An architectural linocut

Studio linocut

I was watching the British Antiques Roadshow program today and it gave me an idea for my next project.  Someone had brought in a lovely architectural woodcut to be appraised and I really liked it.  While I am sure mine is not as good as the one I saw, I am relatively pleased with it.  You may recognize the subject matter.  It is the same studio that was accepted into the art show last summer.

It is hard to really delineate the various plantings with the limited tools I have, but I tried to to vary the cuts to indicate different foliages.  I will let it sit until tomorrow to see what I might want to change.  This view of the cut gives a good idea of what a black and white print would look like.  I think it would also look pretty good in a colored version.

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Mr. Lizard

Mr. Kizard

I wanted to do a piece of “little boy art” for my etsy shop and came up with this.  I am sure he will go well next to Mr. Turtle’s portrait.  I am not quite sure what kind of lizard he is, I but thought he was interesting.  I’ll have to do a little research before I list him, although I am sure I can get away with just lizard as a description tag if I can’t determine it for sure.

The color palette is much the same as the previous fox drawings – beiges and grays.  I’m not sure he is quite done yet, especially in the shadows.  I’ll look at him again tomorrow.

I think I’ll start going through my architectural pictures again and see if something pops out at me for my next piece.  The winter doldrums seem to have set in and I am feeling rather uninspired.  suggestions are welcome.

Another little fox drawing

Arctic fox 2

I enjoyed creating the last fox painting and decided to use another picture from the zoo visit.  Once again I used the ink to delineate him and then filled him out with the watercolors.  I used the same color palette so they make a nicely matched set.  I think I’ll list them as a pair in my etsy shop later this week.

We hiked our north and south paths today in nice weather.  The high temperatures have been in the 40’s and 50’s lately and we finally had a chance to go out and walk.  It was a little muddy but otherwise a lovely day.  We have had some high wind gusts lately and expected to have to pick up a lot of fallen branches, but it really wasn’t bad.  There was more debris in the back yard than on the trails.

An arctic fox

Little arctic fox

I felt like doing some sort of animal work this week so I looked through my photos and found this one.  I took it years and years ago, but I still like his restful pose.  He fits right in  with this chilly winter weather. That pose sure would keep him warm.

I penciled him up and then used the ink pen to sketch him in.  I had some suitable colors on the watercolor pallet from the last painting, so I went ahead and used them.   I used a burnt umber with some added brown, lamp black and a maroonish highlights, especially to the rocks.

Success

Aceo blanks 2

The latest sheet of watercolor for the aeco/gift tags backgrounds turned out fine. I don’t know if it was the different soaking brush, the different colored paper, or a combination of the two, but the colors lay down nicely and I am pleased with the results. Perhaps I was somehow scarring up the paper with the other brush or removing some surface finish, but this time around there was no precipitation of the paint.  I now have way too many blanks, but they do make an easy project for a fill in. I will probably list a few of these this week.  Valentine’s Day is coming up for the heart ones and I also don’t have a lot of blue things in my shop.  The worst part is taking all of the photos.  I end up sifting through about 12 photos to get the three I need for each listing.  It is necessary, but time consuming. Then I’ll have to figure out a real project to work on.

Happy New Year to all

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a great start to the new year.  I spent some time with family and friends and just relaxed after a hectic few months with commission work.

I sold quite a few the aceos listed in my shop last year and decided to make a few new ones.  It has been a bit more of a chore than I expected.  I kind of tossed off the original set that I made without thinking much about the process and have come to regret my lack of attention.  I have been unable to replicate that first big sheet for the blanks.  I have been having a problem with the watercolor precipitating out somewhat so the paint doesn’t dry smoothly and evenly.  I have run two sheets and not been overly happy with them.  I used two different brands of watercolors and while one was better than the other, I still had problems.  I think I will try one more time, using a smaller brush to soak the paper.  Maybe the bristles have been scarring the paper someway that I can’t see.  I wish I could remember what I did the first time.  It’s the downside of spontaneity I guess.  And the passage of three years since I made the first set.

New aceos

Here are a few that I have managed to eke out in the last few days.