Comfort Cottage

A Carnival Of Color

Do any of you remember candy sticks?  They were about eight inches long and about as thick as a pencil.  They came in every flavor and color of the rainbow.   Well, I no longer eat candy sticks, but I have found something that reminds me of them, and I like them a whole lot more.

 

 

I adore Prismacolor pencils!  I started using them years ago.  My collection was getting rather sparse, so I ordered some to fill out the set last weekend.  I felt like a kid again, picking out my favorite flavors and anticipating all of that colorful deliciousness.  That delightful box of joy arrived on my doorstep this morning.  They have such wonderfully rich pigments, and they lay down like a dream.   They are about as close to that sugary confection I remember that I can find, but they won't make me gain an ounce!

 

 

I started this drawing on Monday.  Doesn't it look lonely without color?

 

 

It took a few days to finish it.   The pencil lines don't show up in the photo, but I actually begin with a bare bones outline.  This one is a very stylised tulip.  Can you find it amongst the patterns?

 

I finally completed the drawing Tuesday night.

 

 

Yippee!  Now I can finally get my hands on those colored pencils!  It's time for the dance of joy (Trust me, you don't want to see it!)

 

 It's Thursday afternoon, and I finally have a finished piece.

 

 

Heart Song

6" x 9"

Colored Pencil and Pen and Ink on Bristol Vellum 

 

Oh joy, now I can draw something else and use all of those new colors!  

 

Until next time,

 

 

 

 

Color Doodles

Last week, while waiting for my sister to finish making soup, I sat at the kitchen table and started to doodle.  I finished my drawing later and I took out my colored pencils over the weekend to add some pizazz.  I had forgotten how much fun colored pencils can be.

 

Flower Doodle

6" x 8"

Colored pencil and pen and ink

 

I don't think I could ever stick to just one medium.  So much of what makes making art fun is experimenting with all different things.    So, how was your weekend?  It was better here than expected.  It actually cleared up Sunday and got warm again.  I'm loving the open windows and the fresh air!

 

Until next time,

 

Painting The Badlands

After a few days of vacation from my brushes, I was ready to paint again.

 

 

Timeless Wonder

9" x 12"

Watercolor and Pen and Ink on 140lb. Cold Pressed Paper

 

This is the fifth painting in my watercolor journal series.  I actually fussed less with this one, and I like it better.  The Badlands provide such an exciting subject to paint.  I hope you have a lovely weekend.  We're expecting two days of rain here in the Northeast, so I guess I'll be in the studio.

 

Until next time,

 

Dreaming of Paradise

It reached 78 degrees here in Pennsylvania today.  I pulled up the shades, threw open the windows, and dreamed of faraway places again.  My art reflected my mind's wanderings.  I pulled a photo of Lake Erie from my archives and was instantly transported to sandy beaches and churning surf.

 

 

I could almost feel the sun and the sea spray on my face!

 

A few notes on today's painting:

 

 

As you can see from the shiny areas, I used a masquepen to block out areas I wanted to remain white: seafoam and spray, and beach grasses and shell fragments on the beach.  I washed in the sky with a pale wash of Cobalt Blue mixed with a touch of Pthalo Blue (green shade).  I painted around the cloud areas and then wet the inside edges of the clouds to allow the sky mix to bleed into them a bit.  I used varying mixes of chromium oxide green and Pthalo Blue on the lake.

 

 

The fence posts we're added with a mixed of raw umber and payne's gray.

 

 

For the sand, I used a variety of techniques to produce the texture: splattering, stippling, varied washes of burnt umber and french ultramarine with burnt sienna.  After removing the masking from the grasses, I stroked them in with a 10/0 liner using a variety of mixes of sap green, raw sienna, cadmium red and burnt sienna.  I left some of the tips white to suggest sun sparkle.  The cast shadows from the grass were applied with weak payne's gray.   I used sepia acrylic ink and a fine nib dip pen to add details on the fence and sand.  The grasses were detailed with sap green acrylic ink.

