Drawing #100 - Suddenly Feathers

 An oversized card, this drawing is still probably bigger than the early ones. The scraps from a book had the words suddenly and feathers, but the feathers didn't survive the glue stick, but it's still the name. Really liked doing a color background with acrylic paint and a liquid gesso.

Drawing #93 - You Can Fly

This is a 12 x 9" watercolor paper with a gesso and acrylic base, collage, watercolor pencil, pearlescent paint, and ink. It began with a drawing of a wild turkey in flight, but isn't meant to be realistic, just a suggestion of being airborne. I was happy to work with these warm colors and the ink mostly in brown rather than black.

It will look better if you click on the image to see it larger.

Drawing #90 - Ned Told Me So

This fun drawing could have many names, but this phrase is in the schoolbook text and just seems right. It is done on a 12x12" sheet of a textured pearlescent paper featuring lovely gold and silver toned papers with long fibers, the schoolbook bits, other collage, gold ink, other inks and colored pencils. The shapes began with a quick sketch of three large (huge?) gourds brought to our class. All the potentially shiny things combine to be something other I think. I'm sure there are lots of scenes for you to discover here. As always, click on the image to see it larger.

Drawing #89 - Make Like a Phalarope

Our mixed media class resumed after a summer break last week. I found this wonderful 12 x 12" paper and set to work. I had it nearly finished at home but was in need of a gauzy paper I thought I had but didn't. As luck would have it, the teacher brought three papers for me today and one was the very missing one. I finished it and used one of the other papers too. I started with shapes suggested when we watched a shorebird at Howard Marsh last week that took to swimming when it reached deeper water, making like a phalarope, a smaller shorebird than we were watching. The drawing never really became about that and maybe I should name it for one of the words from my mother's reader: luscious. Bits from her plane geometry book are here too. I haven't worked with background paper in colors much and combined with the square shape was a bit of a challenge. Since my digital scrapbooking is almost all in a square that was a surprise. Once I signed off on this one, I started another square one in a very different color. We'll see how that goes. Don't forget to click on the image to see it larger. What mental images does it suggest to you?

Drawing #88 - To a Tangent

As always, this mental landscape will reveal itself to you with your own unique vision. For me it began with the concept of a circle of light. Circle led to my mother's old plane geometry textbook and pages regarding circles. There are three areas in which I've added text. One is about my mother and her book, one regards the family of moths called Geometers and the last is about going off on a tangent. None are meant to be readable now. The title of the piece is in one of the bits from the book. It is from my new 14 x 11 inch pad done in collage, colored pencils and ink. It is bigger than my formerly normal size but delicate in that I've only used fine ink lines rather than heavy ones, for the most part. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Drawing # 87 - Experiments in Watercolor Crystals

In class yesterday we geared up for being messy and experimented with watercolor crystals. I've never seen or used them before and was eager to try. We used watercolor paper and diffuser paper, something like that used in coffee filters. The teacher brought lots of stencil materials and dried leaves. I'm not keen on the realistic filters, but did use a small plastic grid and a dried leaflet. My first attempt got very wet but that created some nice flowing color in contrast to the partial grid and grittier areas. I'm calling it a new drawing. I also found blotting the leaflet created some interesting looks and share one on the soft paper. Nothing else looks like much, at least at the moment. Here's the first one on watercolor paper, 9 x 12.

This is a nice little look at the leaflet.

And here is last week in class with the piece I was working on then. I'm still working on it, but it is coming along pretty well. I'm also working on a larger piece. Yesterday I had it at class and got an old postcard glued onto it with some of the class ModPodge which the teacher thinks would be better than the glue sticks I normally use. Also from last week, I took in my smaller pieces with the wallpaper now in appropriate mats (not just the digital ones you see here) and the teacher has them displayed in the classroom.

We only have two more weeks of class and I'm going to try to make the most of them.

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.

Drawing #77 - Tennyson in Bloom

In class this week I quickly sketched the basics of a few daffodils in a vase on another sheet of colored paper, this time a nearly neutral but textured one. Then I used pieces of an old, falling apart copy of Tennyson's The Princess in the flower places. Shiny bits of a pinkish paper are accents (and the devil to photograph) on them. Then other papers for leaves and negative space and colored pencil for more interest. It wound up far too delicate for heavy black lines to be added so my teacher said I should stop with it as is. See what you think about this very different result.

 

So far I've worked on three class projects that all began with drawing from plants brought for our work. I've also completed two pieces that are all my own idea but that had been left unfinished. Here's what the three from class look like together. Amazingly different but all based on real plant life.

Drawing #76 - Joyous

I added acrylic paints and acrylic ink to the collage I began in class. Only a very little else was needed, some finer lines and a little colored pencil. The deep paper color was probably the driving force but also the plant shape that was the underlying drawing. It is a happy little piece to me. The paper is 11" x 8 1/2".

Drawing #75: Robins Tell Leaves

This is my first class project in a mixed media art class I'm taking at our senior center. Some of us began with drawing from plants provided by our teacher. I used one with lots of leaves and no flowers. From a preliminary drawing I went into my usual interpretive mode making it mostly about the shapes. I've done a lot of collage on it along with colored pencil and my various ink lines and designs. It is probably finished at this point unless I think of any changes or additions later. My photo of the drawing has the paper color rather darker than it really is but the colors and design look pretty close. (And click on the image to see it larger.)

 

In today's class when I reached this point with the first drawing, The teacher interested me in using some colored papers for my background. I chose a deep color and did a light drawing of another interesting plant. Then I got the collage started. Below is my beginning phase. Next I want to use some acrylic paints before starting the defining black ink lines. Then I can evaluate and work on my fine line designs. I'm very interested to see how this goes with a deep color background. It is just a small sheet but the drawing above is a bit larger than my usual these days of 9" x 12".

Drawing #74: Force of Water

Last September our trip to Oklahoma brought many views of patterns in the mud created by copious rainfall. I did a very preliminary drawing of the ideas the patterns gave me but only followed up with it recently. It is a softer, lighter drawing using colored pencil and watercolor rather than bold acrylic paints. The drawing is about 9" x 12".

Drawing #73: Bask

I started this drawing a long time ago in summertime but could never get back to it until now. The warm colors and metallic accents relate so well to warmth. Don't forget to click on the image to see a larger image.

Birthday card drawing

I haven't done a drawing (or mental landscape) in  a long time, but I really wanted one as a birthday card for my husband this week. We both really enjoyed it so I did a scrapbook layout with it. Hidden in the design are the words "Happy Birthday" and his new age.

 

Designer credits:

 -background: Autumn Sonnet by Mary Pop Designs

-mask: Original FotoBlendz No. 9 by Anna Aspnes
-paint, dots: Contrast by Maya de Groot
-b&w flower, word art: Edward by Vicki Stegall Designs
-color flowers: Happy Little Moments by emeto designs
-design: Sprinkles Magic 1 by Kitty Designs

font: Pristina

Drawing #72 - Could Have Been Swiss

"Could Have Been Swiss" was done on my 9 x 12" sketchbook with acrylic paints, watercolors, colored pencil, collage and inks. The collage elements are old book fragments and a number of old Swiss stamps. My husband's paternal heritage is Swiss. Back in the day, before he and his brother turned 21, they could have applied for dual Swiss citizenship through their paternal line. That's if they had known of it and known the lineage back to Switzerland. Today the laws have changed and it is no longer possible and it was only for minors I believe. The stamps come from a mystery box my brother-in-law and I purchased on a lark at a stamp auction long ago. I feel the drawing is rather joyful, but does address things that might have been.

Drawing #71 - Don't You See

Don't You See is drawn on my small 8" x 10" sketchbook that I took to my July class at GRIP (Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh). Mostly done there, it has collage of bits from my mother's primary reader and a colored envelope, inks, colored pencils and when I was back home, the addition of watercolors. As always, I appreciate your feedback (and don't forget to click on the image for a larger view.)

Drawing #70 - Night Picked

I found drawings of a garden in my mother's elementary reader for this piece. When I assembled bits of them, the words "night, picked" appeared and gave me ideas of a hot summer night with lush, colorful flowers, sultry scents in the air. Summer surely seems to have arrived, so this seems just right. "Night Picked" was done on my 9 x 12" sketchbook with acrylic paints, watercolors, colored pencil, collage and inks. Enjoy this heady bouquet!

Drawing #69 - Come Back Safe

This month and the last of April have been exciting. This is the fourth drawing completed and a new one is taking shape. #69 has been in the works for a long time progressing only in fits and starts. I began a new, even larger, drawing and when I began to apply a little watercolor to it, I looked at the other and suddenly saw how it was begging for more color. That was easy with watercolor and collage followed quickly. That provided the title (although it actually reads "comes back safe") that seemed to be what one would need from exploring the drawing. More work on this drawing seemed to bring it all out. So, follow into it, but please, heed the title! The collage is from an old, deteriorating book of Tennyson's "The Princess." The drawing is on 12 x 16" watercolor paper. This is the largest size, except for one, I've done these drawings.