EDM #166 - Draw a Fish

This watercolor painting is based on a photograph my husband took at the Moody Gardens Aquarium in Galveston, Texas.

EDM #178 - Draw Something Red

I am experimenting with colored pencil over watercolor. In the piece above, I painted on hot-pressed watercolor paper and then used colored pencil over the watercolor. I used masking fluid for the seeds.

In the piece below, I painted on cold-pressed watercolor paper and then used colored pencil. The texture of the paper created the seeds.

Illustration Friday - Foggy

Fog

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

The poem Fog is by Carl Sandburg (1878-1967).

EDM #175 - Draw a Basket and What It Holds

This is my son Christopher's basket. What does his basket hold?

• Rocks. Lots of rocks. The handle is broken because the rocks are too heavy.
• A crayola crayon.
• A Harry Potter scented marker.
• A sash from a scary Halloween costume.
• A glove from Living History Farms near Des Moines, Iowa. This hands-on museum has 4 working historic farm sites.

The basket itself is a bulk trash week find. People put out unwanted large items for bulk trash pickup, and other people come and take items before the pickup. Suburban recycling at its easiest.

Blog Award

This is from Karen Mowrey at Beelieve. Thank you, Karen! The rules of accepting are as follows:

1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Add links to those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.
   

This is a nice way to share links to blogs. Everyday I get new inspiration from reading art blogs. Here are 7 of the many great blogs I read daily:

1. Anita Davies inspires me with her daily watercolor sketches from life.
2. Ann (Blue Bird Hill) inspires me with her awesome pastel and colored pencil paintings.
3. Steve (Go Flying Turtle) inspires me with his creative Illustration Friday entries and his imaginative sketch dumps.
4. Jana inspires me with both her art (oil and watercolor paintings) and observations. For example, check out her Cemetery Conversations on July 4th post.
5. France (Wagonized) inspires me with her fantastic drawing skills. I hope that one day I can do pen & ink & crosshatching that is even half as good as France's!
6. Peggy Fussell inspires me with her beautiful illustrations.
7. Penhallow Street inspires me with both her beautiful artwork and thoughtful posts. Her artwork includes drawing and iconography.

If my nominees want to participate, great. And if they don't want to, that is fine too!

Illustration Friday - Sour

The Peter Paul & Mary song Lemon Tree illustrates the multiple meanings of the word sour: having a sharp biting taste, false and dark.

Here are the lyrics:

When I was just a lad of ten, my father said to me
"Come here and take a lesson from the lovely Lemon Tree"
"Don't put your faith in love, my boy" my father said to me
"I fear you'll find that love is like the lovely Lemon Tree"

Lemon Tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat
Lemon Tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat

One day beneath the Lemon Tree, my love and I did lie
A girl so sweet that when she smiled the stars rose in the sky
We passed that summer lost in love beneath the lemon tree
the music of her laughter hid my father's words from me

Lemon Tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat
Lemon Tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat

One day she left without a word. She took away the sun
And in the dark she left behind, I knew what she had done
She'd left me for another, it's a common tale but true
A sadder man but wiser now I sing these words to you

Lemon Tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat
Lemon Tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat

June Oil Painting #16

Illustration Friday - Fierce

The gentle giant showed fierce courage as he walked the balance beam for the first time.

This entry was inspired by my 8-year old son Christopher's drawing of a giant, shown below. I love children's drawings. Their compositions consist of large, bold shapes that fill the entire page. There is no compulsion to get things perfect, and as a result, the drawings are expressive and spontaneous. This week's prompt at Inspire Me Thursday is Bringing Child's Art to Life, so this is also an Inspire Me Thursday entry.

Another source of inspiration for giants is the book Giants by David Larkin. This wonderful book reads like a natural history of giants and has wonderful illustrations by Julek Heller, Carolyn Scrace, and Juan Wijngaard.

June Oil Painting #15

My goal was to paint 20 small oil paintings in June; I painted 19. Not bad. I painted a variety of subjects: fruits, vegetables, decorative objects, dishes, and objects from nature. Fruits and vegetables were the easiest and fastest for me to paint. I love oil painting and am convinced of the value of daily painting. I am going to finish off the year by studying some art basics, specifically perspective, figures, and portraits. In 2009, I plan to commit to daily painting.