An impromptu 20 minute sketch of my fellow campers reading and enjoying a campfire this weekend. Pencil, 5 1/2" x 8". I really do enjoy sketching people, it's surprising how quickly you can capture gestures even when people are moving.
Portraiture is a subject I love, but in order to feel confident in it, more frequent practice is needed. To make my 20 minute timeframe I omitted sketching in pencil - and having the freedom to erase lines - and went right in with the paint. I ended up with a nice softly rendered portrait, where the head is a slight bit too big for the body. (Though it was a child model, and children do have different proportions than adults). Watercolor, 5 1/2" x 8".
After a few days of realism, I get the urge to just draw lines. These designs are my favorite kind of "doodling," controlled and symmetric yet free and relaxing to me. Pen and watercolor, approx. 5 1/2" x 8".
The last few days of celebrating the Independence Day holiday at picnics have been a veritable fruit salad of 20 minute paintings for me. This peach was perfectly ripe and fragrant, and those wonderful warm colors were a delight to paint. Watercolor, 5 1/2" x 8".
Fresh raspberries and blueberries in season - calls for a celebration! With the rich bright red and that gorgeous purplish-blue color, I couldn't resist doing two 20-minute paintings. Watercolor, approx. 5 1/2" x 7 1/2".
Independence Day is always a fun holiday, what with the parades, and the picnics, and the FREEDOM we Americans have. The eagle was used as a symbol of the U.S.A. long before July 4, 1776. It was often comical in its early renderings, looking more like a regular bird, a chicken or even a turkey. But the beauty in these primitive images is in their wacky and uninhibited use of color and pattern (like on the wings here). I also admire the eagle and shield images used in the post-colonial era, especially those on "Federal" style furniture inlays. So - this image is my own combination of those styles (pen and watercolor, approx. 4 1/2" x 6 1/2").
I know several people add these sort of random lists to their blogs, but mine is illustrated in 20 minutes (pen, 5 1/2" x 8"). In no particular order (and not including my wonderful family and friends - who I love BEST), I do love playing softball, candy, camping, hot tea, ice cold beer, embroidery, our dogs, reading, cake decorating, and sketching/painting. If I sort of cheat and count baseball as similar to softball, then I believe I have done a 20 minute sketch of all those things in addition to this one. If I am wrong (and someone corrects me), then I will do a sketch of the missing item(s) to fix it!
