I like to 'take my brush for a walk' now and then. I just play with color and design and see what comes forward. I am guessing all the Star Wars talk in my home lately influenced my view of this pattern. After laying down the watercolor, I added planets and some detail work using POSCA pens. I did some shading with a soft pencil and drew in the viewer. I intended to add some black 'stars' but was so in the zone I didn't realize I grabbed my green pen! In projects like these you just try to let it be organic. After I added a few I decided it was a good mistake. If we are traveling to another world why couldn't we have green stars!
Winter Sun
When the sun shines in Alaska it is like nothing else. It doesn't matter the season, the light here is pretty fantastic. This time of year we don't get much sun. It barely peeks over the mountain, says hello, and then sinks down again. During my daily hike, I was up in the mountains just as the sun made it's appearance. The way the sun reflects off the yellow grass takes my breath away! I came home and tried to capture it in watercolor.....boring! (likely artist error) I decided to use the marker technique I had recently been playing with and viola! This sketch was done with copic markers.
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Coming off the page
Things don't always go as planned. I had a background that I created last week and decided I would add a bird or two. I took an old book and pulled out some pages and drew two birds. I cut out the images, placed them every which way on the background but it just wasn't working. I created another background. ARGH! That one was even worse! Looking at a left over book page on my drawing table I thought maybe that was the trick. I turned the page so the words are going opposite directions and attached him away from the page adding a nice shadow. He looked like he was coming out of the story which was better than I had hoped. Sometimes you have to just keep trying! The birds were colored with copic markers, outlined in a colored pencil. I added some highlights with white charcoal pencil. I simply rolled blue painters tape to give me the 3-D affect.
International Mountain Day
It's sad to think some people have never seen the mountains, never been able to hike up for that epic view. Climbing to a mountain peak and watching the flora slowly change as you huff and puff your way up is one of my favorite things. So when I noted it was International Mountain Day, I had to make time for a sketch that spoke to this simple pleasure.
I was very limited on time so I decided to only use markers. I follow an artist that does mostly graphic black and white sketches with a splash of color. I thought I would take a lesson from her and keep it simple. I LOVE color so this is a more challenging exercise than you might think! I hope you like the result.
It's Inktober!
Every October artists around the world pull out their best pens and become creative with this medium. This fun idea was started by artist Jake Parker. He is an exceptional illustrator that began this event in 2009. Since then, thousands of postings have been tagged, "inktober". I wanted to do something playful so I created a sheep with fabulous green tennis shoes. The image is simple with markers and the background is acrylic paint. You don't need a lot of tools to make fun art!
NATIONAL COMIC BOOK DAY
There are some things everyone should really get excited about. The first real snow, chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven and COMICS! I love to pour over comics and I love to draw them. Many years ago I did a super hero show inviting other artists to join me. From this show came my alter ego Super Stick! I had a blast making a super hero self and occasionally can’t help but bring her out for some adventure. On National Comic Book Day how could I not think about Calvin and Hobbes! I am no Bill Watterson but I sure enjoy trying! This is a simple marker drawing with a tad of pencil shading to give a bit of depth to it. The drawing is on watercolor paper. After I had inked it all in I did a light watercolor wash for the background.
PLEASE SHARE MY UMBRELLA
Wow we have had a lot of rain this summer. The best way to cure the soggy blues? Paint! This little girl is a new character I am developing. The best way to keep refining a character is to keep creating it! I thought she would not mind the rain if she had a perfect pair of cute boots to match her umbrella. And what is a play day without a friend? The background was created by watercoloring through a stencil. I used the stencil again with a bit dryer paint for the puddle. The image of the girl and cat was actually painted and then cut out and placed onto the watercolor paper. She was created with acrylic paint and pencil.
Ahhhh bumble bees. I am a huge fan.
This is true even though as a kid I stepped into a yellow jacket nest and was stung over 60 times. Inside my mouth, in my ears. I was wearing shorts so you can imagine all the VERY uncomfortable areas the bees managed to bite me. Still, I love bees and the work they do. As fall begins to crisp up the air and color our leaves we say ‘goodbye’ these hard working insects. As I watched a fat and focused bumblebee diligently working on the last blooms of my flower pot I was inspired to create this art.
After using an ink spray for the background, I pencil sketched in the bee. At this moment I realize somehow my tube of black paint is missing. I am not one to lose things! But after searching every corner I had to accept the tube had ‘walked away’. Even though my father in law swears things “can’t just get up and walk away” it is the only logical explanation. What to do? I under painted the bee with an acrylic Prussian blue, the yellow areas with an ochre. Then I used a burnt umber and a yellow on top. The wings were a very light titan buff. After drying I took a thick, soft pencil and outlined the bee and detailed the wings. Some highlights with the titan buff, softened with my finger and the ‘sketch of the day’ was completed.
Winter is my favorite time of year so it is a bittersweet goodbye to the busy bees of the season. But before I know it, I’ll be planting the cosmos they love so much.