Spring is here

Spring is finally here. Not that you can really tell in Wisconsin, but soon the daffodils will be up. Karen challenged me to paint something springy, so while I was out back playing with the girls, I noticed the daffodils were pushing up. 

So I grabbed my travel kit and my Stillman & Birn sketchbook and put pen to paper. I used my Lamy Safari filled with Noodler's Lexington Gray to outline my design, then painted in the colors. I used my favorite M. Graham watercolors, some stolen from Karen's stash and finished up in time to push the girls on the swing some more. 

I really need to paint more, but the three girls keep me from having any time to myself. I even blog surrounded by children. At least they aren't fighting. For the moment. 

Cherry blossom girl ~ wip

There is something about watching Heroes on Netflix that makes me want to draw. So after the girls went to bed the other night, I grabbed my little 5x7 pad of hot press paper and my pencils and came up with this little sketch. 

I was definitely inspired by Hiro's time in 1671, but we'll see if my cherry blossoms can get up to snuff. I'm definitely not feeling Alizarin Crimson or Pyrrol Red for the pink so used my tube of Daniel Smith's Garnet that sparkles (I'd go read the name, but my lap has been taken over by a cute little snuggler). Unfortunately, the tube of M. Graham's Quinacridone Rose I bought wasn't a watercolor tube, but gouache and tends to take over any washes and I haven't had a chance to replace it. 

These are just the first few washes, but I'm enjoying how it's coming along so far. 

Oranges in the window

I am going to make it a goal of mine to try and do a little sketch every day. Every single day. I doodle, but don't take the time to sit and sketch, there are always a million things running through my head. I'm going to sit back, relax a little, and work on loosening up my sketches. 

I started today. The oranges on my semi clean countertop were just begging to be painted, so I sat down with my two girls (no mean feat at that, it's surprising I truly got anything done) and worked on a quick pen drawing with loose washes of watercolor.  

I've been ogling over several urban sketchers blogs lately and I love how they can make their sketches look so put together just using loose watercolor washes over an ink drawing.  I need more practice, it's a good thing I've got plenty of supplies.  Some day I may even man up enough to go to an urban sketchers event, so far I'm too chicken. 

I leave you with "oranges in the window".

Sheep

Sheep on the Isle of Wight, a photo by briemarie on Flickr.

During a little virtual exploration on the Isle of Wight, I found these adorable little sheep and had to do a quick ink rendition with washes of watercolor. I'm just wishing I could have been there in person.

Sizzle

IF - Onomatopoeia, a photo by briemarie on Flickr.

I painted this for Illustration Friday, the topic was Onomatopoeia. I painted outside in the front yard, while the girls cavorted around me, J on her bike and Z scooting across the grass.

Advertising in Red

Here's an oldie.

Last summer, Karen and I went out to the circus, sans children. Any parent will understand how freeing it is to go somewhere by yourself. Not that we wouldn't normally take the children to the circus, but we went to paint, and do a little plein air work. We found this amazing red advertising car and just had to capture it. As you can tell, my trees need some work, but hey, we never claimed to be good at this, right? We only claim to a love of creating and our current medium of choice is watercolors.

This little guy is still a work in progress, I still need to paint in the letters on the side with some white, either acrylic or gouache, but I feel like the gouache is still awfully light. Perhaps I add too much water? Some day I might figure it out, I've got a whole tube to use up.

It's hard to believe how fast two hours flew while we painted. Well, scouted the rather sparse grounds and then set to painting, which required filling water, looking for lost water containers and getting comfy on the rocky ground. It's always fun to sit and chat with someone that can finish their own sentences as well, and that won't try taking the paint brush and adding their own creative flair.

I'd love to say there is more to come, there is, truly, but as two busy mamas, I think this little blog is a bit on the back burner. Hopefully once this unnaturally cold weather has moved onto another state, we'll be able to get together and make a mess for you to see.

Cheers!

Virtual tour de France

We found out about the virtual paintout just this past month. Since we can't afford to travel wherever we would like, we have been traveling via Google maps. It is awesome!

I am in the middle of rereading Chocolat by Joanne Harris, and wanted to find Lansquenet, which doesn't precisely exist. So I clicked randomly and found this quaint church that said "draw me", so I did.

I wanted to test out my new Noodler's Creaper flex nib pen. I'm still on the fence, it has this weird smell, and it's my first fountain pen, so there is a slight learning curve. I promise that the church isn't crooked in real life.

This is just a sketch with some light watercolor washes put down once i, mistakenly, thought the ink was dry in my small Moleskine watercolor pocketbook.