this backpack in a while and I had just pulled it out to tidy up my art supplies closet. This is not a realistic sketch because I lug around more than this when I go out to sketch. Way too much stuff……

I usually carry around several different sizes and types of sketch books. I usually carry one with watercolor paper and a square one, that’s Instagram friendly. Various pens including my trusty old Lamy Safari and usually a Uniball Vision. I carry mechanical pencils because they don’t need to be sharpened. I just realized I drew regular brushes when my go to brushes when I am sketching on location are usually water brushes, which are brushes that have water in the barrel and you squeeze them for water and you rinse the brush by squeezing and wiping on a paper towel. I also drew a palette but the one I use the most is the size of a credit card and almost as thin! I bought it empty and I put my own colors in it.

Inktober Day 30 "Gear" Pen and Ink drawing of a backpack and art supplies which include a palette, brushes, pen, pencil and a sketchbook.
Inktober Day 30 “Gear”

Inktober Day 29

| Gina Lento

Wow, almost at the end of October. We are now into Halloween weekend. Where does the time go?

Today’s prompt is “Uh-oh.” For some reason I went right to thinking about the wildlife in the neighborhood, probably because our friendly neighborhood Little Blue Heron, was stalking through everyone’s flower beds, looking for “yum yums” like lizards and frogs. The lizards all head for the hills when they see herons and egrets. It’s hilarious to see the tall gangly Great Egrets balancing on top of trees and hedges, looking to pluck a tasty lizard morsel from the vegetation. It was this image of the balancing bird on a hedge that inspired today’s sketch. I hid some frogs and lizards in the sketch as well.

The Little Blue Heron, whom I affectionately call “Sid” (from Ice Age), trots through our flower beds and lawns. Then he’ll slow to a gangly stroll which is quite comical. I say hello to him and he just strolls on by, checking a bush here, a flower pot there. I saw him this morning, head cocked looking upward into a bush, hunting something. He’s a dark greyish bird and he’s very pretty.

The lizards, on the other hand, are the stupidest creatures. They have this whole territorial thing going on where they claim physical territory, like a tree, bush or their own personal plant in a flower pot. The males argue and do pushups to intimidate each other over females and territory. It’s hilarious when they are trying to kick each other’s butts when they are on opposite sides of a screen. When they see a potential threat, they will run to their “home,” even if they have to run in front of a car, bike, human, dog, Mack truck to get to their home. I don’t know how many times they get run over. Even the Iguanas run in front of cars. John and I just scratch our heads and comment “no wonder Dinosaurs are extinct.”

Inktober Day 29 "uh-Oh" Pen and ink drawing of a heron hunting in a bush for frogs and lizards and the prey doesn't look happy.

Inktober Day 28

| Gina Lento

Inktober Day 28 and today’s prompt is “camping.”

I got the idea for this sketch from the season.  What do we do when we are camping? Usually a campfire is one of the evening activities that people do while camping. A campfire brings light to the dark.  It can be used to cook food, marshmallows, s’mores, it can provide warmth, or it can provide ambiance for an evening of socializing…..or the setting for storytelling by the fire.

 We have seen a lot of movies from Hollywood where the purpose of a campfire was a location used to create suspense to scare the crap out of the people sitting around it.  I get it it.  There’s that primal thing going on where our ancestors used a fire for cooking, warmth, possibly storytelling and for security. We still have that primal basic human instinct where sometimes logic can lose control. Fire kept dangerous creatures away and other dark beings that walk in the night.  We still seek the fire and light….to feel safe.

The first thing I thought of when I saw the word camping was the universal tent icon. I have fond memories of tent camping and if you are reading this and you have never tried tent camping, try it once.  The tent segued into a guy telling a story by a campfire with just a ghost in the speech bubble pretty much summing up what’s going on.  That idea just popped into my head to simplify that he was telling a ghost story.

I added the tree with the owl and moon for mood.  I was thinking of adding a coyote howling at the moon.  If you have never heard a pack of coyotes yipping and howling near your bedroom window in the dead of the night, I can tell you it’s unnerving.  Exciting that we heard coyotes! Maybe even beautiful in a way…. But again…deep down, there is still that instinctual survival “thing” that kicks in and maybe you experience a little twinge of….panic? The house has concrete block walls but you still listen to ensure that the coyotes are gone….and try to go back to sleep.

Inktober Day 28 "camping" Pen and Ink Drawing of a couple sitting at a campfire in front of a tent. There is a tree with an owl behind the tentand a full moon in the sky. The husband/man of the couple is telling a ghost story indicated by a ghost in a speech bubble.
Inktober Day 28 “camping”

Inktober Day 27 and THANK YOU!

| 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 26

| Gina Lento

Today’s prompt is “ego.”

I was totally uninspired by this prompt. There are some prompts, like this one, where I want to go off the reservation and just draw something else. The nice thing about a subject I don’t like, it forces me to be more creative and just do it. The more I tackle prompts I don’t want to do, the better I get as a creative.

When I first graduated from college with that degree in Art, I didn’t push myself to draw all subjects. I didn’t sketch as much as I should have but I did paint, sometimes plein air. However, my painting skills got better when I began drawing in my sketchbooks. My friend, Jenn Danza, showed me her sketches and explained why sketchbooks were so important and a lightbulb came on.

The one thing that I have observed over the years is that artists that have the best drawing skills are the ones that do it every day. I have heard various artists complain over the years that they can’t do this or that, but the common denominator I observed among the complainers is that they don’t have a daily drawing habit.

I am a fan of James Gurney and his wife Jeannette. They have a daily creative practice. I wondered why they used sketchbooks instead of boards or canvases until I realized that painting in a sketchbook has a TON of pluses. Painting in a 7×5 sketchbook is small and portable and they only require a small storage space. James paints on one side of the page which makes removing a page painless. Using sketchbooks instead of boards and canvases saves a TON of space and MONEY on materials. A sketchbook doesn’t require an easel, although James has made a custom easel for his sketchbooks. A sketchbook is small and convenient and makes a daily painting practice less intimidating. If it sucks, you turn the page and you didn’t waste an expensive board or canvas. Genius!

I tell kids aspiring to be artists to draw in their sketchbooks every day. It’s the same thing as soccer drills. Practice makes it look easy but like sports, practice gives you muscle memory of your eye/ hand coordination.

Practice made me think of a pumpkin head for EGO. LOL.

Inktober Day 26 Ego Pen and Ink drawing of a pumpkin head character with EGO spelled out on his shirt. The head is large to emphasize EGO.
Inktober Day 26 “EGO”