 

 

 

For the rocks of the breakwater, I applied a wash of payne's gray.  While it was still damp, I placed crinkled plastic wrap over it and left it in place until it was almost dry.  This gave me a rock-like pattern.  I then added washes of raw umber and payne's grey and burnt umber.

 

 

At the base of the breakwater, I had forgotten to mask in areas for sea foam.  It can still be created after the fact.  I used a sharp razor and gently scraped the areas that I wanted to be white.  It makes a fairly convincing seafoam.  I did the same where the water meets the beach.  On the edges of the grasses on the far left, I wanted to suggest sun sparkle, so I used the razor to gently scrap away a little of the color.

 

 

We're still two months away from kayak season, so I'll just have to settle for painting the water!  I know many of you are taking the Strathmore Online Workshop with Cathy Johnson too.  How's it going for you?  I'd love to hear from you. 

 

Until next time,

 

 

 

 

Painting The Barn

Yesterday's post about the barn got me  to thinking.  What a great page for Strathmore's art journal workshop! 

 

 

Pennsylvania Barn

8" x 10"

Watercolor and Pen and Ink on 140lb. cold pressed paper

 

I took a few photos for you as I worked.

 

 

I began with a light pencil sketch.  I washed in the first layer on the barn with a mix of alizarin crimson and burnt sienna.  Using a crumpled tissue I blotted to create some underlying texture.

 

 

I deepened the wash on the window side and under the eaves.  I mixed in a little raw umber and paynes grey to suggest shadowing.  Using a  masque pen, I masked out some blades of dead grass and then washed the ground in raw sienna plus DaVinci Mauve (a deep purple).  I deepened the wash in places and placed touches of burnt sienna, raw umber and burnt umber.  I also splattered some of the ground mixes and also did some stippling with a dip pen and sepia ink.  I mixed darker washes for the ground below at the level of the foundation.  The evergreens were tapped in with hookers green and sap green.  I mixed a bit of burnt sienna in with the greens to tone them down a bit.  It was overcast that day, so I used a weak wash of Idanthrene Blue and Davinci Orange to get the muddy gray color of the sky.  I further deepened the area to the left by adding a bit more blue and some burnt sienna to the sky mix to add a little bit of drama.

 

 

I wanted to show you a close up of the grass before I removed the masking fluid.

 

 

The masquepen is a great way to block out fine lines for things like grass.  It preserves the lightest tones and whites while you complete the details, such as repeated washes, splattering and deeper strokes for the blades of grass.  When you're finished with those, a clean white eraser rubbed over the dried masking fluid will remove it easily.  Just don't leave it on for more than a day or so.  It might be tough to remove.

 

I did the roof in Paynes gray, bruised the paper with the end of the brush to simulate the grooves in the metal and then deepened parts of the wash further.  For the wood siding at the top of the barn, I washed in a mix of sepia and payne's gray.  I followed with varying mixes of burnt umber, burnt sienna, paynes gray, raw umber and raw sienna, stroked in with a size 2 round brush.  I inked in the details with a fine nib and sepia acrylic ink.  The dead tree branches are a weak mix of raw sienna and paynes gray.  I did some inking with sepia ink.

 

 

I love this old barn.  I hope it's around for another one hundred years.  If you would like to see the original photos and read about it's history, you can click here.  That's all for now!

 

Until next time,

 

 

 

 

 

Harbor Cottage

I've been busy working on another painting for Strathmore's online workshop with Cathy Johnson.  This is one of my favorite scenes in Bass Harbor, Maine.

 

Harbor Cottage

8" x 10"

Watercolor and Pen and Ink on 140lb. cold pressed paper

 

I worked from my original photograph.  I could move right in there.  This was a really fun scene to paint.  I did a fairly detailed drawing to start.  I know it's a bit difficult to make out, but it gives the general idea.  I used a 4H pencil.  It's a hard drawing pencil that doesn't smear like a regular no. 2 pencil.

 

I took some photos of the process of working the wood shakes.  The extra steps to create texture make all the difference.  I penciled in my guide lines:  without them, they would end up quite crooked!

