ORCHID DRAWING

This odd flower was one that I found at the nursery.  I often go to the store when I run out of flowers to draw.  They allow me to take reference photos, and are tolerant about me not buying when I explain that plants are in mortal danger if they have to rely on me to care for them!  I particularly liked drawing this orchid, as it gave me the chance to work on my depth shadowing.  With the interesting 'pocket' in front, I had to work hard to get it to look right.  In the end, I used a cool grey wash for the shadows...bordering on purple to get the right field of depth.

AMARYLLIS DRAWING

I thought I would show my process on this particular flower drawing.  I used a basic ball point pen to lightly sketch out my outline, and then went in with a felt tip ink pen, trying to follow the growth lines of the flower.

 

The completed flower...I am pleased with it, though I think it looks a bit static with the stiffly straight stem.  However, that is the way that this flower grows.  I should probably take a bit more 'artistic license' and be less literal. 

MONARCH BUTTERFLY DRAWING

 

I am really enjoying the drawing with brush pen inks.  They are vividly colored, and smooth to put on.  The only drawback is that I have to plan my drawings around the colors that I have.  There are really no subtle colors, or lighter tints in my batch of pens.  This butterfly is one of the ones I photographed when I was in California.  They were migrating through and there were millions of them!  What a sight!

SLICK PAPER WATERCOLOR

 

I was given a new type of watercolor paper...for the life of me I can't remember the name of it!  Anyway, it is super slick, and the paint rather falls off of it.  I fought it, frustrated, for a long time, and then slapped some gesso on in big globs for texture, and painted this rather messy landscape.  I am thinking that with some creative matting, it will look nice!  Can't say I enjoyed the slick paper, though.  I need more instruction on it's use.

WATERCOLOR PINE LANDSCAPE

 

I am starting to really like watercolor!  I am delighted to be able to simplify my usual urges to go really detailed...and just capture the essence of a bit of the world.  I will continue following this path, I think...

QUICK LANDSCAPE STUDY

This is just a quick landscape study using a 30% cool grey Copic paint pen.  I am forever trying to conquer my fear of landscapes, having not been trained formally in the art.  I really HAVE to take a few classes to get over that phobia!!!

PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS BLOSSOM SKETCH

I wanted to experiment on this drawing of the cactus blossom, using line and 'stains' of ink color.  I am really pleased with the almost graphic nature of the results.  Family in Arizona say that the desert is blooming madly right now. I can just imagine these blooms waking up the desert floor!

FLOWER STUDY #2

This Potentilla has such a perfect shape that I almost didn't draw it...such perfection is only achieved by nature, and I have trouble getting it to look just right!  I kept a looser pen stroke to give it a less photographic look, and to add interest.

PICKEREL FROG DRAWING

 

As usual this time of year, I am craving color, color, color!  I was looking at some of my old photos, and ran across the American Toad, of which I have plenty during the season.  It reminded me that I have taken photos of many frogs through the years, and I searched back 15 years to find this Pickerel Frog.  It is more colorful than some of the others, and loads of fun to draw!

FLOWER STUDY #1

Not being a great gardener, but a lover of flowers, I do a lot of my photography at nurseries, and for this particular Hellebores, at the hardware store!  They always have such beautiful plants, and I don't have to worry about killing them and feeling bad...

WOODPECKER CLOSE UP SKETCH

 

This is an odd one, I will admit.  I was experimenting for a painting, and wanted to see the detail of a woodpecker eye.  This is the ink sketch.  This particular woodpecker has the most amazing color of eye...this really is the exact shade of red-orange!  The blue that I added in the pupil is fanciful reflection.  The woodpeckers' head is whitish with a red topnot, yellow spots, and lots of grey and black stripes.  

CAYENNE CHILI PEPPER SKETCH

 

This skinny little red pepper is hot, and spicy, and beautiful.  I love looking at the plants themselves, and hope to plant a bunch of them around the side of the house.  Not only will it run off all the stray dogs, the plants are lovely and bushy.  I am fond of the jalapeno plants, as well, especially when they are in full fruit, and range in color from green to yellow to bright red!  Do NOT arrange your still life of peppers, and then touch your face or eyes....ouch!!!

