I’ve been scanning a box of photos so I can throw out the originals and declutter my space. Recently, I found this small seascape, painted in 1994. Back then, I usually copied from photos in magazines, but I made up this scene in my head.
At the time, I remember being so proud of myself because this was the first watercolor that turned out the way I wanted. I’ve kept it around all these years as a memento of that feeling. Now I’ve thrown out the original, but I still have the memory.
About halfway through May I quit my drawing project, because I got bored with it and wanted to do my own thing. I realize now that I don’t like being “told” what to draw. Instead, I started a new watercolor floral painting. I’m still working on it, but I might not post it because I’m not sure if I like the progress thus far. The plus side is that I spent quite a bit of time making a preliminary line drawing and working out the composition, SO if it comes out horrible I will still be able to start over again on a fresh piece of watercolor paper.
Here are some other random pages from my sketchbooks (with my remarks) to show you in the meantime. Yesterday, I also posted this sketch of a rhododendron blossom on Sketching in Nature.
I sketched this dried up tulip (below) and chatted with my husband as he changed the oil and the brake pads on my car.
This morning I tried to go outside to do some sketching, but the mosquitoes were too much so I had to come inside early. I don’t think I can go out again until I pick up some bug spray.
On my way inside I picked up this flower sprig and sketched it indoors. It came from a large tree covered in these purple blossoms. I have no idea what it is called though.
With this drawing I was mainly testing out how graphite and watersoluble colored pencils look together. I think I like the combination because it has some bright color but also has the monotone of the graphite that I enjoy. I will try it out in some other drawings to see if I still want to work in it further. I’ve drawn the teapot a few other times as you can see here and here, but I wanted to draw the trivet the most. I admire it quite a bit, but isn’t mine and I wanted to remember what it looked like. I did this on bristol board and only used a tiny bit of water on the color parts because I didn’t want the paper to warp too much.
I spent most of today working on a tattoo design that I got as a commission (this is a detail). I did have a lot of fun and I thought it turned out well, especially for not having live lilies in front of me. I used a silk day lily as a model and I used my imagination to fill in all the other details (hence the blue stamen).
I thought I would have been burnt out by the time I finished. Instead, I feel energized and now want to go out and do more drawing.
I’ve been taking it easy for the past week or so because I’ve had a case of TMS crop up. After two years of being mostly pain free, it’s come up again, because I’ve been doing a poor job of handling my stress. This time it’s affecting my right elbow and every time I grip a pen to draw I feel my tendon start to hurt. The key to TMS is to “think psychological” and not focus on the physical body, and over the past two days it has gotten a lot better. I will let you know when it is completely gone again. I’m already excited about getting back to drawing!
A note on the image: This is a small drawing (5 x 7) I made of Lake Eden in Vermont using a black PITT pen and watersoluble colored pencil on bristol board. I visted with some family there over the summer. Some other drawings I made can be seen here.
