A Quick Update

It's been a while since I last posted due to the awful "morning" sickness I've been dealing with for the past few months. It's slowly starting to get better. My husband and I are very excited and happy about this pregnancy and upcoming baby. As I'm starting to feel better I hope to start sketching on a more regular basis again soon. Thanks for people's kind comments and hopefully there will be more pretty (or not) pictures on here soon. Stand by...

Speaks For Itself Really...

Gaillardia Grandiflora

I did this drawing a few weeks ago in my front yard in humid, 90 degree weather. It's hard to stay focused in such conditions. I wasn't quite able to capture the vibrancy of the the reddish-brown color but I like the blotchiness. Gives it a little more life.

To New Zealand

To Germany

I'm afraid I haven't been very good about drawing recently. My only saving grace is the fact that I doodle on the back of these postcards I send out. Since I know someone is waiting for the postcard I at least get a little drawing done. On another note this person talked about books so I decided to draw my library card. I enjoy it when the person's profile I get has something in it that gives me an idea of something to draw. This person asked for book suggestions.

Where Have All The Bees Gone?

I did this sketch from a blurry photograph I took a few years ago. It's kind of all over the place. It kind of looks like the bee only has two legs. On the other hand I'm pretty happy with the black mixture I achieved. Really I'm happy that I drew anything at all as I've hit a bit of a dry spell. Sometimes it feels as though there's not enough paper in the world to draw everything I want to draw. Other times it feels like I'm artistically brain dead.

Lavender - To Finland

Apparently there are quite a few postcrossers in Finland. This will be the third card I've sent there in my short time as a postcrosser. On this one I did just a quick little doodle of a sprig of lavender.

To Japan

I definitely prefer the look of a big, bold drawing on the postcards I send out. It's kind of funny but so far all of the postcards I've used take watercolor fairly well. I know I don't have to do the sketches on them but it's fun to send your drawings off into the world. And I know I would be delighted to get one with a little drawing on it.

How to Make Green Beans

I hadn't sketched in a few days. Just couldn't really get going on anything. Made dinner last night which included green beans. Got to thinking about how some people don't know that you've got to doctor up canned veggies. Thus, this sketch, such as it is.

To Australia

A card to Australia. I've received my first card and it was from Dresden, Germany. It's quite fun. I think I'm going to try to focus on sketching one central item on the back of postcards I send out now. I think I like that effect better.

Soft Leather Shoes

This is my first EDM challenge. I'm thinking about starting at the beginning and working my way through. Not on any particular schedule. Just as I need a little extra inspiration or feel like it could be fun. I tried to capture the distressed leather texture of these shoes without doing so much pen work that it felt muddy. Also, I have to say, it was really, really, tempting to pick up a pencil to do this. I'm glad I didn't because if I had, I would have gone straight to that anal-retentive, obsessive place where every line, every shadow has to be exactly perfect. It's not a very fun place. In fact, I'm trying to expatriate from that place.

To Finland

Here's another postcrossing card I sent off. I don't know if I'll keep posting them here or not. They do have little sketches on them and might be fun to look back on all together someday. Any thoughts?

Oriole

Over at my parent's house my Mom has put up an oriole feeder. Apparently they are attracted to grape jelly. Who knew? In any case with the help of a bird book I made this little sketch in honor of the visitors showing up over there.

Recipe for an International Postcard

I really enjoyed the act of drawing this one. I got lost in all the little details. It also has a place close to my heart because about a week ago when I went to the post office to pick up these stamps I fainted. At the counter. In front of about 50 people. Someone called an ambulance and the EMTs hooked me up to the heart monitor and blood pressure cuff and it was all very dramatic and I'm sure highly entertaining for the people waiting in line. I went to the E.R. and got checked out and it was just one of those things - nothing serious - I might have a condition where if I stand for too long my blood pressure drops and I pass out. Sounds like the premise of a bad sitcom to me. In any case, now my husband and family relentlessly tease me that I got over excited about the colorful stamps. Now I have the drawing to prove it.

Taylor Guitar

So here's a little sketch of my guitar. Or at least a part of it. The guitar I mean. To clarify: A whole sketch of a part of my guitar. I did this in pen (no pencil again), and I think it turned out better than the hummingbird feeder. Still scary to see a nice blank page and put a pen to it. As the results are more to my liking it gets a little easier.

Hummingbird Feeder

This is not my favorite sketch but it is important none the less. It is my first sketch in my moleskine that I started straight in with the pen. In my earlier drawings I did at least a little preliminary pencil sketch before commiting to ink. Not so with this drawing. While it is frightening it forces you to look at things a little differently. Pay attention to how lines intersect and overlap. Take a little time before drawing to figure out where on the page you want things to be. More forays into the crazy world of pencil-less sketching in the days to come.

The Ephemera of a Cold

Pretty self explanatory. I think my favorite part to draw was the throat lozenge.

To Italy

This is my second card for postcrossing.

This time just a few little doodles. I actually sent the cards out on the same day.

Postcrossing

So I discovered a new site a few weeks ago called postcrossing. Basically, you register then receive up to five addresses around the world. You then send those addresses postcards. Once it's verified that you sent them, your address is given to someone who sends you a postcard. Simple enough, so I'm giving it a try. Here is the first card I sent.

She said she liked Egyptian postcards or ones with poppies. So I decided to draw a quick poppy on the back. I'm thinking if I keep this up I might make a little sketch on the back of all the cards I send out. Might request that people sending me cards do the same.

Santoku Knife

I painted this a few weeks back. My Mom hacked off the tip of her finger chopping an onion and called me up to take her to the emergency room. She was very good humored about the whole thing, all things considered. She's doing fine and in honor of the event I drew a santoku knife. I really like the dark black I was able to mix up for the handle.

Fern Leaf

A simple botanical sketch. I really like the way botanical sketches look. Unfortunately, nine times out of ten I just don't have the patience for them. I don't know why that is, but man, more power to the people who can happily sit and record every detail of a plant.

Lamp and Tea Bag

This is actually from a few days ago. My drawings are a little out of order from posting to illustration friday. In any case I like how this has a soft and fuzzy feel to it as that's how my head felt at the time.

Illustration Friday - Polar

For this one I played with the idea of an old globe. I did a quick and rough wash of a brown ochre color and let it dry. Then I painted over that to create a stained effect. Turned out pretty much how I imagined it would. It's fun playing with layers of color.

Kiko's Lonely Toys

I generally like the way this turned out. I really got the orange mixture dead on and I like the color and texture of the the scratching post.

Clinton Lake

The other day I went out sailing with my Dad. I thought it would be a good time to start with a crash course in both painting in front of people and outside. The verdict: neither is particularly easy. Also, probably not a good idea to have your first go at outdoor painting on a windy day on a moving sailboat. In any case here is the result, such as it is.

Iron

This is my first sketch where I did the ink first, then watercolored over it. I was worried that the ink would run but that fear proved unfounded. I used millenium pens (I got a set a few days ago to get some variety in line size and to test waterproofness). Seems very waterproof. I was going to write in some text but I liked the simple clean look of it. One of those times when I was sorely tempted to keep on adding but I think I'm glad I didn't. I think.

Kiko

I'm having way too much fun with watercolors. I feel like with every little sketch I do I discover some new way to manipulate them. I let the color puddle and run for Kiko's tail and I love the way it looks. Also did a bit of mixing on the paper. Fun stuff if a bit unpredictable.

Cutting Hair

My daily drawings are taking on a definite air of journal entries as well. I'm okay with that as it helps with coming up with what to draw. When you're open to drawing just about anything it's close to impossible to come up with an excuse not to. That's also why I'm a big believer in getting a few good supplies and a journal with nice substantial paper. Otherwise it's just too easy to put it off with excuses like "the watercolor will bleed through the paper" or "i'll do it when I get that new pen, otherwise it won't look right".

