Cat in Character

  Finished Cat in Progress character sketches today.  Had fun working out the
different situations.  My last watercolor class session is Tuesday.  Learned
about using different brushstrokes and using dry brush which has helped

me so much. 

  It's been a busy week and I have had this headachy sleepy belly achy thing
that won't go away.  Hopefully I will be back to normal soon.  Did you all
have a nice Easter/Spring Break holiday?

Challenging Expressions

  Here are a few faces I painted while referring to the book I mentioned
in my last post.  Was playing around on sketchbook paper (hence the warping of paper).  Decided to use the water soluble pencil after doing the first two faces.  When I loosened up they looked a lot better.
I like the second to the last one with mouth open the best even though it was probably the most
challenging.  Also challenging is trying to look at real life faces and "converting" them to my
illustration style.  I am working really hard at this, doing daily sketches of people wherever I go.

  I also worked on the composition for the little cat girl
but haven't finished the painting yet.  Preparing for Easter and spring break with kids has overwhelmed me a bit.  Things should be in order by next week and I will have time to finish by Saturday.

  Did this post early as I will be too busy Saturday.
Have a wonderful and safe holiday!

Cat in Progress

  Last week's painting inspired me to think about this little cat kid.
What would she be up to on a sunny Saturday like today?  Why,
becoming the Cat that she is of course!
  I did these rough sketches on tracing paper and I am trying to work
out the composition.  I may add a couple more to fill in the blanks
and will post the finished art next week.
  A little tip I learned this week...always think about your paper and
media choices thoroughly for each project.  I used Canson Illustration
(http://www.dickblick.com/products/canson-artist-series-illustration-pads)
paper for last week's piece and loved working on the smooth surface.
This is great for a small painting.
  I have also been working on drawing different facial expressions.
Here is the link to a helpful resource book if you need help in this area http://www.dickblick.com/products/facial-expressions-babies-to-teens
  Now I'm going out to enjoy this fabulous day with a little gardening!

Practice, Love

  I tried a little experiment this week to practice different techniques.

Choosing a sketch I did a while ago, I painted it three times using 

different methods.  

               I used a Pentel color brush in sepia and it got a little messy.

 India ink worked well for this one.  

  Received some pencils Thurday that I ordered from Blick.

Among them was three Derwent water soluble 

sketching pencils in Light Wash HB, Medium Wash 4B, and Dark Wash 8B.

http://www.dickblick.com/products/derwent-water-soluble-sketching-pencils/

I used the HB for this one.  A bit light, but I like the softness. 

Truly working on my drawing. So I also bought a great book 

for facial expressions.  It 's called Facial Expressions Babies to Teens

by Mark Simon.  It's a wonderful resource!