From cows to elephants

Last week I have been sketching and painting cows. But then I thought of all the photo's I took during a vacation in South Africa. Photo's of wildlife and of lots of elephants. I took one photo of two elephants playing and pushing each other. I cropped the original photo and created several paintings. I like all al them, but I love how the last one turned out, with the addition of watercolors and the details with pen.

31 x 41 cm / 12" x 16" with black Tombow (ink)

31 x 41 cm / 12" x 16" with black Tombow (ink)

36 x 48 cm / 14" x 19" with black Tombow (ink), watercolors and ink

More cows....

I really fell in love with these cows, I did another sketch with a black and blue Tombow in my A4 Moleskine watercolor journal.

And Bonnie Sitter sent me some more cow (and sheep) pictures. This is Lady 574, grazing in between the wildflowers. Love her!

A4 format, on quality Arches watercolor paper

A3 format, on quality Arches watercolor paper

Both cow paintings/drawings are for sale. Please contact me if you are interested.

Sketching cows

I visit the website from PaintMyPhoto almost every week. On this site people share their photo's for artists to use in their paintings.

This week I fell in love with a lovely image from Bonnie Sitter. She shared her cows image with us, with the appropriate title 'Beauty contest'. Bonnie also kindly sent me some more cow and sheep images by email, to use in next sketches and/or paintings. Bonnie's website can be found here.

I used this photo for several quick sketches with my Tombow markers and a waterbrush in my Moleskine watercolor journal (A4 size). I love the Tombow marker, the ink can be activated with water and will create lovely washes. Not to be used for the small details, as the tips are quit big. Someone told me about the Elegant writer pens from Speedball, but unfortunately I have not yet been able to find them in the Netherlands. They might have to wait till my next visit to the US... Or I can ask one of my US friends to order them for me. I would love to try them.

with black Tombow

with purple Tombow

first sketch in black

in black, love the cow with attitude on the left

More ATC's for the Animal ATC project

The ATC's that I painted for the Animal ATC project on WetCanvas are starting to arrive. Almost half of them have reached their final destination. Hopefully all of them will arrive safely, it is taking a long time...

Cow for Marilou (reference from PaintMyPhoto)

Dizzy for Jeanne

Penny for Jeanne

Sea otter for Bonnie

Sheep for Nancy (reference from PaintMyPhoto)

Sketches and new ATC's

This weekend our Weekend Drawing Event takes us to Istanbul. I visited Istanbul a few years ago, and it is a marvelous city, a mix of East and West. The beautiful buildings, mosques and palaces show the rich history of the city. And in the bazaars you can buy everything you want. I love the place. So this weekends WDE brought back some happy memories.

I chose a few images for this weekend, the image of the inside of the Blue Mosque both scared as fascinated me. And the dark weather in the image of the view on the Blue Mosque, was really suited for my black Tombow watersoluble pen and waterbrush. Both sketches are in my Stillman and Birn sketchbook, 5 1/5" x 8 1/2".

Sorry for the bad pictures, my printer/scanner broke down... 

And for the Animal ATC project I can show you 2 more ATC's. Both have arrived with their new owners.

The reference images for the 2 ATC's came from Paint My Photo.