nanke's stuff

Last night I sat on the porch with my sweetie and did a quick little watercolor sketch.  I did it in my old sketchbook that's almost filled up (I'm going to quit saying that because I'm planning on continuing to use it until it's all filled up ... which I hope will be soon!).  I used an old set of Pelikan pan watercolors that I've had for about 100 years.  Ok, so that's an exaggeration, but I've had it for at least 30 years!  Clearly I don't use it all that often, but each time I do I wonder why I don't use it all the time.

Sweetie got home really late last night - it was almost 7:00.  Since he usually leaves for work at 4:30 AM, getting home at 7 made for a long day.  I settled on the porch to wait for him with my painting things at the ready when our son, Andrew, called me.  We talked for over an hour about lots of interesting things.  I loved every minute of it!  It did, however, leave me a tad short of time for painting, hence the abbreviated little study.  I didn't do any sketching first, just dove right in with water brushes and the paint.  It was fun, even though the results are less than I would have liked.


PS ... due to our rapid fire internet speed, it took me longer to download this picture than it did to paint it.

Last evening I sat on the front porch and played with my watercolor pencils. I have a small set of Derwents and a larger set of Inktense, neither of which I have much experience with. (By the way, I'm trying to do this on my iPad, which I'm just learning how to use, so please overlook the goofs ... Thank you very much!).

 Back to the pencils.  Anyway, I decided to do a rough sketch of a begonia plant ... I thought I'd better tell you what it is so you wouldn't have to try to figure it out. I first drew it with an 01 micron pen (or maybe it was a 005, but then who cares?). After that I colored it in with the pencils, starting with the Derwents, then adding the Inktense colors later. After that I used my water brushes to wet the colors to see what happens. Clearly I have a lot to learn about this medium, but I was happy to be drawing again and it was fun to play with my toys!

Since I wasn't able to download (upload?) the picture from my desktop, I have to finish this at home.  (I bet you were wondering about that, weren't you ... Not!).  So, here is the begonia plant:



Thanks so much for stopping by!! 

I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Kathy Staron.  She is a wonderful artist who lives and works in Florida, and I've been in awe of her work for many years.  She works in watercolor, oil, and acrylic, and continues to learn from and study with excellent teachers.  Unbeknownst to me, she did a watercolor painting of our dog, Abby, and gave it to me for my birthday!  And to top it all off, she had some note cards of it made for me too!  This is one of the note cards ... the painting is too big for me to scan.   It looks exactly like Abby, and she's in one of her favorite spots on our sofa with a soft pillow to rest her head on.  If you would like Kathy to paint a portrait of your beloved pet, you can reach her at Star_on3@yahoo.com.  It's a wonderful gift!



Yesterday for the first time in ages I went to a life drawing session with my friend, Vicki.  It's been years since I've done full body drawings like this, and the quality of these attests to that.  I had a great time and am looking forward to going back again.  So here area my humble offerings of the day.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and thanks so much for stopping by!