Dad, Pat, Henry, and I went to outdoor Shakespeare last night at a local brewery. I love theater where dogs are welcome (and there were lots of them!). I sketched the food truck before things got going. Both the pens I reached for had dried out, and at the last minute I'd thrown in my Neocolor watercolor crayons, which I was delighted to have. It's good for me to mix up media anyway, and I had fun with these. I used them for line with paint over the top.

The speakers were loud, so Henry and I moved back once things started. We ended up with a fun view of the "backstage" area. I worked tech in high school, so this felt natural to me, and Henry got to interact with various folks as they were off stage. We all had fun.

I am terrible at all daily challenges and have enough deadlines that I resist imposing more on myself. But I did really enjoy sketching most days during Inktober last year. I got a small sketchbook and did something each time I left the house. It reminded me how much I enjoy doing fast sketches out in the world. This week I've reached for my 5.5" square handbook, the smaller of my two regular ones, and a black pen plus a brush pen to carry around with me. They're neat and easy for errands. But I do want to get going with a dip pen too. I remembered this summer how much I enjoy using those, even though the clean up is slightly more than with a fountain pen you pop the cap back on.

I had a very bad start to the month just below -- I had a darker brush pen with me instead of my normal one, and I made a total mess of Henry's head. So I switched to line only until I found the lighter, warmer brush pen I like for tone. The first one wasn't playing well with my more absorbent sketch book, but honestly I was also just out of practice.

Today I did some back porch sketches, the first one above of my garage and Henry lying with his paws crossed. The tree is an oak my grandfather planted in the back yard when I was still in single digits. It's a marvelous tall tree these days.

I'm not a purist and also reach for watercolor to go with my ink, as I did last night at Cafe 1912 having dinner with Christina. Ink and watercolor is my longtime favorite combination, though I do try to mix things up and challenge myself with other media as well.