sumi ink line drawing, hero and leander

the lovers, spontaneous sketch
spontaneous line drawing with sumi ink


We rushed into each other's arms,
and mutually snatched the ardent kisses;
we complained of the night, that her stay was so short.
"Leander to Hero" Ovid


I use my husband's discarded New York Times paper to line my art table. Just as I was getting ready to tear off the mucked up top layer, I noticed the obituary for Joan Fontaine. She was pictured with Cary Grant in a loving embrace. I got out my sumi ink and bamboo pen and did a spontaneous line drawing (above) inspired from the photograph. I liked how it came out but this was done on cheap drawing paper. You can see another spontaneous ink drawing peeking through from the next page.


the lovers, sumi ink line drawing
sumi ink on  8 x 10 paper


I often do this: draw on just about anything I find or in my cheapest drawing tablet. To transfer the drawing to better paper, I trace it onto tracing paper. To keep the drawing loose and spontaneous, I leave aspects of the drawing out when I trace it. That way each drawing has it's own details and idiosyncrasies.


It was a beautiful sunny day here in the pacific northwest and we got a 16 mile bicycle ride in along with our grocery shopping (one way to use our panniers) and lunch out. I then spent the evening finishing up the video editing on my the line drawing you see above. The video has music, just in case you need to turn the sound down on your computer.






wishing everyone a good week and joining sunday sketches

Popular Posts