Banana Muffin

"Banana Muffin," watercolor, 6" x 6"

A tasty homemade banana muffin, captured with some wet-in-wet technique and splattering. I am not sure how long this little painting took, but I bet it wasn't much more than 20 minutes. The color scheme is a little lackluster, as the flavor of this little treat does seem to warrant some brighter colors!

Citrus Delight

"Lemon-Lime," watercolor and water-soluble crayon, 5 1/2" x 8".

I never tire of classic food (or not-so-classic food) still life. This painting started out as a basic watercolor but drawing with water-soluble crayon over the top, rewetting and then painting again gave it a new intensity that I really like. Without being constrained to a 20-minute timeframe, the benefit is that I still work quickly and with purpose. But I am free to spend 30-40 minutes on a small painting like this, seeing it closer to completion. Is a painting ever truly finished?

Warm Weather Painting

"Delft Duck," watercolor, 5 1/2" x 8".

"June Strawberries," watercolor, 5 1/2" x 8".

My blog has languished in need of an update for some time now, so here's a couple small paintings I've done recently. I have several others, so I will update more in a few days. Watercolor painting is much more enjoyable to me outside in the warm weather; the paint dries on the paper quickly and I can accomplish more in a shorter period of time. Besides, I enjoy being outside, even if the occasional leaf, cotton tree fuzz or bug lands in my paint or water. I guess you could call that "added texture" if it ends up in the painting.

Not being limited to a 20 minute timeframe, I have been more experimental with paint colors and splattering. I usually work on small paintings in one session, but the strawberry painting had to be put away before it was done. When I came back to it another day, I gave it loose washes of bright yellow green and pink, and it immediately improved. I am not always patient enough to revisit or rework a piece, but now I want to to see what effects I can get with some other techniques and revisit some of my 20 minute sketches from last year. The sky's the limit with sketching this way!

Painted Easter Egg

It's been a while since I've done a 20 minute sketch or painting, but this brightly colored painted Easter egg was a perfect subject with which to try it again. The egg has a high gloss sheen to it which was nearly impossible to convey in watercolor, but the rest of the colors are accurate. I have several of these eggs and really enjoy bringing them out this time of year! Watercolor, approx. 3 1/2" x 4".

An Embroidered Baby Gift

Designing and stitching custom embroidery has become a small passion of mine recently, occupying several hours which would have been spent last year painting 20 minute sketches.  Though I deeply love both pursuits, the embroidery can be enjoyed as small gifts in ways paintings or sketches aren't always practical, like for little ones. Finding a gender-neutral subject was no trouble here. What baby wouldn't love a toadstool-drum-playing gnome?

Birthday Fraktur

I completed a few larger art and stitching projects lately, one of which was this beautiful fraktur-inspired painting (shown unframed). I was inspired by the style of 18th-century Pennsylvania German dower chests, with painted panels. Besides the traditional flower arrangements, they often include personalization like initials or dates indicating a marriage or other significant occasion. I liked trying to duplicate the carved-type somewhat primitive lettering here. Many of the fraktur-inspired paintings I've done before were vertical format, so the horizontal format of this one was also a welcome change. Pencil, pen and watercolor,
8" x 10".

Have a seat!

Illustrating a series of regular household chairs was an idea from another sketchbook artist's blog. I like the simplicity of it - something you look at around your house all the time, but recorded (in an artistic way) for posterity. I have some new sketch paper, slightly larger than I normally use (7"x10") but it thin for multiple washes and wrinkled. I am happy with my fancy lettering here! Pencil, pen and watercolor.