Bunnies

Happy New Year, everyone!

I'm looking forward to Spring more than ever this year.  And when I think of Spring (and Summer), I think of bunnies!  Oh, who am I kidding?  I'm always thinking of bunnies.

Bunnies are surprisingly hard to draw if you don't want to draw "real" bunnies but you don't want to draw cartoons, either.  I've been working on a way to draw bunnies I think are just right.  This set comes pretty close for me.  But aside from the style of bunny faces, the motivation for this set was that I really wanted to paint cute bunny outfits with watercolors.  :)

These are all drawn with crow quill pen (Hunt nib 102) and Higgins Black Magic ink.  The watercolors are a mix of Grumbacher and Winsor & Newton.  The paper is Strathmore.

These are all ACEOs (ACEO stands for "Art Cards, Editions and Originals"), so they measure 2.5" x 3.5".  They are available in my Etsy shop here.

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!

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.

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

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: "Eye Glasses"

It seemed to me to be time to draw a duck!  To fit this week's theme, I had to give him some glasses.  But I think I forgot to tell him what to do with them!  This guy is a "tiny", what I affectionately call my 2.5" x 3.5" art cards, in ink and colored pencil.

Illustration Friday: "Talent"

Betsy Ross, 2.5"x3.5", ink with watercolor

Betsy Ross was a talented artisan and businesswoman.  A trained upholsterer, she maintained a successful upholstery business throughout her life.  One interesting place to learn about Betsy online is at the Betsy Ross House website here.

Green Shoe

One of my new ACEOs, or as I like to call them, my "tinies".  The shoe is from my imagination.  I wish it were real!  Ink and watercolor.

Illustration Friday: "Glow"

For this illustration my idea was to show a little something...without really showing anything!  It's done in pen and ink and is small, ACEO size 2.5" x 3.5".  I've been thinking a lot about ACEOs lately and I'm very interested in doing a collection of them to sell.  This is the first time I've drawn directly on a trimmed card-sized paper.  Usually I've drawn on a larger size and cut it down.  This worked just as well I think but I might feel differently when I try one right to the edges with color!