leece

Artist living in Perth, Western Australia. Enjoys sf & f, books, movies, board gaming, me-moving, flatwater kayaking, mermaiding, birding and nature.

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Last Notes

2026-10-30 03:22:26 UTC

It's day 30 of Drawtober and my prompt is 'skull'. I have an old cat skull I found near the Derbarl Yerrigan during a disc golf tournament, so that served as a great 'live' model.
Here two tiny climbers are scaling the Catskull Mountains.
Ah haha. Yeah the true scary bit around here is the puns.
#DrawingWithoutANet #Drawtober2026 #Drawtober #FountainPen #NoAI #PenAndInk #OriginalArt #Drawing
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2026-10-29 06:32:01 UTC

Drawtober 29th brings me to the prompt 'coffin'. With butterflies starting to appear more frequently, as the weather warms up, and Kambarang flowers about I ask, what is a chrysalis but a coffin for a caterpillar?
#Drawtober2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #Drawtober #FountainPen #Drawing #NoAI #OriginalArt #Butterfly #PenAndInk
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2026-10-28 03:26:49 UTC

Drawtober 28th's prompt for me was 'Bat' so I chose one of the most remarkable bats in Australia - the Ghost Bat. There aren't many white bats in the world, and this is the only Australian bat that goes after other bats, mammals, frogs and reptiles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_bat for more information. Unfortunately its tendancy to want to attack cane toads is leading to its decline, and it doesn't cope well with barbed wire too, alas.
Drawn very quickly from a photo from Bruce Thomson. https://caveconservationaustralia.org/ghost-bats
#DipPen #FountainPenInk #DrawingWithoutANet #NoAI #ink #sketch #OriginalArt #WildOz #Bat
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2026-10-27 07:00:33 UTC

Welcome to Drawtober the 27th. Today for me, the prompt is Gravestone. I've chosen the more punny side of the street, so here we have a Grave Stone.
Aha ha ha. Anyway I drew this using
a Water Brush, Kakimori Steel Nib and the Taranishi Guitar Glass Nib. Just two inks today, the Diamine Tundra and the Molten Basalt.
The Molten Basalt was a bit of a surprise, because it's a standard ink but you get really quite nice reddish sheen with it which looks quite cool against its dark blue.
#NoAI #DrawingWithoutANet #DipPen #FountainPenInk #InkAndWash #Drawtober #Drawtober2026 #OriginalArt
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2026-10-26 04:19:47 UTC

It's Drawtober the 26th and the prompt is Cauldron. I'm going a bit lateral here, because it's Kambarang, heading to second Spring, and not Autumnal at all, and my prompt list is Autumn themed.
When I was in primary school, in the late 70's it was decided by the powers that be that some campfire activities would happen. So we made damper, and Mum gave me a small piece of steak to wrap in foil and a potato to likewise wrap in foil and bake in the school fire coals.
It was great! I decided to make a billy for myself at home. So I got a baked bean can and asked Mum if I could have a wire coathanger, and spent an industrious afternoon getting the wire to the right length and boring holes in the billy to put the wire through.
I felt very accomplished at the end of it and my mum, grandmother and sister were all a bit startled that it turned out so well I think.
As a child, being able to make a practical object, that could be used over time, felt great. I hope all children experience what I did then.
Anyrate, in the old times, in Nyoongar country, this is the time to be moving toward the sea. The billycan was taken up with enthusiasm by swagmen and Nyoongar travellers alike, and billy tea was famous across Australia wide.
How to make billy tea. Get the fire going, unless it's fire ban time. Fill your billycan with water and put it over the fire. Onces it's boiling, cheer and put in enough loose black tea and a gumleaf (eucalyptus leaf) or two depending on how big your billy is. Don't mistake poisonous leaves for gum leaves, leave it out if you can't tell a gum tree from a 1080 bush.
Let it boil a couple of minutes and then take it off the fire. You can swing it around vertically ostensibly to settle the leaves and disperse the flavour if you like but you don't have to risk covering yourself and others in boiling tea if you don't want to.
Add milk if you want/have it, add sugar if you want/have it and enjoy.
I enjoyed the memories, and the colours drawing this. Ink and wash, dip and Diamine all the way. Kakimori steel nib and the glass dip. Inks are br Pick Me Up, Upon A Star, Salted Caramel, Spiced Apple, Fruit Cocktail, Sugar Snap, Wishing Tree, Fortune's Gold, and Lemon & Lime.
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2026-10-25 13:47:18 UTC

Okay so today's #Drawtober 's prompt is 'Mask'. So I thought, aha, I have a photo I took of a Masked Lapwing over on Wadjemap, but then I did a bit more research and it turns out that the bird I saw was a Banded Lapwing, soooo behold, it is an Unmasked Lapwing.
I used the glass nib, the Rotring Art pen and a water brush. Inks used were whatever is in the Rotring, and a bunch of pretty Diamine colours Brandy Dazzle, Bucks Fizz and Bubbly.
#DrawingWithoutANet #WildOz #Bird #Drawtober #FountainPen #FountainPenInk #NoAI #Art
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2026-10-24 08:28:22 UTC

Drawtober 24. The prompt here is 'candy'. It's thought that in early to mid spring, so it's a bit past that now, that Nyoongar people might have made cuts in the bark of the jam tree, or Mangart, to encourage the outwelling of its edible, sweet sap for collection in the hot Birak and Burnulu times later in the year.
When cut the wood is sweet, fruity smelling.
I haven't damaged my tree, I'm going to let it give me sap if it wants to, at this stage.
Drew this with the Pelikano and Van Diemen's August 2024 Ink.
#NyoongarSeasons #DrawingWithoutANet
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2026-10-23 06:03:50 UTC

Drawtober the 23rd and I'm in a funny mood. I've not even taken my Ugg Boots off. I couldn't really settle today, so know that today's prompt was Witch's Hat.
Know also that in my part of Australia at least, traffic cones are commonly referred to as Witch's Hats.
So my Air Traffic Control Witch is all kitted out with hi-vis, some iced coffee, and of course, a Witch's Hat.
It's Friday, you know how it is. Really sketchy sketch with the Rotring Art Pen and highlighters which I really should have done first but eh.
#Drawtober2026 #Drawtober #DrawingWithoutANet and boy can you tell #FountainPen #NoAI
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2026-10-22 12:04:11 UTC

Today I had to quickly draw this - I've just had the chance to post it now. I've been on the Reconciliation W.A walk, just got back, had dinner and slumped for a bit, walked a long way at King's Park, Kaarta Koomba.
Anyways, the prompt for Drawtober 22nd was 'Crystal Ball' which isn't much to do with Kambarang, so I thought about how the Nyoongar People would be moving towards the coast and the ocean at this time of year. As things warmed up, and the swirling water and droplets by warden, by maambakoort, by the sea, by the deep ocean, boola kep, much water.
Also it's a bit like abalone shell, these colours which is very pretty and good tucker too. Our Aotearoa folks have the similar paua shell, which is greener and darker, but they both have that rainbow sheen.
Both the Robert Oster Blue Water Ice and the Born In California have a wonderful sheen which I've even managed to catch in the photos. The star bright inks from Diamine are shining away there too, Glacier, Noble Fir and Chilly Nights.
#NoongarCulture #NoongarSeasons #Drawtober #Drawtober2026 #NoAI #DrawingWithoutANet #DipPen #FountainPenInk
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2026-10-21 02:41:37 UTC

Drawtober 21st - The prompt was Black Cat, but I'm trying to lean into Kambarang and Nyoongar Boodja here and the domestic feral cat has contributed to so many extinctions here it's not really appropriate.
So here is W.A's largest endemic terrestrial carnivore, which in Nyoongar Boodja is called the Djooditj and even most folks around here into nature might have heard the term Chuditch. Folks over East have their own Quolls, but this one varies significantly and is most closely related to one recently discovered in Papua New Guinea.
Anyway, I have seen these little hunters many times in the Western Shield Camera project on Zooniverse, for which I am a moderator. When they're walking along the ground they carry their tails like this, and it's one of the fantastic identifiers, nothing else does that on the cameras, so it's nice to have an easy tell.
And exploration of names -Djooditj (Nyoongar) Anglicised to Chuditch. Western Quoll, another commonly used name. The Arrente might call them Ateyelpe & Chilpa The Western Desert mob -Kuninka and the Adnyamathanha - Idnya
#CitizenScience #Drawtober #Drawtober2026 #WesternShieldCameraProject #WildOz #IndigenousAustralia #DrawingWithoutANet #FountainPen #PenAndInk #NyoongarBoodja
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2026-10-20 06:49:11 UTC

It's day 20 of Drawtober. The prompt for today is Jack-O-Lantern which is not very Kambarang-mokiny but never mind. I've got a butternut pumpkin here so it can model for one of the vampire fruits that 'crop' up in Serbian mythology.
Hmm I've seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers recently and it's kind of making me think of that in a way.
I drew it after spilling quite a bit of the Diamine Cinnabun ink, coincidentally rdm was cooking cinnamon buns at the time - I just picked it for the colour. rdm's cooking smelled better than this scented ink, but it's the least artificial smelling of the Diamines I've scented so far.
Anyway this vampire pumpkin looks pretty feisty but — Tatomir Vukanović, who wrote about them after gathering the stories "But it is thought that they cannot do great damage to folk, so people are not very afraid of this kind of vampire."
Pro tip, keep the lid on before tilting the bottle to read the label.
#ink #DipPen #FountainPenInk #DrawingWithOutANet #NoAI #Drawtober #Drawtober2026
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2026-10-19 07:54:27 UTC

Drawtober 19th and the prompt is 'potion'
I had it all planned out in my head - not a usual occurrence - but then the pens and inks said let's do this instead.
Diamine Glacier ink, it's one of the star brights. It works well with theTeranishi glass nib.
Van Diemen's Azure Kingfisher in the faithful Eco carrying on.
#DrawingWithoutANet #NoAI #FountainPen #FountainPenInk #DipPen #Drawtober #Drawtober2026 #OriginalArt
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2026-10-18 08:16:22 UTC

#Drawtober2026 number 18 and the prompt is 'Owl' for me. Hmm, I've already done one of our local owls this #Drawtober - so let's go to another night bird, our big muppet like Tawny Frogmouth, commonly called the Mopoke, but, ha, we covered that with the Boobook earlier, this bird does not make that sound. You might say it goes oom oom oom oom oom oom but it's hard to describe.
So let us explore its Nyoongar names shall we? In the Languages Other Than English as taught in schools (which roughly follows the Marribank Orthography) they are called Djoowi, but the South East mob might call them Gambigorn, the Northern Dialect mob might call them Kambikoora, South Western mob might call them Koombinger.
I drew this bird with the Kakimori nib, and the Diamine ink 'Masquerade' - very appropriate really, given the very cryptic colouration of this bird, master of disguise. If you come across one, and happen to notice it, it might become aware of you looking at it. Clearly feeling insulted, it will adjust its pose a little. "NOW am I stick like enough for you? No? Okay." Adjust, adjust. "How about now?"
#Birds #WildOz #DrawingWithoutANet #NoAI #OriginalArt #DIpPen #FountainPenInk #NyoongarLanguage.
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2026-10-17 16:59:06 UTC

Title: Drawtober 17th Moon
In The Freeze, John D MacDonald (the pseudonym for Ken Millar) introduces us to this poem. My dad was a big fan of gumshoe novels, and I read anything I could get my hands on, including the 27th Precinct novels, Travis McGee, Lew Archer and Spencer for Hire, and MacDonald was amongst them. I would have read this poem in my early teens, and it stayed with me up until now, decades later.
So when I looked it up I was surprised to find that Jim Steinman had used it in one of his early works and not attributed it, and that hardly anyone appears to have known that it was MacDonald. I guess readers of hard-bitten detective stories from the 60's and listeners to popular music interested in the musician's early works don't often crossover!
Anyways, the poem's always stayed with me and I thought I'd use it as inspiration for the 17th - a little late, been busy for @nprofile…25tr 's birthday.
Rotring art pen and wash.
Here's the text if you can't read my writing.
If light were dark and dark were light
The Moon a black hole in the blaze of night
A raven's wing as bright as tin
then you, my love
would be darker than sin
#art #NoAI #Drawtober #Drawtober2026 #FountainPen #ink #Sketch #Poetry #JohnDMacDonald
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2026-10-16 07:57:12 UTC

It's the 16th of Drawtober, and today's prompt is 'candle'
What with the fire danger warnings starting to crank up we don't want to be lighting any fires around here, so as it's #Kambarang (you might call it a second spring, or Sprummer) in the #NoongarSeasons calendar the Candlestick Banksias are giving us a show with their bright lemony yellow flower spikes.
Also known as Biara by some Nyoongar people.
#NoAI #Art #DipPen #DrawingWithoutANet #FountainPen #FountainPenInk #Drawtober #Drawtober2026 #PenAndInk
#InkandWash
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2026-10-15 06:40:54 UTC

Rotring Art Pen with black ink and a waterbrush wash, and Diamine Star Bright Glacier with the Teranishi dip glass nib.
Spiders are in full swing here, half grown Orb Weavers are spinning their webs everywhere as insects ramp up as does the heat, so I had good hopes of finding something interesting in the garden. This little scene caught my eye. We had rain overnight, and while the spider was no doubt sheltering somewhere, the web was mostly intact and had caught a few rain drops, which at first glance seemed to just be hanging in the air.
I was struck by the brightness of the web and dew in the sunlight, and the relative dullness of the foliage and fence against it, so used it as a good reason to break out one of the Diamine Star Bright inks. It sure does shine.
#NoAI #Art #DipPen #DrawingWithoutANet #FountainPen #FountainPenInk #Drawtober #Drawtober2026 #PenAndInk
#InkandWash
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2026-10-14 09:29:33 UTC

An ink and wash drawing depicting a white cat on a bedraggled broomstick flying in the sky. The ink sheens purple on bright blue, and if you turn it right, has gold flecks too. There's writing in the sky, it says
"The Broom and the Cat had never got on. But with the Witches disappearance an uneasy alliance began. Together they set forth into the night sky."
I was going to go all Kambarang and go searching for some flowering Native Broom, but I have had a couple of nights I terupted sleep and early mornings, I am not even letting myself drive, I'm that tired and headachy so here's what was easier. The ink is a favourite of mine and the pen is glow in the dark! :-)
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2026-10-13 13:45:31 UTC

Australian Ravens are found all over the country. They are (usually) completely black, except after a year old, when their eyes turn white. Only once, in over 50 years, have I seen one with a single white feather. This isn't that one. They're quite a large bird, apparently, compared to their American cousins, when Elizabeth Moon came over some years ago and we took her birdwatching she was gobsmacked with how big the ravens were and quite distracted by them when we were trying to show her more, to us locals, unusual birds.
They're smart, of course, and handsome birds. They're of particular importance to Nyoongar people, being one of the moieties - Waardong the Raven, and Manatj the Corella - Waardong must marry Manatj, and Manatj must marry Waardong since the Nyittiny - the cold times, the time before anything existed.
There's a lot of them in the suburbs, and you will often see them investigating builders' leftovers in building sites.
And hear them. Arrrrrr aaarrrrrrrrrr aaar AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!
Anyway, drawn using a very pretty Diamine ink, Upon A Star, and the funky glass nib from Teranishi.
#wildoz #NoAI #DrawingWithoutANet #Drawtober2026 #Drawtober #Birds #AustralianRaven #FountainPenInk #DipPen #GlassPen #Sketch #PenAndInk
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2026-10-12 07:17:17 UTC

Drawn in inks with a couple of dip pens, the Kakimori and the Teranish glass dip pen. It's a bit of a swathe of Van Diemen's Ink 2024 inks, with a small interloping from Diamine's Brandy Dazzle. Otherwise we have August, March and January from Van Diemen's 2024 range. The tree was grown from a seed next door, and given to us by neighbours who got it from up North, maybe near Millstream. It's a gum tree of some sort, I must try and get it identified some time. It's about 40 years old. It has very nectar smelling blossom, and its lower leaves play host to heaps of leaf miners. In this image, the mining activity looks brighter, it was more of a tan colour. The stalk, however is a much brighter pinky red in reality.
#DrawingWithoutANet #Drawtober #Drawtober20126 #NoAI #FountainPenInk #DipPen #StillLife
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2026-10-11 14:29:30 UTC

Title: Drawtober 11th
Content Notes: Had to do this one super fast, not much time before bedtime, so it's super slack. The prompt was pinecone, but I was not able to get out there and find a fine subject. Instead I'm subjecting you all to puns. The pens were a Pelikan Twist with Aventurine, and a Rotring Art Pen with Rotring black.
#DrawingWithouttANet #Art #LamePunIsLame #Drawtober #Drawtober2026 #FountainPen #FountainPenInk #NoAI
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2026-10-10 15:19:08 UTC

Same ink and pen as yesterday, and a super quick drawing between games as I was gardening in the morning and then at boardgame club for the afternoon and evening. The prompt is 'acorn' and while there are a couple of oak trees closeish I'm still going with a more local tree. These seed pods are from an Allocasuarina commonly called Sheoak in Australia, and I was taught to call it Kwel by my Nyoongar teachers.
I took about 5 minutes to draw these little seed pods. They have a spiky texture, and black cockatoos are fond of them.
#FountainPen #FountainPenInk #DrawingWithoutANet #NoAI #sketch #StillLife
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2026-10-09 06:07:00 UTC

Drawtober 9th
Pen and ink, drawn with the same as yesterday.
Squash is the prompt for today, and as squash isn't a huge thing in Australia, and we're warming up here in Kambarang in the South West of the corner of Australia where I live, I'm thinking about lemon squash.
And so is this Pipestrelle Dragonet. Whilst they can be very handy to gleefully snap up any wasps and flies that might show too much interest in your drink, tour operators warn that they will expect a tithe of ice licks for the service. People who accept the insect removal service and refuse the licks will find themselves slightly singed. It's best to work out the agreement carefully beforehand.
#DrawingWithoutANet #Dragon #NoAI #illustration #FountainPen #FountainPenInk #Drawtober #Drawtober2026
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2026-10-08 06:56:03 UTC

