Small Detour from the Trees

This is the first in a series of Black and White Swirl pictures I am doing. This was done with a micron pen though and not ball point. I decided I like ball point better for now because of the subtleties you can introduce. All of these pen pictures are done in a sketch book I have with the most wonderfully smooth paper. I bought it on a whim in a Japanese book store and am really glad I did. I may venture onto Bristol Board soon though.

Old Apple Tree

This is a very old apple tree that I took a bunch of pictures of quite a few years ago near Lake Stevens here in Washington.

Pen and Ink Roots

These tree root drawings are from pictures I have taken of interesting trees or their roots. I think this tree is in a cemetery in Everett. Yesterday's picture was taken in a park somewhere around Olympia.

Tree Roots with Ball Point pen

Another ball point pen exercise. I am really enjoying this medium.

Pen and Ink Paint Tube

Recently I have been inspired by artists like Andrea Joseph and France Belleville to stretch myself using just a ball point pen and it has been fun. These two can work magic with just a pen! So, I am on a ball point pen kick for a while to see where it takes me. Some of them might even end up on Etsy if I like them enough.

Tree Light "Box"

Here is the Tree Light Box that I did in my pottery class a year ago. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. I can see many changes I would make if I did another one but this one satisfies me for now. It is about 20" tall and has a night light bulb in it. Incidentally, I have had it on continuously since last July and am amazed that the same bulb is still burning! I have ideas and drawings for about 10 more of these and one of these days would like to make them all. It is carved on all sides by the way.

Letter J in progress

Here is the letter J in the final form... although it is not done yet. I started with this one because it looked like the most fun... that was before I did the trees of course... now I want to do a final version of them too... must finish the J first though.

My favorite so far

These really are my favorite so far... I think I have a tree thing. Not sure what it is but I like trees. I will have to post a picture of a light "box" that I made in my pottery class. I really liked the way it turned out and would love to do more of that kind of thing. So, here are the tree letters. What do you think? What are your favorite of all the letter designs?

New Letters and some changes to others

I added more letters, added color to other letters, changed a few, what do you think? Comments and feedback are appreciated. I am too tired to crop each letter individually so I just scanned my sketchbook pages and put them up as is. The gold looks really cool but I am not sure it reproduces well. Does anyone have experience scanning or photographing gold paint?

Letters F, G, H, I and K ... No J yet... still thinking.

Letter C, D and E

Letter B

Letters

Another sketch in the series of letter ideas. More to come. This is done in pen and ink with pencil. Brought to you by the letter A. =)

Tagged

I was tagged… a while ago… so I am finally responding. Sorry it took me so long Fannie.

The person who tagged me is: Fannie at http://fanniecarte.blogspot.com/

There are rules to follow. Here are the rules:

1. When tagged place the name of the person and URL on your blog
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Write 7 things about yourself
4. Name 7 of your favorite weblogs
5. Send an email letting those bloggers know they have been tagged!

Seven things about myself…

1. I was born in Japan and lived there for about 7 years.

2. I was a skateboarder in high school. I was going to elaborate… but I decided not to.

3. When I was younger I owned two horses.

4. I love books and hope to have a library in my house some day. (I have already started the collection)

5. I love, Love, LOVE nicely scented things. My latest is soaps as you can tell by some of the Etsy links here.

6. I would rather be home than anywhere else.

7. I seriously dislike talking on the phone… except to my mom of course. =)

Seven of my many favorite weblogs…

1. On My Desk - Each post is a different artists work place. So much fun to look at where other people work!

2. Middle of Nowhere - Fabulous artist that does wonderful watercolors.

3. Life at Star’s Rest - I envy their life in the woods with their animals and she is also a great artist.

4. Luann Udell - Amazing insight on the business of art and a wonderful artist.

5. Drawing a Fine Line - I enjoy going to see her latest artwork.

6. Ikea Hacker - Just fun to see how people have modified Ikea stuff.

7. Andrea Joseph’s Sketchblog - I just found Andrea's blog today and am blown away by her beautiful drawings!

I decided to put my favorites even though I may not tag them (there is a good chance that some of them are probably too busy for this) because they are such great blogs that I want to share them.

Finally Finished

The finished product. Image is 4.5 x 5.5

Almost There

A little more progress

This is where I am at now. Unfortunately the gold doesn't scan very well but I think you can get the idea. Little bits here and there to do and I want to add more gold but am not sure where yet.

Illuminated Heart Next Step

illuminated Heart progress

Here is the next step and a little more. I chose blue and while browsing through a book on illuminated manuscripts I decided to outline it in white... there will be more too. I haven't done the outside yet because I am not sure what colors I am going to do it.

Illuminated Heart in Red

Well, I have chosen the colors. Red and... hmm... what do you think would go with red? I have it all planned out but I would love to hear other opinions. I stayed up way too late painting swatches and testing different methods trying to get the effect that I want. I finally figured it out. I will post more when I get the next step done. I know it is too late for Valentine's Day but I don't care. I am just enjoying this. The red is done in gouache. I was thinking of doing it in acrylics because I have a beautiful Quinacridone Crimson (dark burgundy red for those, like me, who don't have a clue what Quinacridone Crimson is) but I just really like working with the gouache. The color is Rose Madder for those that care. =) I think one of the things I like the best about gouache is that it doesn't harden while you are working with it. It drys but you just add water and keep going unlike the acrylics that dry up and then you have to get out more paint.

