More Chickens: Watercolor and Acrylic ink

More chickens. This time I used watercolor for the base painting and after it dried, I used white acrylic ink (FW Daler Rowney Acrylic Artists Ink from Pearl Paint) to bring back the whites. The price is about the same or better at Mister Art.

Illustration Sketchbook: Angry Chickens/Watercolor

Angry chickens. Thought I'd try an illustration inspired by Joe Ciardiello with the background washed in and dramtic lighting. This takes a little more courage and speed. I am struggling ( like the salmon swimming upstream) with assuming a new vegetarian status...it's hard, but really, ultimately,...I think for me, plant-based is the way to go. (Ok, so..I still eat fish, so I don't know what category I am in really) Next in the sketchbook,...maybe...where's the beef? Recommended reading for anyone thinking of switching to a plant-based diet: The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell II.

Watercolor: White Pine

I like the gestures that young white pine make. Here are some small quick studies in watercolor with a very small brush. Going to visit ArtStar gallery soon for folk and fantasy. Tiffany Bozic 's fantastic tightly rendered, emotionally charged nature-scapes done on maple.

Botanical and Scientific Illustration

New notecards with Mahogany peony and Magnolia "Betty". Soon I will post about the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators of which I am a member (Finger Lakes Chapter). I also include "Kangaroo Apple" (Solanum aviculare, aka Poroporo, New Zealand Nightshade)
a watercolor that was included in the GNSI exhibition at this past summer's GNSI conference.
See GNSI member Mieke Roth's amazing work here and conference keynote speaker, James Gurney here. Also, the amazing James Gurney, author/illustrator of Dinotopia: The Journey to Chandara discusses his process alot on his blog, (voted one of the top 101 artist blogs), the Gurney Journey. Enjoy!

Botanical Illustration: Mahogany Peony

Two stages of this watercolor of a peony from the gardens at Cornell Plantations, in Ithaca, NY.
I prefer the first stage, but actually the color of the petals was a deep rich mahogany
and the end stage achieved by layering colored pencil is probably closer to the real color of this cultivar.

Nasturtium

Late spring I planted nasturtiums in my garden. They finally broke out with a few brilliant blossoms,...but it is the leaves I like. This was done in watercolor with colored pencils.