Update

 Hi readers, just to let you know I am still working on the blogs for the women artists featured in my Inktober series. I got a bit bogged down researching Algerian politics and modern art for the Baya Mehieddine post, but it's coming eventually. I'm also working on some illustrations of witches from pop culture for Halloween month (any suggestions are welcome).

Meanwhile this is my first day following a more regular studio schedule that I designed because I really cannot function without a routine. This morning was "go leave the house and sketch," and as soon as I walked outside a sudden thunderstorm unleashed a dark torrent of rain. I stood under an awning with some others caught in the downpour and drew this advertising kiosk. My pen drawing style really has changed since doing a few Inktobers the traditional way (with ink on paper only), especially after seeing the drawings and etchings of Anders Zorn. I still have to physically stop myself from crosshatching and outlining the edges of shapes because it feels so natural, but I hate the way it looks. I think the pattern and directionality have a lot more bang for the buck in terms of atmosphere, and my sketching is gradually becoming a little less clunky and muscular. 

Morning thunderstorm, Berlin. Sketch by Ciana Pullen

Inktober 2019, Day 30: Catch

After so much drawing from photo references and from my imagination, I wanted to get back to some proper drawing from life. So I picked up this fish from the grocery store, and to add some interesting distortion and a bit of a challenge, I put it in a glass of water. But the fish was so long I had to add a second glass. I rather liked the odd composition, and the fish looks like it's trying to stay alive under the most constrictive possible circumstances (it was fully dead). I cooked it up for dinner afterward. My cat was extremely interested in the entire process.

Inktober 2019, Day 30, prompt word "Catch." Dip pen and marker, 8 x 11 in. by Ciana Pullen. [Image description: realistic black and white pen drawing of a foot-long mackerel or trout type fish. The head is resting in a cut-glass tumbler full of water. The tail is resting in a glass mini beer stein behind the tumbler. The fish's body arches between the two glasses. The distortions of the water and facets of the glasses break up the fish into several different planes. Each glass casts a shadow with scattered light across the page to the right.]

Inktober 2019, Day 29: Injured

When I was 5 (or 6 or 7...?) I had a super bossy friend who was always the best character in whatever we played, like April O’Neal or Belle and then I’d have to be Shredder or the animated clock. She had a bunch of plastic horses, like ya do, but there was one Ultimate Pony that was pearlescent lavender with mega-hair and she always got to be that one. One day I chose it first, so she challenged me, and I grabbed it and took off running. Unfortunately I tripped on the edge of the carpet and fell face-first on the hardwood floor. My nose basically exploded in blood and I had to go to the hospital (never having played as the Ultimate Pony). My nose is a bit crooked now and I’m not sure how much is genetic and how much is battle scar.

The top bit is imaginary, but the nose close-ups I sketched from a mirror. Except the full profile, for which I used a camera phone. That's a pretty accurate depiction of the Ultimate pony, as I still remember her clearly, decades later.

Inktober 2019, Day 29, prompt word, "Injured." Ink pen and marker, 8 x 11 in. by Ciana Pullen. [Image Description: black and white drawing of a little girl falling on her face, in mid-air just about to hit the ground. A tasseled rug is just under and behind her, and a toy pony flies out of her hand. In the bottom third, several overlapping realistic sketches of a nose and eyes from various angles take up the rest of the space.]

Sketch of my husband at a cafe

Sketch of my husband at a cafe, by Ciana Pullen / St. Rhinocéros

Travel diary, Amalfi

Breakfast in Amalfi, Italy, by Ciana Pullen / St. Rhinocéros. It seems Italians don't "do breakfast" any more than a pastry and espresso. Which is the only reason we were drawn in by an ad for a "full English breakfast" obviously for tourists only. But when morning rolled around, it was nowhere to be found! We settled on a profoundly bad breakfast at this place, watching groups of English tourists carrying cottage-floral print umbrellas and complaining about small cultural differences, followed by German tour groups using sparkling new walking poles and wearing coordinating neon sport-raincoats, probably not intentionally. Luckily, we finally got our full English breakfast in England earlier this year.

Knight in a Hungarian Restaurant

A suit of armor in the foyer of a restaurant in Budapest, by Ciana Pullen / St. Rhinocéros

Everyone in Marie Claire magazine

Some good practice! I flipped through Marie Claire (the French one) and drew everyone who appeared in its pages. French Marie Claire, btw, is way way better than the American one.

Charleston Airport

The little brick airport in Charleston, SC, years ago (they've since remodeled and done a nice job). Back in the day it looked a little like an Applebee's might if you removed all the "pieces of flair" from the walls, or maybe some sort of state-run laundromat.

Sketch of a bus

I ran across this old sketch recently that I did in a bus on the way to UW in Seattle.

Mermaid

Mermaid, signed -St. Rhinocéros

Berlin, July 2016

I couldn't make out what her tattoos were when I saw her on the street, so I gave her a full sleeve of my favorite junk foods.

Contour

A small detail from an old figure drawing warm-up sketch that I went back and re-worked. I was very happy with the piece in its entirety, until my husband remarked that it looked like the German flag (which is synonymous with sports, since that's the only time you see the flag out and about). Now I can't un-see it; I might have to add a fourth color here and there.

Man on the U-Bahn

Dog

A dog sketched at the Charleston Farmer's Market.

Woman on the U-Bahn, Berlin

I saw this woman on the U-Bahn in Berlin. Signed St. Rhinocéros.

FKK in the Tiergarten

A field in the Berlin Tiergarten (rather like NY's Central Park, but calmer) unofficially dedicated to gay male nudists. There are other fields in the Tiergarten where any nudists may congregate when the weather is nice enough, as well as various lakes and parks around Berlin. FKK stands for Freikörperkultur ("free body culture") and is a holdover from former East Germany, where frequent casual nudism was the norm before reunification. Signed St. Rhinocéros

In the cafe at the Literaturhaus, Berlin

Sketch of my husband sitting in front of a giant painting in the very fancy interior of the Literaturhaus, Berlin. Signed St. Rhinocéros

Sketch of a Driver, by Ciana Pullen

Sketch of a Driver, by Ciana Pullen, 2013.

Sketch of a Copper Pitcher by Ciana Pullen

Sketch of a Copper Pitcher, by Ciana Pullen, 2013. Felt tip pen. Sketched from a shelf of pretty knick knacks at a coffee shop called Kudu in Charleston, SC.

Sketch of a Crowd, by Ciana Pullen

Sketch of a Crowd, by Ciana Pullen. Charcoal, drawn from life, 2012