Twisted Letter S

Today I was going to get the color done on my illuminated heart but I saw something that sidetracked me... It was just a glimpse of something that triggered an idea. I want to do a series of letters. I know, I know! Everyone wants to do letters! Well maybe because they are fun. Anyway, I have been trying to come up with some ideas and here is a sketch of one of them. I think I will do a few different letters in a variety of designs and then any letter can be ordered in any style if I haven't done it already. Another reason that I haven't finished the heart is because I can't seem to decide what colors to use.

illuminated heart sketch

Here is the illuminated heart that I was talking about in an earlier post. On theleft is the pencil sketch and on the right is the pen and ink done over the pencil. Now I need to decide what colors to use and start filling it in. After I get the colors on I want to go back with either white colored pencil or white paint and add little dots and details in the larger sections of color. I am not sure yet if the black pen lines will show when it is done or if they will get covered, or maybe I will go back and put them in if they get covered... hmmm... It is done on illustration board... my new favorite surface to work on. I am also enjoying this kind of work more than anything I have done before. =)

Rose Valentine

Here is the finished product... I think I like it better than the last one... yah, I do. Pen and ink with gouache fill on Bristol or illustration Board. 4 x 4 inches.

Roses and Valentines Day

Okay, here is another Valentine idea. Pen and ink on plain old paper with gouache fill. Original is 2.5 x 2.5 inches. I like the idea but I think I am going to do it again on better paper and take a little more time drawing.

Love is in the Air

Here is another Valentines Day card I finished today. It is also up at my Etsy shop. It is done in pen and ink with gouache fill in on Smooth Bristol Board. The first time I have worked with Bristol Board and I really like it. The previous card was done on Bristol paper, the difference between the two is that the board is very thick and sturdy. The image is 4 x 5.5 inches.

Valentines Day

I thought I would do a few Valentines Day cards in my Etsy shop and this is one of them. It is done with pen and ink on Smooth Bristol paper and is 4 x 5.5 inches. I haven't done cards in a long time and it is kind of fun to think up a series that goes together. These ones are all completely different, the only thing they have in common is hearts. The other one in my shop is colored pencil and I am working on one right now that is pen and ink and I think I will fill in with gouache. I have a few other ideas that I need to get on the ball and draw/paint! I should have started sooner and now I am already thinking about other holidays... planning... scheming<--(thank goodness for spell check!!) Okay, back to the drawing table.

Illuminated

I am fascinated by the art of illumination and every once in a while I try my hand at it... this is one of my attempts. Pen and ink with gouache fill in on watercolor paper. Now I would use a smoother paper... now I have smoother paper to use. So maybe I will have to do another one of these soon.

Printing!!

I am so excited! The replacement printer arrived Monday and I finally got the time to get it up and running. I have printed my first picture and it looks great! Phew, now to get my Etsy store set up and I am off. Check it out if you want to see my progress. Etsy.com Here is the print of my Arched Door painting. Pretty nice huh?

Abyssinian Cat

Same as the others. =)

Cocker Spaniels

A couple of cutie Cocker Spaniels done in Charcoal and gouache on watercolor paper.

Exotic Black Cat

Black cat done in charcoal with watercolor eyes. Aprox 8 x 10 on watercolor paper.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Well, not completely different, I do have some animal pictures up here but for a few days I will put up some of the pet portraits I have done in charcoal. Most of them have colored eyes (except this one) done in watercolors. This is a scan of a photocopy so the quality is not so great but hopefully you get the idea. His name is Ripley. The original is 5 x 7ish.

Sunflower #2

Another 8 x 10 acrylic painting. A sunflower also from Misty's yard. =) In contrast to the Honeysuckle painting this one was done with very thin watered down layers. I wanted the semi rough texture of the gesso to show through.

Honeysuckle

This one is done in acrylic paint, Golden brand to be exact. Love their products! No they are not paying me, I just really like their paint. =) It is 8 x 10 done on watercolor paper. Oh yeah, they are honeysuckle that grew in my yard. I took a lot of pictures when I had that yard and now I am glad I did because I have reference pictures to last me a lifetime... well, almost.

Sunflower

This was taken from a photograph of a sunflower in my other friend Misty's yard. My friends have nice yards too. It is different from the others in that it started out as a pen and ink then I put watercolor over it... I did not like the results so I thought I would play around with colored pencils over the top and ended up liking it after all. Funny how that works sometimes. It is 4.25 x 5.5 on pen and ink paper.

Blue Cornflower

Blue Cornflowers done in gouache on watercolor paper. Also from a friend's garden.

Fuchsias

This is a bunch of fuchsias that I did a while ago. They are also from my yard (I used to have a pretty nice yard). I was thinking at the time that they would make a nice stationary or letterhead. I still think so. They are also done in gouache and are on a piece of paper measuring 5.5 x 4.

Arched Door, Siamese and Hollyhocks

This is the door that started all the other doors really. I thought I wanted to do them in colored pencil but after finishing this one I found it very difficult to make it look the way I wanted. I thought I would try gouache and see if it was any better and was really pleased with the results so I did the rest that way.