Lenten Prayer Calendar (2010) and Perspective

Tiny daily prayer drawings, each a little less than 1" wide. To put things into perspective for me.
It's my picture of Illustration Friday's word for the week, "perspective."

• If you'd like to do something like this, click here for a PDF calendar template to print or download with daily blank drawing spaces for Lent 2010 (February 17 - April 3). It prints on 8.5 x 11" paper, and then can be enlarged on a copy machine to 11 x 17" if you want more room to draw. (Created by my friend Sybil, and used with her permission.)
• Click here for Sybil's "Praying in Color" blog to see her prayer drawings.
• Click here for my 2009 Advent Calendar. Larger and more complex drawings than the ones in my Lenten calendar.
  

Garden Weeds

Weeds propagating in the garden. Dandelion with its many seeds, grass with its ground-level runners, and a plant that I know as "witch-weed," perhaps in the morning-glory family. Witch-weed propagates by a white underground rhizome that sends up threadlike roots and elongated heart-shaped leaves. It's difficult to remove, because the rhizomes are brittle, and just a small fragment left in the ground will grow another plant. Today's drawing was inspired by Illustration Friday's word for the week, "propagate."

Below is my 1981 pencil sketch of a small witch-weed plant that I found growing in my garden. After I drew the weed, I'm sure I thoroughly destroyed it.

• Copic marker colors used: Rocks W3, BV23; Soil E43+E21 (colored on top of each other), dotted with E33,71 applied with W0 brush tip, all blended with W1 and 0; Leaves and stems G07,40, YG05,21,23,63; Dandelion roots E41; Rhizome Copic opaque white; Sky airbrushed with B01, then mottled with Copic Opaque White applied on a wet brush.
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 5x7"

Blog News 10

Updates to Mostly Markers, other than new drawings posted, since the last Blog News:

• Updated my post "about Sybil and her drawings" to include my friend Sybil's new blog location.
• Added a post on my watercolors, with color charts for my Dr. Ph. Martin's Radiant Concentrated Watercolors and my Lyra Aquacolor crayon watercolors, and my notes on the two different products.
  
• Not an update ... but while I'm discussing my blog features: In my blog, I've included more than a dozen easy-to-draw "try this" posts. Not drawing lessons, but drawing activities based on my drawings. Simple directions, sprinkled with encouragement ... because I strongly believe that Anybody Can Draw. To see what I mean, I invite you to click here, or click on "try this" in the menu bar in my blog header, or in the labels list on the right.
  

For more Blog News posts, click on the label (below, or in the label list on the right, or in the menu bar on my blog header.)

Blue Landscape and Lyra Aquacolor Crayons

Yesterday instead of my favorite liquid watercolors (Dr. Ph. Martin's radiant concentrated watercolors), I pulled out my barely touched box of 24 Lyra Aquacolor crayons. I used them to paint the background first, and when it was dry, I added the black lines with Copic multiliner and did some shading with my Copic markers. But then my black lines looked too dark, as did the sky area. So with a tiny brush, I applied streaks and dots of Copic Opaque White, smudging and feathering the white with a small wet brush.

I like the finished drawing. The Lyra Aquacolors were easy to work with. I used a wet (but not dripping) brush to pick up the color directly from the crayons and apply it to my wet watercolor paper. The colors are more opaque than my Dr. Ph. Martin's colors, which look very transparent. Both are beautiful in different ways.

Updated February 16, 2010: Click here for my color chart and more information on both types of watercolors.

• Copic marker colors used: B63, W5, BV23.
• Watercolor wash background: Lyra Aquacolor crayon numbers 5610034, 37, 47, 51, 83, 87
• Paper: Canson Montval watercolor block, 140 lb. cold press, 4x6"

Brown Squares with White Dots

Most of the time, I draw first, then color. But for this drawing, I started with my markers. Working on top of my light box, with a half-inch grid placed under my drawing paper, I colored many squarish shapes. The grid helped me to keep them lined up.

Then I removed the drawing from the light box. I outlined my shapes with black Copic multiliner in several widths. Last, for contrast, I added white dots with a white Sakura gel pen (Gelly Roll.)

• Copic marker colors used: E04,15, YR14,15,24
• Paper: tan Crane's card approx. 4x6"

Yellow Butterfly with Blue and Green

A yellow butterfly drifts in a space of blue and green.

Inspired by Illustration Friday's word for the week, "adrift."

Starting with a watercolored base, I decided to experiment with a cutout butterfly. I drew a butterfly shape on a scrap of bristol board (just a bit lighter weight than my watercolor paper) and cut it out with sharp craft scissors. I used my Copic markers to airbrush the wings, add the spots, outline the wings, and color the body. I will try using cutouts again sometime.

• Copic marker colors used: Y15,38, YR14,21,24
• Watercolor wash background: Dr. Ph. Martin's radiant concentrated watercolors - grass green, ultra blue - 1 drop of liquid watercolor in 2 drops of water, brushed on wet paper. For more info about these watercolors, including my color chart, see this post.
• Paper: Base: Canson Montval watercolor block, 140 lb. cold press, 4x6"
• Paper: Butterfly: Strathmore Bristol Board, vellum finish (a lightly textured surface - not "vellum paper")

Basket with Apples and Pears

Bright colors for a winter's day. It is drawn from life, except the basket was a metal pan, and the napkin was beige.

Technique - added February 8, 2010: To create the textures in the napkin, the tabletop, and the wall, first I colored with a light color, a bit unevenly. After my first color was dry, I used another light color on top of it, also coloring a bit unevenly. See color list below for details.

• Copic marker colors used: Custom color B2000, BV20, C1, Y000,11,19, YR20, G14,21,40, YG21,63, R00,32, RV11,14,17,29, E09,11,37,41,43,44,49,53, dots of sepia multiliner.
• Color details: Napkin: Y11 on top of G40. Tabletop: Custom color B2000 on top of BV20. Wall: C1 on top of Custom color B2000.
• Paper: Neenah, 8.5x11"

Scribbly Gray Lines with Bright Dots

Just a doodle with scribbly ink lines wandering across the paper. I traced over the lines with gray, and then, where the lines looped, I added 2-tone dots of bright color.

• Copic marker colors used: C3,5, B01,26, R08,32, G14, YG03
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 4.25 x 5.5"

Child with Book

The child's attention is focused on the book. Inspired by Illustration Friday's word for the week, "focused."

• Copic marker colors used: Y000,13, R000,02,24, G07, BG000,32,49,93, YR07, BV20, B01,24,41, W1, C0, E000,11,09,15,53
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 5x7"