Benny and the Urchins Preliminary Sketch

Benny and the Urchins
watercolor sketch
9 x 12
Canson Multimedia Paper

This is my sketch to prepare for the final one that will be in the permanent collection at the Brooklyn Art Library.  The final one will be smaller.

There are four urchins in this picture.

I'm excited and pleased because I did the whole thing without looking at any reference photos--maybe it would be better if I had, but there it is--completely uninfluenced by anything but my own mind.  Yeah, there should be another rock in front of the tide pool, but no one is perfect.

Benny and the Ferret

Benny and the Ferret
watercolor
5 x 7
on arches cold-pressed 140 lb/300 gm paper

This is my watercolor painting on the actual page of the sketchbook for the sketchbook project for the Brooklyn Art Museum (as opposed to the earlier one which was just a quick sketch.)  In the final final version, I may or may not make a few adjustments.

Self-portrait of the Artist as a girl with worms
digital, small

Self-portrait as a girl with worms, by me, for Cowbird, to go with a very short story I wrote in response to someone else's story: We walked a quarter of a mile from home to the bus stop, and on rainy days, the bus would honk and honk for me to hurry, because all the other kids had run up to get out of the rain, but I was dawdling, picking up worms off the road and moving them to dry ground so they wouldn't be run over by cars.

I joined cowbird, which is a place for personal stories. 

I needed a picture of myself so I created this self-portrait:

Self portrait with Self Portrait

E is for Eel

Benny and the Electric Eel
5 x 7
Copic pen and multiliner
on Canson Canvas paper

I won't be doing this project again--5 x 7 is too small for me to work.

D is for Dinosaur

D is for Dinosaur

For the Sketchbook Project for the Brooklyn Art Library and for Frankie, 5 x 7 Canson Canvas Paper, Copic markers and a touch of Copic multi-liner,  I probably will not do any more 5 x 7 sketchbooks.  My hand isn't steady enough to work that small.  This one is maybe my favorite so far?

Somehow, in spite of the fact that this is my art blog, I've been posting my art to No Polar Coordinates.

I think it's because I never think my art is good enough to post to the actual art blog.  :-(

This one might be good enough?

Renaissance Multimedia Paper Test Day 2

Testing Renaissance Multimedia Paper (Arches)
with:
colored pencil, Copic Marker, Sakura Pigment pens, pastels

The paper had enough tooth and enough smoothness to work well for all of these media.

backside

of the seven media I tested today and yesterday, only the Copic markers bled through the paper strips.

Multimedia Paper Test #1

Multimedia Paper Test #1. Erica Chappuis gave me some samples of paper from a sketchbook she got and I have tested them with, from top to bottom: acrylics, watercolor, water soluble oil pastels (Portfolio) and gouache. Subject, my hubby, Keith. The paper did not bleed through with any of those media and the results were excellent ((barring my own incompetence and, since this is just a test, lack of time commitment to make it more excellent.)  I think it is important to not have bleed-through so you can use both sides of the paper.

Cheetah, by me, Mary Stebbins Taitt, from the ten-minute sketch series. Done in Portfolio water soluble oil pastels on Canson Multimedia 9 x 12 paper (in my sketchbook) at dinner tonight, drawn quickly and then painted with plain water.

Super-Quick 5-minute Marker Sketch of Biker Buddy

Biker Buddy (keith
in wide-tip Copic Marker
9 x 12 watercolor paper
less than 5 minutes

I did this at dinner last night--it is, like all my work, imperfect, but I am pleased that my skill has developed to the point where SOMETIMES I can make a quick sketch and have it come out relatively well.