Nouveau Swirls

ACEO in ball point pen.

Gold, ACEO's and Icons

Some of the latest to come out of my studio. As hard as I try I just can't seem to stay away from shiny glittery things for long. =) I really like Golden's iridescent series of acrylic paints. I am not sure where the idea came from to add gold to these cards but once I had done it, it made me think of Russian religious icons.

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.

Two more to add to the collection

ACEO Contour Cat

Micron pen on Bristol board. 2.5 x 3.5 inches

An ACEO painting fool. Green Cat this time.

During and after pictures. I always like seeing progress shots of other artists work so I sometimes post my own. I think the first one would make a great coloring book picture. This was done with Micron pen and gouache paint. 2.5 x 3.5 inches and up on Etsy.

Pumpkin themed ACEO's

Four new ACEO's with a Fall theme. They should all be up on Etsy by the end of the day. Done with pen and Prismacolor colored pencils on Bristol board. 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

More ACEO's

Two more ACEO's to put on Etsy. I am working on a whole different series of them that I will post as soon as they are done. These are done in ball point pen on Bristol board.

More Clematis and Stone Wall

Here are two more stages of the painting. It seems to be evolving as I go... I have more things I am planning to add, you will just have to come back and see how it turns out.

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.

Pen and Ink

More of the same ball point pen swirls.

More Ball Point Pen

Ball point pen in my sketch book. More playing with patterns.

Ball Point Pen Swirls

Ball point pen in my sketch book which is approximately 6.5 x 10 inches.

Paisley Swirls

This is a 3 x 5 image done on a 5 x 7 piece of Bristol Board with a black ball point pen. Teeth marks courtesy of the new kitten.

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.