Magical Summer Evenings

Two versions of summer evenings. As much as I enjoy experimenting on photoshop, 

nothing beats working with real paints & paper.

New Creative Products

Hello April, still pretty brown outside my window. Winter is the only time I sit long enough to stay focus on creating products.

A new format gives me the opportunity to stretch my imagination, in rethinking my illustration. Zazzle lets me see my designs in a number of gift & home products.

Inspire by Giverny

Let's take a trip to Giverny...dreaming up some creative products from my Paris sketches, this week.  Sketches & quick paintings are usually done en plein air. The creative process happens on the computer. Tools of technology has change the way I now work.

Delighting in the garden's grace & history. Souvenir from Giverny are turned into creative products for the garden lover!

Winter Colorings, Outside My Window

Soothing palette of deep blues evoke the depths of twilight. Fun to push the oil turpentine around, on paper. The addition of winter pines turn this abstract color study into a snowy landscape.

Outside My Window

It takes a few weeks for me to get use to working in the dark by 4pm! It's more about studying atmosphere & less about light, with our short days.

FARM INSPIRATION

Experimenting & working loose is all fine & well. But once in  awhile, this subject from the farm calls for an old fashion tight rendering. With this little .5 mechanical pencil, the lines follow the direction of the way the hair is growing.

I painted a loose wash, to tone the paper...mainly because I want the contrast between the free flowing wash against the detail drawing.

Autumn Splendor

That bit of snow overnight took down a lot of the fall foliage. The scene was enhance by a delicate sunrise. This landscape sketch was painted on paper with thin oil turpentine, kind of like a watercolor. A white nupastel stick is perfect for indicating a bit of snow.

Painting Summer Morning

Making the most of a summer morning. Dreamy pink fog does not last that long. Watercolor is a fast way to express the ethereal mist softening the morning light.

To define the greenery in the foreground, I use pastel pencil on top of the watercolor.