New/Old Journal page

After almost a year, I finally remembered I hadn't finished this spread in my Grandma's House journal. 5x8" watercolor in Moleskine journal

Journal Page Purple Hollyhock (2)

Journal Page Purple Hollyhock (2)
Originally uploaded by MaryO 2

I had some more photos of the hollyhocks we used to have in the garden and couldn't resist drawing this beauty. I should do them on better paper, they look pretty washed out in this journal.
6x9" on handmade paper. Watercolor pencils and sepia ink.

Hollyhock

In keeping with my latest attempt to simplify, simplify, simplify...here's my sketch for today. This is from a photo I took in the garden we had a few years ago. Wish I had these lovely things growing out there now. But I surprised myself by completing this all in one day..it usually takes me that long just to plan what I intend to do!
Watercolor pencils on (spongelike)handmade paper in 6x9 1/2 inch journal, which unfortunately doesn't scan very well, either.

Frustration

Okay, this is one of the sources of the frustration I mentioned in the previous post. I wasn't going to post this, but at least you can see I was working on *something*!
I finally got the blossoms to an acceptable stage, but the background just would not cooperate in spite of (or because of) multiple glazes......and a mild expletive or two.
This is watercolor and WC pencils on hot pressed paper, 9x12".
LOL! I see I inadvertently left a tiny white spot beneath the upper blossom! Oh my...

Back to Drawing

After a frustrating week of working on paintings that never seemed to come together, I went back to my journal and did some quick and easy drawings just to loosen up. This is a 6x9" journal containing handmade paper without too much sizing so it's difficult to add much watercolor, the paper sucks it up so quickly. I think I'll stick to this way of working for a little while.....

Backyard fauna

One of several plump little creatures who frequent our backyard. This one has produced several small copies of herself this year already. They're pesky but not as pesky as the deer who have late night picnics in my hosta beds.

New SuperBlog

This is the new logo for the new SuperBlog for my EveryDayMatters group. Hope you'll visit sometime. The group of artists who post there is a formidable group of very talented people and I'm grateful to be a part of it.

Update on Hosta

The hosta finally bloomed so I added a sketch of one of them to the page. I usually don't like the blossoms very much, but after being more observant in order to draw them, I think they're quite beautiful in their subtle way. I'd like them better if the stems didn't grow so tall.......

Kate's WC Workshop Lesson #4

A hosta flower bud from my side yard. I've left room for drawing a flower, if the deer leave them alone until the buds open. I noticed this morning they've eaten almost every bud off the hostas that line my front walk. I love the deer, but I wish they didn't have such a taste for hosta. They could eat my blueberries like the birds and rabbits do!

Okra Blossom WC pencil lesson #4

An okra blossom from a photo I took in our vegetable garden years ago. I painted it at that time in an effort to loosen up my brush work, and thought it would be fun to try it again with watercolor pencils. I don't know that I like this one any better, but it certainly is different.
Here is the original watercolor painting.

Kate's WC pencil class, lesson #3

Watercolor pencils on Arches WC paper 5x7"
This was done from a photo taken at the Outer Banks last year just for the cloud formations. I was having some difficulty lifting the color for the clouds so they aren't as spectacular as the ones in the photo, but this was the best attempt I've made so far. Someone suggested it needed a focal point, so as an experiment to see if cropping the picture would allow the clouds to become the focus I tried it (below). What do you think? I think perhaps another drawing giving the emphasis to the cloud formations would help even more. I do love clouds!

WC Pencil Class

I am having problems doing flat washes using both WC pencils and WC crayons. I would do well to handle backgrounds differently, or use WC paints instead.

A New Beginning

I'm creating a new blog here for just my current attempts to make "art". I love working in my other blog, but it has become a place to interact with friends on various levels. Hence, it includes much more of me than just my artistic explorations.
I hope to have many things to show here in coming days/months/years. Don't hestitate to leave your comments...I will enjoy hearing what you think!
Meantime, here's an earlier watercolor, just to get started. This was an attempt some time ago to teach myself watercolor...with limited success, I'm afraid.