January 30, 2011 January 31, 2011

Very productive day yesterday and loads of fun. I took on my third EDM challenge. I used a purse that has been my favorite for years. It was just semi-retired when my husband got me a multi-pocket, cross body purse from the National Geographic Catalog for Christmas…organized and hands-free…wahoo! Love the new purse but I am holding onto the old one. It is from Talbot’s, very flexible and also has a few pockets. I had to think about giving it a rest because somehow it got a smudge of white paint on its black canvas side. I was sad! Here it is…

Favorite Purse - EDM #3

 

I also had time (during the Pro Bowl) to sketch a set of the beautiful columns that decorate the facade of the Alamo. I love the warm color of the stones and stucco and thought this would be a good chance to try an underwash with an ink drawing on top.

Alamo Columns

January 29, 2011 January 30, 2011

For a year I have been fascinated by the Every Day Matters (EDM) challenge. Last year my focus was on using my newly aquired knowledge of color theory and drawing to create watercolor paintings for show and competition. (Wow is that a mouth full!) This year I am more focused on having fun and relieving stress and continuing to develop my knowledge and skills. Nothing is more challenging than trying to make mundane everyday objects impactful, beautiful or exciting. So here I am, close to the end of January, 2011 starting the EDM challenge. I am not making a commitment about how, when or where I will work on this. I just want to enjoy the experience. Here are EDM #1 and EDM #2.

Christmas Shoes - EDM #1

Andy Warhol gained much of his initial recognition through his whimsical illustrations of women’s shoes made for a luxury leather store in NYC. His “blotted line” drawings and some of the gorgeous photos in “O” magazine inspired EDM #1. I also took the oppotunity to use my bamboo calligraphy pens, another tool I bought and never used.

Ken's Lamp - EDM #2

The second EDM object is a lamp. In this case I used a more traditional approach and the lamp that sits beside my husband’s chair. Both the EDM’s were created using graphite, colored pencil and watercolor. For EDM #1 I used a fine point bamboo pen and Black Magic ink.

January 27, 2011 January 28, 2011

Spent yesterday afternoon at the art museum and had some time to kill while I waited for my husband to finish his volunteer shift. Several years ago I had fun sketching eyes of celebrities from a book of portraits. Eyes tell so much about attitude! I had my latest copy of the National Wildlife Federation magazine with me so I did sketches of animal eyes. These are done with pencil, colored pencil and watercolor marker. What a lovely way to spend an hour!

 

January 23, 2011 January 24, 2011

Big day yesterday of trying to paint while watching football. I have not created an ATC (artist trading card) for several months so I decided to do one with a poinsettia as the subject. I painted it using the aquabrushes and the S&W pencils for the first step. I created a gray (grisaille) underpainting. I have never done this and did not really know how it would work but it turned out OK. There was more texture and detail than you can see in this scan.

Poinsettia ATC - Step 1

I painted the ATC in layers starting with the aquabrushes and watercolor crayons. I could not get deep, rich color so I embellished with colored pencil, marker and even a few strokes of Winsor Red.

Poinsettia ATC

I have learned to use whatever it takes to make the painting “right”.

January 22, 2011 January 23, 2011

I have been wanting to do a painting of a poinsettia for a couple of years but, during the busy holiday season when the plants are available, I never think of it. I received a beautiful poinsettia plant as a gift this year and yesterday was the day. I also wanted to do a sketch using the S&W pencils on paper that is made for wet media so last night I did it. I got two birds with one stone as the old saying goes. (Somehow I couldn’t force myself to use the word kill!)

 

Poinsettia Sketch using Sketch & Wash Pencils and Aquabrushes

The results are much better if you use the right paper. I achieved the best results by wetting my aquabrush and then dapping the lead at the end of the pencil. Kind of the same way I typically use watercolor crayons. I am learning and I think you can see the improvement. I am still not really happy with what I can achieve (I am not getting dark darks) but I am having fun trying!

 

 

January 20, 2011 January 21, 2011

More fun with the aquabrushes today. I did this little painting in my sketchbook. The subject is Paradise Fish. I think they are lovely and luminous. I did them with two of my aquabrushes and my set of Pelikan gouache pan paints. I am really getting the hang of working with these brushes and like the glow in the painting. I touched up with colored pencils because I had trouble with the blues. Being goache they didn’t glow!

Paradise Fish

 

By the way, the last two days I have been painting in a Bee Paper “Aquabee” Super Deluxe 9″ X 6″ Sketchbook and I like the way the paper handles lots of water. Bravo to Bee!

 

January 19, 2011 January 20, 2011

I had fun yesterday playing with my aquabrushes and I feel like I’m learning alot about control and how to use them. I can see how these will be very beneficial when traveling. No water to spill!

I did two more faces but I will admit I took the easy way out and used watercolor rather than the sketch and wash pencils.

Asian Student done with Aquabrush and Burnt Sienna Watercolor

I switched to a new sketchbook that I bought late last year. The paper is heavy and suitable for wet media. What a difference!

Asian Lady

I thought I should use the right paper in order to give these new tools a fair shot. I have grown to like using the aquabrushes. They are very practical. Maybe tomorrow I will try the S&W pencils again on this heavier paper.

January 18, 2011 January 19, 2011

I must admit that I am having difficulty finding time and motivation to be creative right now. I am not going to bore you with my whining but I AM trying to get moving! Last night I decided to try a small sketch in an older sketchbook. Last year I bought a set of aquabrushes and had used one brush, one time. Two years ago I bought 2 Wash & Sketch pencils and have only used them (for their purpose) a couple of times. I decided to work with these two items since I hate to buy materials and then leave them unused. I always figure that if they are sold in the catalogs they must be useful to other artists. It’s just a matter of education and training. Right? Right! Anyway I painted this little portrait/face and learned alot.

Woman's Face, Aquabrush and Sketch & Wash Pencil, 5" X 7" Sketchbook

To use the pencils, which leave streaky lines when I draw and then paint over them, I used the wet brush to get color from the pencil tip. I am learning to use the brush to get different color values.  I also tried a small amount of charcoal pencil in the background to see if painting it with clear water would “seal” it and this also worked pretty well. All in all, a good learning experience!

January 13, 2011 January 15, 2011

During January I’ve posted two just completed paintings of tulips. I thought I would show you an older painting of tulips. This is my first original painting of tulips and, as you can see, I must have a thing for the RED tulips.

Red Tulips (2008)

I thought you might enjoy seeing how my work has progressed in two years. This particular painting found a very happy home with a local photographer who, unknown to us, had taken a photo of our dogs at the Farmer’s Market, modified it to look like a painting and then left it for us as a gift. I wanted to thank him so I matted this painting and gave it to him with a BIG round of applause and thanks. He told us later his wife was thrilled with my painting so it worked out as a win-win for everyone.

January 11, 2011 January 12, 2011

A Dragon it is! I just finished reading a book of Chinese Myths and Legends. The IMA has a really great collection of Asian Art and I am trying to learn more about the stories behind the scroll paintings so I can give better tours. Dragons are considered auspicious and you see them in painting, architecture, textiles and furnishings so a dragon it is for my latest work.

 

Dragon!

 

I used the watercolor background that I posted yesterday and then drew a generic dragon after looking through my art books. I used two different sets of watercolor markers and found out right away that one of them is drying out and that I do not have light, pastel colors. Where the color of the background shows through I have used the set that is drying up to achieve the light coverage. All in all I am very happy because I wised up about when to use the different sets early enough to get opaque coverage on the head and paw that are coming towards you. I really like some of the sections where the underpainting shows through adding texture and life.