PEQUIN CHILI PEPPER SKETCH

 

I had fun doing a quick sketch of these lovely yellow peppers.  I liked the looseness of the sketching inks, and the blue of the shadows.  This pepper is spicy and a touch sweet. More my speed!

CASCABEL CHILI PEPPER SKETCH

Pepper sketch number 2, with a fairly hot and spicy pepper, the Cascabel.  Anything red is almost too spicy for me, unless you grill and smoke it out.  However, the pleasure of the color is enough for me to risk touching the beautiful, small peppers!

POBLANO PEPPER SKETCH

I was in a spicy kind of mood this week, and did 4 chili pepper ink drawings.  This is the first one, and has a particular significance...We visited Las Vegas last month, and I was treated to dinner at Chef Bayless' restaurant, El Mundo.  I had his famous Filet Mignon Poblano Chili pepper. Wow, and yummy! You seldom get a chance like that, and I savoured every mouthful.  Poblanos are fairly mild, and really large. I plan on doing some experimenting on the home cooking front, to see what I can come up with!

NEVER GET ATTACHED TO YOUR WORK

This is the only picture that I have of this particular piece of work that I did last year. I drew the fawn in pencil, and did some collage work, with oriental papers and dried leaves. I was really proud of this piece, and gave it as a gift to someone I am especially fond of.  When I visited this month, I discovered that the piece was dropped, and basically destroyed. No "I am so upset about it!", no "I really liked the piece", just an in the trash throwaway moment for the person it was given to.  I was a TINY bit upset. For a few weeks. Then I tried to be logical and not emotional about the situation.  I released my art into the world.  Noone knows what will happen to their art when they sell or give it away.  Most of the time we are lucky enough not to find out! Certainly, we must understand that we are more emotionally attached to that work of art than the buyer.  We need to learn that all important lesson of letting go.  Moving on to the next thing. Looking forward.  It is the journey, after all.

LAURA'S WILDLIFE

 

 

Laura is another of my wonderfully talented nieces...at 17, she is already a pro at drawing and painting wildlife.  She has a couple of shows under her belt already, and has a wonderful way with a pencil.  She is meticulous with her details, and really researches, and practices her sketches to get them exact.  She has a delightful imagination as well, and has published several of her fantasy drawings on DeviantArt. My nieces keep me on my toes, and inspired to try new things and keep it fresh. Laura is well on her way to  having a career in art!

 

 

HORNET DRAWN IN INK

This Bald-faced Hornet is a common sight here in TN in the summer. I have never had a problem with them, unlike the Red Wasps that invade my garage and dive-bomb my head when I walk out the door!  I am amazed at the beautiful pattern of black and yellow that the hornet has, and photograph them constantly in an effort to learn more about them.  They are not a true hornet, by the way, but a yellow jacket.  I do NOT understand the classifications of bugs at all!   Anyway, this sketch was done with some ballpoint pen, and color inks.  I used a 30% cool grey Copic pen for the shadows.

BUNNY RABBIT DRAWN IN BALLPOINT PEN

This pen sketch of a bunny rabbit is verging on good, but he was munching on grass, and his one cheek was puffed out...cute in real life, but odd looking on paper!  My daughter had dwarf bunnies at one time.  They are so cute, but so high maintenance!  They ate the carpet, the drywall near the cage, the electrical wires, anything they shouldn't, but refused the nibble sticks they were supposed to be teething on!  Cats are so much easier...

FISHING LURE DRAWN IN BALLPOINT PEN

Hubby and I were discussing a fishing trip this week, and I got to digging into the tackle box. What a lot of interesting shapes and colors there are in fishing lures!  I did a simple pen sketch of this rattle lure, in anticipation of doing some color sketches later.

LILY DRAWN IN COLOR INK

This orange lily is one of my favorites that bloom in the summer.  I am missing flowers, color and sunshine right now, as February and March are rather rainy, grey and too early for any flowers but the Jonquil.  I sketched this lily with color inks, and had fun with letting a bit of the inks bleed into each other.  It is about 4 inches by 4. It would be fun to triple matt this one, and frame it with a narrow black moulding.  Sure wish I could afford to do my own framing!  I looked into it, and the matt cutter (a nice one) starts at $3,000.  The frame chop is about the same.  Maybe I will look into lab fees at a university?