Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which I Have Another Art!

This week's piece is not what I hoped it would be. I wanted to have a fun bubble art piece with a lot of different points and a slow fade, but... I kept losing count of the pixels, kept slipping up and drawing over rounds, kept getting distracted, kept forgetting which direction the color-shifts were heading.

So instead I made a fun gradient out of squares:

"Square A"; digital; 2023
[GEOMETRIC]

I quite like the colors I chose for this, and while it's not the smoothest gradient I could have done, part of that is because I scaled it up about 500% from its original size (which was roughly 1" square). The other part of the reason is that I increased (or decreased) each RGB value by 5 (less on smoother rounds). I had a set of 6 colors that I wanted to hit and went from each to the next, adjusting with every round.

I hope to have another piece out eventually which has more colors (though very similar ones) and using bubbles instead of concentric boxes, but for now, we have Square A, and Square A is very nice, in my opinion.

What do you guys think? Do you have any suggestions for me, for how to make the process easier (without buying/downloading any Adobe products)? I'm currently using Krita & Paint.net.

I find Paint.net much easier for making pixel pieces like this, but Krita is great for painterly pursuits.

Anyway, that'll be my short little art blog today. For a piece that took 30 hours to complete, (due to the 15 or so previous iterations that failed miserably), I don't have too much to say on it lol.

For now, I think I'll focus on getting cozy for the night and working on a very poorly-thought-out crochet project that may or may not work.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which Today's Art is Scanned!

Today I have a couple of paintings to share with y'all. One, I completed while still cat-sitting, the other, I finished this morning.

"At the Dam"; watercolor pencil on sketch; 2023
[Animal, Location, Vegetable]

This picture was based off of a view Z and I had when we went down to the dam near the apartment we were watching for my sister. We sat and watched a bald eagle and several turkey vultures soaring over a dammed river with lots of rocks in the water. There was a small rocky island that the birds kept flying over, and while what I've painted here doesn't really look like what we saw, it's close enough to give the feel. The small gray bird to the right of the tree is a mockingbird that was flashing its wing patches at us as it flitted around the area.

"Cocoa"; watercolor on paper; 2023
[Food]

Hmm... should I add Food as a Request Category like the others (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Dedbert, Location, Geometric)?

I had a lot of fun drawing this, though I really need to pay more attention to shading. I Am very pleased with how the first painting looks, though. I turned the brightness down to about -30 and scanned it at 600dpi instead of 1200dpi. Since I scanned "Cocoa" first, it didn't get the brightness lowered, and I should have paid more attention to the cropping.

Regardless, I should do more paintings, and I'm still working on a digital piece that has... a lot of colors. I'm planning on doing some weird stuff to it lol!

If you'd like a say in what I draw or paint, week to week, you can send me a coffee donation over on Ko-Fi with a message telling me which category you'd like to see (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Dedbert, Location, Geometric, Food) and I'll draw or paint something that fits that category for the next Thursday!

I've also started taking commissions, if you'd be interested in that route, and I also have a Threadless Store! You may also see an Amazon Wishlist on the sidebar, which contains a bunch of random stuff that I would use for the blog.

That does it for the shameless self-promotion for this week, so I'll just head on out and get a little snack before working on more art!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

Art Day!

 

Hopefully we're nearing the end of the "less-than-seven-pictures" period of this year, because I'd really love to get back to the daily art grind. It didn't happen this week. It won't happen next week. Why? Because I've been busy! And I stress when I'm busy.

I mean, I stress no matter what, but I've been extra busy and extra stressed this month. Hopefully after Sunday things calm down significantly and I can just... work. The way I want to.

A birb can dream, right?

Anyway, these are the watercolor paintings I managed this week!

"Dreamhogs"; watercolor; 1/18/2023 [ANIMAL]

"Parrot Waxcap"; watercolor; 1/19/2023 [VEGETABLE]

I'm pretty happy with the waxcaps, though I couldn't quite figure out how to make them look properly glossy (maybe some white gel pen highlights?), and the hedgehogs are cute, but I have felt off lately in the watercolor realm. Maybe it's because my art space, usually fairly disorganized as is, has been completely obliterated lately and I haven't really felt like I could clean it up. Maybe I just don't have the skills I want to have. Maybe I'm just tired. Whatever the case, these little pictures took way more out of me than they should've.