Well the prompt this time was 'Mug' which we do have in profusion here. It's still cool enough - in fact we had nearly 12 mm of rain here overnight that the prospect of hot drinks still has definite appeal (although who am I kidding, we drink hot tea and coffee all year round).
I got @nprofile…25tr to choose what he thought was the most interesting mug of the ones in the gaming room, and this one was the one he chose. It's one that followed him from his parents' houses to end up here eventually. He thinks it was obtained from some pottery down in the South West. It's been salt glazed, with a wax-resist design of dragonflies, and has a partner mug in the same glaze, with a more abstract design. It's seen a lot of mahjong, boardgames and also RPGs since I met rdm in 1987, and consequently it, over the years.
I had two new things to try out, my untried Van Diemens Ink August 2024 and my just arrived Pelikano Stardust. This pen arrived with an gratifyingly huuuuge cartridge filled with boring blue, so I emptied it and after a thoughtful struggle of which ink, put the August 2024 in.
And started drawing away, all done now, so here we are.
#DrawingWithoutANet #Drawtober2026 #Drawtober #PenAndInk #FountainPen #FountainPenInk
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2026-10-07 11:17:11 UTC

Drawtober 7th. Bottlebrush Tree
It's Kambarang, our second Spring and the days are getting warmer. The defining characteristic of this season is the profusion of flowers, particularly wildflowers.
The bottlebrush trees are used in my area as street trees, and at the moment they are everywhere in floric profusion.
These native trees are highly popular with honeyeater birds, so we are being visited by Red Wattlebirds, Brown Honeyeaters, Singing Honeyeaters and New Holland Honeyeaters.
I sketched this tree outside for about ten minutes, but I got cold and went inside to finish it.
For those not familiar with the tree, the flowers are tube shaped masses of stamens.
#DrawingWithoutaNet #Drawtober #Drawtober2026 #FountainPen #FountainPenInk #NoAI
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2026-10-06 13:29:55 UTC

Drawtober 6th "Toad-ish"
We don't really have toads where I live, so the next best thing for me is this little Motorbike Frog that I photographed in my garden some years ago, before neighbouring cats allowed to roam at night wiped them pretty much out. This was drawn with pen and ink that arrived today, courtesy of being informed about such things by my good friend @nprofile…2d0f so thanks for the heads up. Larry Post is a dangerous, dangerous shop, that's all I know..
Motorbike frogs are fairly common around here, and their distinctive call does sound like a motorbike changing gears. As the year warms up now, if they were around, we'd be hearing them like we used to, but alas, we need to go further afield to one of the lakes to be sure of hearing them now.
#wildoz
#DrawingWithoutANet
#DipPen
#FountainPenInk
#NoAI
#Drawtober
#Drawtober2026
#Sketch
#Drawing
#FrogArt
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2026-10-05 08:22:42 UTC

Drawtober the 5th.
The prompt today is Book, so let me introduce you to this little chap that we're starting to hear a bit more around here at night - the Southern Boobook. A lot of people think that the 'Boobook' sound it makes is actually being made by another famously muppet like bird, the Tawny Frogmouth, but no, those sound quite different. (The big nightjars known as Tawny Frogmouths are also called Mopokes, mistakenly again, the sound of the Boobook is being misattributed. They look even more muppet like than these birds.)
When the European colonists came, the (apparently) cuckoo like call at night popularized the topsy turvy nature of the country to them - seasons reversed and cuckoos calling at night.
*This* is a Southern Boobook, and in the days before digital cameras we actually saw one sitting on a low branch in a tree by the Karrinyup library which we thought was hilarious when it was pointed out to us in retrospect. Might have a print photo of it around somewhere. I tell you, the White-Cheeked Honeyeaters were going berko, that's one way to notice a roosting predatory bird around here.
Huh, I should've had it reading Islands of Angry Ghosts, a Southern Boo-Book!
Here in Whadjak Nyoongar Boodjar, Southern Boobooks are known by some Nyoongar people as Nyawoo-Nyawoo, and that's what's taught in the LOTE classes in schools, but what I was taught by Auntie Sharon in Nyoongar Language class was Kookoomet, so that's what I use. To the south east, you might hear Goobayin.
Thank you to Auntie Sharon Gregory and to the authors of "Djerap Noongar Birds"
#wildoz #DrawingWithoutANet #FountainPens #FountainPenInk #NoAI #Drawtober #Drawtober2026 #Sketch #Drawing #Birds
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2026-10-04 14:04:46 UTC

Drawtober the 4th.
Drawn swiftly with the Kakimori nib, using a new ink we got from the Pelikan Hub this year, a rather beautiful one call Brandy Dazzle. It's so pretty it even tempted my ink roller husband @nprofile…25tr to fill a fountain pen he also won in the raffle with it, and he's autographed at least one of his books with it, so he must like it!
Anyway, the subject was mushroom, but at this time of year - Kambarang - my tropical waterlily is more likely to be emerging than mushrooms around here, so here you go. Not pictured, the mat of algae that is also developing in my pond at this time of year, I'll haul it out tomorrow. A quick drawing, again after a long day, but I'm happier with this one than yesterday's one.
Clicky for biggerer.
#DrawingWithoutANet #Drawtober2026 #NoAI #FountainPenInk #DipPen #Drawing #BloomScrolling
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2026-10-03 15:53:52 UTC

Drawn at the end of a very long day, half an hour before bed. The prompt was Fox - but foxes aren't native to this country, and they've wreaked a lot of destruction and contributed to Australia's woeful extinction record. So here is a rough equivalent - the thylacine, unfortunately extinct. A very rough sketch but hey, it's nearly midnight and I just want to sleep.
#FountainPen #DrawingWithoutANet #ink #NoAI #Sketch #Illustration #Drawtober2026
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2026-10-02 06:25:32 UTC

Title: Drawtober 2 Beyen-mokiny
Content Notes: Caution! Your plant may not be my plant, so be cautious what you're eating and rubbing on yourself.
Drawn with a Kakimori dip nib for the Pelikan Apricot Achat, Pyrite and Rose Quartz inks, and with a Pelikan Twist for the Aventurine. Blending the Aventurine and the Pyrite with the Kakimori was very easy and I really liked the effect and the shade was very close to the leaves in the sunshine.
So, today's prompt from this list https://goss.dreamwidth.org/file/1625739.jpg is Sunflower. I'm roughly working through it for this year's stab at Drawtober/Inktober because the drawesome community on Dreamwidth is pretty cool. But, most of them are in the Northern Hemisphere which is not where I am. So I'm playing fast and loose. Today's prompt is Sunflower, and the closest thing to me at the moment sunflower wise is this plant which I'm growing on my verge. It's commonly known as pigface. Overseas it's called sea fig. It flowers about now and the fruit will develop through Kambarang and continue to ripen in Birak.
But It is a relative to a naturally occurring species, which some of the Nyoongar people call Beyen. It's an important plant to them. So I'm calling this Beyen-mokiny - similar to a Beyen. You can certainly eat the fruit of it, it's very nice! It's said you can eat the leaves cooked, maybe raw, but I haven't tried them. Wild Food in Australia said they were yucky but the fruit was great. Another use is it's great for burns - spread the pulp of the leaves on a burn and it acts in a similar way to aloe vera. Better in my experience, it's better. The endemic one is pink, the introduced one is yellow, but can have pink and apricot tones, I hear it crossbreeds readily with the native one.
So there you go.
#inktober #drawtober2026 #ink #DipPen #OriginalArt #NoAI #DrawingWithoutANet #FountainPen #FountainPenInk #NyoongarLanguage #NoongarSeasons
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2026-08-29 02:10:58 UTC

Hmm. I hear from a HubMaster that the swag in this year's Hub is
A collection of official stickers
A Pelikan notepad
A special gift voucher
A souvenir postcard
The bottle o' ink would have been nice but I do very much enjoy the community exchange and games and seeing everyone's delightful stuff!
I understand that the global 10,000 attendance has been reached. This, unfortunately has led to some people being informed that they won't be able to attend which is sad. Perhaps alternative meets can be sorted.
I'm one of the lucky ones for Perth.
#PelikanHub #PelikanHub2026 #FountainPens #FountainPen #FountainPenInk

2026-05-31 10:11:01 UTC

So the last day of MerMay it seemed like everyone at Swancon 50 wanted to talk, for me to get them things, and to bump the table. But me and the Kakimori and the bottle of Rainbow Scarab got through it all.
It's been a great MerMay, and thank you for traveling along with me.
#MerMay #DrawingWithoutANet #MerMay2026 #NoAI #Swancon50 #Swancon #PerthWesternAustralia
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2026-05-30 07:20:46 UTC

Super poor light I'm afraid, but we're here in a hotel with dim light and a storm lowering outside, and a hurried drawing in the heritage ballroom.
Off to a Panel soon and then The Masquerade!
I think it's mainly Azure Kingfisher.
#Swancon50 #PerthWesternAustralia #MerMay #Mermay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #FountainPen #FountainPenInk
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2026-05-29 07:18:21 UTC

MerMay 29th of 2026.
I am booked in to the hotel of Swancon50 which opens officially tomorrow, so it's going to be very busy for me for the rest of MerMay, but I will get some sort of drawing in for the remaining days hopefully. This is the last one that is going to be of any quality I think, but who knows?
This dolphin like mer guy is on his way somewhere fast!
Drawn with the Kakimori and Rainbow Scarab Ink.
#MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #Merfolk #FantasyArt #DipPen #FountainPenInk #NoAI
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2026-05-28 08:48:17 UTC

MerMay 29th of 2026.
This mischievous merperson is about to splash someone out of view.
Drawn with the Kakimori nib and who doesn't love Rainbow Scarab from Van Diemen's Ink?
#MerMay #MerMay2026 #MerMan #Merfolk #DrawingWithoutANet #NoAI #DipPen #FountainPenInk #FantasyArt
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2026-05-27 11:27:46 UTC

So something a little different for you this 27th of MerMay 2026 - I drew this today in a spirit of sharing and invite you, if you've a mind to, to print it out and colour it in. Use any colours you like!
If you do, I'd love to see it in a reply here!
May be reproduced for private, non-profit use. Copyright information must remain legible please.
It was drawn as B6 see how you go, dunno how well it''l scale.
It's drawn with my favourite Rotring Art Pen.
#MerMay2026 #MerMay #DrawingwithoutANet #FreeColouringPage #FantasyArt #NoAI #TraditionalArt #FountainPen #FountainPenInk #PenAndInk #Merperson #Merman #MerFolk
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2026-05-26 09:30:26 UTC

MerMay 26th 2026
The merfolk here are bolder than those at home. But their colouration is decidedly more cryptic than I am used to, so they can be closer than one might think. I've quite often been observing groups at a distance only to become aware of individuals only metres away, observing me in turn. In this strange country, it is not lawful to harm or trap merfolk, or indeed any creature of language, so it is refreshing to see the merpeople sporting about the vessel I have chartered. No one I have spoken to yet speaks the language of the local mer, but a couple of villages west of here apparently do - and it is to these we will set sail tomorrow. Dated this 26th Day of MerMay in Good Tidings ink.
#MerMay #MerMay2026 #Tootfic #Flashfic #DipPen #FountainPenInk #DrawingWithoutANet #NoAI
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2026-05-25 14:03:31 UTC

I hope everyone is having a lovely and Geekly Proud Glorious 25th of May and knows where their towel is. This mermaid does!
This is really a case of fandoms colliding, what with #MerMay and #TowelDay and #GeekPride and the #glorious25th
With love to #DouglasAdams and #TerryPratchett both sadly missed.
I never met Douglas but I did meet Sir Terry a few times, and he was a lovely, lovely fellow.
Anyway, appropriatedly enough, this beautiful ink from Diamine and it's called Icy Lavender, and is strong in its chameleon shimmer.
I used the Kakimori nib. I am so tired.
#MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #FantasyArt #FountainPenInk #DipPen #NoAI #Mermaid #TraditionArt
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2026-05-25 01:09:35 UTC

Acrobatic Mer for the 24th of MerMay, posting late but never mind.
I was flat out yesterday but I did this energetic fellow yesterday before sleeping, with the other Platinum Plaisir Aura Fountain Pen I got as a cheapy. The ink is some random cartridge.
For today, the glorious 25th, I'll have to think of something...
#FountainPen #FountainPens #NoAI #ink #MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #TraditionalArt #FantasyArt
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2026-05-23 09:32:40 UTC

The Shell Game. MerMay the 23rd of 2026. Nothing like so ambitious as the last one, a simple sketch with the Platinum Plaisir Aura Fountain Pen which I got as a cheapy. It's nice and and light! I hadn't used it for months but it drew first time.
#MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #FountainPen #FountainPens #FountainPenInk #NoAI #TraditionalArt #FantasyArt
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2026-05-23 02:04:20 UTC

So yesterday was pretty busy for me, from digging in some tubestock on the verge, taking some chairs to the skip for mum, having my sister-in-law visit. Then in the evening setting up a schedule for my smart telescope and putting it on the roof, also GMing my, coincidentally, GURPS merfolk player characters through the adventure with the giant shark, the sunken ship, and the mysterious deaths. (But not at Styles)
Before all of this I espied a nice photo of a poet acquaintance on Dreamwidth looking particularly like a sprite of the sea, so I asked her if it was okay to MerMay her. She agreed, I found out what colours she likes, and before my GURPS game started got her fin sorted.
GMing duties over for the evening, I returned to finish the drawing. It was finished before midnight, so I sent the model a preview, and went to bed before I got a reply. Which is why you will hopefully get two drawings today, as this is a catch up post. It was drawn on the 22nd though.
I used the Kakimori nib again, as I used multiple inks in keeping with the lovely poet's likes. She's said she likes the colours, so score there!
You can check out her website if you like, appropriately, her poems are immersive and will wrap around you like the songs of beautiful prescient birds from forests of spirit memories.
https://sonyataaffe.com
Thank you to her and photographer Rob for letting me play!
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2026-05-21 08:31:42 UTC

Back to some colour for MerMay the 21st of 2026 with The Mermaid and The Lighthouse.
I took up the Kakimori steel nib in the pretty seaglass reminiscent holder @nprofile…25tr printed for me, and had a go with the Diamine in Skulls & Roses. It has a lovely sheen doesn't it?
I did a bit of a wash with a waterbrush for the seascape, and then finished off with some of the Pelikan Gold Lapis.
This mermaid is working up the courage to visit the lighthouse keeper and thank him for his work. She is very glad that bits of ship and drowning sailors aren't messing up Stormstruck Bay so much any more!
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2026-05-20 13:22:12 UTC

MerMay The Twentieth
Title: Melusine's bubblebath
Portrayed in the happy days before her husband broke his promise, Melusine enjoys her 'me' time.
Melusine is an elusive creature, being variously described as one of the Fay, or a devil, or a serpent or dragon, or water spirit. She's occasionally been described as having two tails, which sounded interesting, so I went with that.
She has some association with water Fay so she certainly has a place in MerMay, so here she is.
Drawn with a Rotring Art Pen, and, as usual, freehand, no pencil, drawing without a net as I call it.
#MerMay #MerMay2026 #FantasyArt #FountainPen #FountainPens #PenAndInk #NoAI #TraditionalArt #Ink #Mermaid #Mythology
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2026-05-19 10:38:29 UTC

It's the 19th day of Mermay 2026 and I've used my favourite fountain pen of all time, the Rotring Art Pen, sadly no longer being made.
This was a quick one as I've been out most of the day, and not in a situation where I could draw. Well I could have, but then I wouldn't have gotten in any excercise.
#MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #NoAI #TraditionalArt #FountainPen #FountainPens #ink #FountainPenInk #MerFolk #FantasyArt
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2026-05-18 13:01:29 UTC

Every full moon, when the tide is right, all the Sand Sea Sealings of a certain demeanor go to the display sands and wave their beautiful tales enticingly in the current, while trying to blow bubbles at precise intervals.
Sand Sea Sealings are quite difficult to communicate with if you have not been properly introduced to the pod elders so while it's unclear to the layman as to why this group does this activity those in the know just smile and encourage those who don't just to enjoy it. Several of the non-displaying Sealings certainly form an apparently engrossed audience.
Sandsea Sealings are not considered 'true' merfolk by the uneducated because of their lack of 'true hands' but scientists tell us that they are definitely in the merfolk family and they certainly interact freely and in a friendly way to any merfolk of other species crossing their paths.
Recorded this 18th Day of MerMay using a Pelikan Dragon fountain pen.
#MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #NoAI #TraditionalArt #FountainPen #FountainPenInk #MerFolk #FantasyArt
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2026-05-17 12:09:12 UTC

So today's the 17th of MerMay and we have a merman today. He's drawn with one of @nprofile…25tr 's 3d printed pens he designed, with the Schmidt nibs.
I used Diamine's Solar Storm ink which is a chameleon shimmer ink.
People think this guy looks like @nprofile…25tr but it wasn't intentional. Guy with a beard. See what you think.
#MerMay #MerMay2026 #Drawingwithoutanet #NoAi #TraditionalArt #FountainPen #FountainPenInk #PenAndInk #Merman #MerFolk
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2026-05-15 07:32:31 UTC

Well, this is drawn with the Kakimori nib - as a lot of my new inks are, for convenience, because the fountain pens have all been filled up or will need cleaning before reloading. But we'll get there in the end I'm sure. This is the last of the inks from @nprofile…25tr 's naughty and unsanctioned raiding of Van Diemen's Ink's moving sale.
It's Red Lightning and it brings a lot to the drawing, and presumably writing table, because you know, I understand that these inks can be written with too, who would've guessed?
Aaaany way, I sketched out the outline of this merperson, and then filled in the back with broad strokes. Sketched in lightly with the scales and hair, and then realized it looked better upside down. So there you go.
#MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #NoAI #TraditionalArt #FountainPenInk #DipPen #FantasyArt #MerFolk #Mermaid
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2026-05-14 13:47:53 UTC

It's MerMay the 14th of 2026 and here we have a spirit of the maelstrom, drawing down ships to their doom. Or perhaps just to have tea and crumpets with the crew and then send them on their way, who am I to say what spirits of the maelstrom want to do?
I'm using the Van Diemen's Ink Azure Kingfisher Ink, a firmly fond favourite.
#MerMay #MerMay2026 #NoAI #TraditionalArt #DrawingWithoutANet #FountainPen #FountainPenInk #Mermaid #FantasyArt #PenAndInk
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2026-05-13 14:24:15 UTC

A pretty odd one for today's MerMay. I was thinking about molluscs and some of those odd nudibranch species - colourful sea slugs and the like, and this guy developed. Drawn with the Kakimori steel nib, and one of the Van Diemen's ink moving day specials, Persian Princess. It is very sparkly.
#MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #DipPen #FountainPenInk #NoAI #FantasyArt #PenAndInk
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2026-05-12 13:38:55 UTC

This MerMay - number 12, was drawn in the cardiologist's waiting room while @nprofile…25tr had his tests. It's drawn with the beautiful Azure Kingfisher ink I've used before this MerMay, it's in a Lamy Demonstrator.
#MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #NoAI #TraditionalArt #FountainPen #FountainPenInk
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2026-05-11 07:17:57 UTC

I enjoyed getting the Akkerman bottle out again and using it with the Kakimori nib. Something has profoundly upset this mermaid. Poor thing. She was fun to draw though. She'll pull through, don't worry, the ocean is on her side.
#MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #Mermaid #NoAI #PenandInk #DipPen #FountainPenInk #TraditionalArt
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2026-05-11 03:55:24 UTC

Mermay the Tenth - Yesterday in Australia it was Mother's Day, so I'm catching up after a lovely day out with my Mum.
So there'll be another drawing later today so I can catch up.
This mermum and merbaby were drawn with Van Diemen's Ink Rainbow Scarab. I am not sure if the shimmer has come up in these photos but the sheen certainly has!
Gotta say this Life Noble Note book has really come to the sheen party.
#NoAI #MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #FountainPen #FountainPenInk #Mermaid #MerFolk #FantasyArt #MothersDayAustralia
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2026-05-09 15:15:16 UTC

I dragged myself away from games at the club for a bit to draw this playful #mermaid. I used VanDiemen's ink Great Ice Lake, I think it is, which has a silver shimmer. The darker blue is Azure Kingfisher. And a little black for the fish. I used one of @nprofile…25tr 's 3d printed pens with a Schaffer nib with the Lake, and then the Lamy Demo with the Azure Kingfisher, and the Rotring Art Pen with whatever black it was I put in it ages ago.
#MerMay2026 #MerMay #DrawingWithoutANet #NoAI #FountainPen #FountainPenInk
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2026-05-07 13:44:32 UTC

MerMay the 7th.
I've had a day not conducive to drawing but fired this off this evening.
It's drawn with a Lamy Demonstrator gleefully full of Van Diemen's ink of Azure Kingfisher,
one of my favourite with its sparkle and sheen.
#MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #FountainPen #FountainPenInk #NoAI
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2026-05-06 09:44:05 UTC

I had a good 3 hours to draw this one, so the more relaxed pace shows I thing. Back to the Kakimori nib, because, guess what, @nprofile…25tr bought some ink from Van Diemen's Ink moving sale, which I told him not to do, but he did anyway. Naughty fellow isn't he?
It arrived today and this was the one he wanted me to try out.
This is Anna's Hummingbird Ink.
#FountainPenInk #DipPen #DrawingWithoutANet #NoAI #MerMay #MerMay2026
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2026-05-05 13:34:58 UTC

#Ink #FountainPen #NoAI #DrawingWithoutANet #MerMay #MerMay2026
From the deep, deep sea she rises. Her distant brethren in the shallows may sport long hair, beauty and mirrors, but she knows they'd never survive alone in the depths. But they're always very polite to her when she visits. Maybe they're just that nice, or maybe they realise that the depths are the last sanctuary, and they may some day need a friend.
Drawn with a Diplomat Magnum filled with Diamine's Sleigh Ride.
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2026-05-04 13:52:51 UTC

Mermay the fourth for 2026.
This was drawn in various cafes and bars today, between bus trips. I had one pen with me, a Kaweco sport that I thought was loaded with some standard black ink. But it's very shiny and might have some chameleonic properties. So maybe it's one of the Diamines, and if I look at last year's mermay or artober I might be able to work out what it is.
The pen was a bit clogged and it's been poor light all the way, and I had the wrong glasses. But it turned out okay, I think.
Drawing without a net means I'm drawing without pencil, freehand straight ink to paper.
#MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #FountainPen #FountainPenInk #NoAI #PenAndInk
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2026-05-03 12:42:30 UTC

#MerMay2026 #MerMay #Ink #FountainPenInk #NoAI #DrawingWithoutANet #DipPen
This #Merperson likes playing with bubbles! Just a quick drawing as I've had a busy day.
The ink is Parker's Quink. It's a decades old bottle, with just a black coloured label, but it's nice to use on occasion - with so many tempting other fancy inks around I don't often.
I'm still using the Kakimori steel nib dipper.
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2026-05-02 08:47:47 UTC

I asked one of the folks on the Aussie #FountainPen Discord which ink they'd like me to use today and they chose Diamine's Bittersweet.
Of course that got Bittersweet Symphony by the Verve stuck in my head, oh yes, there was no shifting it. Go and look at the clip on Youtube and see if I got the sense of it with this mer version of Richard Ashcroft rudely swimming through a bunch of sea creatures.
This is #MerMay No.2 for MerMay2026
#noai #FountainPenInk #DipPen #Kakimori #DrawingWithoutANet
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2026-05-01 09:25:45 UTC

Friday I got MerMay on my mind! @nprofile…ehsw reminded me today - you should check out their art too, it's very cool.
I drew most of this today with my new Kakimori dip nib, and I used Diamine's UltraSheen Laurel. As you can see, it really sheens. The paper is the very first page in my smaller Life Noble Note I got with my birthday money. Happy MerMay everybody!
#DipPen #NoAi #FountainPenInk #DrawingWithoutANet #MerMay2026 #MerMay #TraditionalArt
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2026-04-25 05:17:03 UTC

It's a trap! https://www.vandiemansink.com.au/?se_activity_id=200335884581&syclid=d7m4r0i8abuc73ddo040&utm_campaign=We%E2%80%99re+Moving+%E2%80%93+Up+to+50%25+Off+to+Clear+Stock_200335884581&utm_medium=email&utm_source=shopify_email&shpxid=6761d382-29b4-4bb1-9c92-d3ed7d5f8d98 #FountainPenInk #FountainPen #BuyAustralianMade

2026-02-19 09:52:27 UTC

I took advantage of the new Moon a couple days ago, and got a nice look at Centaurus A.
Quite good detail this time.
#SmartTelescope #Dwarf3 #DwarfLabs #Astronomy #Astrophotography #SouthernHemisphereAstronomy #BackyardAstronomy #DrivewayAstrophotography
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2026-01-07 02:12:50 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…hwm8 you wouldn't steal a dinosaur...

2025-12-25 13:53:44 UTC

Most felicitous greetings of the season to you all and thank you for travelling along with me in this inky journey this month.
The last ink of the calendar is called "Myrhh the Merrier" ha ha I see what Diamine did there.
It's a pretty luscious dark teal with a sheen that I can't quite see in this light, but we'll see if we can take a better look later. And it has shimmer as well, in pretty blue. So it's both a dessert topping and a floor wax and very pretty it is too.
I thought I'd take a bit more time for our finale, and seeing as I'm staying at a seaside hotel for Christmas visiting my sister, the sea was on my mind. With the colour nice and nautical I wanted to create a sea monster that wouldn't look out of place on a mediaeval map of the seas... Here be Dragons and all that. And I started thinking about placoderms and sclerotic rings and gulper eels.
And this chappy appeared after 2-3 hours.
Now I'm not seeing any sheen there, but I don't have any sunlight to hand right now.
But the sparkle shows up pretty well.
#inkvent #FountainPenink #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineMyrhhtheMerrier #OriginalArt #PenandInk #Inkvent2025 #DiamineInkvent2025 #FantasyArt
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2025-12-24 07:28:29 UTC

It's the second last day of the Diamine inkvent calendar for 2025 and this time it's another pigment. This one is named Antler.
It's flowing really well with the dip nib I'm using and is doing everything I ask of it.
In case you can't read my writing
"We had been 5 days surveying the surface of the frozen planet. Fatima noticed that one of the huge herbivores, the ones we had been calling megacorns due to the large single antler-like protrusion growing from the back of their heads, was a bit different. It was nearly 4 times the size of the typical megacorn, almost 6 metres long, and its protrusion was apparently carved with animal and bird designs, as well as eyes and stars.
As far as we knew, we were the first people on the planet. Were their inhabitants? And how impressive would they be, to be able to subdue a creature like this for what would have taken many hours for a skilled carver. Or was this a tame beast wandering? The most intriguing mystery of the place yet. We weren't keen to try going up to pat the creature yet.
(c) Alicia 'leece' Smith."
#inkvent #FountainPenink #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineAntler #OriginalArt #PenandInk #Inkvent2025 #DiamineInkvent2025 #FantasyArt #sciencefictionart
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2025-12-23 10:50:53 UTC

Today's inkvent is no. 23, and it's called "Let It Snow". Fat chance here, with a boiling hot Christmas day bearing down on us in Perth. It's going to be very much a shelter in place sort of day I think.
But back to the ink, it's a very pretty cerulean, made even prettier by the chameleon shimmer.
Again, this yellowish paper that I'm using - which is fine, great, recycled - isn't going to show it at its brightest.
But it will do for now.
#inkvent #FountainPenink #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineLetItSnow #OriginalArt #PenandInk #Inkvent2025 #DiamineInkvent2025 #FantasyArt #dragon
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2025-12-22 13:54:08 UTC

