A quick post today to share a few of my last sketches from #Inktober. I really enjoyed working in ink and challenging myself. I was very inspired by all of the amazing art shared by other artists online.
Small Branch – Inktober
A little branch in ink and watercolor, just simple and calm.
Road Runner – ink and watercolor
Another bird, oh how I love to sketch and paint birds! I’m so in love with that hair. 🙂
Raccoon – ink
A cute little Raccoon sketch in ink. This was a fun practice sketch before working on my larger Raccoon watercolor painting a few weeks ago.
Bee – ink and watercolor
A little bee in ink and watercolor. This was my last #inktober sketch. I’m already looking forward to this fun challenge next year.
I hope you enjoy seeing my work and are inspired to keep painting, creating, and having fun. If you would like to receive notifications of new posts by email, simply click the follow button on the right. I would love to have you follow me on this creative journey.
You can see more of my work on Instagram and my website, PattyAnneArt. Until next time, I hope you have a great week and do something fun!
It may be a bit early to start thinking about Christmas, but it is not too early to start planning a few Christmas card designs for this year. I wanted to use my artwork last year but was unable to get things printed in time. Hopefully things will work out better this year.
These paintings remind me of our family trips to the tree farm in December each year to find a special tree for Christmas. Those trips are special memories with my boys that I will always cherish!
Snowy Pine
This Snowy Pine was painted on 6×9 inch Aquabee watercolor paper. I love this simple pine and the background just feels like a snowy December to me. I think this one is my favorite.
Pines in Sunlight
These Pines were also painted on 6×9 inch Aquabee watercolor paper. I painted this mostly wet on wet, but as the painting started to dry I added more defined branches here and there. I left some white areas and used a variety of greens (light to dark) in the painting. I really like how it looks like the sunlight is shining down through the trees.
Penguin Buddies – Ink and Watercolor
I sketched my Penguin Buddies for #Inktober with a .01 Micron pen. I decided to add watercolor and was very happy with the result. I think the color gave this sketch more life and feeling. Adding the background color was the last step. I used the side of my round brush to playfully swish the blue gray color all around the Penguins. I love that it looks like a splash of water and swoosh of cold air around them. I think my Penguins will make a cute card this year.
Tips:
When sketching with ink, it is best to work in one direction, like left to right, or top to bottom. If not, you must be very careful. Just like when painting, try to keep your hand or wrist from touching a wet area. I learned this the hard way recently with one of my #Inktober sketches. I got ink smudged on my hand and a little bit on my paper. Luckily, I didn’t ruin my sketch but I could have ended up with a big mess.
I hope you enjoy seeing my work and are inspired to keep painting, creating, and having fun. If you would like to receive notifications of new posts by email, simply click the follow button on the right. I would love to have you follow me on this journey.
You can see more of my work on Instagram and my website, PattyAnneArt. Until next time, enjoy yourself and have fun!
This week I worked on sketching and painting a raccoon which was a lot of fun. I also worked on a few sketches for #Inktober.
I practiced sketching this cute little raccoon face a few times in pencil before starting my painting.
Raccoon Watercolor
My Raccoon was painted on Arches 9 x 12 inch cold pressed watercolor paper. I limited by color palette to Daniel Smith watercolors: French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna Light, Payne’s Gray, and Carbazole Violet. I tried to keep things loose and just have fun. I used round brushes size 10, 6, and 2. I wasn’t sure how this would turn out but I am happy that I tried. I’ve been looking at this little guy all week sitting on my desk, and although he is in watercolor, it kind of looks like I used ink. 🙂
Below are a few of my Inktober sketches this week:
Colorful Leaves – Inktober
Just a little ink and lots of bold watercolor on these leaves. Another simple composition that I really seem to like lately.
Pinecone – Inktober
Another pinecone in ink and watercolor this week. For the pinecone, I used a larger Micron pen size 1 for the darkest areas and a smaller .03 pen for the remainder. My platinum desk pen with fine nib was used for the drawing the branch and pine needles. This pinecone has more depth than the pinecones I shared with you last week. I am much happier with this one.
Tips:
“You win or learn, there is no losing”. I heard that quote this week and just love it!! Keep trying, keep painting, and keep on having fun. Do what you love and you never lose.
It is helpful when sketching and painting to occasionally turn your work upside down and look at it. There have been times that doing that has helped me easily see just what needs a little adjustment.
I hope you enjoy seeing my work and are inspired to keep painting, creating, and having fun. If you would like to receive notifications of new posts by email, simply click the follow button on the right. I would love to have you follow me on this journey.
You can see more of my work on Instagram and my website, PattyAnneArt. I hope you have a great week and do something fun.