I'm going on a Family Adventure this weekend, so I've been stressing pointlessly about all the minutiae and potential hazards and such. I stress, remember? It's just how I am lol. I don't know if I'll have time to do more than take a few photos to eventually turn into art, but I'll try to do *some* work on the go, whether it's art or writing.

If you'd like to have a say in next week's art, feel free to send a coffee (and a prompt) via Ko-Fi. The categories you can suggest are Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Location, Dedbert, Geometric, or Word.

I know this week's blog is short, but so is my attention span, so we'll hope for the best for next week, eh?

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

In Which The Day's Title is Literal lol

Today's painting was brought to you by Bipedal Ambulation, aka Walking.

Lately, with the weather improving (yesterday it was 67℉/19,4℃), I've been more active. This means I've been going out more, which means that I've been scooping up little goodies to go in my Goblin's Purse I made a few weeks ago.

Generally, I just photograph these little Goblin Hauls and toss them in an empty Stroopwafel box, uploading the photos to my Instagram (which uh... is pretty much all I post there). This week I decided to also paint some of my finds!!!

"Goblin Horde 01"
watercolor, watercolor pen, and Pigma Micron on watercolor paper;
2022

Today is breezy and cool - I'm in my pajama pants and a Jack-o-lantern tee! It's 63℉/17,2℃ and sunny, the wind is blowing, there's 30-40 honeybees sipping water from our bird bath, and I feel fantastically cozy. I'm excited to enjoy the rest of the day.

If you'd like to have a say in what I draw or paint, feel free to throw a donation into my Ko-fi account with a message saying what category you'd like - Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Geometric, Word, Dedbert, Location - and I'll make something based on that!

I hope all of your art dreams come true this week, folks :)

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which I'm Helping

Yesterday was quite the day! Nothing seemed to be going quite right, art-wise, for the first 3/4 of the day, and I just felt kind of run-down. It was gorgeous out, though, with blue skies and bright sunshine and a birdbath surrounded by thirsty honeybees from the neighbor's hives, and that was nice. It was also nice that, out of the blue, my boyfriend was gifted a new mattress by our Epic Friends - the same ones who transported a bed to him last week!

And then, in the evening, my wonderful mother took my guy and me to go pick up some rugs for his room, and that was great, too!

All in all, and despite my brain being mush, yesterday was pretty decent, really!

But I had a problem - I received a Ko-Fi donation for art in the LOCATION category, and I could not for the life of me figure out how to draw or paint a location all day! I wanted to paint a library - too many lines, apparently, because my lineart was... bad. I wanted to create a sunset silhouetted scene from a desert in digital art - too few colors, couldn't figure out the order of shading. I was about to give up when my boyfriend suggested Mount Katahdin.

I love painting mountains.

I really, really love them.

I was, however, very intimidated by painting a mountain I knew, though.

Thankfully, Google is a total bro when it comes to finding reference photos, and it's pretty easy to find said references for Katahdin! I still wanted to paint a sunset, though, so I changed the time of day, tweaked some colors and got to work.

My first layer was with my Arteza watercolor pencils, and I sketched everything out with a brown sienna pencil before filling in base colors. I chose some pretty wild tones for the sky and the peaks, then more subdued ones for the forest and pond.

I'm pretty pleased with how it came out, but you can let me know what you think in the comments either on here or wherever you found a link!

"Katahdin"; watercolor and watercolor pencil on hot press paper; 2022

Up until today, I've struggled to get our scanner to capture the actual colors of my paintings, but I think I figured it out!

I stuck black construction paper behind the painting instead of leaving it against the white lid.

Seems to have done the trick, because that yellow is just as yellow as it is in real life!

Also, I did something I didn't think I'd ever do - I accidentally put my brush in my coffee.

Thankfully the paints are non-toxic and the brush washed out just fine in my water, but that was... embarrassing, to be honest lol!

I think that will do it for me, today. I will be working on some crochet tonight, and if you guys want a say in what I draw or paint, please remember to send me a Ko-Fi donation with a message telling me what category you'd like to see next (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Location, Geometric, Dedbert, Word)!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which Today Was Productive
(And So Was Yesterday)

Generally speaking, on Wednesdays and Thursdays, I am either a pile of goop or a buzzing hive of artistic industry. This week was a busy bee kind of week, and today's lovely weather (about 25℃/77℉, sunny and breezy and not too humid) definitely helped!

Yesterday I spent the whole day trying to figure out how to work with Redbubble's templates and I'm still not 100% done figuring that out. Instead, I grabbed my hot press Fluid Easy-Block and began painting a lovely prosaic landscape.

