Augustus!

Little Augustus is SO expressive!  His thoughts are written boldly across his face!  After getting a little baby time this afternoon, I take up the fountain pen to render this little darling in ink!  Though I've done many portraits, I've never done them in ink - something about the permanence of it all!  There are no erasers for fountain pens!  So, I made a few tick marks in pencil (like the top, bottom, sides of the face, eye, nose, lip shadow dots) to give me a visual map to start with.  With these dots, I adjusted accordingly as I lay down the ink.  I think I could have done these ticks in ink, and probably will the next time.  I guess I just needed the crutch to get me going!  Once the drawing was in, I used a wet brush to move the ink a little, softening lines and adding shadow planes.  This is a one shot deal.  If I miss the placement of those planes, there's no going back.  No eraser!  I REALLY love the depth of the black ink - I will definitely be doing this again!  Painting number 1826 inn 1826 days.