Habanero

Just a quick sketch done with brown ink and watercolored.

I really need to get back into the daily swing of things!

A couple of pears with personality and a dead leaf from  our False Aurelia plant.  A little pen and Ink and watercolor on Arches Hot Press paper.

Carter's Ink

Well, it has been too long.  Work has really gotten in the way of life lately.  These past few weeks have been 70 hour weeks or more.  Most of my days off are spent at work.  I come home completely exhausted.  I finally convinced myself that I had to do something for me.  It was fun to draw and paint again.  I hope that I will continue.

This is an old Carter's ink from the 40's (maybe) and a Modern Conway Stewart fountain pen.  It is painted on Arches Hot Press.

I think I will need to try this one again, someday.  Enough said, it is what it is.  It is good to be painting again and I hope I  can keep it going!

More Hot Sauce

I sat and drew this and painted  it as I was watching tv.  It was a quick one.  Large Moleskine watercolor notebook.  

Various Doodles

In the spirit of catching up for the Fam!  Thanks, Trin, for the gentle nudge!  I gathered up all of my scraps of paper with this variety of doodles. Some depict real pens and others are from my imagination.  Some have very exaggerated and stylized parts like the nibs.  These doodles were then pasted into my journal to create this spread.

Been Awhile

I posted this awhile back on flickr.  But my family got on my case about not posting anything on my blog.  So, I will attempt to get a couple of these caught up.  This is in a small Moleskine watercolor notebook.  It was a fun one to do.

Recent dabblings

Some recent and quick sketches.  I haven't been a total slacker!

Izabella

Beautiful Izzy!

Introducing Izabella!  Proud parents are Trina and Ethan! Izzy arrived Tuesday evening weighing in at 8 pounds 2 ounces!  A big baby for tiny Trina.  Too big requiring a C section.  Trina and Izzy are doing well.  It is really exciting to see your children having children, especially their first!  Trina and Ethan are Great parents and Izzy is a lucky little lady!  It has been fun to see Ethan as a father.  Whenever someone was holding her and she would cry, Ethan would jump up and walk over to her and calmly talk to her and rub her head and she would calm down and quit crying!  Wow! Both of my boys are wonderful Dads, much better than I!

My daughter is a wonderful Mom too.  Have I gushed enough!?

David's Sunflower Seeds

I have been wanting to do this picture for awhile now. I like the vibrant colors of the David's seeds! This was a fun one to do.

Evil E

This is a birthday present for my son Ethan. His nickname is Evil E. Not sure how he got that knickname. He manages a bicycle shop and loves cycling and what he does. This picture and the crankin' hot sauce evolved in my mind while trying to come up with and idea for a present. It was a big hit with Ethan. Ethan and his wife Trina are expecting their first child in the next couple of weeks. It is a girl, Izzy! Exciting times!

Wonky Bottle Caps

Tried a photo this time. Thought that I had it cropped better than this. The color is better than a scan but the details are worse! More practice is needed! Again, these are in a small Ciak notebook. Drawn in ink and watercoloured with Daniel Smith colors.

Last Sunday's Sketches

I am not pleased with these scans. They are in a small Ciak notebook. I will have to figure out how to prop them open and try the photo method. I sketched these in church last Sunday and watercoloured them during the week.

Church Doodles

Some recent sketches during church. I am using a small Ciak journal. It is about 4"x5". It is an Italian journal and I quite like it. The paper is not real heavy but it will take a light watercolor wash. The oranges are blood oranges. When i go to the bank for work, I go inside a grocery store. The bank is set up by the produce section. These oranges caught my eye and went home with me! I wish the bank tellers could also ring up my purchases! I drew the oranges in another book just before going to church so they were fresh on my mind. The gentleman pictured had a very cool vintage sports coat on! I really liked it. It was a light cream color with an intermittent black square pattern going through it. I am getting over some of my embarrassment of sketching during meetings. Maybe I am just rationalizing the point that I listen better! I definitely listen better if I am awake! The oranges were watercolored when I got home.

