Getting Ready for Halloween

Pumpkin Patch by Sydney Harper
Ink and watercolor, 5 x 5 inches

I couldn't resist a playful little ink and watercolor for Halloween, one of my favorite holidays. Life isn't quite as busy right now. I've been doing a lot of sketching but not so much painting. So I'm trying to get back into my painting routine.

I'm going to run and continue Halloween preparations. If you haven't seen it yet, take a look at this video on 40 years of illustration in the New York Times Op-Ed page. I enjoyed seeing the progression of styles over the years.

Three Spears and Two Tools

Three spears by Sydney Harper
Ink and watercolor

I didn't mean to disappear but I took on some extra work that left me with very little spare time. So I had a choice between doing a little art and blogging about art. I chose doing art because otherwise what would I talk about if I blogged and didn't paint. It's amazing how much art you can squeeze in if you set your mind to it. Here's another veggie ink and watercolor – asparagus spears. The nice thing about these food sketches is that I get to eat my props when I'm done.

Here's a couple useful tools I found when I managed a little down time.

30+ Very Useful Color Tools for Designers

It's set up for print and web designers but I think these tools could be useful for anyone working in color – whether you're painting your walls, painting a picture or making a garment. Some of these tools have been suggested for fiber dyeing.

How to set up an e-commerce site using Paypal

If you're one of those trying to sell your art, or anything really, on the Internet, this article describes the step by step process for setting a Paypal e-commerce site. I haven't tried this myself but it looks to be a very detailed description of the setup process.

Trilobite II Watercolor

Trilobite II , 7 x 10 inches, watercolor

I had so much fun doing the trilobite watercolor the other day, that I just had to do another one. This is a different trilobite, stylized again. I decided to give this one a more watery color scheme. I've got an idea for a similar one, but with a different animal. The planning has been as fun as the painting.

Trilobite Watercolor

Trilobite - watercolor, 6 x 5 inches
copyright - Sydney Harper

I've always been fascinated by trilobites, the prehistoric extinct arthropods, ever since my zoology professor brought a trilobite fossil into class. So this weekend I got my own trilobite fossil out to sketch. I wanted something colorful, not your typical scientific publication drawing. So I muddled around with some colored pencils for a while until it came to me. I like using colored pencils to work out ideas, especially when color is an important part of the idea. Since trilobites were segmented, why not make a stylized version with the segments separated. So after much drawing, this is my watercolor version. I like how it turned out. It has a lot of potential.