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miinx.bsky.social
miinx
@miinx.bsky.social
1.4K followers 330 following 610 posts
KJ Bowen, Melbourne-based geek grrrl, art & music maker, animal & nature lover, user of ampersands, cruciverbalist.
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miinx.bsky.social
For #ArtAdventCalendar day 16, here’s a face I sketched last weekend.

I really love drawing faces, they’re so interesting. Not overly happy with this one but meh, it was fun.

Drawn with #Polychromos #pencil 191 Pompeian Red in a mixed media sketchbook.

#drawing #face #art #sketch
A monochromatic, rusty red pencil drawing of a girl’s face, scrunched up, caught in a big laugh. She has a mass of wild curls framing her face, her eyes squeezed shut in mirth, and her teeth all visible behind her wide grin.
December 16, 2025 at 11:49 PM
miinx.bsky.social
For #ArtAdventCalendar today, here’s a gouache painting I did in Feb ‘22, one of my faves.

#painting #art #gouache
A gouache painting in a sketchbook. The landscape orientated painting is an abstract progression of loose, textured, vertical coloured stripes blended into each other, moving from left through deep red, scarlet, orange, golden yellow, light brown, a thin band of dark brown, dark to lighter green, lemon yellow, golden yellow again then finishing with another thin band of orange on the right edge.
December 9, 2025 at 11:28 PM
miinx.bsky.social
Happy #ArtAdventCalendar everyone!

Here is an artichoke from August. Been playing with oils a bit this year and I have a lot to learn 😅

#painting #oils #artichoke
An oil sketch in a sketchbook of an artichoke, with the reference photo showing on an iPad sitting next to it.
December 6, 2025 at 10:36 PM
miinx.bsky.social
Currently in Savona, Italy!

Here are some tomatoes from a local grower 🤤

They’re called Datterini aka “little dates”.

Happy Easter everyone! Hope you are all doing ok ❤️
Some local Italian farmer-grown tomatoes called Datterini aka “little dates”! 🍅 Some local Italian farmer-grown tomatoes called Datterini aka “little dates”! 🍅
April 19, 2025 at 2:34 PM
miinx.bsky.social
Love Kent St!

We have this beauty on our fridge:

(Note also the awesome cat stickers from @kayjaypayyy.bsky.social 🧢❤️)
Photo from 2023 of a sticker that is still on our fridge that reads “Fuck this, I’m going to Kent St!” Stuck there with some very yellowed old White Pages magnets, which also pin some wonderful @kayjaypayyy cat stickers and a council notice about a street party. Being a rainy Melbourne Sunday morning, I am still in bed & too lazy to go take a fresh pic.
March 15, 2025 at 10:48 PM
miinx.bsky.social
Face drawing from last week 💙

Drawn with Faber-Castell Polychromos coloured pencil in shade 110 Phthalo Blue, in a mixed media sketchbook.

#drawing #face #portrait #polychromos #art #artyear #FebruArty #monochrome #OnlyBeautifulThings
Faber-Castell Polychromos coloured pencil drawing of an interesting face I found on the internet. I love doing monochrome pencil drawings and value studies, particularly of faces.
February 17, 2025 at 2:51 AM
miinx.bsky.social
Progress pics, showing the transition from pencil sketch, through Copic base layer, then starting to add some pencil 🐸
Initial pencil sketch. I forgot to take a photo before I started lightening the lines with a kneadable eraser unfortunately. But you can still see the little guy :) Starting to lay down the Copic marker base layer. Never done this before. Had to really force myself not to get into detail, as I can’t seem to help doing most of the time. This is where I stopped with the Copics. Had no idea if it was enough, or too much, haha. Starting to add pencil. I’m so obsessed with my Polychromos pencils, they’re such wonderful quality and perfect for finely detailed work.
February 10, 2025 at 2:16 AM
miinx.bsky.social
Little froggy I drew a couple of weeks ago 🐸

A wee Northern Dwarf Tree Frog Litoria bicolour 💚

How good is art for stopping doom scrolling?

