Books

The prompt at Jen’s The Artist’s Playroom this week is books.

Face 20 and 21

I’ve decide to kill several birds with one stone.  As I am doing 29 Faces this month, I have got behind in my illustration work for Mystery in Arcadia.  There are several parts of the story where books play an important part.  Here, the main characters Ambrose and Columbia are looking for information about a flask that they found.  The next picture they have just asked Ambrose’s tutor about the same flask and Jeremy tells them to go away as he is the middle of his personal studies.  I am sure you all know the annoyance you feel when you have a good book and interruptions keep on occurring!

 

So, I have completed three tasks with this post, got two more illustrations done, face 20 and 21, and a post about books.  Yay!

Doodling Along

Face 19

Ha!  Last night I opened my journal at a page with just a background – I have quite a few – with the intention of seeing which would be suitable for a silhouette.  Denthe did one a few days ago and I thought wow, I could do that.  I was watching the news while idly flipping my way through my pages; I must have gone into a trance because when the news ended I had the above.  Admittedly I’ve added a few tweaks here and there this morning. The text I came across in a book of quotes a few days ago and I think this picture fits perfectly.  I think I will keep my jar of pencils and one of my journals on the coffee table all the time in case I go into the doodle zone again! 

I am only going to count these as one Face as I wasn't consciously drawing them. Remember to check out the other participants of 29 Faces, there is some amazing work!

Face 18

I really struggled with this face; I started it last week with the intention of posting it for Valentine’s Day.  But I got stuck and messed up the background.  Yesterday, when tidying up my work desk I found it buried under a pile of paper.  I really liked how the face and rose had turned out, so taking courage into my hands I got my paints out and mixed up a lot of watery paint, I started to flick and dribble paint.  It was nearly right, but the background and girl were like two different works.  So holding my breath I got out my white acrylic and flicked and dribbled paint over the girl.  It worked!  Phew!  

The moral of this is that never give up on a painting, there is always a part of it that works.  Even if you have to cut that bit out and collage it to another work, you will be able to save it in some way.  I think this has turned out way better than my original composition, which was a bit smoultzy! The background was a sunset!

Linking to

29 Faces

Creative Everyday

A Step Too Far

Have you ever gone too far in a drawing or painting?  I have frequently.  Today’s drawing for 29 Faces and Sunday Sketches is a glaring example of that.  Funnily enough I decided to scan the drawing as I went.  Looking at the scans I could have stopped at any stage.  However the last one was definitely a step too far.

Face 16 and 17

This drawing was from a photo I had taken last year at a concert in the park.  I just loved how the girls were so absorbed in the music that they didn’t realize that they were sitting in the glaring hot sun, and that everyone else had moved their picnics to under the trees.  I would have been quite happy to leave the drawing at this point.  But I wanted to test drive the new Inktense pencils I brought last week.

I am happy with the girl with the hat, but not so happy with the other girl.  I’ve lost the look I wanted and captured in the first drawing.  I am starting to overwork her.

Fixed up the face of the girl behind as much as I could, luckily I was using 200gm paper It takes a lot of rubbing out.  I have started to add the colours in layers.

A step too far!  It doesn’t show so much in this scan but the background is yellow green.  What was I thinking!  Looking at them on the screen I think I like no 1 and 2 the best.

If I wanted to save the drawing, I think I would do it again and finish somewhere between 2 and 3!  Anyways, they are my Face 16 and 17 for the 29 Faces challenge, go there and check them out!  I am having a break from faces tomorrow; I have to tidy up my work space.  I can‘t find anything!

After all that detail I needed some light relief!  Here is a watercolour I did using ink intense pencils along with good old traditional watercolour.  I love these Inktense pencils!  Also, I adore the blue of the hydrangeas that are lurking in my only shady spot in the garden.  The heat of the sun has more or less burnt all my other flowers and with water restrictions, it is a losing battle to have colour in the garden.

Have a blessed week everyone and produce wonderful works of art for me to goggle at next week!

Linking to Sunday Sketches
Mandarin Orange Monday