Saturday, August 14, 2010

Illustration Friday "Star Gazing"

For this week's Illustration Friday topic, I started off my piece drawing with pencil, followed by the usual black Prismacolor pencil and watercolor wash, along with more colored pencils. I couldn't get a rich enough sky tone so I tried layering and rubbing in pastels over the watercolor. I like the way the pastels add more depth to the sky, and give everything a softer feel. I used Strathmore Illustration board, and it held up well to the multiple media.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Illustration Friday "Caged"

This week's IF word is "caged". This formerly caged bird is looking for its freedom.
Speaking of birds, the house wrens nesting in our backyard birdhouse are raising their second brood of the season. From early morning to evening, the parents fly in and out bringing insects to their babies. One can tell when a parent approaches the nest, as there is a cacophony of chatter from what sounds like a lot of little mouths. I hope we'll see them fledge soon and maybe get an idea of how many babies were in there. As I write this, dusk is falling and I can still hear the sounds of feeding going on.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

House Portrait

This is a picture of a house portrait commission that I completed this summer. It was mainly done in watercolor with a little addition of colored pencil for fine lines and details.