Progress pics in comments. More info in alt text.

#drawing #polychromos #copic #pencil #art #artshare 🐡 🐍
Multimedia drawing of a Northern Dwarf Tree Frog Litoria bicolour, from a photo by David Clode in Northern Queensland, Australia. The frog is mostly green, sitting vertically on a stalk. The drawing was made with Polychromos coloured pencils, over Copics. My first time using Copics as a base layer under the pencil, and as you’ll see in the progress pics, the Copic layer was kinda messy, but saved me a bunch of time!
February 10, 2025 at 2:09 AM
miinx.bsky.social
Look at what just arrived from the UK! 🤩

“Bad Garden Party Stare”, original artwork by @kazland.bsky.social, the 2nd of two I’ve purchased recently.

The other is still in its postal tube as I want to get it framed too. Sooo happy 🥰

#art #artyear #kazland #fineart #OnlyBeautifulThings
Photo of an abstract art piece by Kazland titled “Bad Garden Party Stare”. It is predominantly red, black & white, plus a touch of yellow & pink, in a black wooden box frame, also made by the artist.
January 22, 2025 at 5:58 AM
miinx.bsky.social
See a duck, post a duck. Doesn't have to be the same duck. 🪶

(it is tho)

#birds
Colour pencil drawing of a Mandarin Duck.
January 20, 2025 at 2:35 AM
miinx.bsky.social
Today has not started well 😣

#coffee
Photo of a large green coffee canister that has fallen on the floor, opened, & spilled its ground coffee contents everywhere. Damn.
January 15, 2025 at 10:50 PM
miinx.bsky.social
Drop something black & white
Charcoal drawing of a metal gravy boat in a sketchbook.
January 10, 2025 at 10:51 PM
miinx.bsky.social
No to Nuclear, obviously.

But you need to stop offsetting your renewables brownie points with new coal mines.

australiainstitute.org.au/initiative/c...
Screenshot of the start of the article at https://australiainstitute.org.au/coal-mine-tracker/update/taking-out-the-trash-2024-three-big-coal-approvals/ Text reads: “Taking out the trash 2024: three big coal approvals On 19 December 2024, three big coal mines gained federal approval – Caval Ridge, Boggabri and Lake Vermont. These projects could produce 350 million tonnes of coal and 936 million tonnes of emissions. Bad stuff.”
January 10, 2025 at 10:38 PM
miinx.bsky.social
For #ArtAdventCalendar day 19, here’s an abstract composition in gouache I painted in Dec ‘22.

#art #gouache #abstract
An abstract gouache painting composed of many large, blobby shapes that twist and overlap in multiple places. The shapes are various shades of dark blue and green.
December 19, 2024 at 11:47 AM
miinx.bsky.social
I missed this the other day, but if not too late, here’s the main thing I’m working on at the moment!

Thanks @paperslayers.bsky.social for the tag :) love your line work there, beautiful!
Abstract colourful oil painting with some jungle motifs hidden within
December 19, 2024 at 2:55 AM
miinx.bsky.social
WIP on some current work for #ArtAdventCalendar day 17.

“Through the jungle” oils on primed paper.
Abstract WIP painting of a jungle scene, with birds, sunlight, trees and water combining in a cacophony of colour.
December 17, 2024 at 4:24 AM
miinx.bsky.social
Good morning Bskies on this hot windy Monday in Melbourne, with an expected top of 41C (106F) eek 🥵

For #ArtAdventCalendar day 16 though, here are some apples I drew in April ‘22.

Continuous contour line drawing with left hand, coloured in with my right.

#art #drawing #polychromos #prismacolor
Continuous contour line drawing of 3 red apples, then coloured in with coloured pencils.
December 16, 2024 at 12:17 AM
miinx.bsky.social
Striped catfish, in a never-ending cycle of feeding and protection. A beautiful example of a community working together for the benefit of all. 🫶

#unitedhealthcare

Footage from @freshfinsdiving www.tiktok.com/@freshfinsdi...
December 13, 2024 at 4:36 AM
miinx.bsky.social
The moon was pretty spectacular last night 🤩

Zoom in & you can clearly see the face of the moon!