I was laying down the sky colors when something... weird started to happen.

The paper started forming tiny little blisters! I've never seen that on hot press watercolor paper before, but this is only my third time using it, so maybe that's just a thing you have to watch out for?

I think, however, that it was my fault.

I think it's because I left the page exposed in my room for too long and it ended up covered in dust. Dust in my home tends to be a bit... greasy. My father is a carnivore at heart, so greasy dust isn't a surprise, but I'd never have guessed that it could deteriorate the surface of my watercolor paper!

The bubbling was strange, but I persisted and over the course of a few reruns of BBC's Crime Watch from the 1990s, I made this lovely landscape that I simply call...

"Moo"; watercolor on hot press paper; 2022

Look at the lovely family of Highland cattle lounging in the high grass! I'm pretty happy with how this came out, though there are things I'd do differently in the future (like actually sketching the picture first...) but even with the weird paper granulation/blistering, I am pretty happy with how the sky came out! I'm also pretty happy with how the grass looks like it has shadows under the cows! Real talk - I painted those shadows first!!!

I want to practice sketching more, so I think that as the weather continues to improve I'll do my best to grab a sketchbook (or even a watercolor notebook and paints) and try to make more art around town. Today was a bit zesty and crowded for a proper walk down to the beach, so instead, I just dropped off my library book and came home. I got barked at by some large dogs in the back of a truck and found out I had just enough change for a can of Coke to treat myself.

I'm sipping that Coke now, typing up this blog, and thinking about the oncoming season.

I have to admit, I'm inordinately excited for sweatshirt weather and art prompt season!

I won't be doing Inktober this year, but if you have any suggestions for prompt lists like Witchtober or Drawlloween, I'd love to be linked to them! Drop a comment here or on Twitter or wherever else you've encountered this blog! 

And if you'd like to have a say in what I draw or paint or what not next week, make a donation to my Ko-Fi account (linked in the sidebar) with a comment that includes the category you'd like to see (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Location, Word, Dedbert, Geometric).

That'll do it for me, today!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which I Have Painted

I hoped this week that getting my painting done on Wednesday would mean the blog going up before 3PM, but... I'm sometimes quite tortoise-y and forget to actually start the typing. for instance, this blog page got opened an hour ago, and I'm just now adding text lol!

In my defense, however, there was another kerfuffle with the scanner(s), and frankly, I am shocked that I'm even conscious after all the running around I had to do.

See, our scanners and printers (multiples because my dad does a bunch of stuff for his hobbies/extra work like managing the music for the jazz band and keeping track of memberships for his small country golf course) are all in the basement, and I don't know how to use half of them because my brain is a sack of pinkish pudding in a bone-bowl 90% of the time. I work from an upstairs bedroom, and the living room and kitchen are between the scanners and myself.

This means that I have to go up and down two sets of stairs with two social spaces between. If someone's in the living room or kitchen (a fair bet after 11AM), then I'm going to get distracted. Even if no one's there, I still get distracted because coffee is delicious and my will is weaker than a tissue paper bridge over an arroyo during flood season. Add to that the fact that my memory is about as good as that of a 1989 computer whose CMOS hasn't been changed in the intervening years, and you've got a frazzled, coffee-soaked artist who keeps forgetting artworks either upstairs or in the cellar.

And then you add in the fact that sometimes the scanner just... won't work.

I've noticed that the first time you try to scan something from the black scanner, it freezes on the computer end, but the scanner is still trying to work, so you can't actually just... restart the scan. You have to get up from the computer, go down to the cellar, manually cancel the scan, go back upstairs, then restart the preview from there, reset the parameters, and pray that the darn thing scans.

"But Casual," you may ask, "Why not bring your computer to the scanner so it's easier to troubleshoot?"

Well....

Uh...

Okay, I'll be real, I never think to do that, but mostly that's because of my abysmal luck with batteries failing at important junctures.

Also I'm terrified of the cellar spiders and don't like to be down there any longer than I have to.

And the lights turn off from the top of the stairs only, so if someone doesn't hear me down there, they might turn off the lights and I'm a wimpy little wiener who's still scared of the dark.

And now you know my deepest secrets...

Anywho, here's what I worked on this week!