Well I am catching up, as yesterday I was flat out.
So yesterday's ink, The 21st is a Extreme Sheen ink, but unfortunately on this paper it does not really show it's extreme sheen. It's called Chaos. I thought what could be more chaotic than a flying cat so there we go. It's quite pleasant. It's a nice rich burgundy and the wash coming out from it also gives it a nice pink background. I will have to give it a go on some other paper. Perhaps I might do a drawing featuring all of the extreme machines that I have, which I think would be quite thrilling, at least for me.
Today's - the 22nd - ink is called Pineapple Spritz and it is both a pigment ink and a chameleon sparkle and unusually for a chameleon is quite happy to show off it's sparkle for the camera and you can see it quite clearly in the image. It's a nice dark gold. It's quite metallic in its appearance.
The dragon is enjoying blowing smoke rings :-)
#inkvent #FountainPenink #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineChaos #DiaminePineappleSpritz #OriginalArt #PenandInk #Inkvent2025 #DiamineInkvent2025 #FantasyArt #dragon #cat
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2025-12-20 08:35:44 UTC

It's day 20 of the Diamine Inkvent fun, and I've been thinking I haven't drawn a chimera for a while. So here you go.
This ink, a chameleon shimmer called "Ambience" is a warm browny orangey red and the chameleon sparkle is following the usual pattern of being quite subtle.
Chimera disrespectant just about.
Tried to catch it for you but it doesn't really photograph well in the time and lighting that I had. See if you can see any sparkle below. Oh well, it was fun to draw, and the sparkle is there but it's tiny.
#inkvent #FountainPenink #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineOvercast #OriginalArt #PenandInk #Inkvent2025 #DiamineInkvent2025 #FantasyArt #chimera
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2025-12-19 07:20:07 UTC

Today's ink is called 'Overcast'. It's a pleasant grey teal sort of a shade. But again I'm using the recycled paper sketchbook, and it's got this yellow shade, and it's very absorbent with almost no bleed. I dared to try a wash, and nothing doing, the ink pretty much just sat there like it was welded.
An interesting experiment anyway, and quite startling.
You know, you're doing a watery sort of creature, and you'd quite welcome a bit of aquatic swooshiness but no, not this time. By this time I was a bit unnerved so I just finished up the drawing. I could have drawn into the damp paper to see what would happen but I wanted to get this posted, and I wasn't sure I wanted to do any more to this particular drawing, so perhaps I shall save such adventures for tomorrow. Only 6 more to go, but after that I have the 2024 month box from Van Diemen's Ink, and that can see out the rest of the month, along with the Rainbow Scarab.
#inkvent #FountainPenink #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineOvercast #OriginalArt #PenandInk #Inkvent2025 #DiamineInkvent2025 #FantasyArt #Dragon
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2025-12-19 03:52:29 UTC

#monsterdonsavesChristmas #monsterdon
Some of the glittery inks aren't your everyday glittery inks. This ink is made in Tasmania, and is limited edition. You think it looks good here, just wait until you win a postcard, and you can request it!
Bottle number 33/100? I guess there's just not much of this ink around.
#fountainpenink #VanDiemensInk #rainbowscarab
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2025-12-19 00:43:07 UTC

Well, circumstances prohibited posting yesterday but I did manage to catch up with the #DiaminInkvent2025 17 and 18.
No. 17 is a standard ink, a perfectly pleasant purple called "Gala". I've switched to another notebook with recycled paper and it's being okay, but it has a slight yellowish cast, so that will affect things. It doesn't have as much bleed as I expected so that was interesting. I think I'll not use a wash on it at this stage though, I'm not familiar with the paper and how it will react.
The #dragon was fun to draw. I tried to get the sense of a cat sitting with its back to you and turning its head around to look. You can be the judge of whether I was successful.
No.18 and I'm really happy because they've given us another ultrasheen . It's called "Laurel" and is an earth dark green, and then the sheen is a rich red in the right light.
I don't think this paper is as sheen kind as the Clare Fontain, but it is definitely there, and it's quite beautiful, as the #gryphon will attest.
All in all a pretty nice drawing experience.
#inkvent #FountainPenink #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineLaurel #DiamineGala#DiamineFrostbite #OriginalArt #PenandInk #Inkvent2025 #DiamineInkvent2025 #FantasyArt #Dragon #Gryphon
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2025-12-17 02:24:06 UTC

Well, I did draw this yesterday, down in Mandjoorgoordup at my sister's place, overlooking the sea and chilling out with her and mum. But it's not super convenient posting on the tablet, so here we are now. And hopefully you'll have another one within 12 hours or so, because it's Art Group today at the Shed, and that's always a good opportunity to settle into a drawing.
So yesterday's ink - the 16th is called Ruby Taffeta, and it's a chameleon shimmer. In the close up of the dragon's eye the different colours can be made out in the sparkle. I like this one and it washed really well too. I'm pretty much at the end of this sketchbook, I'll have to see how the other one is going.
People participating in #MonsterdonSavesChristmas this is the sort of artwork you might be looking at winning.
#inkvent #fountainPenink #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineRubyTaffeta #OriginalArt #PenandInk #Inkvent2025 #DiamineInkvent2025
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2025-12-15 10:21:28 UTC

I was incredibly busy at the West Australian Boardgaming Association on Saturday - it was our big end of year bash and we were gaming from 11am to 11pm. Thusly I am now catching up with the Diamine Inkvent fun, so you get a three for one!
No. 13 the manticore is in an ink called Molten Basalt, it's a standard and is a fairly classy looking steely black blue.
The sugarplum fairy - No. 14 is drawn in a pigment ink called "Mittens" which cracked us up when we read it. It's a pigment ink, and it's holding fast against the wash from the "Frostbite" shimmer that I drew Number 15 in, the unicorn.
It's a very nice blue when washed, and its coppery sheen is intriguing. You can just make it out in this image detail below, but it's super subtle.
And that's us all caught up.
#inkvent #FountainPenink #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineMittens #DiamineMoltenBasalt #DiamineFrostbite #OriginalArt #PenandInk #Inkvent2025 #DiamineInkvent2025 #FantasyArt #Manticore #Unicorn #Fairy
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2025-12-12 06:53:19 UTC

Today's ink is called "Bubbly" and is a shimmer clad gold. I've let the name guide me and we have here what I'm considering to be a combination of a Water and an Air elemental.
The ink grudgingly takes a wash, I'm wondering how'd go with Tomoe River or something. I'm not sure that Clare Fontane has been the best for these inks and what I do with them. Fine for writing perhaps, but it does go through a little bit.
But it's been heaps better than the Field Notes, it does tend to bleed right through with even just a little bit of work.
#inkvent #FountainPenink #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineBubbly #OriginalArt #PenandInk #Inkvent2025 #DiamineInkvent2025
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2025-12-11 08:39:08 UTC

Day 11 of Diamine's Inkvent adventure with me, and we have an ink called "Brrr!"
It's listed as pigment and shimmer, and it's got a muted shimmer, and certainly resisted the wash I briefly tried on it before giving up.
Flows well in the dip pen but I don't think I'm going to be risking putting any of these pigments into my fountain pens.
It's a pretty colour.
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2025-12-10 11:13:24 UTC

Today's Diamine Inkvent ink, the 10th December 2025, is a purpley magenta chameleon shimmer.
It's pretty nice, and I even managed to capture some of the shimmer for you.
I had mixed success with the water brush but over all I think it's a pleasing effect.
#Unicorn
#UnicornArt
#inkvent #FountainPenink #FountainPen #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineNostalgia #OriginalArt #PenandInk #Inkvent2025 #DiamineInkvent2025
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2025-12-09 10:14:49 UTC

Here we are on day 9 of my Diamine Inkvent advent-ure. I had a bit of an accident with this one, I didn't realize that I hadn't washed the nib properly so the head of this fanciful aquatic creature isn't as Diamine Bittersweet as it should be. I suspect the whole bottle now, all twelve mls of it, is now slightly less Bittersweet than it should be. Oops.
Oh well, don't take it as being the right shade, not that seeing it through a screen will be anything like accurate, hey. Whatever it is now it's a lovely green. It's a Standard ink.
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2025-12-08 13:08:38 UTC

I follow rolanni on Dreamwidth, who is better known as Sharon Lee, who is a writer. The Liaden books, which she co wrote with her sadly missed partner Steve Miller, feature Clan Korval, whose clan symbol is a dragon hovering over a giant tree, and the clan motto, "Flaran Cha'menthi" which means "I Dare".
Sharon was feeling a bit down in her last entry, so I commented that my next Inkvent ink would feature the clan motto. It was nice that this Diamine "Dreamcatcher" Ultrasheen was pretty snazzy!
It's a lovely ink!
I don't often do fan art, so #LiadenUniverse and #SharonLee and #LeeandMiller folks enjoy!
##inkvent #fountainPenink #FountainPen #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineDreamcatcher #ultrasheen #OriginalArt #PenandInk #Inkvent2025 #DiamineInkvent2025
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2025-12-07 08:44:52 UTC

