Pages from an Artist's Journal Part 3

I really seem to like drawing/painting flowers for some reason. Maybe because they can be so easily abstracted? And painted really quickly?

But anyways, here's a painting of a magnolia. They are one of my favorite flowers, and I actually didn't know they grew in Boston until recently. The pink trees that blossom with the full flowers every spring are magnolias! I thought they only grew in Georgia. I both love and hate how transient they are. Since spring is such a short season in Boston, the magnolia blossoms don't stay out for very long, like a month or two. Sometimes, they stay for an even shorter time if it rains and the petals fall off (read: much, much sadness for me).

Following are a few watercolor and ink sketches. I wanted to see how I could mix two of my favorite media together. The watercolor paint adds color to a black and white ink drawing, and I like how they look together. I do a watercolor wash first to get the color down, then I draw in pen and ink over it. It's like it combines loose color with tight drawings. And the dripping paint is my favorite part.

These flowers are almost fantastical aren't they?

Not my favorite painting of a bird, but I was just getting the hang of doing a wash first then a drawing over it.

These are watercolor paintings of cherry blossoms. This is the wash I did before drawing over it with pen and ink.

Detail of wash

Detail

Detail

I really like the first detail, the one focusing on the actual cherry blossoms. I might be doing more of these kinds of paintings, they're fun.

Also, be sure to vote on the poll on the sidebar! It's basically just asking what type of artwork you'd like to see more of.

Pages from an Artist's Journal Part 2

Watercolors are such a wonderful paint. I know I say this for just about everything I work with but it's true, watercolors are wonderful. They're quick and easy - many small sketches can be done with them - and they make painting anything so much fun. By abstracting the subject matter, I can play with how I move the brush over the paper or with how the paint moves on the paper.

I call this small sketch "A Trio of Lilies". I see these flowers mostly in people's yards. They're very pretty and very orange; they also stand out from their typical green background. I splattered a burnt sienna/ultramarine mixture to mirror the spots that are usually on lilies. I could probably stand to learn to control where the paint goes.

This is "Hibiscus". It's another watercolor sketch, and I used a reference photo (found here). This one was also fun to do. I was a little more patient with this one since I painted in layers; I waited for the paint to dry and then painted another layer on it. This might end up being a sketch for a final painting at some point.