Dog circle painting

A few weeks ago I heard from my friend Janel that she was having a bad day...my first thought was, maybe I can make her something to cheer her up. I was thinking of a circle painting and this one turned out to have a bit of a Mardi Gras feel to it.

Janel's favorite color: purple

Janel's favorite animal: puppies

Now I can't remember the last time (if ever) I tried to seriously draw a dog, let alone a puppy. Turns out I have no idea how dogs are shaped. Most of them came out real faily and either dumb looking or birdlike.

I got a bit frustrated at one point...hahahhaha


Yep. Dogs.

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

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)! 

From my sketchbook: Spain & Italy trip 2013!

I spent the second half of March vacationing with friends in Spain and Italy. We rented a car and drove around Tuscany, then flew to Barcelona for a few days as well. I didn't sketch as heavily on some previous trips (mostly because it rained almost every day in Italy) but I got a couple of good ones in :)
 

 

Cortona, Italy

I sat in the Piazza della Repubblica on some steps to sketch, looking very much like a hobo.

 

Port Vell, Barcelona, Spain

Took advantage of a lovely sunny day to sit by the docks and draw.

 

Inspired by the earlier boats, I did this cute circles watercolor...would be nice for a little boy's room.

 

Montserrat, Spain

It was a bit chilly up there so I only had the patience (and warmth) for a quick pen sketch!

 

 

Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona, Spain

I wasn't exactly sure what an umbracle (shade house) was at first, but it made a nice place to sit!

 

 

And here's a circles watercolor inspired by the lovely Tuscan hills:

 

  Trip photos to match coming soon, I promise!

Ornament sketches

When I'm super bored and sitting on an airplane I love to make lists and brainstorm project ideas.

Here are some sketches I made a while back of potential ornaments to make.

So far from these I've only actually made the owl ornaments...

 

 

...but I'm sure I'll come back to these sketches later when I need a new project to start!  

Craft books I want!

I was browsing Amazon and came across a ton of new books I want to add to my extensive craft book library!

      

   

   

  

    

Ok, so the last one is more of a cookbook but look the little food is sooooo cute! That's almost a craft :)

Sneak peek--mysterious underwater watercolor!

Yesterday I decided to start a small watercolor as a present for a friend...it is nearly complete but I want it to be a surprise!

Hmmm...what do you think it is? :)



Craft project vote winners: Solar system felt tags and owls

I've been working on the items selected as my next craft project from the poll. My solar system felt tags are finished and I plan to post them to my etsy shop this afternoon!

I also got started on the "something containing owls" craft project. I started by sketching the owl I had in mind (along with a candy corn felt purse that came to mind):

So on Friday I made my first owl...which is a little bit batlike for some reason...perhaps the eyes? Otherwise cute though, I like all the detail stitching.

Right now he's just an applique and I haven't decided what to put him on yet...maybe an eyeglass case?

After the first owl I decided to try a few without tails and made these adorable little guys, which are actually pins.
 

I think I'll make some into barrettes and pendants as well. It would be super cute to have a necklace with an owl pendant and also some felt leaf pendants attached.