"Sketches" Watercolor; 2022

This piece is a small warmup where I was picking which category I wanted to go with this week! The shapes represent the GEOMETRIC category, the little cottage is LOCATION, the squirrel is of course an ANIMAL, the purple spire is an amethyst spear and therefore a MINERAL, the pinkish blob is supposed to be a mushroom which I count as a VEGETABLE, Dedbert is DEDBERT, the word Hope is sketched out for the WORD category.

This week's category proper, however, was ANIMAL!

"Frogi" watercolor on cotton paper; 2022

I took a very loose approach to this frog with only the vaguest outline, and I splashed random colors from my Peter Pauper Press palette on. I quite like the messy background, which I feel gives it an out-of-focus-rainforest vibe!

If you'd like a say in what I paint or draw next week, definitely check out the "commissions" page I have to see the different categories (also listed under the sketch before Frogi!). It's just one Ko-Fi, and they've got a messaging system that I'll absolutely see!

Back on the topic of scanning, though, I think I should look into a sheet of black poster board or construction paper to help me find the edges of my scans. If you're someone who does a lot of scanning, do you have any suggestions to help make things easier for myself? I know I probably don't need to be scanning at as high a dpi as I do, but... honestly, I don't know what I'm doing.

The joys of having to choose between which art you want to focus on in High School. You don't have to scan to play the flute.

Anywho, I'm gonna get back to untangling Gordon the Gordian Knot of blue DK weight acrylic yarn, and hopefully I'll be talking with my guy and watching some author chats with him!

Hope your weeks are going well!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

In Which a Dreamy Day Was Had By A Certain Birb

Dedbert had a wonderful day today, which is very good for him. I didn't have quite so nice a day, but we can easily chalk that up to today being a comedy of errors.

First, I woke up around 3AM and never got back to sleep. Then I tried to take the returnables back, but the redemption center was closed (again). Then I tried to pick up snacks, but the Family Dollar was closed (again). Then I tried to get two cans of Dr Pepper but they only had one at the Food Service, but that was alright because I got a Coke instead. Then my mom and I went to Staples and tried to print a photo for someone but the photo printer booth was closed. Then I went to the Dollar Store, which is, of course, the buck twenty five store now, and they didn't have M&Ms. At least they had my popcorn. For twelve cents more than usual.

All in all, a very frustrating day.

So of course I had to paint something soothing today, rather than frustrating and complex.

Thankfully, today's category was the newly-added DEDBERT, so here is our boy chilling in a pond, unbothered, in his lane, moisturized, etc.

"Dedbert Dream" watercolor on rag paper, 2022

Look at our boy! He's so calm, so relaxed in his little spa, surrounded by grasses and wildflowers as the sun gently sets.

Pure bliss.

In fact, I absolutely wish I was him, floating gently in a cool but not cold pool under a cotton candy sky with no cares, no regrets. Just pure Dreamspace.

It's why I love painting Dream Creatures!

My day may have been frustrating, but now I'm just vibing with my smol damp son, so maybe life isn't so bad?

I hope you all have a day like Dedbert's soon, where you simply exist and are enough and are satisfied.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which This Week's Theme Was...
VEGETABLE

This week I was given the theme "Vegetable" to make art from!

Actually, it occurs to me that I've never actually made it clear what each category means. In fact, I don't think I've ever formally explained the whole system...

Well, no time like the present!

I am, as anyone who knows me is aware of, not a particularly confident person when it comes to my skills, so I would feel really awful about selling full-on commissioned artwork. I don't have the focus or skill necessary to make someone's Original Character (OC) or a portrait, but I love having some sort of guidance so that I can't develop Artist's Block.

So I've introduced a system of... pseudo-commissioning me.

On my Ko-Fi account, you can leave a message when you donate. For one coffee (which is around 3 bucks USD), you can send me a message consisting of which category you'd like to see me tackle. Those categories are, as of this week: ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MINERAL, LOCATION, GEOMETRIC, and WORD. You don't get to tell me what I make beyond just those categories, but here is what you could possibly end up with:

• ANIMAL
• animal lifeforms, insects, arachnids, humans, or mythological creatures
• VEGETABLE
• plants or fungi
• MINERAL
• rocks, gems, crystals
• LOCATION
• landscapes, cityscapes, rooms, desk assemblages, maps, seascapes
• GEOMETRIC
• bubble art, abstract art, random shapes
• WORD
• any word of your choice outlined like my bubble art. No curses or slurs. No political slogans. +1 coffee per additional word. (So "RISE AND SHINE" would be worth 3 coffees)

Now, for an additional coffee, you can choose the medium from the mediums I have access to:

• watercolor paint
• colored pencil
• marker
• gel pen
• ink
• pencil
• digital

Now that that's out of the way, (and if you're still with me,) I'd like to show you how this week's VEGETABLE request turned out:

"Fruits Of The Month" watercolor on paper; 2022

In this painting, we've got July fruits - mulberries, elderberries, raspberries, cherries, strawberries, and blueberries - scattered across a gray background. It wasn't until I had already finished the background that I realized that gray might not have been the best color to choose, so I did something I've never really tried before.

I altered the background color with a layer of Buff Titanium in Paint.net!!!

"Fruits of The Month v2.0" watercolor and digital; 2022

Which do you prefer - gray or cream background?

This week's painting was really fun, and I'm glad I got to scan it. Unfortunately, I suspect our scanner is on its last legs, because if you try to preview a scan and then scan it, the scan never happens and you cannot try again because the scanner is stuck in a loop and you have to go all the way into the basement and manually quit the scan. Then you have to go alllllll the way back to your computer and restart it. Then it might work.

Thankfully it did work.

So what do you guys think? And what would you like to see next week?

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which This Week's Theme Was: LOCATION

Today is another gorgeous day! Sunny and clear and breezy, and it's 72℉/22,2℃ with 52% humidity. It's just lovely! I spent most of today painting a lovely little image on my small, heavily-textured paper, and I couldn't be happier with how it looks.

This week's theme was "Location", which meant that I had to go about figuring out what I wanted to draw or paint. I usually work from references, but today I just started laying down random patches of blue to make a sky, then snagged my paint stick of Daniel Smith's Buff Titanium and laid down some land masses. From there, I built up my colors and shading, and the very last things I added were a light house and my signature!

Here is my work for the day:

"Landscape By The Sea"; watercolor on rag paper; 2022

I finally got the scanner working again! Seems like we just had to get new internet...

This painting was so much fun to make, and it came together so organically! I did zero sketching, and instead I layered paints from my Emooqi black metal palette as well as my Daniel Smith Buff Titanium, and it just... grew into itself. I love it. It's even more wonderful in person! It's also now available on my long-forgotten Redbubble shop!

From today til Wednesday night at 9PM Eastern Time, I'll be taking requests for next week's art topic via Ko-Fi! Leave a tip with a message containing what you'd like to see: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Food, Location, or Geometric! For an Extra Coffee (another $3 USD), you can tell me whether you'd like to see it in Pencil, Colored Pencil, Pen, Marker, Watercolor, or Digital! I will do my best to fulfill any requests made this way, regardless of how many I get!

Hopefully you can see why I got so excited about today's piece. It was a blast to create, and I must recommend the "slap it down on your 5"x7" paper" technique I used, because it was fun and the end result was fantastic.

Now Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

Art is... hard.

Geometry ended up being this week's theme and I thought to myself "Z got me a really cool reflective bag for my birthday with all these awesome triangles on it, so I should make triangles!!!"

Ladies and gentlemen...

It would appear that at 32 years of age, with a full 30 years of art experience under my belt, several straight-edges, and even a freaking stencil...

I can't draw triangles.

Like... at all.

Seriously, look at that mess.

Yeah. I let out an audible "oh yikes, no" when I saw how bad it looked after backing away.

And that, my friends, was finished at NINE FREAKING THIRTY PM!

Yikes indeed.

"But Casual," you may calmly and reasonably point out, "couldn't you have started earlier today?"

To which I would say you're usually right but the last couple days have been cat-filled and assistive on my part. Which just means I've been serving largely as cat furniture and helping my mom with plants.

Not the most "oh I couldn't possibly work on this!" kind of situation.

But it is what it is.

I pulled out two of my palettes (the Peter Pauper travel palette and a nice black steel 48-color-set from Emooqi) around dinner time, poured a cup of paint water, filled an oral syringe with water to activate the metallics, and set to work.

And failed.

And tried again, and failed again, and then finally got the triangles above finished and realized while inking them that they looked...

Awful.

Well, that's no good, so I got up and stalked around my room for a bit, steaming and stewing, before I finally said "well, if triangles are gonna be this hard, I'll just do diamonds"

"Diamond Panes"; watercolor on hot press paper; 2022

And so I did!