Nutella

I'm playing a little with the layout of my pages. Incorporating more text to make it more of an illustrated journal. I'm definitely fast becoming a moleskine addict. Or at least an addict of small journals that have pages that hold up to watercolor.

Illustration Friday - Green

For this I did a few green washes in watercolor and then used my uniball pen for the drawing. For the most part I like how it turned out. The text at the bottom is kind of "meh" but that's okay. I'll let you in on a secret: On accident I wrote greem and tried to fix it by adding the exclamation mark. Now when I look at it, my mind sees GREEM!. Which personally I think rather improves it. I might start using it as a word. Any thoughts as to what it might mean? Is it good, as in, "Wow that cake is really greem." Or is it bad - "Don't go into that public restroom - it's seriously greem."

Ceiling Fan

So I'm really getting into doing some sort of sketch a day. In this one I'm playing even more with ink. I penciled in what I wanted to draw, then watercolored, then inked with a black uniball pen. I like the look of the ink but I also think it gives it a more cartoon-y look. That's also probably due to the fact that I'm using a thick uniball. I'm wanting to get a pen with a thinner line that won't run if I watercolor over it. Any suggestions?

99 Cent Flowers

Apparently on Friday at a local grocery store they set out discount flowers for 99 cents. The colors don't necessarily match but if you separate some out and put them into a pretty glass they actually look quite nice. In this way you can get a few bouquets all for less than a dollar.
Illustration-wise I'm experimenting with using a pen with my watercolors right now. I liked the way the glass looked without the pen so I left it. I do like the pen work just picking out a few flowers up top. More fun with pens in the coming days.

Vanilla

I quite like this one. Drawn from life but loose. Also getting used to using a pen in addition to watercolor. As a side note to get really good strong vanilla extract you actually should let it sit for 4 to 6 months. But that's neither here nor there in terms of drawing.

The Peacock Post aka The "I Can't Draw from My Imagination" Post

The title of this post pretty much sums up how I feel about this little sketch. Although I do like the yellow background pattern. Oh, and I'm also figuring out how to mix bigger batches of color. Getting a better feel for all of that. Which makes it worthwhile. But none of this changes the fact that I'm no good at drawing from my imagination. Not to say that my sketchbook will never have to suffer from my attempts again.

Brick Sketch

I'm not very good at drawing from photographs. This is an attempt at drawing from a photograph. I like the color I made for the bricks. The problem is that I tend not to mix enough of a color when I make mixes. I'm working on improving that. Not a lot of depth of value in this one either. All of it will come with practice. The main thing is to not get discouraged.

Illustration Friday - Snap

This is my first illustration friday post in a while. It is my first non-digital media entry ever. Right now i'm loving working in little watercolors. I'm not super good at it, but it's so much fun. There is something refreshing about being able to physically flip through pages and hold the work you've done.

Blue Tea Set

Well here is my second watercolor attempt. I actually quite like it. It's a little looser than what I'm used to doing and I like that. With this one I feel like I'm getting a better feel for how to get different values out of the paint. It's also not too muddied up since I restricted myself to only using two colors: Winsor Blue and Cadmium Red.

First Watercolor in Mini Moleskine Watercolor Notebook

A few days ago I received my small Moleskine watercolor notebook in the mail. I don't have a lot of experience with watercolors but love the quick washes of color you can add to sketches with them. So here is my first quick attempt with them. I may have overworked it a bit but it's not too bad for my first time. I'm still working on figuring out color mixes (I bought six Winsor & Newton tube paints - they're quite spendy so I just got the basics).

So far I love working with the little Moleskine notebook. It perfectly fits what I was looking for in a sketch notebook - lots of pages, paintable on both sides, ink and watercolor does not bleed through, and very tiny. I found one online for about $13 with shipping included which I thought was reasonable for 30 sheets (60 pages both sides). Until I found it I was seriously considering buying watercolor paper, cutting it, and trying to bind a little notebook myself. Nice to not worry about it now - it just would have been another excuse to put off sketching.