by Jack Hamm. It's a small book but it's packed with good information. A lot of space is spent on structure and comparing the structure of various animals. Heads, feet, eyes, ears and noses are compared. It discusses how to use a house cat as a model for a big cat. I've found it very helpful.
"I'm a chicken"
Ink and watercolor, 5 x 5 inches
I've had a huge urge to paint chickens lately. I blame Roz and Jean Haines. I didn't have any chickens or chicken photos of my own (Wait I just might have a few chicken photos.), so I browsed around morgueFile to find one. This chicken was fun to paint. I can see more chicken paintings in my future.
Well I kind of crashed and burned last week with Art Every Day. I had a couple of really busy days which led to little time and a need for sleep. Then I got discouraged because I didn't do art. But I decided to try and make up those days so expect things to be badly out of sync for a while.
Christmas Cactus
watercolor, 5 x 5 inches
Day 7: It looks like my Christmas Cactus is going to be a Thanksgiving cactus this year. I noticed the other day that it is full of buds. I neglected it for a while this summer so it's good see it's going to bloom anyway.
Leaf prints, watercolor and ink
Day 8: A quick little leaf print with my gingko leaves. They were actually a little too dry to do prints at this point, so I decided to highlight the leaf shapes with ink.
Piggy Bank
Watercolor and a little ink, 5 x 5 inches
Day 9: The other things I've been doing with some of these paintings is trying out some watercolor paper samples. The paper here was not one my favorites but it turned into a nice little painting anyway. I'll have to try painting this little pig again sometime. I love the reflection of colors on this little guy.
I'm still hanging in there with art every day. Some days I have more time to spend. Other days I'm in the mood to experiment a bit. Lately I've been in an experimental mood. Day 6 was an experiment with watercolor paper. I have a lot of small watercolor paper samples. I like the way it turned out but I'm not too crazy about the paper. Okay, I hated it.
Crabapple by Sydney Harper
Ink and watercolor, 5 x 5 inches
On Day 5 I was feeling a little more freeform (and using better paper).
Beautyberry by Sydney Harper
Watercolor, 5 x 5 inches
Okay, I'm getting behind on posting so I'm going to try to catch up a bit over the next couple of days. Wednesday, Day 3, was a busy computer day for me. All I could manage was a quick watercolor sketch of some sumac.
I take a lot of photos to use for future paintings. If it's something I like a lot, then I'll print it out and put it in a binder for future use. That's where I got this sketch. It's an easy source for a subject when you're stuck or just to tired to be very creative.
Our downtown area has lots of Ginkgo trees. I love them, especially in the fall when the leaves turn bright yellow. I usually grab a few leaves every fall and bring them back to paint and play with. The other day when I was downtown, I noticed the leaves were turning on one tree so I grabbed a few to paint.
Ginkgo Leaves by Sydney Harper
Watercolor, 5 x 5 inches
The leaves were still green at the base and turning yellow at the ends. With our strange, dry weather this fall, the leaves have been slow to turn. On some trees they just seemed to dry up and fall off. It looks like the Ginkgo will do well though.
Orchid by Sydney Harper
Watercolor, 5x5 inches
Hey, I made it to Day 2 of Art Every Day Month. Day 3 is going to be a quick sketch so I can get a little more sleep tonight. I'm hoping that by the end of the month, I will at least have my painting habit firmly in place, if nothing else.
This is a dendrobium orchid that I've had for many years. It has led a hard life and it still looks wonderful. It has been unpotted by cats and ferrets several times. Other times it has gone without water for a couple of weeks or more. It still produces lovely stalks of blooms. It has done so well in it's current location that I'm kind of afraid to move it. I'm very pleased with how this one came out.
Morning Glory by Sydney Harper
watercolor, 5 x 5 inches
I'm going to attempt to do Art Every Day this month. Now I usually sketch most days but I don't always paint every day. So I'm going to try to focus on painting. Warning though, I am notoriously bad at "Whatever alongs". We'll see how it goes. Posting my art will be at least a day behind. Mostly because I like my painting to be dry before I slap them on the scanner.
This week, I'm focusing on flowers and other plants. I like the idea of a theme for each week. Today's painting is a morning glory. I just had to do it in watercolor. Yeah, it also looks like it's going to be a watercolor week too.