 

 

Next, I mixed a pale wash of Payne's Gray and Burnt Umber and layed it in over the guides.

 

 

This was leaning toward the brown side.  If you'd like a grayer wash, add a little more Payne's gray.

 

 

Using a fine nib and FW sepia acrylic ink, I loosely worked in the shingles over the dried wash.

 

To give the shakes a more random and authentic appearance, I drew in cracks and deeped some of the linework with the ink.

 

 

I deepened the Payne's Gray/Burnt Umber wash under the shakes with a 3/8" angle shader.  This is not actually a brush that is meant for watercolor, but it helps to acurately place your shading.

 

 

I loaded some of the same mix onto a flat brush and splattered it for texture.  My splattering technique varies.  For this application, I held the brush close to the surface and tapped it on my finger.  You can leave the splatters full strength, or blot them to mute them.

 

 

Finally, I took a small sponge dipped in the same mix and lightly tapped it over the shakes.

 

This is the original photo I worked from:

 

 

I warmed up the colors for my painting and left out a few things that I thought were distracting.  There was a beautiful apple tree on the left of the house, but I didn't include the detail, as it would have pulled the attention away from the porch scene.  I also kept the texturing to a minimum on the cement (just a little sponging to give it a mottled appearance).  The cast shadows were done with Payne's gray.

 If you click on this link, you can check out the blog that Cathy has on watercolor journaling.  It's colorful and informative and it will inspire you to start your own watercolor journal.

 

Until next time,

 

 

 

 

 

Maine From My Brush Tip

Strathmore's second online workshop began yesterday.  Our workshop leader is Cathy Johnson.  Cathy has published a number of books over the years about painting in watercolor.  Her book Creating Textures In Watercolor was the very first book I purchased  on this wonderful medium.  I decided to make my trip to Maine last summer the subject for my art journal for the workshop.   I wanted to express my emotion for this amazing place in a more visceral way than I could with the camera alone.

 

 

Cathy is encouraging us to paint from life, but unfortunately, a congenital abnormality in my vision prevents this.  I don't see with both eyes simultaneously-my vision continually switches between the right and left eye.  My brain can't fuse the two.  Consequently,  when I try to draw from life without surrounding visual cues, such as the edge of a photograph, I end up drawing from two different perspectives.  Alas, I must take plenty of accurate photographs and paint in the studio :)

I'll share a little of my process with you, so you can follow how I arrived at the finished product.

 

 

I began with a very light pencil drawing and then started laying in color.  I did a gradated wash of cobalt blue, and then blotted out some of the cloud areas.  I used payne's gray for the dark areas at the top of the lighthouse, and cadmium red medium for the small roof peak.  I mixed the red with payne's gray for the lamp.  I mixed cad red, cobalt blue and raw sienna for a muddy gray to shade under the eaves.  It initially looked too red, so I glazed a bit of payne's gray over the shadows.

 

 

I worked the branches with raw sienna and raw umber.  I tapped in the foliage with hookers green and leaf green.  I toned down both greens with a bit of burnt sienna mixed in.

 

 

I splattered in more color for texture in the foliage.  I laid in a wash of raw sienna for the ground, and then splattered and blotted to give texture.  I used the same green mixes for the ground.  Very pale dry brushing and washing was added to the walls of the building with raw sienna and burnt sienna.

 

 

I deepened my colors and then began inking in the details.  I used a black Sakura Pigma Micron 02 pen to add a bit of line work around the windows, walls, and roof.  I used a dip pen with a fine nib for the rest of the line work.  I worked the details in FW acrylic inks:  sap green for trees and grass, sepia for branches and ground texture and cool grey for hints of brick work and siding on the building.

 

Bass Harbor Head Light

8" x 10"

Watercolor and Pen and Ink on 140lb. cold pressed paper

 

I'm looking forward to sharing more of my watercolor interpretation of the Maine coast as the workshop progresses.  I hope you'll join me for the adventure!