I'm so happy with how this turned out! I like how the colors worked together (a real concern when you're using paint from two separate palettes) and how the diamonds interlock. I'd almost like to try it again with a thinner straight edge so that I could get more diamonds on one sheet, but I'm still very happy!

The Art Station, complete with Failure

Let me tell you, it can be hard to paint and draw on a bed, so I could not be more thrilled with the really sturdy bed tray Z got me for Christmas. Honestly, he's been a godsend for my art!

If you'd like to have a say in my art next week, feel free to toss me a coffee over on Ko-Fi and leave a message saying "Animal" "Vegetable" "Mineral" "Geometric" or "Location"! Your suggestion will determine the art I make!

That'll do it from me for tonight. I'm exhausted and it's nearly midnight lol.

Go Enjoy Something!!!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which A Mineral Was Painted
And A Story Is Told (Two Days Late)

On Tuesday, I told you all about my previous week, and uh... I may have mentioned something about my dad getting swarmed by ticks and then failed to follow up.

Sorry about that, guys! Totally slipped my mind with the rest of the tales!

So here's the Dad Vs Ticks story:

Once upon a time, my dad and I were both in the local community band. I backed out a few years ago because I didn't have any weekends off to do things with my friends or just to relax during the summer, but he has stuck with it, and he and his trumpet go every week from the first warm week in Spring to about the last warm week in Fall. On Sunday, they had a rehearsal, so he packed up his trumpet and headed out to the rehearsal space, which he explained to me as the middle of a parking lot. I've practiced in weirder spaces, so I buy it.

(lookin at you, weird, creepy, almost certainly haunted and fairly abandoned century-old community building in the middle of nowhere...)

So they're all set up in their chairs and playing along when my dad feels something crawling on his leg. It's summer, so it's bug season. He figured it was a fly or something equally benign, but looked down anyway (because what if it was a horsefly or a hornet?).

It was a big flat tick hook-handing its way up his leg.

Needless to say, he destroyed it by plucking it off the leg, putting it on the hot tar, and grinding a rock down on top of it. Then he told everyone why he was screwing a rock into the pavement and everyone started checking. A few more ticks were found and killed. Weird, since again, they were in the middle of a parking lot with no grass within ten feet.

Here's where it gets really upsetting, though.

They go through a few more pieces of music - practice, practice, practice - and then my dad feels a lot of tickling on his legs. Big whoop, everyone feels the crawlies after finding a tick, right?

Wrong.

There were dozens of ticks swarming the band, and he kept having to brush them off of himself.

Think about that for a second!

They were in the center of a parking lot and being swarmed by dozens of ticks!

And of course the story doesn't end there, no. He was relating the tale to me because he stormed up the stairs, shirtless, asking me to check his back (thankfully tick-free). So we go downstairs to freak out about how bizarre the whole thing is and he stops mid-sentence, looking at the laundry basket over my shoulder.

One of the freaking jerks must've hidden in a pocket of his pants or something because it was crawling up the wallllllllllll!

No thank you.

We killed it very dead - just your standard dog tick, so not really a risk for Lyme (though it could carry other stuff I don't want!).

So that was my Sunday lol!

But you're not just here for the ticky followup to Tuesday, no.

You're here for art!

I didn't paint the tick. I did a bug last week.

Instead this week's topic was "Mineral", so I painted some emeralds!

"Emerald Cluster"; Watercolor on paper; 2022

That was a lot more fun than I thought it would be to paint! I drew it out with a green watercolor pencil and then filled things in slowly with the colors all going different directions like the inclusions and fractured planes that emerald crystals really have.

Lab created emeralds bother me with their purity. If I want a clear green stone, I'll get a locally mined tourmaline. I want my emeralds cloudy and preferably second-hand. I worked from a bunch of reference for this, and I'm actually pretty happy with how the weird purple rock came out. Believe it or not, that sucker was supposed to be a brownish gray, but I grabbed the wrong color and I really like the contrast!

Now you know the secret of the Tickpocalypse, and you've got a fun bunch of emeralds to look at! I think my work here is done til Monday!

Get out there and Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which I Am Bad At Making Decisions

Every week, I ask my boyfriend what I should draw/paint next. I give him a choice of 5 categories:

• Animal
• Vegetable
• Mineral
• Geometry/Shapes
• Place

And every week I make my art based off of the choice he makes.

This is because, when left to my own devices, I'm very bad at making choices that make sense.