When I am inspired to paint something that I’ve never painted before (and sometimes things I’ve already painted), I find it helps to sketch it out first in a regular sketchbook. There are many online videos for how to draw or sketch most things. Sometimes I like to watch a quick sketching video because it helps me think about big shapes and I like to see how other artists approach sketching the subject. I’m not interested in every detail of how to draw something start to finish, I’m just looking for a little help to get me moving in the right direction.
There are many times when I just jump in with paint, but I believe (and hope) that more sketching will translate into better paintings. I use a regular or mechanical pencil and a spiral Strathmore sketchbook. Sometimes I also add color to my sketch with Prismacolor pencils.
Bunny Sketch
This is an example of one of my quick bunny sketches. I worked on this sketch after finishing my bunny painting below. I started thinking that she could use a crown of flowers and that I should try a different color scheme.
Blue Bunny Girl watercolor
Blue Bunny Girl was painted on 9×12 inch Arches cold pressed 140# watercolor paper. I really like her bright colors and big blue eyes. I’m not sure if I should name her Brave, Bold, or Bright Blue Bunny Girl…
Tips:
Painting and sketching the same subject a few times allows you to work things out and make improvements. Once I become more comfortable with a subject, I am able to loosen up and not overthink things and quite often that is when the creativity really starts to flow.
When painting the eyes, I use small brushes: round #2 and rigger #0. These brushes allow you to make very fine lines and have good control in a small space. Using a rigger brush can be tricky at first but once you get used to it, you will find that it is a great brush. I’m sure I’ve told you this before but I’ll say it again, I love that brush!
I hope you enjoy seeing my work and are inspired to keep painting, creating, and having fun. If you would like to receive notifications of new posts by email, simply click the follow button on the right. I would love to have you follow me on this journey.
You can see more of my work on Instagram and my website, PattyAnneArt. I hope you have a great week and do something fun.
Ahh, those fluffy feathers! I have been having fun this week painting birds. In my last post I shared with you my first Pink Flamingo that I painted in my 7×10 inch watercolor sketchbook. I decided to try it again but paint larger and use a few different techniques. When working on smalls, I think I tighten up a bit so I decided to go with a 9×12 inch painting on this one.
I started out with a sketch in pencil to get my shape and placement. Remember that the positioning (and size) of the head, eye and beak are all very important. For feathers, I start with light color and work up to bolder colors. When working on the small detail of the eye, I use either a small rigger, liner, or round brush. I used my new Princeton round #2 brush this time. I really love that brush!!
Below is an in progress view of my feathered friend.
Pink Flamingo watercolor in progress
Watercolor techniques:
When the paint was damp, I tossed a little regular table salt on the neck and body area. Later when it was completely dry, I dusted off the salt. I was hoping it would give me some nice texture and an interesting look. I really like the results I got using the salt.
I also tried to use some expressive brush strokes with my larger round brush for the body feathers and used different shades of pink mixed with just a touch of red and orange here and there. I moved the brush around loosely pulling it in the direction that the feathers would be on the body.
While the painting was still damp I spattered some paint on it. I tried using a toothbrush as I’ve seen others demonstrate but I always seem to have trouble getting that spatter where I want it. I ended up using my round brush loaded with juicy color and then tapped it here and there over the painting, that worked for me.
This is the final painting below.
Pink Flamingo watercolor
I hope you enjoy seeing my work and are inspired to keep painting and having fun. If you would like to receive notifications of new posts by email, simple click the follow button on the right. I would love to have you follow me on this journey!
I’ve always loved daisies, they are one of my favorite flowers. I have a few different varieties in my garden. Here is a quick watercolor painting from my 7×10 mixed media sketchbook.
Yellow Daisies
A simple composition and sketch with pen. I love the daisies here but wish the leaves were a brighter green.
Painting notes:
Daniel Smith watercolors
Winsor & Newton watercolors
Black micron pen .05
Round #10 watercolor brush
Watercolor tips and notes:
Change your rinse water when it gets cloudy, that may have been why my greens aren’t as bright as I would have liked.
Don’t overwork it. I think I stopped early enough on this one but I have to always remind myself of this.
Be careful with the amount of water you use on the mixed media paper. Try to avoid puddles and very watery washes because the paper will wrinkle and buckle up.
Keep in mind that the more you paint and practice, the better your paintings will become. This was probably the best advice given to me by my watercolor instructors.
The Pink Dogwood tree in my yard is in full bloom. It is such a beauty!
This is watercolor painting #364 from my 7×10 Mixed Media sketchbook – inspired by my Pink Dogwood tree.
Pink Dogwood Tree in Bloom
A few tips and notes:
Mixed media paper doesn’t handle as much water and pigment as watercolor paper.
It was difficult to get the fun mingling of colors in the watercolor washes on this paper.
After the painting dried, I ended up liking it more than when I was working on it.
I need to push myself to use brighter colors and washes.
Patty Anne - Art 