Lion and Leaves ACEO

Don't you just love the little easel?? I do. The picture is 2.5 x 3.5 inches. I am a sucker for tiny things. This is the latest ACEO in my Etsy shop by the way. There are others I will have to post also.

English Countryside Watercolor

Something I am working on right now. I decided to try something in watercolor (rather than gouache) although I may add a little gouache at the end. I also wanted to do a picture of a garden like I used to do on teapots with china paint. I miss doing those so much that I thought maybe I could have fun with the same subject matter on paper. So far, so good. I have a long way to go with this one yet but I am encouraged. It is a 4 x 6 image on a 5 x 7 piece of Bristol board. I like the Bristol board because the surface is so smooth that I can wipe off paint in small areas. A technique that I like to be able to use. Probably a throw back to china painting. I will post more pictures as it progresses.

ACEO's. Trying something new

These are ACEO's. For those that haven't heard of them they are "Art Card Editions, Originals" They are artworks done on anything as long as it measures 2.5 x 3.5 inches in size. If you want to know more about them here are a couple of websites you might want to look at. http://acetsy.blogspot.com/ and http://www.aceomagazine.com/
I listed all three last night on Etsy to sell the original and reproductions. The blue cat eyes one sold almost right away! So maybe I will try a few more of these and see what happens. The top one is pen and colored pencil, the cat eyes is pen and gouache, the bottom one is ball point pen. They are all done on Bristol board.

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?

Finally Finished

The finished product. Image is 4.5 x 5.5

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 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.

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.

Abyssinian Cat

Same as the others. =)

Cocker Spaniels

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

Mi-ke the Squeaking Cat

This is another picture I did of Mi-ke. Yes, she does squeak, not meow. This is done in gouache on watercolor paper and is 5 x 7.