If I were to pick my own subject matter, I'd change my mind six times and make a random set of blobs. Or I would overextend myself on one single project and then bungle it by saving it in the wrong format...

But this way, I know by, say, Tuesday, that I should sketch up an animal. I don't go beyond the five categories because I also have issues with authority and would just do something different in order to be difficult.

Heck, I'm drinking a can of Coke right now and it's almost 10pm because I guess I didn't really want to sleep tonight? Foolish.

This past week, I made a crack about June Bugs being God's Perfect Idiots. It should be noted that I'm only referring to the large black "Brown June Bug" we have in Maine when I talk about these insects. I cannot verify the intelligence (or lack thereof) of Green June Bugs or Striped June Bugs, since I haven't ever been brained by one while walking at night.

Brown June Bugs, being a North American scarab, are big and hard-shelled and lumbering. They are also phenomenally stupid by human standards. These ponderous little critters will slap into your windows at full speed, which is understandable since most wildlife doesn't perceive glass.

But I will never get over watching them brain themselves on giant freaking trees that have been right there the insects' entire lives. They just buzz at full speed sometimes until they're stopped by a hard surface, and then they'll lay at the base of whatever they hit (or get tangled in it with their bristly legs), stunned, for a few long minutes before struggling on their backs. If they're lucky, they'll get enough momentum or buzz their wings enough and flip back onto their feet, but... they're pretty dumb, so that's not always the case.

I once watched a June Bug flail on its back for 40 minutes while I lugged lawn furniture around. Once I got a break, I helped the poor guy get onto its feet... only to watch it stun itself on the door again and drop back onto the welcome mat. Seriously, bro?

And as a broad, clumsy creature that can barely see and runs into things all the time and sometimes has trouble getting back to my feet, I can somewhat relate.

So here's to America's scarab, God's Perfect Moron, the June Bug.

"Phyllophaga spp." pencil on watercolor paper; 2022

If you want to print that line drawing out or trace it, please feel free to use it to practice coloring, painting, whatever you like (though if you repost it anywhere, please, please remember to credit me!).

And now the colored version:

"God's Perfect Idiot"; watercolor on paper; 2022

I hope today's silly blog made you smile, and if you have any other Stupid Animals you'd like to see me paint, feel free to tell me! Or heck, even shoot me a coffee over on Ko-Fi and you, too, may choose what I draw!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which It Has Been A Long Day

Today was way longer than it had any right to be lol! I got up at a reasonable hour, took my shower, and got dressed - it was going to be warm so I thought I was dressing well... not so much. It got up to 76℉/24,4℃! And the wind and cloud cover we were promised? Nowhere to be found. Hot, bright, still, and 57% humidity, it was quite the unexpected scorcher. Good thing I got my hair cut!

I also ended up getting Fiber Optic internet installed today! The installation guy was super nice, played with my cat, and knew my dad from a previous project at my dad's job! Very cool!

After my haircut, my mom and I went for a mini shopping trip, which ended with me getting new sandals.

But let's rewind to the early part of the day, where I was still long-haired and cranky, waiting for the appointed hour when I'd get half my head buzzed.

At that point I was painting!

I sat down with some references (thanks Google!) and decided it'd been too long since I'd painted a cityscape!

But I didn't want to have to deal with a huge wet piece of paper that would take forever to dry, so I took a piece of the awkwardly long & thin pieces of paper that came with my first metal palette and cut it into two much smaller much less awkwardly shaped pieces. I only managed one piece today, but I think it looks shockingly good!

"Cityscape"; watercolor; 2022

This is a first for me - I've never tried to work this small with this level of opaque color, and while the buildings did end up coming out patchy, I'm really pleased with the subtle shine on the left and the mountain mirage in the back! If I were to try again, I'd lay down my yellow in the upper left corner, my red in the upper right corner and my dark blue in the bottom right. I'd pull the colors from lightest to darkest to where they belong, and then I'd patiently wait for the paint layers to dry. I have so little faith in my own ability to glaze and layer. I need to be more confident.

I'm also pretty surprised with how opaque the white paint is! look how well that signature stands out!

I hope to paint a few more cityscapes, soon. I really like the way the buildings feel as I'm painting them.

Alright, I keep getting distracted playing with my hair so I think it's time for me to go to bed.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which I Have A St Patrick's Day Picture For Ya!

I am beat lol.

You may wonder - what exactly did I do to get so tired?

