AEDM: Days 7, 8 and 9

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.

Red Onion Sketch

Ink and watercolor
in Moleskine watercolor notebook

I’m continuing with the root vegetable sketch theme, depending on what I’ve bought recently. This time it’s a red onion.  I’m enjoying doing these.  I think what I like most about these sketches is the pen. I’ve been experimenting with a lot of different pens lately, but I’m enamored with the finest tip of my set of Zig Millenium pens (005 size or .20 mm line) for these sketches.

I’m going to have to see what else I can find at the grocery store.  Of course, there’s lots of the usual stuff left to sketch but I’ll have to look for some out of the ordinary vegetables too. 

Just a Pepper

“Just a Pepper” – Sydney Harper
4 x 5 inches, watercolor

I was looking for something quick to paint. Then I remembered that I had bought some peppers at the farmers markets the other day. It was perfect for a quick little watercolor.  The paler yellow and green has a freshness about it that I like.

I have this big pack of small sample watercolor papers that I got from Daniel Smith years ago. Since the pack resurfaced recently, I’ll grab one of the sheets when I want to do a little watercolor sketch or practice painting.  This time I grabbed a piece of hot press watercolor paper. For some reason, I’ve never tried hot press paper before. I think I like the hot press better.  I’m not sure why I never tried it before. I may grab a few sheets of hot press the next time I buy paper.

Two Truffles

Two Truffles
acrylic, 5 x 5 inches on Daniel Smith Painting Board

I had two dark chocolate truffles left over from Valentine’s Day, so I decided to paint them before I ate them. it’s an incentive to paint quickly. I painted it on some old Daniel Smith Painting Board I found the other day. I don’t even think they carry it anymore. It is stiff and slightly flexible with a surface texture much like watercolor paper and the thickness is similar to the heavier watercolor papers. The down side is that it’s brittle. I haven’t had any chip with normal use, although I suppose it would if you dropped it. It’s not that easy to cut though. Even with a straight edge, that last little bit tends to break off randomly. Otherwise, I like painting on it.

While I’m thinking about it, check out this video at the Digital Photography School. It’s about creativity and inspiration and lack of inspiration. The focus is on photography but I think all creative types can relate. The Digital Photography School is also a good place to learn about using your digital camera, whether you have SLR or a simple point and shoot camera.

Virtual Sketch Date - January 2009 - Clementine

Virtual Sketch Date - Clementine by Sydney Harper
5 x 7 inches, watercolor and gouache

This month's reference for the Virtual Sketch Date was a peeled clementine. I decided to do this one in watercolor with a touch of white gouache at the end for the stringy bits. I don't like to use masking fluid and gouache seemed like a better choice. I had fun with this.

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See all of my Virtual Sketch Date posts.

Last Three Peppers

Last Three Peppers, 6 x 5.5 inches, acrylic on gessoed watercolor paper
Copyright - Sydney Harper

When I grabbed that last eggplant a while back before our first frost, I also grabbed the last three cayenne peppers. At the time, they were still green with just a hint of red. I wasn't sure how they would ripen and dry out, but now you can hardly tell them from the others. The background looks a little brighter on my monitor than in real life. This is another acrylic painting that I did on gessoed watercolor paper samples. I liked working with this one much better than the previous sample. I don't know if my technique was better or the paper made the difference. The paper is 126 lb. Archette CP. I'm not even sure they still make Archette. It was a fun and quick little painting. Basically I tossed the peppers several times until I got an arrangement I liked and went from there.

The Last Eggplant

The Last Eggplant

6 x 5 inches, acrylic on gessoed watercolor paper

Copyright - Sydney Harper

I like gardening but it really isn't a big priority for me. I had a small vegetable garden this summer but I started to forget about it as the weather got cooler. I went out the other day to clean it up a little bit and discovered it was doing quite well. Since we had our first serious frost last night, I went out and gathered up the last of the vegetables. This almost perfect little eggplant was one of them and I just couldn't resist painting it.

The painting is on a small piece of gessoed watercolor paper. Years ago I bought a sampler pack of watercolor paper and a pack of oriental paper from Daniel Smith. At that time, you got a huge variety of papers but they were small pieces. Now you get a smaller variety but large sheets. I've been using some of the oriental papers but I had forgotten about the watercolor papers until I found them a while back. So I took a couple of the sheets that I knew I wouldn't use for watercolor and applied some gesso. This particular sheet is a little thinner than I'd like but it worked well. It's a quick little painting but I'm pleased with it.

EDM 3 - My Bag

EDM 3 - My Bag
copyright Sydney Harper

The other night I was sitting on the couch with my portable art supplies while Rick watched baseball. My bag that carries my art supplies and a portable knitting project was flopped out beside me. Sometimes I'll sketch stuff that's on TV. This time, I decided to sketch my mostly empty bag, just like it was sitting on the couch. It's done in ink and watercolor pencil. I'm getting used to the watercolor pencils but I'm still not completely satisfied with my technique. It's getting better though.