For some reason I’ve always thought the face is only visible to those of us in the southern hemisphere. Is that correct, people up north?

#ArtAdventCalendar #moon #iphone #sciart #astrosky
Photo of the moon at dusk. Most of the photo is sky, which has no clouds, with some dark foreground shapes of trees and the Alexander Parade Shot Tower in the distance, one of Melbourne’s few remaining shot towers, unused since 1947. In the photo, the moon is high in the sky and quite large, relatively. The sky is still light although gradually turning a deeper blue, with hints of pink and orange along the horizon. The moon is quite clearly showing its easily recognisable face, which is apparently actually painted by shadows from craters on the moon’s surface.
December 13, 2024 at 1:19 AM
miinx.bsky.social
Some watercolour blobs for #ArtAdventCalendar day 11. Little individual worlds of colour and connection, from May ‘22.

I love making these. I have a bunch more and am working on larger versions on canvas at the moment.

#watercolor #painting #art #abstract #color
Photo of some watercolour blobs painted in a sketchbook, 2 rows of 2. Each blob is a combination of a few different colours, which move and swirl and connect in different ways within the amorphous shapes.
December 11, 2024 at 9:21 AM
miinx.bsky.social
Somewhere, right now, this is happening, and I really wish I was there!

Sunset on a tropical island, artist’s gouache in a Moleskin watercolour journal, April ‘22

#ArtAdventCalendar #gouache #artsky #sunset #island
A gouache painting of a sunset on a tropical island. The scene shows a shoreline, with the viewer standing on the sand, looking to the right. The sun has almost set in the distance, but the sky still has bright yellows, oranges & reds dancing across the horizon, also reflected on the sea. In the foreground on the left is a big sunshade made of palm leaves, and to the right, further along the beach, a single palm tree. Even further in the distance there is a pier extending out over the water. Apart from the bright oranges & reds of the sunset, everything has a deep blue cast from the encroaching night.
December 10, 2024 at 6:31 AM
miinx.bsky.social
Here’s a watercolour & colour pencil doodle I did sometime in 2021, for #ArtAdventCalendar day 9. I quite like this one, even tho it’s a bit of a mess.

#art #doodle #mixedmedia #watercolor #prismacolor
Photo of a spiral-bound sketchbook page of colourful watercolour & pencil doodled shapes and lines. There are 3 big russet-coloured triangles in the middle pointing left, with many smaller objects and marks in predominantly royal blue, turquoise, lime green, yellow and orange around and over the big arrows.
December 9, 2024 at 2:52 AM
miinx.bsky.social
For #ArtAdventCalendar day 8, a Mandarin Duck I drew April ‘22 in Polychromos pencils on some cheap paper that was totally unfit for purpose. It ripped in a few places, particularly in the duck’s beautiful neck feathers/mane/collar/um what do you call that bit?
A coloured pencil drawing of a Mandarin duck, minus its tail (poorly planned, ran out of space!) on a spiral bound notebook, spiral on the left.
December 8, 2024 at 2:57 AM
miinx.bsky.social
Good morning, Blueskies! And a happy #caturday to you all!

Here’s Leroy refusing to look at the camera for me. (Not shy, just cat.)
Photo of a long-haired black cat looking to his side. He’s sitting on a cork placemat on a little side table. In the background are two of his many, many beds in the apartment that he could choose to use instead of the placemat, but doesn’t.
December 7, 2024 at 12:08 AM
miinx.bsky.social
Some strawflowers I painted in Nov ‘22 for #ArtAdventCalendar day 6

#watercolour #art #sciart #wip
Photo of a page in a spiral-bound sketchbook, with 3 rows of individual watercolour strawflower heads across the page, 4 per row. The flowers are a mix of orange, deep red and gold, often with multiple colours in one flower. Not all the flowers are complete yet, the last row in particular lagging, and the last two flowers only a single, pale layer of colour so far.
December 6, 2024 at 4:28 AM