Nina Johansson

Just a short one today. In Sweden (and some other countries, I´m sure) we celebrate Christmas on the 24th, so not much time for the computer. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas! : )

17,5 x 12.8 cm, Snowman ink pen and watercolours on Plano drawing paper.

Took the chance to draw some people in a café today, while running some errands in town (no, not buying christmas gifts, actually, I did those in good time for once). Mixed those with some portraits later on, managed to talk my dear M and mum into sitting still for a while… I need to PRACTICE!

17,5 x 12.8 cm, Snowman ink pen on Plano drawing paper.

I haven´t drawn anything in the sketchbook today. Instead I have been working on this bigger drawing/painting, of which this is just a tiny (enlarged) sneak peek. It´s a commission, but I don´t want to let you know what it´s for just yet.

It´s interesting to enlarge drawings like this. I know my lines are kind of wobbly, especially with the Namiki-Falcon with it´s super-flexy nib, but this looks half crazy! : )

And if you have any idea of what this is, don´t write about it in the comments, please. Thanks.

Approx. 7,5 x 9,5 cm, Namiki-Falcon with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours on 600 g watercolour paper, probably Saunders-Waterford.

Different style and technique today, I did this drawing during a concert with Freddie Wadling this evening. Fantastic concert with a singer endowed with one of the most powerful yet sensitive voices I know. He also has an incredibly interesting face, which I didn´t quite manage to capture, but I had a great time trying.

17,5 x 13,5 cm, Snowman ink pen and Micron ink pen on Miquelrius sketchbook paper.

A quick value sketch of nothing much. Used a mixture of Perylene violet and Winsor green (blue shade) for the grey.

17,5 x 12.8 cm, Snowman ink pen and watercolours on Plano drawing paper.

Photographing with an analogue SLR is like drawing directly in ink – there is no undo option. I always let my photography students make a few analogue photos using these very manual cameras, partly to make them concentrate on getting the focus right and understanding the light meter, and partly because working in a darkroom explains a few things about Photoshop. Before they go out to shoot some pictures for the first time, I always remind them that they have to advance the film before they capture the next image. Their answer is always “Why?”.

Poor things, they are so young. They never knew anything but digital… : )

17,5 x 12.8 cm, Snowman ink pen and watercolours on Plano drawing paper.

Been trying to wrap my mind around all the new features in WordPress. Quite fun, but nothing in WordPress makes me want to draw…

17,5 x 12.8 cm, Faber-Castell PITT Brush pens on Plano drawing paper.

Ran some errands in town and had lunch at a café. Nice to draw some people for a change.

17,5 x 12.8 cm, Snowman ink pen and watercolours on Plano drawing paper.

It´s hard to keep up with drawing every day for a whole month. Yesterday a nice evening with colleagues came in between. I just made up a new rule that nice evenings with colleagues are a legit reason for breaking a drawing challenge for a day. : )

17,5 x 12.8 cm, Lamy Safari with Platinum pigmented sepia ink and watercolours on Plano drawing paper.

Tried my hand on doing self portraits, the left one is almost halfway there, the right one isn´t me at all. Or maybe the eyes are, just a little.

17,5 x 12.8 cm, Snowman ink pen and watercolours on Plano drawing paper.