Today was so Autumn like that I had to do something to go with my feeling.
I decided on Pumpkins and corn from the photograph shown below the painting.
I took this photo at the Astoria Oregon Farmer's market last September. I think I like how it turned out. What do you think??
It was done with Derwent Inktense(the corn) and Alrecht Durer watercolor pencils(the pumpkins) on 140# wc paper.
Happy last day of August! SB
After a week of work and trying to get my school ready for the kids I didn't have any energy to be especially creative at home. Today was really fun. I drew up this image and finished it all in about an hour.
My imaginary woods done in Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils on 140# watercolor paper.
I'm still learning how to use these pencils. I'm happy with the composition, I am not sure how to work this though and not turn it to mud. hum...any suggestions??
Have a great Labor Day Weekend! SB
Today was bright and sunny, 85 degrees, what do I draw? Holiday ornaments.
I had a fun time with this rock. :)
It looks like the 3rd time is the charm. It looks hard and shiny and rock like to my mind. I've included in the scan the actual rock for this one. :)
The painting was done with Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils in my handmade wc journal. Figuring out the right colors to use was interesting too. Browns, reds, yellows, sepia, and paynes grey.
Have you ever got stuck on a subject and had to keep trying to do it until you finally were happy with the out come?
I know that I get a little fixated on a subject and I have to keep doing it until I'm happy.
I hope you have a great weekend and get to do something creative!
cheers,
SB
I tried to do this really funky rock that my Husband and son collected at the Richardson Ranch in Central Oregon a few years ago. II think I need to just stick with my pen and ink. I know I can get nice rocks that way and watercolor pencil for a touch of color. I am really not happy with my lack of ability to use just color to show something that is Hard and Solid. sigh...
I'm sharing it because I really would love to constructive comments on what I should try to do next time. Thanks!
Here are some rocks I'm much happier about! All the blue is just 1 prussian blue watercolor pencil with a couple touches of dark naples ochre. 
This was a fast sketch less than 5 minutes start to finish. I needed to have something pretty to post because my other one from this evening I'm seriously thinking of deleting the first one! The reference for this came directly from the Watercolor Pencil Workshop CD by Kate Johnson. --This one is loose, rock like and I really like how the trees turned out. go figure!
Happy Thursday, SB
Oh my! This week has been HOt! Hot! Hot! and now this next week we are only going to get to the 60's and 70's for most of the time and a really big rainstorm is supposed to hit mid week with lots of wind and rain. Hum...I'll believe that when I see it!
Today was cooler and I was able to sew together a new demin skort. It has a long enough skirt that I can wear it for work and look professional and modest when I have to crawl under counters and desks hooking up computers and such. I'll be making more of this pattern soon!
this evening I had a chance to sit down with my Watercolor Pencil Workshop CD by Kate Johnson. I'm still working on lesson 2. I have posted the trees and bark exercise. I have lots to learn still but what I really need to do is go out and sit in front of some trees and really look at the bark to figure out the colors and textures.
I will be doing more of this exercise for sure!
Have you ever really looked at the the bark of a tree up close? It's amazing all the living creatures that make the bark their home.
I hope you have a chance to slow down and really look at something in detail noting all the different textures and colors we live in such a diverse world :)
cheers! SB
Let me say right now I really don't like HOT weather. The weather is really going to be hot by our moderate Pacific Northwest standards. We are going to be close to 100 on Thursday and up to 104 on Friday! UGH!! Thank goodness they decided to actually turn on the air conditioning at the schoo I work at. The A.C. has been off all summer to save money. For the most part that is fine but when it gets hot.BLECH! It is like a sauna. Who needs a gym membership?...
At home the little window AC unit is going to be working overtime to keep the livingroom cool enough to keep me from getting grumpy and snarking at my wonderful husband. :)
The rest of this week I'm going to be alternating between looking at more of lesson 2 on my Kate Johnson Watercolor Pencil CD and a crocheted cotton top that I started several weeks ago I would like to get finished!
But for now I'd like to share my newest watercolor journal entry. It's another landscape. I'm trying to do a few more of them because I really don't want to do them. Sharon over on the EDM group at yahoo has been mentioning that when we feel resistance to someting when working on our art it is probably something that we really NEED to push through and work on anyway. I will say that this one was easier than the last one I did. You can see it on my flicker page if you want.
this field of either red tulips or poppies (I couldn't tell from the small photo what kind of flowers they really are) was such a vibrant red with the green fields and trees and the expansive blue sky that I just 'felt' like I should try it out. I got the reference ohot from Wetcanvas.com.
I'm enjoying the watercolor pencils and learning more about what they can do.
