Drawing Tulips

Drawing and painting Dala Horses on envelopes, making cards and enjoying the mail

 I made cards out of yesterdays photos and a bit of card stock to try to decide which angle I liked best.

I tried one envelope in watercolor and decided to go back to drawing on them. Colored pencil would probably have been the best solution but I was at painting group and hadn't brought my pencils.

On this one I combined Ink and watercolor. I'm back at home and will grab those pencils next.

Red Dala Horse photo shoot taking the designs to the next level

I really enjoyed finding different ways to paint each shape and love the way that they look together.

As I was photographing these and arranging the horses I was thinking what a nice still life they would make in a number of different media.

I'm starting with the photography but plan to move on to drawings in pencil and ink and then to paintings in watercolors and acrylics.

I wish I could share the way I'm feeling about these right now, it goes beyond words.

New Asiatic Lily Drawing

I just finished this one an hour ago.

Eggciting projects

I've been having a lot of fun with this image made of watercolor,pencil and ink. Yes, you'll find it on lots of products in my Zazzle store. I'm still coming up with other ways to use it while continuing to work on the original for my parents.

I also spent some time this morning working on the plants at our local senior center.

There are many other projects I want to be working on around here but there are limits to how many things I can do at once and yes, I love to push those limits so keep reading-you never know what I'll be writing about next.

The last of the old Iris

Yellow Lily in Pen and Ink

Lily in Blue and White China

Crochet Day

I crocheted a baby hat and donated that to charity but didn't have a scanner or camera handy so there are no pictures. It was blue and when I finished it I went back to crocheting potholders. I finished one of those and started another before the group broke up at 3:00. It's surprising what you can accomplish in a few hours while chatting with friends. I'm already looking forward to next months meeting with these gals.

When I got home I took another look at yesterday's drawing and decided that all the stems on the tulips should be the same so I inked out the other two to match that first one. My next move will be checking into some drawing books to see how it "should" be done. In the meantime I've had quite a bit of fun with the various stages of this drawing and have even created some merchandise with it on http://www.Zazzle.com/julia_art

Tulips in pen and ink

Think about pen and ink

Here are a few of my pen and ink drawings that I'll be taking to work at http://www.zazzle.com/julia_art*   It will be interesting to see how they look on various surfaces. As I'm doing that, I'm thinking about what sorts of things I'll want to grow this season to do my next set of drawings from. There's still snow on the ground here so thank goodness I've been at this for a long time and have a number of drawings to keep me busy until the gardening season starts. Last year I was drawing directly on note cards and selling my originals so a lot of work got away from me. I'm really happy to be making changes to prevent that in the future except as gifts to a few special people in my life.

Trying Something New

A friend in painting group loaned me this book that uses watercolor washes over pen and ink.  I've done pen and ink  and I've done watercolors but I've never combined them before so I'm excited by the possibilities. I got caught up crocheting 3 more hats and making a bunch of valentine cards but I picked up the right ink and am ready to sit down and give this a try. I'll keep you posted on the results.

Iris Card and Envelope Set

I made the card from a photo of one of my paintings but I did a pen and ink drawing on the envelope so that it would go nicely with the card. You'd be surprised how many people love it when the mail carrier comments on the artsy envelopes they get from me. I also drew 3 more poinsettas on envelopes today but they were in pencil. This is by far the best thing I drew today, now I'm wondering who to send it to...

Orchids and Random Thoughts

I just scanned this old drawing for Imagekind and thought I'd share it with you as well.
At the dining room table I'm attempting to finish that 2 ft. square Iris painting and as I work I'm wondering whether to price it to pay the trash bill, Qwest or to have enough money to buy an easel like the one I've been borrowing from the Senior Center. It would be lovely to be able to do them all but with the economy the way it's been I'm certainly not expecting it. On the other hand it sure doesn't hurt to dream and in the midst of it all there's the work. The simple act of painting makes everything else fade into the background, your troubles become background noise and soon fade so far into the distance that they're mere static. Your breath slows and you've stepped into that other place that people call "flow" and all sorts of other things. I don't worry about what to call it, I just go and leave the rest of the world behind for a while.

Asiatic Lilies in pencil, pen and ink

While sorting through things I came across this in a scrapbook from a few years ago. I started with the pen and ink drawing and then drew the same flowers in colored pencil to frame it on the page. It was so much fun that I made a second page for the next drawing and a photo of the project. It never occurred to me at the time that I may want those drawings for something someday. They're firmly glued in with other work stuck to the back sides of them. Oh well, If I want drawings of Asiatic lilies I guess I'd better go, buy some and find out if I can still draw...keep checking here and I'll post it if I do any.

Backyard Blooms

The season goes by so fast in this part of the country that I figured I'd better take a look out back and see what's left. It was funny to find just one perfect rose and as you can see it's a bit lost among the sunflowers. I couldn't resist dropping them on the scanner to see how that would look as I went to get a vase. Yes, I'm always "playing" with flowers one way or another. Now all I've got to decide is whether I want to draw or paint them first...and which of the flowers I want to start with. Whatever I decide it will be a pleasant way to pass the weekend and decorate my mail. I guess it really doesn't take much to make me happy, and these days that's a good thing.

New Drawings on Cards and Envelopes from todays garden