Penguin paintings in watercolor

After doing the fox circle paintings, I wanted to do something similar with penguins...



















I think these also came out pretty cute :)  I love baby penguins...they're all fluffy and awkward. Here are my sketches beforehand:

 Some detail:






















I think I prefer this look for the sky:

Yay penguins!

Fox paintings

A friend of mine is expecting a baby boy this summer and her nursery colors are green and orange (sort of a woodland theme) so I thought I'd try painting a fox picture for her.

Pretty cute huh? 

The funny thing is, in my first few sketches the foxes looked kind of like birds (eg the sketch on the far right)! 

Owl watercolors for special occasions!

This weekend I celebrated both Brie's birthday and Mark & Rachel's baby shower...and I painted a sweet little owl for both. Edy helped by sitting on my knee and trying to eat the paintbrush.

 

I painted Brie's owl in the colors she has in her house, so she could put him in any room.

 

For Mark & Rachel, I wanted to make the colors of the owl gender-neutral since it will be a surprise whether they are having a boy or girl.
 

 

Didn't they come out cute? I'm surprised I hadn't painted owls sooner since I made like 8000 of them out of felt :P

 

materials: pencil, Prang semi-moist watercolors on Canson Montval Watercolor Block, Faber-Castell PITT artist pen (brush) in #177.

Even more tiny bird paintings

I made a little bird watercolor painting for my friend Amy for her baby shower (she's having a girl)...and it turned out so cute I made a few more similar ones. Which colors do you like better?

 

 

I really love painting these, they are so much fun. What other animals should I do?

 

materials: pencil, Prang semi-moist watercolors on Canson Montval Watercolor Block, Faber-Castell PITT artist pen (brush) in #177.

More tiny bird paintings...and other stuff I'm doing...

While I was sick a few weeks ago, I worked on additional bird paintings because they were just so much fun! I've found these are actually easier if you work on multiples at the same time, so you don't get impatient while some sections are drying off.

These are great for kids or babies' rooms, baby shower gifts, or even for adults! My brother liked these two so much that I gave them to him to hang above his computer desk in the living room. I love how the pictures are small but still feel generous in scale, and like bright little painted treasures :)

 

I'm sure I'll be painting more of these in different color combinations too. I was thinking about trying a red bird on a yellow or pale blue background. I love doing them while semi-watching tv :) Last time while I was painting these, I believe I was watching the recent movie adaptation of Jane Eyre, old episodes of Gilmore Girls, and What Not to Wear.

Tonight I'm getting to work on my newest project: hoot owl Christmas tree ornaments! I made my prototype yesterday and it turned out awesome--I stuffed it with quilt batting so it is all puffy and round and perfect. So, more felt owl ornaments in 8000 color combinations forthcoming! Pictures soon, I promise...

And I'm thinking for tonight's sappy movie marathon, I'll be choosing from: Anne of Green Gables (the sequel), Howl's Moving Castle, IQ, Little Dorrit, and perhaps the final episode of my newest (yet sadly short-lived) guilty pleasure, Breaking Amish!

Materials for watercolor paintings above: pencil, Prang semi-moist watercolors on Strathmore Wet Media paper, Faber-Castell PITT artist pen (brush) in #177, IKEA SONDRUM  frame.

Bird paintings for babies

Several of my friends have just welcomed new babies so I've been busy working on paintings for their gifts! 
 

 

 

 

 

 

I just love how cute they turned out!

 

materials: pencil, Prang semi-moist watercolors on Strathmore Wet Media paper, Faber-Castell PITT artist pen (brush) in #177, IKEA RIBBA frame.

Mini elephant watercolor

I haven't posted in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been making anything! I just got sort of wrapped up in the everyday chaos. Never fear, more crafty photos coming soon :)

Here's a sweet little elephant painting I made recently. Perfect for a baby's room!

 

Here's a closer look:

 

Isn't he the cutest elephant ever?

 

materials: pencil, Prang semi-moist watercolors on Canson Montval Watercolor Block (cold press), IKEA SONDRUM frame.

Not-so-simple Simplicity Christening gown

On Monday, Kate and I decided we should attempt to make our own christening gown for her newborn, Isaac. We had searched a bunch of thrift stores and consignment shops with no luck, and most of the gowns were ridiculously frilly (not to mention overpriced).

Neither of us has ever made a christening gown, but we figured it couldn't be too complicated, right? Kate found a Simplicity pattern and we used the sleeveless "slip" part of the pattern to make a simple gown.

I was NOT a fan of the instructions in the pattern. Lots of ambiguity and confusion. I ended up doing my own thing about halfway because there was so much cursing about the directions.

We did find some cute lace and other trim in my ribbon stash so I hand-stitched those on as an accent. Overall, it came out pretty decent. If I had to do this again, I'd use a simpler cotton fabric for the gown though...the stuff we used was stretchy and somewhat annoying.

And here's baby Isaac, tired from all the crafting...

aww...