Illustration Friday: "Mail"





I'm not sure why mail service to Grandma's house is sooooooooo slow!

   I finally have some time off of homeschool, home business, and Christmas to put together a more involved illo!  I'm getting it in just under the wire - I thought I had plenty of time, but me and my compulsion for detail strikes again.  There are a few things I'd try differently, and just might for the portfolio.  I'd love to try and do something a little more simplified, but I wonder if I even can!



Spectator Ant

 But, it turns out that this is along the same vein as my "Spectator Ant" that I've done before.  From that one, I came away thinking that the grass was out of scale for the ant.  So, I made certain to make the grass taller than the snail here. 

I finally got a gouache set - which I've never had and wanted to try - LOVE it!  I think that might be my new favorite paint medium and can't wait to do more.

Mission Accomplished...NEXT?

Well, I actually finished something that I've been thinking about - but was unable to get to - for months. I redid my sketchbook doodle of "Spectator Ant" and managed to bring it to some level of completion with watercolor washes this afternoon.





I think I'm happy with it overall. I had originally only intended to do it as an ink drawing, so I used regular drawing paper and not a heavier paper. I was a little concerned about putting washes on it, that the paper wouldn't hold up very well. It did buckle a bit, however a low heat iron smoothed it out quite nicely.

So, what's next? I've got the week ahead of me (sort of). Should I do some new doodles? Or revisit old ones? Actually, there is one doodle that I'd like to redo since I destroyed it with an awful background. I'll share soon.

At Last...TIME!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE! It was a beautiful day here - warm and sunny (sorry to those of you in other parts of the country). I was a able to finally get some rest and feel a lot better than I have been the last couple days. And, my kids spent the afternoon with friends at the park down the street. Quite unexpectedly, I ended up with a big block of free time - time that I was able to spend in the studio!

No games or warm-ups today; I went right into a project I'd already started. It was a redo of a doodle that had been in my sketchbook. The thing about doodles is that sometimes lines, shapes, gestures, and values get sealed into the drawing before you determine what it is you're actually making. There's no going back and simply altering.

That was the case here. I had done the first drawing of the "Spectator Ant," but I wasn't happy with the way parts of it had turned out. I really haven't worked with ink very much, so I was out of my comfort zone - I didn't get the amount of contrast I'd wanted, and I was overly rigid with my cross-hatching.

So, on this redo, I was able to loosen up and do more of a "scribble" type of shading (like I do when sketching with pencil). I think it brings more energy to the image. Also, I fixed some things I didn't like - the eye and some general shapes and sizes. I added a little pizzazz to the flower and "super-sized" the ant's beverage. Note: the original doodle-drawing and details are all shown on the left - new improved "redo" details are all on the right (Complete "redo" is down on the bottom).

Overall, I'm much more pleased, although I don't know how much of a difference can be seen on the computer. Many of the changes were just technical, gestural, or cosmetic, but even a few small changes can still make a big difference. Now, I'm deciding whether or not to add some color - probably watercolor washes.

I think I will...