most beasts

Tiny Chickens

2011-12-20T07:30:00.001-05:00

Tiny little watercolors of tiny little chickens.

Merry Merry

2011-12-18T19:33:00.006-05:00

Just the thought of getting letters from Santa written by Tolkien makes me happy. He has a funny handwriting, he makes up stories and he does little illustrations . It is a wonderful book (the copy selling now looks different from mine).

In 1999 I did this watercolor of a nutcracker and rat.

This is my 2010 Christmas card - it's a linocut with watercolored berries.

Another Christmas card linocut - with red ink. I hardly ever use any ink other than black because it can look kind of kooky.

Cards of Christmases past

2011-12-13T10:30:00.008-05:00

Every July I tell myself I need to make my Christmas card, and I start thinking about it - even doing sketches. And then I put it off - because it's July and I have plenty of time.

Then in November I tell myself it's time to get serious and get my picture drawn.

In December I get a little panicky and often end up with something I'm not in love with, but I'm so relieved to have something to print and send.

This year is the latest I've ever left cards. I'm starting to think about cards welcoming 2012. sigh.

Renaissance Cats

2011-12-05T07:30:00.000-05:00

My cat, Archibald, posed for this drawing - I didn't tell him I was putting him in dresses.
Pen, ink and watercolor.

Botanical Illustration

2011-12-01T07:30:00.001-05:00

In the summer of 2009 I tried botanical illustration with watercolors. I borrowed books from the library for tips on what to do, what to look for and what to record. It requires a lot of patience and looking at minute details. I had my fill after a few weeks and these are my results.

Herons

2011-11-29T07:30:00.000-05:00

Here's a small watercolor sketch that actually led to bigger paintings.

My first try wasn't quite what I'd imagined. That's typical with my watercolors - I need to keep redoing them to work out the colors.
It was my first time doing such a large watercolor; I used a full sheet - 22" x 30".

I was happier with this version because there was a bigger range of tones - both lights and darks.

Red Riding Wolf

2011-11-28T07:30:00.001-05:00

I tried variations on this theme for weeks of painting. The final version is above. Those below - and I did several trials of each - led up to the final.

Let the Season Begin

2011-11-25T07:30:00.001-05:00

I've been listening to holiday music for weeks now, but I've refrained from posting Christmas themed drawings until today. One day after Thanksgiving - I can't wait any longer.

I'm posting a couple of Christmas card ideas that didn't make the cut in years past. These were trial sketches and mock-ups - I ended up using a different penguin.

Zebra canes and/or caroling zebras seemed like a good idea, but I never got it to work.

Florida - studies

2011-11-23T07:30:00.001-05:00

Three tiny watercolor studies from photos we took in Florida in 2007. Each is about 2" wide. I call them studies, because they were quick sketches, but I didn't ever do more with them.

2011-11-22T07:30:00.002-05:00

When I lived in California I went to as many fairs where people were in costume as I could. It was a great opportunity to take pictures of interesting faces without raising questions. This man was at a Charles Dickens event before Christmas, and even though everyone was dressed for winter festivities it was probably in the 90s that day.

Musical cats

2011-11-21T07:30:00.000-05:00

My cats posed for this picture - they're all poses of sleeping - the open eyes show the skepticism they expressed as I hovered over them with the camera.

Geese

2011-11-18T07:30:00.001-05:00

My husband's uncle kept geese and my mother-in-law sent me in to feed them one day. I had no idea they could be mean. She did, though, and watched from a distance, laughing as I was chased out of the pen.
I learned. About both: geese and my mother-in-law (who I do like, but I keep my eyes open now). These sketches are of those geese. From outside the fence.
The linocut is made from the sketches. I use Safety-Kut because it's easier to work.

Jill

2011-11-17T07:30:00.000-05:00

hummingbirds

2011-11-16T07:30:00.001-05:00

Two watercolors from the same photo. Two different treatments.
My friend, Steve, takes beautiful photos of birds.

On the farm

2011-11-14T07:32:00.000-05:00

In pen and ink with watercolor.

Martin

2011-11-11T07:35:00.002-05:00

I forgot to mention in my last post that I'm veering slightly from the "beasts" part of my blog title so that I can include lots of illustrations I've done. Maybe I should have called it mostly beasts.

I wonder if I could find every illustrator's family in their drawings if I knew where to look.
These are my husband. Posted without his permission - well, without asking first.

Grandpa

2011-11-10T07:30:00.000-05:00

My grandfather was very handsome when he was young. This is a watery watercolor I did from a photo I found. I wish I could always see such strong contrasts in faces and model them with shadows.

This is a linocut. I don't have a photo of him pouring tea for a frog, so I must have used one of him looking down as reference.

Tigers

2011-11-09T07:35:00.001-05:00

These tigers are from a time when I was trying out what I could do with colored pencils. White pencil on brown paper made me think differently about drawing - the brown was already a color to work with...or around. I made a note on the first tiger drawing shown that it took me three hours to do. It takes lots of careful and small strokes for me to get the texture I want with colored pencil. I'm not very good at laying out a drawing in advance - I like to get going and then see how things turn out, but it was hard to put ten or more hours into a piece before I realized that my proportions looked kooky.

Red and green

2011-11-08T07:35:00.000-05:00

More pencil drawings with watercolor backgrounds.

Meerkats

2011-11-07T08:02:00.009-05:00

While I was looking at the sketches I've done of meerkats I was trying to remember why I did them. I can't keep saying "I just love (name of animal here)". Probably with most animals I want to draw them because I like their facial expression. They look cranky or serious or happy.
Meerkats are so busy and curious and to me they look like they're having a good time. They're very social, and I like to see them sleeping in a big pile. A lot of times they are interested in zoo visitors - I bet they get fed a lot of snacks when no one is looking.
I did some meerkat signage for the Muenster Zoo - just the ideas and layout suggestions, not the illustration.

The sign asks if you have what it takes to be a meerkat.

Gulls

2011-11-04T09:24:00.000-04:00

I did two paintings from a photo of a gull in Florida. The first is in pastel on Hahnemühle Velour Board (So fuzzy. I find it hard (and annoying) to get a crisp line - although I've seen plenty of other people do it).

The second is a watercolor. In upcoming posts I'll show an example of how many paintings I do until I get something I'm satisfied with. For this gull I think I watercolored him four or five times before I was satisfied.

Also, I'm not sure I've said this before, but although I usually work from photos I do a lot of sketching from life. I just never find it easy to use only the sketches for reference when I'm ready to do a realistic finished drawing or painting.

Tiny animals

2011-10-31T21:12:00.000-04:00

I feel so much more confident drawing than painting (esp. with watercolors). But my colors are more vibrant with paint than with colored pencils. Here I have the best of both my worlds.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-28T16:18:00.000-04:00

Paul Klee's Face is the inspiration for this pumpkin. For the first time I used an X-Acto blade to carve part way into the shell so I could have more color. It wasn't as hard to do as I'd thought it would be, but the pumpkin's walls are also 3" thick so it's not really letting much light shine out like I'd hoped. Luna helped.

Deborah Ross

2011-10-26T08:28:00.000-04:00

When I go to zoos and aquariums I look at signage and its illustrations. It's always exciting to find the work of artists I've seen in Noah's Art. I've run into the art of Deborah Ross in several places. Her watercolors are loose and fun and I especially like to see her animal sketches on signs.
The first four signs are from the Bronx Zoo and the last three are from the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.

Polar Bears

2011-10-24T20:24:00.000-04:00

Polar bears are some of the wiggliest animals - especially the young ones.
Sketching them isn't easy, and I have a lot of drawings that are ears and eyes and not much more.

We're really lucky in Toledo. Two times the female has given birth in the last 6 years and there have been roly poly cubs to watch. I drew this in pencil from a photo my husband took of the mama bear and her baby.

A polar bear keeper told me that older polar bears aren't as interested in playing - no matter how much water you give them to swim. This bear must still have been at a playful age, because he delighted in leaping into the water and watching me jump. He's rendered in colored pencil.

This final drawing is in pastel. I drew on sandpaper which makes an even bigger mess than regular paper - it chews up pastels - and spits them all over the floor.

And so it begins

2011-10-19T11:12:00.001-04:00

I carved my six tiny pumpkins this past weekend. It only took about half an hour. One spoonful and they were scooped clean. My usual knife was a little too big for the job and I was only happy with how one turned out.
After a day in the sun they were looking a little aged. They're feather light and I was sure one good gust of wind (and it was really windy here on Monday) would send them sailing into the neighbor's yard.

As predicted (and as seen through the sliding glass door):

One down, five to go. Get 'em while they're fresh.

Noah's Art

2011-10-18T09:31:00.000-04:00

This book was such a great idea. It's Noah's Art: the graphics of zoos, aquaria, aviaries and wildlife parks ( © 1991 Wei Yew). The book has beautiful photographs and images of institutions' signage, print media, billboards, posters, t-shirts and more. Now it is only available used, but on Yew's website http://www.weiyew.com/ he says you can contact him for prices.

I've seen excellent illustrations and graphics at zoos and aquariums. I'll share some here in coming posts. Until then, here are a few pages from the book.

Squirrel Monkeys

2011-10-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

Apenheul in the Netherlands is a animal park where the monkeys roam free and the visitors are restricted to paths. They used to allow visitors to take part in scheduled feedings, but they no longer allow animal/ human contact. The squirrel monkeys didn't get the memo.

The pencil sketches are of squirrel monkeys that live at the Nuremberg Zoo in Germany. They have their own outdoor island with 24 hour access; they reach it by a rope that goes over the visitor path.

Feeding squirrel monkeys is so fun; they're soft and light. It's definitely worth holding wriggling meal worms to do.

Pumpkin, carved

2011-10-14T08:58:00.001-04:00

Last year I looked to cubism for carving inspiration. There was more planning involved - and more structural toothpicks - than I usually have. Six tiny pumpkins are sitting in my kitchen and slowly getting soft. I'm planning to carve them this weekend. I know it's too early, and when I put them out the squirrels will be thrilled. Their demise is certain, though, inside or out.

Frogs

2011-10-13T11:01:00.000-04:00

Lemurs

2011-10-11T12:30:00.000-04:00

In Apenheul (near Apeldoorn, The Netherlands) the monkeys run free and the visitors are confined to paths. They used to allow visitors to pet the animals, but in 2006 there were signs that said not to. (The signs were in Dutch and I didn't see them until after I'd pet this lemur.)

The Cologne Zoo has a big collection of lemurs. Their ring-tailed lemurs were allowed to roam free, too, but it wasn't easy for visitors to get close to them. They were affectionate with the keeper, though, and when she went into their indoor enclosure they sat on her lap. This is from my 1997 pencil sketchbook.

The two following drawings are lemurs from Apenheul and are done in colored pencil.

And a final ring-tailed lemur in watercolor. Lemurs are some of my favorite animals (do I say that about every animal I post?) and I hope to see them in Madagascar some day. Soon.

October 8th - African Penguin Awareness Day

2011-10-07T16:55:00.000-04:00

In honor of a day for African penguins.
A link and a pen and ink.

The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds

Millikan

2011-10-05T11:56:00.000-04:00

In 1998 Millikan came to live with us. He was so nervous for his first 11 years that we were only allowed to pet him if we were carrying something and there was no chance that both hands could be on him at once. If we went out for an afternoon we had to remind him of who we were when we came back. In the last two years, though, he's gotten more confident and will sometimes walk across my lap.
I did these sketches in pencil when he was still a kitten.

He's so beautiful that I like to use him in illustrations. This is a pen and ink study.

In these paintings I started with the darkest areas and worked backwards to the lightest. I used pen and ink in the second one to get the darkest darks.

October Ostriches

2011-10-03T20:04:00.000-04:00

It's October and I am ready to enjoy a whole month of Halloween anticipation. I did this illustration years ago with Toledo Zoo's MaskZOOrade event in mind. (pen, ink and watercolor)

Giraffes

2011-09-29T08:19:00.000-04:00

I have been drawing giraffes for a long time. These are from my 1997 sketchbook and were done at the Cologne Zoo in Germany.

This is from 1999 and it was the first time I felt good about the results of anything I'd painted in watercolor. I've heard people say that you have to use 100 sheets of paper before you get one good watercolor. I don't know if I believe it - I don't know if I want to...

I tried colored pencils for awhile. I liked the results I saw other people getting, and I've always felt more comfortable drawing than painting. Paint covers surfaces quickly and with a lot of saturation, though, so I didn't stay with colored pencils. This baby giraffe is from 2005.

I've also tried pastels. I taped paper to the living room wall to do a bigger pastel drawing. I used sticks of pastel here, because they cover more surface faster than pastel pencils do. The pastel dust makes a fantastic mess as it falls to the floor. There was just no getting the carpet under this painting clean.

I used a photo to draw the last pastel.

I know one of the giraffe keepers in Nuremberg, Germany. She let me come to the night holding and I got to feed the giraffes. They like Wasa bread.

Elephant Parade

2011-09-28T08:18:00.000-04:00

When I started sketching in zoos in the mid 90s I drew as accurately as I could - I wanted realistic results. Here's a sketchbook page from the Cologne Zoo in Germany in the summer of 1997.

And I would do very realistic finished work. This is a pastel from 2008.You can tell it's a zoo elephant from the tusks - they're short to protect the other elephants and their handlers.

At the beginning of 2010 I started painting with acrylic. And instead of drawing every eyelash (a friend once commented on seeing too much hyper-realistic art that drew every detail) I painted very abstractly. It affected my sketching and what I wanted the results to be. I went to the zoo for days in a row in the summer of 2010 to draw the elephants. I have pages and pages in my sketchbook that look like this:

Gesture after gesture - I started a new drawing each time the elephant moved. It felt funny to be drawing so loosely - and I didn't feel as comfortable having other zoo visitors look over my shoulder.
For the first time I used my sketches instead of photos to do finished artwork. I did several wall sized acrylic paintings from these summer sketches.

Goats!

2011-09-27T15:07:00.000-04:00

Goats are so funny. They always look like they're deciding which article of your clothing they'll eat first as you walk towards them. I drew lots of goats in zoos in the late 90s. This is from my sketchbook and it's a little light because I used pencil - maybe HB or B. I didn't trust myself with 2B or softer until just a few years ago.
In 2005 Muenster Zoo in Germany opened a children's area and I had the chance to do some illustrations for the signage. I did my drawings in pencil and used Photoshop to give them different colors in the signage.

This final drawing is pen and ink painted with watercolor.

Gorilla Fritz

2011-09-26T14:37:00.000-04:00

In 2007 I was at the Nuremberg Zoo in Germany. This is me with Fritz. He's their silverback.(He has an outdoor space, too.)
It's hard to draw animals - they never stay still. Even when they're sleeping they don't hold a pose for longer than a minute. I start lots of different gesture sketches and if I wait long enough eventually the animal will cycle back through to the same pose and I can keep drawing.

These are pages from my sketch book. I used pigma Micron pens and sketched the gorillas at the Toledo Zoo in 2008. At the time I used sketching as a way to understand animal anatomy, but when I did a finished drawing I worked from photos.

This is Fritz - from a photo - drawn in pencil on 140 lb. hot pressed watercolor paper.