Drawing #82 - Than Ever

Another sheet of colored letter-size paper is the basis of my drawing from life of our wonderful white azaleas beside the front steps. This time the subject is pretty clear but there is still room for your imagination to roam. I've also written about the flowers across the image in the usual decorated, not-meant-to-be-legible style. The end of what I wrote became the title because they bloomed so well this year, better than ever. The collage is from pictures with acrylic paint and watercolor pencils as well as ink.

Drawing #81 - Study for "The perfect little trip"

The teacher of my mixed media art class brought some embossed wallpaper to class Thursday. It was part of some she got at a house sale. We both tried working with it. My effort used a corner for collage in a drawing. I combined it with bits from a birding tour brochure, text and a photo from a trip to France a few years back. I worked with other papers, watercolor crayons in interesting colors the teacher brought, watercolor pencils and regular colored pencils. The wallpaper is deeply embossed giving a lot of dimension but its softness tends to absorb and blur some of the watercolor. I thought it was just an interesting sketch until I looked at it with a mat when it became something more. It's on a larger sheet but ends up being about 8" x 10". See what you think.

Drawing #80 - To A Tea

This did not come out as my normal sort of abstract. Large circles immediately become faces and the teapot is very definite, and hence the title and the bit from my mother's old elementary reader that says "It seemed...made just to suit." Still I enjoy some of the effects such as the design made from writing across the image and embellishing the text so it isn't really readable but has a nice horizontal quality. Also the blue background areas were created with watercolor pencil which allowed a textured look. This is from a new mixed media pad that measures 14" x 11", larger than I've normally worked. Comments welcome (and remember to click on the image to get it larger.)

Drawing #79 - From Any Point

The title "From Any Point" appears in the text of the collage papers coming from my mother's very old plane geometry book. But it has meaning for this drawing as from any point, it is a matter of perception. At a distance or made small in your browser, it is very abstract, or perhaps seals on a beach. At some point it should become clear that it is a drawing of a pair of shoes. Close in you may find in the details small creatures like dragon flies. Thus a drawing of something specific invites the viewer to interpret the image as in any other of my mental landscapes.

On the technical side, I bought some letter-sized colored papers and started with this one and the few watercolor pencils that I also got. I also used regular colored pencils and some watercolor along with the collage and inks.

Drawing #78 - Black Horse

This drawing was not a class project though surely influenced by the class. It began with the idea of our four new rhododendron plants along the back edge of the back yard where the prominent feature is our oak tree. Of course it went in its own direction and the title comes from one of the bits of paper from my mother's elementary reader that seemed to fit. It includes collage, water color, acrylic paint, acrylic ink, colored pencil and even a bit of watercolor pencil. Truly mixed media! It is on a 9" x 12" sketchbook. Do click the image to see it larger.