An Official Sketchbook, Pink Flowers

Thanks to many talented bloggers and artists, I have been inspired to keep an official sketchbook.  While I have had sketchbooks in the past, they were haphazardly kept and the paper barely qualified as being watercolor worthy. I will continue to use these for practice, but last month I bought a real Moleskine artist-quality sketchbook and am so pleased with it. The pages are thick and can withstand lots of water without much warp. 

This sketchbook will chronical some everyday things and experiences, so first off is this painting of pink flowers observed at a nature preserve we visited.  

Sabatia Flowers

It is still blasted hot here but is supposed to become more temperate in the next few days. Thank goodness for that! Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

Rose Gardens

After practicing loose, freestyle watercolor roses for a couple of days, I had quite a “garden” of them to be made into greeting cards.

Hand-painted Roses Bridal Shower Card

They are quite fun to paint, take shape quickly, and make an elegant presentation.

Hand-painted Roses Birthday Card

Hand-painted Roses Birthday Card

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s hoping we call can take time to smell the real roses today.  Happy Wednesday!

Orchid and Magnolia Cards

I had the pleasure of spending last weekend at a crafty retreat with some talented ladies, which is always so relaxing, renewing, and productive.  However, we missed our friend Traci and hope she can join us on our next trip – hope you are feeling better, Traci!

Sometimes when I get home from these weekends I have a difficult time transitioning back into things because half of my supplies are still packed up, and I don’t know which direction to go – should I set up my work space for papercrafting or watercolor painting?  Before unpacking I decided to clean up my entire craft corner and in the process came across quite a few things I haven’t shared here yet, including these two cards.

The watercolor flower paintings on the fronts are totally CASEd from Pinterest (I believe one is a tutorial from The Frugal Crafter), and I remember being so excited when I finished them because they turned out so well. If I remember correctly they are the mixture of some Daniel Smith watercolors and Derwent Inktense pencils. Leave it to me to stick them in a dark corner of the craft desk and lose track of them. 🙂

I’ve also been keeping a nature/travel sketchbook the last couple of months and am deciding whether or not to share some of those drawings and paintings here.  I have to say that I really like working in my little sketchbook and get lost in the process of really “seeing” things I’d never noticed before.

Hope you all have a great weekend and take time to “see” the little things, some of which are quite remarkable.  Hugs!

Lemon Tart, #WorldWatercolorMonth

How does Monday roll around so quickly?    Sending smiles via this little lemon tart.

Lemon Tart with Blueberries in watercolor

Have a wonderful week!!

 

World Watercolor Month is almost over! Remember, we are raising awareness for the Dreaming Zebra Foundation and the Art Room Aid project sponsored by Dick Blick with hopes of bringing art supplies and teaching to children who otherwise would not have exposure to the enriching world of art. Please consider a donation today!

 

Lemon Tart with Blueberries in watercolor

Alaskan Sea Lion Pup #WorldWatercolorMonth

I’ve used Paint My Photo and other various internet sites to find subject matter in the past, and they are great for inspiration.  While perusing my computer for a specific photo recently, I came across so many amazing photos taken by my shutterbug husband and friends and found many fun subjects to paint.  This cute little sea lion photo was taken by my friend Ronda when a group of us visited Alaska quite a few years ago.  I believe she saw this pup while on a whale-watching excursion, but sea lions were plentiful in the glacial waters we explored.

 

Alaskan Sea Lion Pup

My favorite place we saw sea lions was around the gigantic Hubbard Glacier, which is up to 400 feet tall and over six miles wide where it meets the ocean!  I was in awe of its grandeur and gorgeous blue colors, not to mention its sound – yes, glaciers are noisy.  There is lots of creaking and cracking as ice breaks apart or bumps together, and when a chunk splits and falls, also known as calving, it makes a thunderous sound!  A calved chunk of ice is called an iceberg.  Icebergs smaller than a car are usually called growlers, and larger ones are called bergy bits.

 

A section of the Hubbard Glacier

But I digress – the sea lions swam happily around the glacier and all the floating bergs.  The ship had to stay a certain distance away from the magnificent glacier, and the sea lions appeared to be smaller than the size of pinhead.  It was a little like playing Where’s Waldo, but once you spotted a couple they were easier to find.  Can you tell I am in awe of the Hubbard Glacier? 🙂  Thanks, Ronda, for allowing me to use your photo!

World Watercolor Month is flying by! Remember, we are raising awareness for the Dreaming Zebra Foundation and the Art Room Aid project sponsored by Dick Blick with hopes of bringing art supplies and teaching to children who otherwise would not have exposure to the enriching world of art. Please consider a donation today!

World Watercolor Month 2016

 

 

Alligator, #WorldWatercolorMonth

A couple of years ago we visited Southern Florida to attend the wedding of a dear friend’s daughter.   During our week-long adventure, one of our activities was an airboat ride in The Everglades.  I enjoyed the breezy ride through the mangroves but was thankful they gave us headphones to wear to block out the extremely loud motor of the airboat.   We saw all of the typical wildlife inclusive of spoonbills, egrets, snakes, and alligators.   This painting is of an alligator that came very close to our airboat.

Alligator – watercolor; underdrawing done with Derwent Inktense Pencils

Gators spend much of their time floating partially submerged with just their snout and eyes showing above the water, looking for a meal. They have excellent night vision, a keen sense of smell, and typically feed on fish, birds, and smaller animals.  They can also capture larger animals, but I don’t like to think about that because of post-traumatic flashbacks to Marlin Perkins’ Wild Kingdom.  Ahhhhh, The Circle of Life –hurry, cue the Disney’s Lion King theme song!

World Watercolor Month is flying by! Remember, we are raising awareness for the Dreaming Zebra Foundation and the Art Room Aid project sponsored by Dick Blick with hopes of bringing art supplies and teaching to children who otherwise would not have exposure to the enriching world of art. Please consider a donation today!

World Watercolor Month 2016

Draw A Bird Day, July 2016 #WorldWatercolorMonth

Draw A Bird Day, July 2016

Have you ever tried to picnic at the beach and got the feeling like you were being watched?  Chances are you were being watched, and maybe even harassed a little, by a seagull or two or ten!  These large, noisy birds are scavengers and will happily munch on just about anything left behind by you or nature.  That said, they mostly help keep the beaches and other areas clean by feeding on dead fish and other animals as well as organic matter from the sea.

Seagull in Watercolor

While you would expect to see seagulls flying around fishing boats and generally on the beach, they can also be found nesting inland at picnic grounds, parking lots, and garbage dumps.  I can attest to that because a number of years ago they began showing up around a large garbage dump in our city.  Many gulls were seen in parking lots of nearby shopping areas and fast food restaurants – and we are inland – at least 10 hours away from the nearest east coast beach!  I believe the dump now uses humane tactics, like noisy propane cannons, to help keep the scavenger bird population to a minimum.  I wonder why the silly birds would want to leave the beach in the first place.

The first week of World Watercolor Month has flown by! We are also raising awareness for the Dreaming Zebra Foundation and the Art Room Aid project sponsored by Dick Blick with hopes of bringing art supplies and teaching to children who otherwise would not have exposure to the enriching world of art. Please consider a donation today!