I hope you are doing something you really enjoy too!
cheers,
SB
Woohoo! Olympics are awesome! I hope that those who are interested have the opportunity to watch some of the games and maybe even create a piece of art or two at the same time.
While watching several different events I had to be doing something too. I pulled out a photo of some trees and a path through the trees and started working on this little painting.
It was done with the Albrecht Durer Watercolor Pencils. I'm learning how these pencils make their marks and some thinkgs got away from me a bit and I had to go back in and lighten up the path in the back by coloring in with a white gel pen, letting it dry and then coloring with my lighter wc pencils. It was an expirement that actually worked! The bunny was added because I felt that the painting was a bit flat and needed a bit of life.
What do you think?
Today I spent several hours with some of my cousins who are in town getting to visit and we had the opportunity to videotape my grandparents telling stories. What an awesome experience!
Then I came home and deciced that I HAD to make some art. I pulled out a photo I took of my dog Winston last summer on a really hot day. He so didn't want to move. I figured that it was a perfect time to get a photo. :)
I sketched first with pencil, then with the ink and finally with some Albrecht Durer Watercolor pencils. This was such an odd angle that it was a challenge to get Winston to "look right" I also decided not to draw the grain in on the wood of the bench, I figured it would make the painting look too busy. what do you think??
I hope you are having a great weekend!
cheers, SB
I was able to attend the Washington Education Association Leadership Accademy this week. It was a wonderful experience being immersed a learning environment with a couple hundred educators. Amazing.
I worked on one watercolor pencil painting this week and I actually finished it! This poppy was done usingAlbretch Durer Watercolor pencils on 140# watercolor paper in my new watercolor journal that I made last week. this is from a photo that I took a couple weeks ago while walking into downtown Vancouver. I love the smooth application of these pencils!
On my way up to the conference I had the opportunity to visit the Daniel Smith art supplies store in South Seattle. It was so cool! I even found most of the Albretch Durer pencils that Kate Johnson reccommends for light fastness. that's what I used for my poppy. I love these pencils!
On another note, today was my grandfather's 100th birthday! Yup, 8-8-8 was when he was born. It is so exciting to me to think of all the things that have changed and happened in the world since he was born. It sort of boggles my mind. We had about 20 family members at lunch and then more showed up at Grandpa and Grandma's house for cake and Icecream too. It was so fun to see folks I havn't seen for almost 20 years!
I hope you have a great weekend and make sure to tell those you care about what you think!
cheers, SB
Watercolor journal page 1.
I have 16 pages in the new watercolor journal and I have finished my first entry in the book! Wahoo!
I took this photo of a bumblebee at the Edgefield McMenimins Just outside of Portland Oregon last summer. I thought it was so cool that I was able to catch the bee sitting still and see the shine on it's wings.
I remember when our son was little he used to pet the furry bumblebees hanging around the lavendar bushes in the front yard. He would always laugh and then run to tell us about the soft bumble bees. :)
Here's to summer memories!
cheers, SB
I made myself a hand bound watercolor journal from 1 full size sheet of 140# paper today. I havn't done any bookbinding in a couple years so this was a fun exercise! It is Coptic bound hard covers.
I'll be able to get 16 watercolor sketches in this book. I decided that wasn't too many. I tend to get overwhelmed by too many sheets in a journal or sketchbook. when there are too many pages I start and then keep seeing ALL THOSE OTHER PAGES and think I'll never be able to fill them up and so I stop even trying. I'm working on getting better about that kind of talk to myself
Since this is a watercolor journal It ended up with a watery theme to the doodling on the cover. I had fun seeing what it would become. I used a Koh-I-Nor Rapido Sketcher pen (I'm loving this pen right now) and my Prismacolor Watercolor pencils.
happy Saturday! Cheers, SB
I was inspired by a photo in a Home improvment summer magazine. The Gazebo and lots of flowers, perspective and greens made it challenging and very rewarding when I finished it. My husband even said it looked really good. That's high praise, usually things look nice or pretty good. so...
Any comments or suggestions on what to do next time greatly appreciated!
Have a great evening(or morning depending on were you are in the world!) cheers, SB
This is my last friday of summer break. I'm kinda sad about that as I have been having so much fun getting back into my art!
I have decided that I'm not going to let work get in the way of my creative side. I have the evenings and I'm going to make them count.
I hope to remember that after I get home from work I can rechage my personal batteries with a homemade latte and a sketch. Even if all I do to start out is the Everyday Matters (EDM) Challenges.
For now though, I'll share my watercolor postcard portals series number 3! It's yet another stone wall entrance to another place...It was done with Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils, Pitt xs black pen and Prismacolor Color Pencils.
As Always I love to hear what you think! Please leave a comment or suggestion.
Cheers! SB
