Iris Drawing in Ink, Pencil and Watercolor

This sketchbook project began with a photo of Iris that had been a gift from my Brother. 

Next, I started on the pencil sketch that would help me decide how to go about painting it.

Here you see them all together in the book.

Mistakes were made here by making the teapot more dominant than the flowers.

Other attempts will be made until I get an image that I'm happier with and can take the image to print in my zazzle store.

Iris and Lily Art

My brother sent me these great lilies and Iris so I set about drawing and painting them to make a thank you card for him as well as to decorate cards and letters for some of the other great people in my life.

I wasn't pleased with this envelope but you have to start somewhere and it will still get the card to where it needs to go.

On this card I wanted to show him a picture of the flowers I was thanking him for as well as including a drawing to let him know I was putting the flowers to work as well.

Card

Watercolor on envelope

Colored pencil on an envelope

Collage and colored pencil

Watercolor Garden and Greenhouse Plans

 I'm tempted to just let the pictures tell the story but that would deprive me the opportunity to write about the fun I had with some of my garden photos and the drawings and watercolors that they inspired. I'm sure you've already guessed that these were done on mixed media cards that went out in the mail today.

It was overcast out today and looked like rain so I didn't want to go outside today which explains me working with photos today instead of live or fresh flowers.

In addition to working on these I installed a stained glass window cling in the dining room. We're trading the view of the neighbors house, grill and trash cans for a built in greenhouse window. I've drawn up plans for the frame and shelving that we plan to build soon.

Having the cling on the window will divert the light a bit and keep plants from burning.

The First Iris Watercolor, Sketchbooks, Mail and thoughts on the subject.

 I always start with the envelope to loosen up and get some practice before I tackle painting the card itself.

  There are just 2 yellow Iris in my garden so it forces me to work quickly and not to take  them for granted. If I had a lot of them it would be easy to get lazy and think you had plenty of chances to work with them.

The reason that I don't work in sketchbooks is because there are so many people that like to get fun and interesting mail. They don't care if it's perfect, and sometimes they have suggestions to help me improve the work. In a sketchbook you're not accountable to anyone. In the mail people are likely to say "did you get a chance to paint that Iris? "

A failed drawing or painting can teach you something even if it's just "don't do THAT again and it helps keep your ego in check. In a sketchbook you can ignore it or destroy it. In the mail you have to deal with it.

The other good thing is that good or bad it's gone by the end of the day and I'm ready to tackle something else.

I was unhappy with this one but when I do a really good one I sometimes scan it and put it on products in my Zazzle and Cafe Press stores so that I can share them with even more people.

Envelope art

The Iris is the photo was painted in acrylics but I chose watercolors for a lighter touch on the envelope.

This set is all drawings and a picture of drawings.

A new angle on Iris in watercolor

Most of the time people seem to paint Iris straight on and fully open so I'm trying to catch some before they reach that point and as they come out in different directions.

I started working this one from the outside in and wasn't real thrilled with the results. The next time I started roughing in the basic shape and decided I was on the wrong track again.

What I'm hoping to do next is let the painting evolve form the center out and see how that goes.

After all the years I've been painting I still struggle with making the petals look like they're curling in the directions that I want them to. Most people can't understand how you can keep painting the same flowers year after year but each season is another crusade on a quest to capture just the right moment where it blooms and looks just right to you.

Iris art and letters

I'm still trying to get comfortable using the set of watercolor brush markers that I bought recently so I thought I'd decorate some stationery that I can use to answer my mail today. Some of the paints seem to flow better than others so I'll be paying more attention to that as I continue working with them. Being more aware of which colors do what will make painting with them easier and possibly decide which subjects I choose to paint with the colors currently available to me.

The Set

 The card

The envelope

A lot of ways to be creative

It was a fun start to my day to gather all of the Easter projects that I have made and use them together to decorate a local Senior Center to draw a little interest to the painting group that meets there and to remind people that there are a lot of ways that art can make the world a better place. I was so busy putting everything up and out that i didn't have time to take photos. I'll take pictures on Tuesday and post them after teatime.

At home I mailed out the latest horses that I'm sending a friend:

After that I began reworking a watercolor that I did last summer. I've lightened the background and darkened the flowers as well as the leaves and stems. I haven't quite decided what to do with it next but I'll post it anyway: