Tag Archives for watercolor

Winter Wonderland Contest – Koh-I-Noor

OK….Thanks to the fine folks at Koh-I-Noor - a great family of art supplies – I have thrown my hat into another Facebook art contest.

This contest had three categories – fireplace, snow, and pine. And of course I choose snow, because drawing snow in pen and ink should be easy……

I had to use the old garden shed as the subject for my snow drawing, I just can’t get away from the sheds! I’m pretty happy with the way this came out. I like the colors, the pen work isn’t too heavy, and I’m pleased with my snow-covered ground. My only complaint is with the illustration board. It is the hot press board from Crescent. The surface of the board is great for the line work. It held-up without getting fuzzy or scratched, I was able to go over some areas with the pen while the watercolors were still a bit wet. The watercolors sat on the surface and kept their intensity. But….the board is SO not white! I know most watercolor paper is off-white, but this is really bad. I guess I must continue my search for a hot press/smooth drawing surface that can stand up to pen work, and take some watercolor washes…looks like I need to do some shopping!

That’s all for now, I gotta go watch the snow fall…Erik

Grumbacher Holiday card and my first ATC…

Hello all…

In my push to make more art, I committed myself to an online Holiday Card Competition, and a Holiday Artist Trading Card swap. Both of these are hosted on Grumbacher’s Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/Grumbacher

I’m real happy with how both of these came out. I designed the holiday card as a 5 x 7 folded card. I used 140 pound hot press paper. I couldn’t even begin to guess on the brand, at one point I bought several sheets, each of a different brand. As time went on, and I kept cutting the sheets down, and I forgot to label each piece.

I like the hot press paper because I can really lay down some nice pen work. Since I prefer to use the watercolors as a wash, the smooth surface really works well for that.

The ATC is the first one I’ve ever made. I’ve always thought it would be fun to try, so I did. It was fun! I’ll pop that in the mail tomorrow. If anyone reading this is interested in starting a holiday swap, let me know!

That’s all for now. I hope to get a few more treehouses finished this weekend, but who knows…

Thanks everyone for taking the time to read my rambles and drop a comment…I do appreciate it!

Erik

Kidney Foundation of Northwest Ohio

It’s that time of year again for the Kidney Foundation of Northwest Ohio to host their annual Wine Affair. The reason I like to donate art each year to this wonderful event is because the funds raised stay here in Northwest Ohio.

Wine Affair / November 19th, 2010 / 6:30pm / Parkway Place, Maumee

The Kidney Foundation of Northwest Ohio will be hosting a Wine Affair: A Vintage to Remember ~ celebrating 19 years. Tickets are $90/person until October 31st and $100/person beginning November 1st. A table of 10 can be purchased for $800. There will be wine tasting, hors d’oeuvres, and a silent and live auction.

This year, the artwork I am donating is Tater’s Tree Farm. When the artwork is auctioned it will be framed with acid free matboards and protected under Conservation Glass. I hope this year’s donation finds its way into a home where it bring a smile to all who can enjoy it!

I wish the Kidney Foundation of Northwest Ohio great success this year!

Art TAG continues!

Thank you Beth for the Happy Squirrel! That’s what we’ve been calling him.

So the game of Art TAG continues! It was started by Ryan, here’s his wonderful site – http://asmalltowndad.wordpress.com/. It was then passed to Beth, this is the link to her great site - http://bethparkerart.wordpress.com/.

And now it’s my turn to be “it”! As the rules state – if you want to be it next, send me your snail mail address. When you receive my artwork, you post it, then pass along a piece of your art to someone else! Make sure you use the Contact Me link to send your address! Don’t post it here! The first address I receive will get a bit of my art! Lets keep this going! Who’s next?

Erik

Maple leaf for mom

Here is my latest dip in the old creative pond. This little painting is for a birthday card I’m making for my Mom.

This is a break from my usual pen and ink method, but I really wanted to capture the organic look of the maple leaf. I was afraid if I used the pen I would get too caught-up in the line work and start to drift from the flowing colors I was going for.

I used a wet-in-wet technique for most of the painting. I painted a yellow wash on the entire leaf then started building colors on top of that. I had a few “blooms” where the paper started to dry out, so I just went back with a little more color and washed it out. While the paper was still damp I grabbed my drawing pencil and added the veins. I was able to get the nice delicate lines without really transferring any of the pencil lead to the paper. I then painted over those lines with a few more colors and the paint just flowed into the veins perfectly. Once everything was dry I added a little shadow to the background so the leaf didn’t look too flat. Looking at the painting now I know I could have worked a little longer on the shadows, but I was more concerned with the bright colors and the contrast of colors in the leaf itself. And of course I had to finish it off with a little splatter!

I’m pretty happy with the way the colors came out on this painting.

To finish the card I’ll glue this to ivory card-stock, then I’ll grab a pen and add a thin outline to the card around the watercolor.

I keep trying to work large and create bigger paintings, but I always seem to get lost in them when I do. I’m not sure if it’s a time issue, or lack of wall space. Either way I keep coming back to the pen and ink and these smaller watercolors. I keep thinking I should try Artist Trading Cards, but there are so many groups to choose from, how do you decide?

Any ways…I’m done rambling for now. Thanks for taking the time – Erik

If I had a shed…

 

For some reason I have an obsession with garden sheds.  I don’t know why, and I’m not real sure when it started.  I remember when I was a rather young tot I always wanted to explore the various sheds and buildings on my Grandparent’s farm.  I still remember the musty earthy/woody smell the sheds had.  They were always full of great things a ten-year old could hurt himself, or others with!  Anyways, when the old creative juices seem to be getting a little dry the old sheds always get things going again.

I was trying to capture the bright colors of the season with this painting, I think it worked, I’m happy with it.  There is something special about fall.  The colors are more vibrant, the breeze is crisp, you can smell a change in the air.  Soon we’ll have the smell of apples filling our kitchen while we listen to dried leaves blow around the yard.  I’ll keep looking at this shed and filling it with all kinds of great things, maybe even a table to paint on!

Happy fall everyone – Erik

Our Vacation Home…

Our Vacation Home

Wow – It’s March already!  What happened to winter?

Now that spring is here and there are signs of life outside, my creative juices are wakening and starting to flow!  This isn’t really a new piece, but it just seems very fitting for this time of year.  Spring is around the corner, summer is close behind, and that can only mean one thing.  It’s time for vacations!  It’s just too bad we don’t have a place like this for our vacation home!

I do plan on posting my creative outlets here more regularly, so do check-in from time to time.  You just might  see something new!

Thanks…Erik

Not all art needs to be framed…

As an artist, I like to make art I feel is worthy of framing.  But let’s be honest…that doesn’t always happen!  Sometimes the colors don’t mix right, I miss a shadow, the proportions aren’t what I was going for.  There could be a whole list of reasons why, but it just doesn’t work.

I had a whole stash of these forgotten paintings and drawings tucked away.  Then I saw an article about turning these cast-aways into little treasures.  The idea is so simple I wondered why I hadn’t thought of it myself.  Trim the art down to fit blank greeting cards, and you’ve created one-of-kinda little treasures.  Since I have a collection of blank greeting cards in various colors and sizes, I made a template for each card.  I like to have the artwork be an inch smaller than the greeting card, so I cut the templates accordingly.  I just hold the templates over the artwork to find my crop, mark the size and cut.  Glue or double-sided tape can be used to mount the art to the cards.  I prefer to use double-sided tape as it holds the art securely and flat.  Sometimes a second piece of colored paper under the art adds a nice touch, but I always draw an outline around the art with an art pen in black, silver, or gold ink.

Enjoy…Erik

The Kidney Foundation of Northwest Ohio

Drive Thru on 568 AThe Kidney Foundation of Northwest Ohio will be presenting it’s 18th Annual Wine Affair Friday, Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m at the Hilton Garden Inn at Levis Commons in Perrysburg, Ohio.  For this year’s auction I’ll be donating The Drive Thru on 568.  This is a pen & ink with watercolor painting of a local barn here in Findlay.  All proceeds from the event stay in Northwest Ohio!  If you can’t attend this year’s event be sure to check their web site for other ways you can help.