Adobe released Photoshop Express for web last week and I still haven't had a chance to play with it. From what I've read, it has free storage and image tools. It's not a replacement for a purchased copy of Photoshop but apparently it has enough tools to do basic image editing. I usually do all of my image editing before I upload the images, but then I have several different versions of image editing software. It might be worth a try if you don't have image editing software or you aren't happy with your current software.

Ornamental gourd sketch

I bought some ornamental gourds or squash the other day at the grocery store. This is a quick sketch using a Micron ink pen and a little bit of watercolor.

Sea shell watercolor sketch

seashells-30sep07
Originally uploaded by mockingbirdworks

I'm getting back in the groove of sketching and painting. Actually I think the break did me good. Maybe my brain needed to work in the background for a while.

I have a small bowl of sea shells and sponges sitting on a table by the front door. I grabbed a couple of things and did a quick watercolor sketch in my watercolor moleskine. Overall I'm pleased with it.

EDM 112: Something Fresh

I'm behind on my Everyday Matters Challenges. This one is "Something fresh". Unfortunately we've been busy so there was nothing fresh in the house - food or laundry. Outside everything was frozen. I had to wait until we went to the grocery store to get something fresh.

This is a watercolor in my Moleskine waterbook book.

EDM 111: Bowl

This is an interesting little bowl. It has an ragged rim and it looks like they formed it over a ball. The inside is glazed but the outside isn't glazed or painted. This is a quick watercolor sketch I did in my Moleskine.

EDM 110: Something with a flame

Since our power seems to go out a few times a year, we have several candles scattered around the house. This is a pottery candle holder that is one of my favorites. Its shape isn't quite as wonky in real life. The painting is done in my watercolor Moleskine. I'm growing quite fond of this little book. Plus the shape was perfect for something like a candle. Overall, I'm pleased with the picture.

EDM 109 - A Clock

I'm still lagging a bit behind on the Everyday Matters challenges, and every other challenge I like to participate in. Life has been a little hectic lately but hopefully I can get back into some kind of routine soon. I did get the clock challenge completed though. This is one of my favorite clocks in the house. It's not the most attractive clock. It's just a simple little travel alarm clock, but it's like an old friend. It's done with a ZIG pen with the glow in the dark bits done in colored pencil.

EDM: Lightbulb and News

I was tired this weekend, plus I had to work today. I was determined to do the last two EDM challenges,though. So here are some quick and dirty sketches.

First up is EDM 107, where I get my news. Our mail box and paper box is built into this brick, uh, thing. So I drew in just the part that holds the paper. It's done in ink and watercolor pencil. The delivery person usually does a good job of shoving it all the way in the back of the box so you have to peer in there is make sure it's there.

Next is EDM 108, a lightbulb. This is an appliance or ceiling fan bulb done in pencil. It was the only bulb available without removing one from a lamp. It's a little wonky and misshapen. I discovered that the hard thing about drawing a light bulb is that they roll. So it has a little mixed perspective. I had fun drawing this though. I might have to try more light bulbs.

Scissors and Lemons

I haven't been posting my sketches lately so I thought I would do a little catching up with some Everyday Matters Challenges. Things have been kind of hectic lately. First up are scissors for the EDM 105 challenge.
It was done in pen and colored pencil. Next up is EDM 106 challenge to draw something sour or tart.

I did this in my new Moleskin watercolor book. The pages are a strange size, long and narrow, but they seem to work out okay for watercolor sketches. I wouldn't want to use the paper for large paintings, but for sketches it works out well. I scanned these on the scanner whose color reproduction isn't so good. In real life, I made the lemons a little too green. Course on the other hand, they were a little green.

EDM 102

I'm still here. It's just that I've been busy and then our pet ferret, Balt, got sick and died. I haven't had a lot of spare time. Anyway, I joined the Everyday Matters Group a while back but I haven't participated at all. Then towards the end of January I had a little spare time at the office and did this weekly challenge to draw a power plug. I wrote down Jan 06 but it should be Jan 07 for the date. I still haven't adjusted to the new year yet. It's just a quick and dirty pencil drawing. Hopefully I can get back into the artistic swing of things again.

The Sketch Habit

I've set a goal to do a sketch at least every day. I haven't been completely successful but it's getting better. Note to self: Next time you set a goal like this, make sure it's not during your busiest time of year. Some days it's a quick 5 minute sketch.

Some days it may be a quick 15 minute sketch.

Usually it's a sketch of whatever is in front of me. I used to sketch all of the time, but somewhere I got out of the every day habit. It's good to see it coming back.