Church Doodle

A doodle from church today. Drawn in blue black ink. I wanted it to bleed and provide the background which it did. The yellow and green watercolor was added at home. I tend to stay awake and alert a bit better if I am doodling. I have given up on trying to draw people as I sit on the podium facing the congregation. That would require some staring at people which I am sure they would not be comfortable with nor would I. Fiddle as I might, I still cannot get the scan the same color and look as the original!

Candy Continued!

I am continuing with the candy theme. I am not sure how big this will get, but I do have several more that I want to add. The Yorkie and the Lion look like they are marketed in the U.K. by Nestle' from Switzerland. The Lion bar is not that big but I wanted to get the whole thing in! The Phinney bar is out of Seattle Washington and was quite yummy!

More Candy

It has been awhile since I have painted. In a short month, I can tell that I have lost ground!

I have found some more candies and I started painting some of them. The yorkie cracks me up! It says it is not for girls and on the bottom of the package it says that it is not for handbags! It is a Nestle product from Switzerland.

Drawn with pen and watercolored on Albrecht Durer watercolor paper.

Variety

More peppers from the garden. It is fun to see the different varieties and all of their stages of growth and color changes. I enjoy growing these mostly to paint. Some are pretty hot! The habaneros just have not produced this year. I must have started the seeds too late.

Another Pepper

Another pepper from the garden. I set this up on a white table top. It was interesting to see the reflected light on the underside of the pepper. The bottom edge almost disappeared to the whiteness. I did not capture that. I should have put a background in, that would have helped. I think this is a Purira pepper. It is extremely hot, rivalling a habanero!

Large Moleskine watercolor sketchbook with pen and watercolor.

The computer crashed. Shame on me for not backing everything up! I did lose everything! My biggest regret are photos that have been lost! A huge thanks to my good friend, Dave, for making several house calls and spending several hours trying to save my files and in putting my computer back into working order!!!!!!!!!!!! A true Friend!! Thanks!!

From the Garden

My apologies! It has been awhile since I have posted. It has been awhile since I have painted as well. I started a new job three weeks ago. I have gone from a sedentary job of selling cars back into a management position in the convenience/gas station business. So far, most of my work has been very physical. a glorified stock boy so far. It has given me a workout everyday! I have been eating a lot of Advil! It has also been very tough on my hands. The first week they were all swollen and broken out with the eczema and very miserable! I would goop them up with cremes and medicines and wear gloves around, trying to get ready for the next hammering. I have started wearing gloves at work. that has helped but hasn't cured. Anyway, I picked these peppers from the garden today and painted them tonight. Large moleskine watercolor sketchbook drawn in ink and watercolored.I would like to thank Joan Yosioka for awarding me with the Creative Blogger award. It is really appreciated! I have never been good at chain kinds of things so I am not good at passing this award on. I have left it too long and many that I would have nominated have been awarded by others. So here are some of my fav's. This may be a double award for them. I am not sure how to make the links, so here goes.

Suzanne at http://suzannebuchanan.blogspot.com I really love her sketches. It would be great to take an art class from her.

Terry at http://terrybanderas.blogspot.com a very talented artist. Great realism in a lot of his works!

Robyn at http://havedogswilltravel.blogspot.com I enjoy her posts and her art! I look forward to seeing more of her art and imagery of Italy!

Karen at http://kbladosdesign.com What wonderful journal entries and art of everyday objects. A delite for the senses!

Nina at http://ninajohansson.blogspot.com I love the quality of her watercolors! Fantastic !

There are many very talented artists that I regularly stop and check on. thanks for your inspiration and your encouragement to me. thanks again Joan!

Now, these honorees may now proudly post your awards and give the award to five other creative bloggers. For more info on Christie and the Creative Blogger Award, including other awards, check it out here