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I'm so tired from... shopping two days in a row and taking my cat for a couple of walks. Like, yeah, I walked around town yesterday, and yeah, that was after a shopping trip that turned into a semi-surprise hangout with my guy and a delicious Thai lunch. It was really fun! I loved spending time with my guy, then trundling back home and pounding out that Wednesdaymania blog from yesterday!

I'm also out of shape and still having trouble sleeping, hence me being pooped again lol.

But tired or not, I still managed a fun little painting for you guys!

"Lucky Spring" Watercolor; 2022

I'm still experimenting with different weights and colors and tones and I know that Oxalis don't grow like that and their flowers are rarely pink-tipped, but... I'm really pleased with how most of those leaves came out. I'm pleased that the watercolors I used actually went where I wanted (for the most part) and look how I wanted them to look (largely). I'm really quite pleased with this little sketch!

Would I do some things differently? Yes! I'd actually sketch it first if I did it again, then lay in the sky tones (which I'd do wet-on-wet, rather than trying to blend out the markers, which works... sort of).

But I still think it looks good!

I hope all of you guys are staying safe and having a good St Patrick's Day out there!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

In Which I Review A Palette!

 Christmas saw me getting a lot (and I mean a lot) of pajamas, but also some other fun stuff, including a very cool blue sweater and a gift card to a local bookstore from my younger sibling! It has taken me until now to use that gift card, and here is what I got:

The Peter Pauper Press Studio Series Watercolor Field Kit
With 48 Brilliant Colors!

This kit fits in my purse, is easy to carry, is relatively strong plastic, opens easily, and does in fact contain everything advertised (mixing palette, 48 colors, aqua brush, sturdy case, and a sponge). It has a foldable loop on the bottom for easy balancing in one hand.

The mixing palette lifts out on pegs!

Those are some fresh paints lol

A clearer view of the paints

A Swatch using both paints & brush!

So let's talk contents. 

The palette is a palette. There's not a ton to talk about with it - it works and it's pretty decent!

The sponge is a tiny sponge, and I don't hold much hope for its long-term survival, nor am I 100% certain what the sponges are used for, since I usually travel with tissues that I use for cleanup.

The brush... the brush is weird. I've used water brushes before, but they're usually as easy to fill as "unscrew brush from handle, pour water into handle, screw back together, voila". This one is... weird. It has a little black thingy over the opening in the handle when you unscrew it, and that prevents you from just filling it from the tap like the other water brushes I have. It's also very short, so it doesn't hold very much water when you do fill it, which you do by holding it underwater, squeezing the air out of it, and letting the water fill it up. The whole time, you've got your hand underwater and cold and it feels like you're going to break the brush handle. All in all, the worst water brush I've ever used, filling-wise. Actually using it is great, though. It seems to have a more consistent flow than other brushes. I'd say it evens out, frustration in filling vs ease of use.

As for the paints, they're pretty! They're very nice, and they go on very smooth! They do smell... bandaid-y, though. That's odd, but not too unusual for watercolors lol. I think they just contain a lot of gum arabic. No idea about their lightfastness, but since this is a travel set, rather than a proper in-studio set of paints, I'm gonna say they'd be ideal for watercolor sketching rather than permanent art. I will also say that some of the colors are water-hogs. That second lavender on the 4th row down especially soaks up water when you dampen the pans and it ends up not looking like any of the paint reconstituted. Don't believe its lies, it's perfectly fine, it just doesn't swell lol.

The pans after the first wetting/use, also the brush.

One last note on that weird lil water brush: it stains just the same as all the other nylon-tipped water brushes I've used lol. Does anyone else have that problem? It doesn't spread the color, it just completely stains!

But as we all know, the real test of a watercolor kit isn't what it looks like or smells like in a box or on swatches, it's what it looks like when you use it! And here we see my first use of this kit:

"Sketching With Dedbert"; PPP watercolor on watercolor paper with Micron ink; 2022

I think that with a more robust brush, this paint will be fantastic even at home, and on the go I usually have at least 3 brushes on-hand at any given time just bc I'm paranoid about running out of water (a real concern with the weird filling-method on this new one!). I did forget to erase the pencil lines, so sorry about that! But this was a lot of fun, and it's given me ideas on what else to do with my future art!

And that about covers today's art adventure! My conclusion is this: this kit is worth the $20 I spent on it and I encourage anyone on the fence as to whether or not to pick up a Peter Pauper Press field kit to go for it!

Don't forget to Go Enjoy Something!!!