Tall Heart Stems

A black-and-white doodle, drawn with Copic 0.5 multiliner.  Tall stems of hearts.

For this week's Illustration Friday word, "tall."

With color added, this drawing also makes a nice greeting card, posted here on my cards blog, Mostly Markers - Cards.

Landscape with Space

When I saw Illustration Friday's word for the week, "space," I thought of a landscape with white space in the middle.  I enjoyed drawing these simple leaf, tree, flower, and cloud shapes.  I like the colors and the white space to imagine more of the scene.  

• Copic marker colors used: B45, G14,46, YG03,05,61, C1,3, E33, Y38, R08 
• Drawn with Copic 0.3 multiliner
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 4.25 x 5.5"

Musical Round

A bright musical round. Inspired by Illustration Friday's word this week, "round," which made me think of the rounds I've been singing with my church choir.

Though I'm not dyslexic, somehow the treble-clef symbol has always been difficult for me. After I carefully studied its shape in my sheet music, I drew it four times, and one of them I twisted the wrong way. Oh well. This was fun to draw.

• Copic marker colors used: Custom color R290, B41,45, BG45, YG05, YR07, V04
  
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 5x7"
• Words: Round; Brightly
  

Orange and Yellow Patches

I was nearly finished with my "gesture" drawing for Illustration Friday's word for the week. Then I ruined it with spilled ink. At such times I remind myself, "it's only paper." So I drew something completely different. Patches of orange and yellow marker, and a wandering line doodled with brown Micron pen.

• Copic marker colors used: Y11,15,21, E25 (dots), 95, YR00,04,15,20,21
• Paper: Neenah
  

Pattern of Vines and Flowers

An overall pattern of vines and flowers, drawn with Copic 0.3 black multiliner and colored with Copic markers. My inspiration was a very different painting, a wall border around the top of a large dining room (photo below).

Due to my underlying grid of 2" squares and 1-1/2" circles, my drawing has a formal, static appearance. Drawn for Illustration Friday's word for the week, "stay," which is a lot like "static" (remaining in place.)

• Copic marker colors used: YG21, G14, Y19, B01,24,26,41, BG49,53, R02,59, Custom colors YG6000 and R290
  
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 11x7"
  

Sweater Love

I love sweaters. The colors, the textures, the cozy feeling. I love knitting sweaters. I love wearing sweaters. So I couldn't pass up Illustration Friday's word for the week, "sweater." And with Valentine's Day tomorrow, a few hearts seemed to fit right in.

My drawing posts on this blog are fewer lately, because I've been making greeting cards, posted on my other blog "Mostly Markers - Cards." Today's drawing also became a card - a Valentine for my husband.

• Copic marker colors used: Custom color B2000, B45, BV00, V12,15,17, RV06, R00,02,35,59
  
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 4.25 x 5.5"
  

New Year's Resolutions for 2011

My New Year's resolutions for 2011, doodled and decorated. After the tiny drawings for my 2010 Advent Calendar (click here to see it), I enjoyed working on something larger and looser.

The words are: "2011 resolutions: More prayer, exercise, joy, gratitude, art, fruits and veggies, singing, rest." I placed "resolutions" vertically on the page, with most of the other words crossing it. Inspired by Illustration Friday's word for the week, "resolutions."

For my 2010 New Year's Blessings drawing, click here.

• Copic marker colors used: mostly RV17, BG45, B24, B26, R35, YR07, G14, YG05, V04, V15
  
• Paper: Neenah, 8.5 x 11"

Acrobat Doodle

Acrobats spiraling through the air. A happy doodle, inspired by Illustration Friday's word for the week, "acrobat."

• Copic marker colors used: Ground and spirals B32, G12, V12; Acrobats YR07, B14, G14, V04
  

Pot with Artificial Ivy

This brightly painted ceramic pot, about 3 inches tall, was a gift from a friend thirty years ago. It is filled with (not very convincing) artificial ivy.

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

• Copic marker colors used: C1,3,5, R08, E25,41,43, Y38, G12,17,40, YG03,63,95
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 5x7"

Gilt-Edged Notebook

Once again, Illustration Friday prompted me to draw something I never would have thought to draw otherwise.

This week's word "diary" started me thinking about my mom and how she encouraged my creativity ... drawing, painting, collage, writing, singing, sewing, knitting, embroidery, and more. Especially all the journals, paper, and art supplies that she gave me over the years. This gilt-edged notebook, my current diary, is just one example.

