Hawaiian Dove. These are the sweetest birds, and they make the sweetest sounds. No matter which island you are on in Hawaii these sounds greet you in the morning (and if you are in Kauai as I am, they compete somewhat with the Roosters).
Not really happy with the results, but I am trying not to be too hard on myself as I am still on east coast mainland time. It’s 6:40 pm in Kauai, but at home it would be 11:40pm!
Hibiscus for tomorrow!
Dreaming of Gecko’s! Packing for my trip to Kauai has me day dreaming about Gecko’s. I love these little guys. This one isn’t really well proportioned, but he was fun to draw. Day 17 done, onto some grounds to get me going for the next few days. #30paintingsin30days!
Sketchbook Skool #sbsexpressing is in session, good Klass on lettering this week. I don’t add a lot of lettering to my journal pages. I have never really liked my own handwriting, and even with a graphic design background I was never really into drawing type. But, this was a nice push into trying something new, I think I will consider adding more lettering in the future.
I think I might be too far behind to catch up at this point–4 days behind! Yikes. No matter, I am going to push on. I read an article that the bats in New England are in trouble. They are so good for catching bugs, sad to see them not doing well. I felt like I was drawing upside down! It’s a little wonky, but it was fun to draw a little baby bat. Casein & graphite on paper.
Along with the #30paintingsin30days! challenge I started a new #sketchbookskool Expressions Klass. The first one is all about lettering…looking forward to that project as well. Maybe I can use it for my next painting!
Casein and graphite. 6″ x 6″
I hear that the manatee’s are making a comeback! They might go from endangered to threatened. After reading about them, I wanted to make a little painting. They are super fun to draw, all lumpy and super cute. I am trying to incorporate the spirograph designs as well. I haven’t figured out what to call what they add…but they add something that I like.
Hoping to be able to make a painting for day 12.
Here is painting No. 10. Rockhopper Penguin done in casein and graphite on watercolor tile. 6 x 6. I am hopeful to get a couple more done today, because I know Monday this will probably all come to a halt!
Off to paint.
I missed a couple of days. I had these hopes that I could do more than one a day, it’s just not working out. And, there is too much going on at my day job to take a long enough lunch to do any painting and drawing. I started this one at 4:30am and finished it up after work. It’s done, but not what I wanted. Sometimes it just has to be okay that you worked on some art…not that it really turned out.
I might miss tomorrow, but the weekend is almost here, so at least I will do two paintings this weekend. More if I can manage it!
Challenges are in fact a challenge! Day 4 is done, but I can’t say I am super pleased with it. Working small in order to accomplish the work, this is 3″ x 5″ on a watercolor board. I do love the image, and I am grateful for the resource from USFWS. Drawn in graphite over casein resourced from the USFWS Mountain Prairie Flickr website–photo taken by Tom Koerner. #30paintingsin30days!
Tomorrow Day 5! Hoping for a quick early morning painting.
Pineapple Conure. 5″ x 5″
Well, it’s day 3 of the painting challenge. So far I am doing good. Still time in the day for maybe one more painting (this way I can post that tomorrow, because tomorrow it’s back to the day job!). I bought a spirograph set just after Christmas and I have been eager to try it. They are mesmerizing and truly as the advertising states…endless hours of fun. They do however take some time to perfect.
I decided to pair up my painting and the fun with the spirograph. I think I might do some more of these. This is casein, ballpoint pen and graphite. The casein ground went down first, then the spirograph designs in green ballpoint pen and then a casein wash followed by casein to block in the bird. Graphite over top. I had forgotten how nice graphite works over the casein…it has just the right amount of “give”. #30paintingsin30days!
Casein & colored pencil: 5″ x 7″
Some work does get abandoned….but not always forgotten. I have been looking at this in an unfinished state since August! I carry it around, and keep thinking I will get back to it. I did a pencil sketch that I actually like better…but, I wasn’t ready to relegate this to a permanently unfinished piece. So, without too much extra time involved I completed it today. I love the richness of the background against the white. This white iris was blooming in front of my very red japanese maple. Nice memory.
Casein, inktense pencils, prismacolor pencils
Today was a slow day. The day after Thanksgiving. For some reason this year I am just not feeling the holidays. It’s just feeling like any other day to me. Anywho, I will work on that. Today I was really excited to try out my new Derwent Inktense pencils. However, I think that my approach was all wrong. I started with some swatches and then worked on top of those, and then because I had some wet casein paint available, decided to work over a casein ground. I love the casein…but unless you let it dry for quite awhile, it remains “soft” and workable. So, this had that challenge to it.
Tomorrow’s goal: just use the inktense alone…maybe with some ink pen over drawing. And, I am going to start a larger piece with an opaque watercolor ground that I can spend some time with.
Hope you all had a really nice Thanksgiving day. Nice to have a couple of extra days off.
Art Projects 