On My Drawing Table

butterfly-art

There is quite a bit of leftover wood from other projects around my studio and I have been wanting to try watercolors on them. This one is a piece of oak plywood that has a lot of tiny grains.

The brown pen that I used was not waterproof so it ran when I started painting, I like that it did.

Black pen was used to define the areas better and enhanced with colored inks and a tiny brush.

It got framed with vintage paper and covered in beeswax with a bit of mica flakes added.

It has such a delicate soft butterfly, dreamy look that I was hoping for.

This little one is listed in my Etsy Shop:

butterfly-art-watercolor-ink-mixed-media

Thank you for stopping by and have a nice day!

On My Drawing Table - Author Portrait, Jane Austen

As an artist one of the scariest things for me is a white sheet of paper. Or getting to a certain point in a drawing or painting about half-way and it can either come out the way you imagined or need to start over. Especially when working with ink on bristol board.

First a careful pencil sketch, being mindful not to press too hard or erase too often.

I got this far on this one, but didn't like the eyes or the way the ruffles on the cap was looking.

 So I re-inked and made some changes, started to pencil in the framing around her and for me another fear: the great fear of lettering. Now at one time, BC (before personal computers) I worked at a nursery/garden center and my job was to make signs for the entire store. I worked with huge markers and heavy illustration board. The amount of signage varied from week to week and season to season but at the least I made 25 signs a day. All nicely calligraphic with little illustrations added here and there. It's been awhile since then.

Out came the ink, the pens and brushes. I played around for a bit and then dove in.

 

Not perfect, but I'm happy with the way it looks with the portrait.

 

Tomorrow I will erase the pencil lines and scan her in. I want to print this on some dictionary pages.

Look for her in my Etsy shop soon.

On My Drawing Table: Author Portraits, Washington Irving

The third in my (very slow to put together) series of author portraits.

 

I completed the pencil sketch last year,

 



After researching images of Washington Irving ...

I also wanted to combine an image of one of his most popular stories, like I have done with Poe.

 



 

 I think that my image has shaved about 20 years off of the one I used for

research. But that is not necessarily a bad thing :)

 

Prints of him will appear on my etsy site tomorrow. And I will be bringing

them along to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Craft Fair,

 

October 26th.

Heart Lady Pincushions

 

I forgot to mention yesterday that the teacup mice are useful pincushions.

As are these lovely ladies.......

 

Each one is unique with a hand drawn face that surprisingly is different

on each one. She is a very helpful sewing companion or a willing

assistant on your dresser for pins and such.

 

Each one is also uniquely adorned with vintage buttons, ribbons and

other items.

I do hope that you will stop by my booth in Rhinebeck and visit!

On my drawing table: Author Portraits

I have wanted to do a series of author portraits.
Since I have a 'thing' for crows, blackbirds and ravens, the first portrait just had to be Poe!

The idea is to make them look sort of vintage, but with a playful, whimsical touch.

Shakespere was next, but he needs more work and I have a better idea now of what to do,
instead of the comedy/tradgedy masks.

And considering the time of year and following a customer suggestion, Washington Irving is being worked on right now.....

The finished product, printed on a vintage dictionary page. I will be listing on etsy sometime this week.

Newest Collage Work

A bit of a mess going on here, but what fun!

I have been working my way through a wonderful book entitled "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. It is a 12 week process that will probably take me longer because I do want to get the most out of it and not have it turn into another time stresser.

I have been finding myself to be less afraid of making messes. After all I am from the 'old school' Commercial Art trained, nothing messy, no ink blots, smudges, etc. This experiment of mine is to give myself the freedom to make a mistake and turn that into art that is pleasing to me.

In the process of printing up my water color and ink paintings, there are a lot of prints that cannot be sold until I get the setting right on the printer. So using the seconds and some vintage papers and ephemera, acrylics, stamps and other found items I had a good old time!

A Pot of Tulips

A new  watercolor finished last night.

Of course it needed a curious little birdie!

The pot of orangey pinkish greenish tulips just called out to me....

Watercolors and pen and ink are just about my favorite mediums to work in. I am hoping to do a few new ones each week.....
This will be listed as a print and available in my ETSY shop by the weekend.

A New Idea

My new Art Bevels!

Working in softer colors and getting back to my favorite watercolors and pen and ink.

These little pieces of art can fit just about anywhere!

They are now listed on ETSY with more to come.

Mixed Media Paintings That Are in the Show at Cornell Street Gallery

I entitled this one "Umbrella Love" for the show but I really wanted to call it
"The Early Promise". That's what I will call it after the show.

"Love is Color Blind"

"I Love You From Afar"

Three new mixed media paintings thatare currently showing at Cornell Street Gallery's "Art and Music Show". The opening is this weekend, February 11th. The musician David Temple will be there for the opening festivities. If you are in the Kinston, NY area it promises to be a lovely evening.
I will have prints posted on my etsy site sometime this week.