Today I have a few more #Inktober sketches to share as well as a few mini landscapes.
Hope your day is wonderful! 💚
I really enjoy sketching potted plants. For this sketch I used a few micron pens. I have a variety of sizes and colors in my collection. 😉 I decided to use sepia and burnt orange colors for this one.
This sketch I started with a few light pencil marks as a guide for the leaves and vines. It was fun to play and see what kind of shapes I could make with the pen.
When I attempted to remove the pencil markings with an eraser things started to go a little sideways… the ink smeared on me. Oh well that’s how it goes sometimes.
I worked on a few more mini landscapes in my 5 x 7 inch sketchbook. This one above was a quick five minute painting. I love the freshness you can achieve with when there’s no time for fussing.
I spent a few more minutes on this mini. These little landscapes are a nice warm up and a great way to build painting skills. I hope theses little paintings also lead to new ideas. I’m thinking about filling an entire sketchbook with more of these quick paintings.
I hope you are inspired to create art and have fun. Until next time, share a smile and shine on.
Today I have a few ink sketches to share with you. My sketching time has been limited this month but I was able to find a little time to play in my sketchbook.
A little botanical sketch using my Pentel pocket brush pen. It’s been a very long time since I’ve used this pen and I’m not sure why. I love this pen!
A quick little floral playing with patterns on the flower petals.
Magnolia sketch playing with the brush pen
This sketch was done a little before October. I was really exploring what I could do with the long lost brush pen. 😊 I like that you can make delicate marks and fine lines as well as large bold stokes using this pen.
I hope you are inspired to create and have fun. Just grab a sketchbook, pen, and see what happens!
I’ve been painting more Birch trees and today I have another to share with you.
Hope you enjoy your day! 😊
I used the plastic card technique once again on my trees pushing and pulling watercolor paint as I did in my previous post. I went with a bright blue sky in this painting and I really like that choice. To fill in the background a bit, I used a small sponge to add some foliage.
Watercolor Tip: I used very little paint on the sponge and applied it with a light touch. I would suggest practicing on a scrap piece of paper first. That way you can get a feel for using it and you can make sure you get the desired results you are looking for with it.
I’ve got a busy October schedule but hope find time for some Inktober sketching. Hopefully I will have some ink work to share this month.
I hope you are inspired to create art and do something you love. Until next time, share a smile and shine on.
I love painting with a plastic card. Today I have birch trees that I painted using this fun technique.
Happy Sunday! 💚
Using a plastic card to apply watercolor is easy to do and very enjoyable.
Paper of choice: I recommend a cold pressed watercolor paper. Cold pressed paper can stand up to the plastic card pushing and pulling paint without damaging the paper. In addition, the slightly textured surface of this paper gives the trees a more realistic look.
Simple Technique: Using a plastic card to apply paint. Dip the edge of a plastic card into a puddle of paint (see photo above) or directly into pigment and then apply the paint to the paper using the card.
A view of the beginning stage.
I used the card to print lines on the paper and create various tree shapes. Then by dragging the card left and right I can pull and push paint to look like markings you might see on birch bark.
It doesn’t look very good at first but by continuing to add more paint and detail, the trees start to look quite nice.
I used three colors that really play nicely together: Prussian Blue Paynes Gray Sepia
In the same area on the mixing tray, the colors slowly start to mix together as I dipped into them over and over. I just continued to add back each color to the puddle as needed.
I also swiped the edge of the card into concentrated pigment to get some nice color for darker areas. In some places a damp brush with a little water helped move paint around a bit.
It’s really all about playing and seeing what happens!
8 x 8 inch – Birch Trees on Fluid Watercolor paper
To finish things off I added a sky and some grasses. The darker area around the base of the trees helps to anchor them so that they aren’t just floating on the page.
I had so much fun painting these trees that I think I will try this again and work larger. I hope you are inspired to create art and do something you love.
Until next time, share a smile and sprinkle kindness everywhere!
I’ve rounded up a few of my favorite photos. I love the beautiful colors and patterns found in nature.
I hope you enjoy. 💚
The patterns here are so amazing. It looks like leaves painted on leaves. I took this photo a number of years ago and still remember my excitement when I walked past these beautiful leaves.
A look into the center of this plant and you can see tiny ribbons unfolding in all directions.
Lily of the Valley in my garden always delights me every year. I love the delicate white bells against the larger green leaves that seem to swirl about on the page.
Another beauty taken a few years ago. Oh how I love these colors!
This landscape photo was taken from the car last week. I looked out to see this gorgeous sky and was able to quickly take a few photos with my phone before we drove by.
Until next time, take good care of yourself and enjoy the beauty that is around you.
Today I have a seascape to share with you. I was playing in my 5×7 inch sketchbook and was pleasantly surprised with the results.
Happy Sunday! 💙
My first step was color mixing. I painted a few samples in my sketchbook documenting the colors that I planned on using.
The next step was deciding where to place a light pencil mark for the horizon line. The space is quite limited in the 5 x 7 inch sketchbook but I didn’t let that stop me.
I worked from top to bottom with the wet on wet technique. I simply wet the paper by brushing on clean water first and then added some paint on the damp paper.
I like to focus on the sky first and then move on to the middle and foreground areas. There’s something very calming about painting a water scene and I love all the blues of the sea.
I placed a matt over the painting to see how it might look in a frame. I think it looks pretty good that way. 😊 I hope you make time to play in your sketchbook and have fun.
Lately I’ve been trying to work more in my sketchbook. Today I have a few pencil sketches to share with you.
I decided to work more on sketching birds.
This was a quick sketch. I like the idea of limiting my time on a sketch which helps me focus on shape and form. Having a time limit also keeps me from getting lost in detail.
More work on shore birds… I hope this will help build my confidence when adding birds to landscape paintings.
Another page with a few quick bird sketches. I really liked this one more than the others on the page. I cropped the others out but kind of love that they are sneaking into the photo a little. 😊
More quick sketches with different views.
Finishing off our sketchbook tour is a quick flower sketch. I was thinking about painting but didn’t have enough time so I just started sketching a poppy. I’m happy that I opened up my sketchbook.
I hope you are inspired to create art and do something you love. Until next time, share a smile and stay excellent!