Tulips, a lobster and some sketches

Last months WetCanvas Floral challenge was all about tulips. I picked one of the reference photos and painted it twice. Once with watercolors only and the other one with pen and watercolors. Both in my Moleskine watercolor journal.

And I participated in a few WDE's (Weekend Drawing Event) on WetCanvas.

WDE 20 May 2016 - An old door in Greece, with brown  PITT pen, a brown Tombow pen and water

WDE 20 May 2016 - I was fascinated by the clearness of the water on the reference image. And I am really happy with my attempt. In watercolors only.

WDE 29 May 2016 - A juicy yummie looking lobster with pen and watercolors.

WDE 2 June 2016 - Two sketches in a square Handbook journal. The left one with my new Lamy pen and the right one with a Pilot Sign Pens. Both new pens, and both with ink that is not waterproof. But I do like the effect with the watercolors.

Sketches from Greece

I enjoyed a great holiday in Greece the last weeks, and returned home yesterday. I will show you some of the sketches I made in my Stillman and Birn Alpha journal. I have been working with pen, watersoluble pens (Tombow and Speedball) and watercolors.

This is a sketch I made sitting on the Golden Beach in Gialova, with a great view of the rocks in the clearblue water and the island opposite the beach. With pen and watercolors.

And some more sketches (in chronological order)

 

Methoni castle

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

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

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.