When setting up the other drawings for the book, I forgot all about the cover piece. So here is the pencil and ink up. I wasn’t happy with the first drawing and ended up adding some vegetation to the foreground in the inking for more color. I like it better, now.
The cover piece
30 Jul 2017 Leave a comment
in artwork Tags: book illustration, children's book, kid's book, Nature, pen and ink
Watercolored
30 Jul 2017 Leave a comment
in artwork Tags: children's book, Idaho, inspirational book, pen and ink, Watercolor painting, western outdoors, western scenes
I have watercolored the book images in. I was a little worried about the paper warping since it is just thicker mixed media paper, but it went pretty well. I think the sheets will flatten nicely when squished into the scanner. It is a fold in the middle book so these are really 2 facing pages each with writing on one. I forgot about a title and end page, so that is left to do.
A New Project – Something I’ve Never Tried Before
23 Jul 2017 4 Comments
in artwork Tags: children's book, Idaho, inspirational book, pen and ink art, watercolor art, western scenes
This is something totally new for me. My dear daughter-in-law asked me to draw a children’s book with her words for my grandson, about to be one year old. It will be a square book so these are two facing pages each. I did a pencil up of each page and let her approve them. Here is the penned version. Watercolor goes over the ink. So far, so good.
Gizmo done
17 Jul 2017 10 Comments
in artwork Tags: animal art, cat painting, cat portrait, marmalade cat, mixed media, orange cat, orange tabby cat, pen and ink, pet portrait, watercolor, Watercolor painting
I finished Gizmo’s watercolor portrait, and I must say, I like it much better than the acrylic one. I was able to be much more delicate in depicting him – and he was a very delicate little guy. I think for portraiture (both pet and architectural) that pen and ink with the watercolor or pastel overlay is much more suited to my style. I really need to take an acrylic class and get a better idea of technique.
Redoing Gizmo’s portrait
13 Jul 2017 Leave a comment
in artwork Tags: animal art, cat portrait, marmalade cat, orange cat, orange tabby cat, pen and ink, pet portrait, watercolor
I wasn’t ever really happy with the acrylic portrait of Gizmo the cat, so I decided to try it again with the pen and watercolors. Here are the pencil drawing and the inked sketch.
So far, I am pleased. I feel I have so much more control with the pen and watercolors. Maybe it is the lazy way out, but I haven’t done a pet portrait since the two of my friend’s horses last summer and I wanted to try something again. I’ll wait to finish the inking if I need to until after the watercolors. I don’t want it to get too dark as he was a lighter orange tabby.
Jasper Watercolors
02 Jul 2017 6 Comments
in artwork Tags: architectural art, architectural artwork, architectural rendering, architecture, Art, commissioned art, home portraits, pen and ink, pen and ink art, Watercolor painting, Watercolors
I finished the watercolors for this Jasper streetscape. The storefronts in this rural Indiana town are to die for. You don’t see architecture like this being built anymore and I love to find it thriving here.
I enjoyed all of the patterned brickwork on the second story, although it was not the easiest thing in the world to paint. It’s amazing how my eye (and hand) kept jumping around when all I wanted to do was alternate the colors in a small area. I made a couple of mistakes, but fortunately I could easily fix them as I progressed. All of the layers helped too. This is the last interesting shop front in this town square, so I will have to be looking around for a new one. I need some inspiration.