Ack to my ravens. I really do need to spend some time working out how I’d like to draw a cute, funny, cuddly kind of raven. Perhaps I need to use my cuddly toy ravens (yes, I have more than one!) as models, maybe.
Anyway, the ravens are just quick drawings/sketches. I may spend more time today drawing more iterations. Maybe.
Ayame, a tangle pattern by Eniko Kaneko CZT, is an interesting and troublesome one for me to draw. I’ve tried several times to follow the step out by Eniko, but always ended up with weird, lopsided, overly wonky versions.
So, I started by working out how one petal would work for me, then took it from there, and have some variations I’m kind of happy with.
I’ve yet to work it into a whole drawing. Maybe I’ll spend some time today doing that. I’m not sure yet what I’m going to do, other than to get all this social media stuff done and then get some breakfast!
Two sketchbook pages done over the past four days. Abstract patterns and shapes, that’s the theme! Just small drawings, lots of them. Perhaps they’ll inspire work in the future.
Pen drawings done on paper coloured and patterned with Distress Inks. Colour adding using Inktense pencils or Cartothello pastel pencils.
I had a very fitful night’s sleep (or non-sleep) last night. So, around 5:30am I decided to get up and ‘art’.
I finished off the watercolour of some seed capsules.
I’m really, really happy with this watercolour illustration, with an unusual color palette for me. I smile when I look at it! I decided to use a 0.5mm HB pencil to add heavier lines to the more shadowed parts, as well as a little bit of subtle line to help give the pods some volume. It’s difficult to see on the image.
I am so happy I drew a ‘window’ on the paper to draw within. I’m never happy drawing without a frame to keep within and the edge of the paper just never feels right for me. I also like the way that it feels like you’re looking through a window and that it’s OK to cut things off (apart from one cheeky leaf that I just had to have overlying the frame!).
There may be a bit too much white space above the seed capsules, I don’t know for sure. It’s so unusual for me to leave space around the various elements in a design that it feels a bit weird. However, I do like the space in this illustration.
Once I finished the watercolour, I turned my attention to drawing more capsules, pods and seeds in my A4 sketchbook. I completed two pages of small drawings, one of which you can see in the background.
Unusually for me, I drew in pencil. I’d usually use pen straight away. I have no idea what that is about, but it was a pleasant and soothing experience for me. I now have plenty of sketches I can use to create more watercolour paintings from, small ones as I really enjoy working on a small scale. Creating my own little treasures, complete with some precious, metallic details.
Painting little treasures will have to wait though. My eyelids are becoming leaden with a need to sleep. This frustrates me as I had things I wanted to get done today, things that need focus and concentration. So, I’ll soon be back in the land of nod.
Angela Porter 