Until next time,

 

 

 

A New Drawing and Lots of Quilting Inspiration

Hello my friends!  I hope all of you are having a good weekend so far.  It's pretty dreary here in the Northeast.  It's been snowing all day, but so far, it's not accumulating.  I have a few things to share with you today.  The first is my new drawing - a bright yellow finch.

 

 

Instead of watercolor, I used Caran D'Ache Neocolor II water-soluble crayons for the finch.  The rest is the usual pen and ink and graphite pencil on Strathmore Bristol Vellum.  It was nice working without the distractions of the last week.  I was able to finish him much more quickly than the last drawing.

I also wanted to share some fabric and quilting inspiration.  Last month I had purchased the new editions of Sew Somerset and Art Quilting Studio.  They always get me to thinking about ways to use my fabric stash and my sewing machine.

 

 

There were several beautiful examples of fiber art that really caught my eye.

 

 

I love the way the artist combined embroidery and vintage bird graphics into this fabric book.

 

 

The combination of lace, sumptuous red fabrics and tassel fringe paired with the vintage photo is so lovely.

I'm sure you know that I'm a pushover for bright colors and bold patterns by now.

 

 

In the latest issue of Art Quilting Studio, I found an art quilt that really excites me.

 

 

I recently found some fat quarters that I've been wanting to use for art quilts.

 

 

The colors and patterns are so bright and energetic.

 

 

I found some ideas in the previous issue of Art Quilting Studio that I think these fabrics would be perfect for.

 

 

This conversation quilt can be based on any theme.

 

 

The colors used together in these quilts are so striking together.

 

 

Finally, I loved the way the artist used variegated embroidery thread in her work.

 

 

I think I'll take a break from drawing tomorrow and put my studio back in order.  It shouldn't take too long this time because I just worked on it two weeks ago.  I'm trying to keep up on it because I've found that the more cluttered it is, the less creative I am.  I think it just becomes too much of an effort to work in a disorganized environment.  After I tidy up, I want to try the darning foot I bought for my machine.  It will allow me to do free-motion sewing, which will give me more options for art quilting.

On the horizon, there's a fabric shopping trip to the Old Country Store in Intercourse in the works for Monday.  My sister and quilting buddy, Lorrie and I will be having a day of bliss at the fabric sale.

I hope you have a happy and restful Sunday.

Until next time,

 

 

 

 

 

A Peaceful Day...Finally

Today is the first day I've been able to get to my computer and my studio since my son's surgery.  I want to thank you for all of your prayers and good wishes.  The surgery went very well.  He spent one night in the hospital and we brought him home yesterday.  He needs lots of help as he can't see very well.  He's not allowed to wear his glasses or bend over, or even lift a carton of milk.  The surgeon doesn't want him to put any strain on all of that delicate work.  As it happens, he's mostly sleeping due to the pain meds.  He'll have the stitches under the eye removed next week, and the ones in his mouth will dissolve on their own.  Apparently there were also fragments of his jaw bone floating around in there.  I think I'll spare you the rest of the gory details!

Of course, we spent a lot of time waiting on Tuesday, so I occupied myself with a new drawing.  It was definitely better than obsessing about what was going on in the OR.  Today, I was able to get back to my studio to finish the piece.

 

 

I used colored pencils but I also added some watercolor to intensify the red.  It made the butterfly really pop!

That's all for now.  My sweet golden retriever, Molly is expecting her dinner, and we all know who's in charge here :)  I'll see you again soon.  Hugs and blessings to you.

 

Until next time,

 

 

 

 

 

Morton

I had to give him a name, and Morton just seemed to suit him.  It's just like a cat to get into things.  Wouldn't you love to give him a hug?  See if you can find the little fishies in the tangles.

 

 

I used the usual materials:  Sakura Pigma Micron pens; Prismacolor colored pencils and graphite pencil on Strathmore Bristol Vellum.

Tomorrow is the big day.  My son will be having his surgery.  Needless to say, he's not in the best frame of mind right now.   I am truly thankful for your prayers and good wishes.  I'll try to let you know how it went as soon as I am able.  Hugs and blessings to you.

 

Until next time,