This is a standard ink, but it has nice depth, and flows well.
This is Diamine Blush and it's day seven of inkvent - how are you doing with yours a week in if you're doing it?
#inkvent #fountainPenink #FountainPen #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineBlush #OriginalArt #PenandInk #Inkvent2025 #DiamineInkvent2025
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2025-12-06 04:07:18 UTC

December the 6th brings us a chameleon ink, Fir and Fog. It's lovely and even let us photograph the different coloured sparkles. Perhaps it was the strong sunlight this morning :-) Flows nicely, and it also is quite happy to bleed out into a wash, unlike the one yesterday. Although that one had dried for longer, so that might be it.
I really like this one.
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2025-12-05 09:39:15 UTC

Inkvent 2025 Number 5 - Marie Rose is a golden brown pleasant standard ink that apparently hates my troublesome nib. I'm going to have to try the potato. It doesn't bleed much, this ink. At least not on this paper from Claire Fontane, same as I've used for the others.
#inkvent #fountainPenink #FountainPen #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineMarieRose #OriginalArt #PenandInk #Inkvent2025 #DiamineInkvent2025
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2025-12-04 06:49:46 UTC

For today, December 4th, I opened up the little door to find ink du jour is called Smoky Tobacco. And it's a scented ink, hmm. I'm of the opinion that every Diamine scented ink I've sniffed so far smells horribly chemically and medicinal or sacharine or like some sort of cleaning products. Sorry Diamine, I'm not in it for the smells, and if I was I wouldn't be sniffing you.
But this one isn't overly horrible. I don't like tobacco smoke generally, but a fragrant pipe smoke can be quite pleasant. This ink smells like someone tried to get rid of the smell of a fragrant pipe in an old library with a bit of pine scented polish.
I asked @nprofile…gywq what he'd like me to draw for this one and he ummed and aahed a bit and then asked for a centaur.
I said "Smoking a pipe?" and he agreed, but it had to be one of those big curving ones, "Like a Meerschaum?" I said and he nodded.
So here we have what must now be called a Scentaur smoking a pipe.
I do not in any way endorse smoking or tobacco products and have received no benefits from the depiction of tobacco and smoking paraphernalia in this image. It's killed too many of my close relatives. Could have called it Witch's Fire or something Diamine, there's enough tobacco smoke around without making it seem like a good thing.
Also, those dodgy convenience stores selling illegal tobacco and vapes. They should start actually stocking convenience items like milk because it just makes non-addicts really annoyed when you can't get milk from a convenience store. It's not very bloody convenient is it?
Oops sorry got distracted there. Anyway you can see that the ink is a chocolatey brown, and that the water brush wash over it has left the drawing intact and gives a pleasant variety of shades.
#inkvent #fountainPenink #FountainPen #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineSmokyTobacco #OriginalArt #PenandInk #Inkvent2025 #DiamineInkvent2025
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2025-12-04 05:29:53 UTC

Catching up with December the third, and this one was a bit of a surprise to me - it's a sharp looking red ink, Carousel by name. It's marked as a pigment ink, and this isn't something I've experienced before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. We did a little reading up, and it's interesting. It's a forever ink, so I'll be thinking long and hard before I put one in a pen, because once it's dried that's apparently it.
Hmm.
I fooled around with various experimentation which I'll go into in detail in separate sections. Firstly, though, I'll say a bit of isoprop on the offending nib from the previous time worked a treat, and I had no problems with any flow.
Partway along the body of my volunteer test dragon I did some cross hatching with an unknown fine Kaweco, just a standard black I think, that had been in the pen a while and was a bit dry to start with. Then I drew with the pigment ink on top of it. Nothing much happened except the inks began to mix, and not much of interest was apparent.
Okay I thought, let's try it with a permanent ink as the base, so I dug around until I found a black Sharpee and drew on top of a test piece for that. That's the black patch with the dragon pearl in front of the dragon. And, it's... okay, it doesn't show up at all well but it's there, and it's not mixed with the other ink.
Now came the most interesting bit to my mind and inclinations, how does it cope with watercolour going over it once it's dried. It goes fine. I might have to find me some of it in black, and a sacrificial, or 'always keep this filled and active' fountain pen, because it's nice to be able to draw the black ink first, and then put some colour in if I've a mind to. Yes I know I could use other pens that are permanent, but I do enjoy a fountain pen.
The Carousel Ink itself flows really well from a dip nib, it's bright and lovely.
#inkvent #fountainPenink #FountainPen #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineCarousel #OriginalArt #PenandInk #Inkvent2025 #DiamineInkvent2025
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2025-12-02 09:01:00 UTC

For my birthday @nprofile…gywq bought me the 2025 Diamine Invent Calendar, so this time I'm all current and up to date and topical.
So I did December the 1st yesterday, and December the 2nd today.
I hope to do a larger work integrating them all this month, but for now, here's what I did with the first two inks.
The first ink is called Celestial Skies, and it's a very pretty aquamarine blue, with a shimmer in it that was hard to catch for me today in film. But you might get a hint of it as you click on the photos below. A vaguely Celestial dragon seemed like a good subject.
Drawn with a dip pen, and then I used a waterbrush to tease out some wash from the image, and I think it's a lovely shade.
The next day brings us an ink called Energy, and it's certainly vibrant. I tried another nib for this one, but I must have some grease from my hands on it, the point was pretty hydrophobic, and the ink didn't want to flow (it's not the ink, it's done this with others) Apparently I should stick the nib in a potato for 10 minutes or give it a rub with some alcohol (I tried Dr Bronner's but it didn't work) so I'll know for next time.
Anyways, this is a nice rich purple with a bronzeish sort of sheen, which I managed to catch a little of in the photo. I don't know where the UniGryphon came from, I was frustrated with the nib which was not cooperating enough to my tastes, so a monstrous beast emerged.
I mean, a bit more monstrous than usual, I guess, for me?
It's really a nice ink though. Did the wash thing with the waterbrush again.
#inkvent #fountainPenink #FountainPen #Dippen #DrawingWithoutaNet
#NoAI #Diamine #DiamineCelestialSky #DiamineEnergy #OriginalArt #PenandInk
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2025-11-24 08:17:09 UTC

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@nprofile…xujg Stay calm. It'll be okay. You have my word.

2025-10-31 08:53:01 UTC

Drawtober 2025 No.31 Balls!
Content Notes: A lighter view of the guard dog of Hades. It's always the way, there are balls lying around everywhere, but which one does your typical doggo want? The one that someone else has. Fortunately in this case the serpent headed tail of the hellhound is willing the throw it for the rest of itself.
I like putting as much monster as I can - so I'm going with the descriptions of Kerberos as having the serpent headed tail, and the fur made up of snakes, I don't think it's done enough.
Various inks, including Diamine's Glacier, Bliss, Cocoa Shimmer and Sugar Snap and Robert Oster's Red Orange.
This was a great bunch of prompts and I hope that everyone else has had as much fun as me, whether drawing, viewing, or both!
Super fun Drawtober, thank you Drawesome community on Dreamwidth for the organisation!
#FountainPenink
#FountainPen #FountainPens #FountainPenSketch
#OriginalArt
#Drawtober2025
#Drawingwithoutanet
#NoAI
#FantasyArt
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2025-10-30 13:18:08 UTC

Drawtober Prompt No.30 'Mask'
I was thinking about the Owl Service by Alan Garner (not anything in the book like this), and the Welsh legend of the woman of flowers, and thinking about a masquerade and vaguely wondering whether it's a good thing or a bad thing putting on a mask sometimes...
Diamine's wonderful Grotto ink, in my wonderful Diplomat, such a lovely pen to write and draw with. I probably should have grabbed a mask as a model but I think it turned out reasonably well without any references. Also I walked 9.5 kilometres today, so I was a bit tuckered when I drew this.
#FountainPenink
#FountainPen #FountainPens #FountainPenSketch
#OriginalArt
#Drawtober2025
#Drawingwithoutanet
#NoAI
#FantasyArt
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2025-10-29 11:50:42 UTC

Dreamwidth Drawesome Community Drawtober Drawing Challenge Prompt No.29 Bell
Content Notes: Vaguely inspired by stories of hearing about mermaids ringing the bells of submerged churches to warn of storms.
Diamine's Sugar Snap ink, with the bell using Pelikan's Golden Lapis. Touches of another ink which I don't know what it was.
#FountainPenink
#FountainPen #FountainPens #FountainPenSketch
#OriginalArt
#Drawtober2025
#Drawingwithoutanet
#NoAI
#FantasyArt
#Merfolk #Merperson
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2025-10-28 08:34:50 UTC

Drawtober Prompt No. 28 Bridge of Stars.
This is based on one of my husband's short fictions, which you can read here https://aus.social/@rdm/115356792160095459 if you like. The ink is Cosmic Glow from Diamine and the line work is done with my beloved Rotring Art Pen.
#FountainPenink
#FountainPen #FountainPens #FountainPenSketch
#OriginalArt
#Drawtober2025
#Drawingwithoutanet
#NoAI
#FantasyArt
#Dragons
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2025-10-27 13:32:04 UTC

Drawtober No.27 Fire
Content Notes: Drawn with a Kaweco Sport, mainly. I'm not sure what the ink in the Kaweco Sport was, that I used for the dragon. It's got a sheen, and also seems to have a shimmer, so maybe I can track it down, but it's closest to Sleigh Ride from Diamine so let's go with that for now.
The new Pelikan ink helped with the orange bits, and the rest is just some brush markers.
#FountainPenink
#DipPen
#OriginalArt
#Drawtober2025
#Drawingwithoutanet
#NoAI
#FantasyArt
#Dragons
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2025-10-26 09:53:37 UTC

Dreamwidth's Drawesome Community's Drawtober prompts No.26 - Noisy
Wayyyy back in the mid 80's I discovered the Rotring Art Pen, which is now sadly discontinued. It's always been my favourite to draw with and indeed my first work I remember with it you can see in the head of the Watcher dragon in my avatar there. Got to be one of the nicest pens to work with ever for drawing. Murray Ball of Footrot Flats Fame used them too.
Anyways, this is a Bandin - or a White Cheeked Honeyeater, one of the local birdies here in Perth, and I've drawn this noisy little squeaker from a photo that [personal profile] rdm took by Derbarl Yerrigan. These birds are quite often mistaken for Bandiny, the New Holland Honeyeater, but a quick look at the eyes will establish which you're looking at, Bandin have dark eyes, and Bandiny (Not pronounced Bandinee, more like the 'n' in onion) have white eyes.
These are a striking bird, and quite often they're the ones who'll be the first to alarm call if there's a cat, owl or raptor about with their thin, shrill call that goes right through your head.
This time I did a pencil sketch beforehand, no Drawingwithoutanet this time oooh what a slacker...
Took somewhere between an hour and two hours. I think. You'll have to ask @nprofile…gywq
#wildoz #birds #BirdsofAus #Drawtober2025 #ink #fountainpen #art #wildlife #noai
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2025-10-21 08:05:31 UTC

Drawtober 2025 No.21 Rhythm
Content notes: I got so, so frustrated with the nib that I was using, it just wouldn't flow properly, I had to keep dipping and tapping and it would pool in the nib but not at the tip and threaten to get all over everything at once and I'm still really grumpy about it.
But. The ink is really pretty, it's Tranquility from Diamine and it's a lovely purple, and as if to try to make up for the nib it showed off some of its Chameleon sparkle for the camera.
I'm so grumpy though, I need cheering up. *So, I need a caption for this picture.*
If you're not familiar with why it is this Rhythm Band is in such peril ask in the comments.
#FountainPenink
#DipPen
#OriginalArt
#Drawtober2025
#Drawingwithoutanet
#NoAI
#ScienceFiction
#Dune #Sandworm
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2025-10-20 04:27:04 UTC

I love the evocative prompt so thank you to whoever had that idea! The ink is a chameleon shimmer from Diamine called Astral, and I even managed to get you a hint of its sparkle. As is usual drawn straight ink to paper so any mistakes we all just have to live with.
This page turned out to be more writing than drawing but I thought it was in keeping with being the diary entry of some off-planet amateur archaeologist surveying an intriguing site with a helpful local guide.
Here's a transcript in case you can't read my writing.
***
Desert Ruin.
There was not a lot to see.
My guide gestured. "Here we are."
Amongst the sand there were a few scattered stones, probably parts of some walls. But the main item was a dark stone statue half buried in the sand. Upright, large eyed and winged, although one was broken, the tip lying next to the sculpture.
"Thank you." I said to the guide. "Did the ancients look like this, do you think?"
A snort was my reply. "No one know what they looked like. They made us what we are, gave us intelligence and language but didn't deign to leave us with thumbs. All we have is an oral tradition of powerful beings."
I put down a survey marker. "Do you mind helping me?"
My guide flicked an ear. "You're paying me. And you made sure I can get the saddle off if I need to."
#tootfic #microfiction
#FountainPenink
#DipPen
#OriginalArt
#Drawtober2025
#Drawingwithoutanet
#NoAI
#FantasyArt
#SFart
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2025-10-19 07:52:24 UTC

Back here again from #Dreamwidth and the #Drawesome community's take on artistic October with their Drawtober prompts. These are suggested by the community and they are a lot of fun.
If you click on https://drawesome.dreamwidth.org/tag/drawing+challenge+74+-+drawtober+2025 you'll be able to see the other members' works as well.
Today's prompt is No.19 - Flutter.
Dip pen and nib, the ink is Diamine's Cinnabun which is warm and very good to work with - smooth and rich. Usual, no pencil, no rubbing out. These psuedodragons are inspired by the real life Draco volans that has extended rib structures that enable it to glide.
One of the creatures has caught a dragonfly, and is unwilling to share with its companion.
#FountainPenink
#DipPen
#OriginalArt
#Drawtober2025
#Drawingwithoutanet
#NoAI
#FantasyArt
#Dragons
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2025-10-18 15:27:39 UTC

Drawtober Day 18 and the prompt is Daydream.
Dip pen, usual, just straight pen to paper. An exercise in doodling and daydreaming, I don't know what other people daydream about but my mind took me to the sun and the moon, to rainbows and opinicus and unicorns and dragons and dinosaurs and numbats and sailboats, just sketching away in Diamine's Buck's Fizz chameleon ink. The photo doesn't do the tangerine hue justice, and the sparkle isn't picked up either. Huh, tangerine dream...
Anyway, a fun one, and pretty much just daydreaming on paper.
#FountainPenink
#DipPen
#OriginalArt
#Drawtober2025
#Drawingwithoutanet
#NoAI
#FantasyArt
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2025-10-17 07:29:15 UTC

Content Notes: Dip pen and nib, the ink is Diamine's Lavender Frost, a dark grey purple with a nice silver sparkle, which miracle, I managed to capture a little of. Meanwhile, a few type 61's get squashed by the squash, in the finest tradition of TOHO's SDF ,and Tokyo tower which I had to truncate a bit is awaiting its fate. We've been watching a lot of TOHO lately, does it show?
The giant mutated squash couldn't help it if it woke up feeling seedy.
#FountainPenink
#DipPen
#OriginalArt
#Drawtober2025
#Drawingwithoutanet
#noai
#TohoCinema
#kaiju
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2025-10-17 06:16:34 UTC

#astrodon #SouthernHemisphereAstronomy #SmartTelescope #BackYardAstronomy #DrivewayAstrophotography #Caldwell70
#astronomy #astrophotography
Here's what I've been shooting over a few nights, ducking between clouds. My astronomy group's task is to get a pic of Caldwell 70 / NGC 300 so here we are.
Bit of tweaking in Snapseed following a whole lot of stacking within the telescope's internal Stellar Studio, and it turned out quite pretty.
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2025-10-16 07:46:16 UTC

Drawtober Prompt No.16
Dip pen and nib, the ink is Diamine's Merry and Bright shimmer, which I couldn't get to shimmer for you. The bits that do shimmer are gold against the green but it's a subtle one. Usual, no pencil, no rubbing out, and just something that vaguely came out of my head. I probably should've looked at some references. But why start now?
#FountainPenink
#DipPen
#OriginalArt
#Drawtober2025
#Drawingwithoutanet
#NoAI
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2025-10-16 02:14:02 UTC

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@nprofile…4gxv ooh submit it to iNaturalist and see what it is!

2025-10-15 09:19:13 UTC

Drawtober 2025 Prompt 15. Glitter.
Dip pen and nib, the ink is Diamine's Walnut. Usual ink straight to paper. And while it is a perfectly servicable drawing ink, a dark sepia - it is an unfortunate ink to come up in the inkvent calendar on the day that Glitter is the prompt. *sigh* So it's the first prompt that I feel I have not really stepped up to the plate properly in execution. The deadly glitter I was imagining in this basilisk's eye I don't think really comes across. Maybe if I put a wash over everything except the eye? But I wasn't brave enough to do it.
Well maybe it doesn't really mean it. My basilisk/cockatrice usually wear sunglasses anyway because they tend to be friendly types.
The people at my Community Shed's art group burst into laughter when I referred to it as a killer chook.
#FountainPenink
#DipPen
#OriginalArt
#Drawtober2025
#Drawingwithoutanet
#FantasyArt
#NoAI
#Basilisk #Cockatrice
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2025-10-14 08:26:43 UTC

Drawtober 2025 - No. 14 Propped Up
Dip pen and nib, the ink is Diamine's Rainbow's End chameleon. And it's a lovely purple in, quite beautiful, with that oh so hard to photograph chameleon, mostly red sparkle. I tried hard to capture it for you but I needed a third hand. rdm might assist later.
Anyway, I remember reading the Flight of Dragons some time ago and I vaguely remember that they kind of came to a conclusion that dragons were very light and filled with buoyant gas, so that's how I'm figuring these hopefully acrobatic dragons are doing what they're doing.
Otherwise we're just buoyed by enthusiasm and physics just looking the other way for a bit. The dragon on the left is, however, trying to put a stop to all this nonsense.
The Eastern Dragon must have great balance. Reminds me of my niece in law, she's tiny, but is the base for her acrobatic troupe.
#FountainPenink
#DipPen
#OriginalArt
#Drawtober2025
#Drawingwithoutanet
#FantasyArt
#NoAI
#Dragons
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