According to our fun daily calendar, April 8th is "Draw a bird day". So I drew my favourite bird (the pelican), perched on a streetlight as we often see them on the bridge over a local lake. Pen and watercolour.
So I had this idea for a series; fun, whimsical paintings of pet rocks. Full of personality, sweet, make you laugh, that kind of vibe. First one I draw is this. I was so horrified by it I haven't drawn another one since. I'm not kidding; I'm actually quite upset to discover I can't draw "sweet". Or maybe it was a bad day.
Brown ink and watercolour on paper, 4x6". Reference photo from Deviant Art. This is probably the closest I've come yet to the style I'm trying so hard to learn. Being self-taught, I'm very much open to suggestions and advice.
Ever had to fight with the ants for your chocos? It's past mid night and while I ate my chocos and stayed awake to study, the ants end up stealing my chocos. The battle gets worse when they decide to attack me. Cherry on top is my curly frizzy hair. R.I.P hair wash day.
This is watercolor using the negative painting technique where you paint around your subject using multiple layers which creates depth. This has greater than 8 layers of watercolor washed around the tree shapes
Colorful Goldfish - Another watercolor sketch from my newest sketchbook. I'm using Strathmore Mixed Media 300 Series (5.5 in x 8.5 in). It has 40 sheets of 90 lb. vellum surface paper. They cost under $10 and can be used for most anything including wet media (light washes) without the paper falling apart or warping badly. One of the best all purpose sketchbooks I've found and the size makes it easy to toss in a backpack and carry daily. Anyway, just wanted to share my good experience with the group. What's your favorite sketchbook brand/format?
A quick sketch of a man holding a cup of coffee. This was drawn from a reference photo. Lately I've been practicing portraits. Trying to limit myself to 20 mins or so and just draw the basic form as best I can. Otherwise I'll fiddle with the details and spend hours trying to adjust things. Sketching in ink helps also since I can't erase. Need to get more comfortable sketching faster, but I like the way this turned out.
