[ wednesday 2005.03.30 ]
illustration friday: crowded

i think of a shore crowded with seagulls, which is quite common around here. i'm into drawing on paper grocery bags this week. the naturally colored background it offers is wonderful- not to mention free! i did this one slightly different than the baby king illustration that i posted the other day by making use of the natural creases and folds of the bag.

acrylic, colored pencil & ink on paper bag

[ posted by beth at 5:32PM ] [ ]

acrylic & ink on paper bag

i've been in a very experimental mood lately- trying out different mediums for my art. some are totally new to me like the beeswax, others are old favorites. this past weekend i felt inspired to draw on grocery store brown paper bags. this baby king was the first one. i'm not moving away from watercolor completely, i just feel the need to make use of new materials and experiment & grow. and it is an awesome way to recycle! i always request paper bags when i forget my canvas grocery totes at home. paper bags make great wrapping paper for presents (hand stamped and decorated of course!) or as surface for illustration. just be careful not to get the paper wet... the fibers in the bag will lift up. i diluted my acrylics with water, but dried my brush well and was careful. i've been working on a bunch of new projects and ideas, and hopefully i'll be able to share soon!

[ posted by beth at 8:37PM ] [ ]

watercolor, cardboard, beeswax & thread

this is my first time working with beeswax. i learned a lot. first i learned that beeswax is sticky. and it dries fast. very fast. as soon as it touches the paper it hardens. first i painted the bird & flower with watercolor. then i tried to adhere it to a paper/cardboard combo. however, since i used my original watercolor on very thick cold press paper, it was hard to lay down. the edges kept popping up and breaking through the wax... actually cracking it. so i had to use lots of wax around the edges to get it pasted down which resulted in a very thick yellow edge around the watercolor parts. overall, i like the concept. next time i will scan my watercolor and print it out on regular paper. that way, it will be easier to smooth down and i won't have to worry about edges popping up like it did with the watercolor paper. secondly, i learned that i need to work the brush with wax in long, thin, even strokes. i want it to have more of a glazed effect overall... not chunky bits of yellow wax. :( oh well, the bird is pretty cute. i'm happy with him & his big nose. and i learned lots on how to handle this medium. my next try will hopefully be better- so stay tuned!

[ posted by beth at 4:30PM ] [ ]

with thoughts of spring in mind, a robin's egg is fragile. this is the first illustration i've done using my old signature- just my initials in a little box. i think i am going to start signing my work that way again. now i'm in the mood to paint a little robin pulling a worm out of the ground. maybe i'll paint that over the weekend. happy almost first day of spring everyone!

watercolor & ink

[ posted by beth at 12:23PM ] [ ]

when i was a little girl, my grandpa would take me fossil hunting along the mazon river. he said that we were "tully monster" hunting. the tully monster is a creature that lived during the coal age 300 million years ago & has been preserved in ironstone conglomerates. to date more than 100 fossils have been found in this concentrated area. monster hunting with grandpa was always an adventure...

watercolor & ink

[ posted by beth at 9:51PM ] [ ]

today we went to chad's grandmother's birthday party. this morning i made her a card. i did not have the chance to scan the painting & lay in the type digitally. so the card on the left is what i actually gave her. but ideally i would have like to add the type in the computer, and possibly change the border color because i'm not so sure about the blue. the card on the right is what i would have liked to have given. ah well. it was a glorious, sunny, warm day. it made me think about flowers and gardening. happy thoughts.

[ posted by beth at 8:32PM ] [ ]

i was really stuck on this theme and had trouble thinking outside of the box. this is an illo of "me" (as a bald man) staring up at a trio of jazz instruments suspended in boxes (circles). just this morning, i began to think outside of the box on this project but it was too late to do anything about it. so that is why the instruments are poking their way out of the circles. it is representational of my thoughts stuck inside a bubble, slowly starting to peek out. and they are floating above me, dangling from the ceiling as i stand on uncertain ground. also, the ground hints at piano keys. not the happiest with this illo, but i wanted to finish it.

watercolor on illustration board

[ posted by beth at 10:19PM ] [ ]

on sunday morning, we went on a muddy bike ride. the ground was so soft & wet, those 12 miles felt much longer. the last 2 miles i struggled a little, but glad i did it! it felt so great to breathe in the air and get out of the house doing something active. the water was frozen in areas and you could see right through the trees into areas usually covered by the vegetation in the summer. on the trails we encountered many geese. they usually retreated to the water as we rode by and looked on. however, there was one angry goose who did not want us riding down his trail. it was a bit of a challenge to get by him, he opened his pink mouth and hissed and chased. i rode as fast as i could by him and almost got goosed. i drew a picture of the scene from the ride- done in ink & colored pencil on masking tape.

[ posted by beth at 7:09PM ] [ ]