I really enjoyed drawing it and thinking of her. Thanks, Mom. And thanks, I.F. See below for a scan of the actual diary.

• Copic marker colors used: W1,3, YR00,07,15,20, Y19,26, G17,21,24,28, YG97, E43,44, V000,12, BV04, RV13,91
• Background: Copic airbrushed with B45 marker, dotted with B41, 45
  
• Copic multiliner colors used: Pink, purple, sky blue, orange
• Gold Uni-ball gel pen
  
• Paper: Neenah
  

Paisley Leaf Doodle

A leafy branch. My doodle was inspired by Illustration Friday's word for the week, "paisley."

• Copic marker colors used: G24, YG03,05,21,23,63
  
• Paper: Neenah
  

Snail Trail

Garden snails. So cute. Except when they eat the flowers.

My doodle was inspired by Illustration Friday's word for the week, "trail."

• Copic marker colors used: R08,59, G14,17, B05, BG49
• Paper: Neenah
  

Slithering Snake

A snake slithering through the grass. Drawn with olive and sepia Copic multiliners.
Inspired by Illustration Friday's word for the week, "slither."

Click here (or scroll down) for last week's drawing "early," done too late to submit.

• Copic marker colors used: First I colored the snake with W3+E00 (two colors on top of each other). When it was dry, I dabbed it with colorless blender (0) on a piece of terry cloth, to make the mottled effect. Then I colored the grass with streaks of YG21,23,63,91, G40, and BG93.
• Paper: Neenah

Teapot with Cup - and Sybil's Teapot

An early morning pot of tea is my favorite way to start the day. For this simple drawing (above), I used a heavy line - 0.8 Copic multiliner, instead of my usual 0.2 or 0.3. Inspired by last week's Illustration Friday word, "early." I drew it from life, but I changed the teapot color and added the green cloth.

• Copic marker colors used: Table E43,44; Background airbrush E43; Cloth G21 with BG93 lines and dots, shaded with airbrush BG96; Cloth edge G24,28; Cup, spoon, and tea C0,3, E00,33, B26, BG93, G24,28, Y15, R24; Teapot base color Custom color B2000, dotted with R02, E11,43, BG32,72,93, B21,45, shaded with airbrush C3
  
• Paper: Neenah
  

Added May 31,2010: See below (posted with her permission) for my friend Sybil's teapot drawing, which she e-mailed to me after she saw my drawing. She drew it a few years ago "in response to a wonderful exhibit at an art museum ... all kinds of artsy teapots." Wonderful patterns, colors, and shapes. For more of her drawings and a link to her blog, click on "Sybil's drawings" below or in the label list to the right.

Mother and Child

I was wondering what to draw for "fearless," this week's Illustration Friday word. Then the church service this morning reminded me of this Bible verse, one of my favorites. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." Today is Mother's Day, so the words connected for me with the thought of a mother's love.

My drawing is very simple, a few curved lines on tan card stock, with a little color. I used a heart shape, cut from scrap paper, to guide the flow of the written words and to mask the shape for the airbrushed color (Copic airbrushing with my marker.)

• Copic marker color used: E4
• Paper: tan Crane's card approx. 4x6"
• Words: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. (1 John 4:18)
  

Sloping Lines in Green, Blue, and Purple

Layers of lines and colors. A feeling of gentle motion.

Inspired by Illustration Friday's word for the week, "dip." Of all its different meanings, I thought of lines sloping down and curving into each other.

• Copic marker colors used: B21,24,26,41,45, G12,14,17,21,24, V000,04,12,15, C3
• Background was done with the Copic airbrush: marker colors B24, G14, V15.
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 4x6"

Orange Pattern Card - Rescued

I made the patterned paper with two hand-cut rubber stamps (a circle and a square) and three colors of liquid watercolor. I wanted to rescue it from my scrap pile, and so today I used it for a birthday card. Posted for Illustration Friday's word for the week, "rescue."
Updated July 9, 2010: The detailed card information for this post has been moved to my new "companion blog." Please click here for "Mostly Markers - Cards" to see it (dated the same as this original post.) For the future, I'll post all of my new greeting cards in Mostly Markers - Cards. This blog, Mostly Markers, will also still be active with all of my non-card drawings and reference posts.

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"

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")