2014 Halloween Art Collection

Hello!  I'm sorry my last post was so long ago.  I've been working on several things, one of which is my new shop on Etsy.  It's been more fun than I thought it would be and I find myself thinking constantly of work I might create to list there!

Starting at the end of August, I did a series of Halloween ACEOs.  That stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals.  Anything goes in creating ACEOs as long as the size is 2.5" x 3.5".  My set was all done with pen and ink with some orange watercolor.  A few of these are still available in my Etsy shop.

Thanks for looking.  I appreciate your visit!

Illustration Friday: "Peace"

This piece is graphite on Bristol and in a slightly different style than I usually use.  But I loved drawing this.  Working on the details and shading while listening to my current music favorites was very relaxing!

The Elusive Miss Dashwood

This Spring I did an ACEO pen and ink drawing of Marianne Dashwood, a character from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (see it on this blog here).
I liked how it came out and I even printed it on the back of my newest business card.

That being done, I wanted to do an illustration of Marianne's older sister in the story, Elinor.  What I did not anticipate was that capturing Elinor Dashwood in a small portrait-type illustration would be a tricky thing for me to do!

Here's my first attempt, which was designed to be a "sister" piece to Marianne.  Play on words intended.

I like her as a piece of art, but there was more I wanted to say about Elinor than this illustration was saying.  What's going on in her life during the story isn't easy, but at the same time she's resigned to be content with her situation and make the best of it.  She's responsible and understands where she fits into society.  When it comes to emotions, Elinor doesn't show hers easily.  Elinor #1 looks too open somehow and doesn't have the hint of hidden emotions that I think a picture of Elinor Dashwood should have.  

Here's my second try.

It was fun to use so much color!  I like Elinor #2.  She looks like something silly is going on nearby and she can't get herself to join in. However, I think she looks a little younger than I intended even though her age at the beginning of Sense and Sensibility was supposed to be only 19 (source).  The elusive Miss Dashwood was proving to be a hard character to draw!  

I think I'm happiest with my third version, which at the time of this post is still in my sketchbook.

As a matter of fact, I might leave this version as a pencil sketch complete with messy lines and eraser marks.  Somehow the work-in-progress suits Elinor!

Illustration Friday: "Repeat"

"Come Along!"

I love using black watercolor wash on pen and ink drawings!  For this I used Higgins black India ink with Grumbacher Academy lamp black watercolor on Canson watercolor paper.  Canson is nice watercolor paper because it has just enough texture to be interesting and take an ink pen gently, but not so much that it overpowers the drawing in a photo or scan.

I added another view of the art because it's small and this photo shows the size well.  It's an ACEO.

Illustration Friday: "Beard"

"Our Tree"

Illustration Friday: "Temptation"

"The Open Gate"

Two Fairies

Here are two recent ink and watercolor pieces I did in my little watercolor paper sketchbook.  I'm working toward a style that marries my ink drawings with color that enhances them but doesn't overwhelm them.  I admit that I'm enjoying the process!  These pieces are both small at about 3"x 4".

Photo detail

Scanned detail

New business cards

My new business cards arrived today!

This is only my second business card ever, and it's the first one with an illustration on it, so I really like it!  It makes me want to print more so I can use different illustrations.  I used GotPrint and they did a great job. The instructions and business card template online are very clear and easy to use for designing your own card.

New Work

Every week I hope that some of the work I've been doing for fun and creativity will fit with the Illustration Friday weekly theme, but lately nothing fits!  And I just keep doing whatever I want, so I haven't had anything to post for IF.  But I want to share what I've been doing!  So here's a collection of ACEOs and sketches that have come off my drawing table in the last few weeks.

"Little Red Heart", ACEO, ink and watercolor

"Blueberry Pie", ACEO, ink and watercolor

"Hello, Rabbit!", ACEO, ink and watercolor

"Marianne Dashwood", ACEO, colored ink

"After the Ball", a romantic sketch

"Moon and Sun", ballpoint drawing

Bunny sketches

While I was having breakfast and coffee this morning I did some quick bunny studies from online photos, and then copied a couple of Ernest Shepard's "Rabbit" drawings from the original Winnie the Pooh books.  I have reinforced my opinion that Mr. Shepard was a genius.

Illustration Friday: "Twisted"

I'm posting a photo of my illustration and not a scan this week.  My scanner is bad I think, but whatever the reason, my scans just don't capture the colors of watercolor properly.  Photos seem to do much better, even when they are taken with a phone as this one was!

This piece is very small at 2.5"x3.5" ACEO (Art Cards Editions and Originals) size.

Illustration Friday: "Exotic"

This is a late post for this week's theme but it took me a while to come up with an idea that I liked!  I've wanted to do some illustrations of world dancers for a while, so here's a quick one of Russian folk dancers, inspired by the 2014 Olympics in Russia.

Unplanned

This illustration was almost totally unplanned.  I was working on a commission this morning, and then suddenly I wasn't because I was working on this.

Often I want to say something in an illustration but (as I always complain to my husband) it's not a song or a poem where you can just say what you want to say.  It's an illustration so I have to try to communicate something with a visual image and I think lots of times that I just don't quite get there.

Today was different.  I wanted to communicate what it feels like to want to say something and to have something to say, but also how hard it can be to do that.  And how we must all have creativity and imagination and whatever inside ourselves but are a little reluctant to let anyone else see even though we want to.  Then this drawing started to happen and it was going well!  I didn't even want to bother with sketching so except for the little character, I didn't.  I wanted the whole thing to just be spontaneous.  So here it is.  I hope you like it!

Illustration Friday: "Disguise"

I was thinking about this week's prompt, "disguise", and watching the State of the Union Address last night.  This is what I drew in my sketchbook.  Does it work for the theme?  I'm not sure really, but there's just something about it that I like.  I left it as a sketch because I like the unfinished quality of it.  And somehow the stuff on the other side of the paper showing through a little seems to work as a vague sort of texture.

Illustration Friday: "Beginning"

Illustration Friday: "Search"

I took some pictures as I worked so I could post a few progress shots: