Sunday Sketches (Weekend Doodles)

It's been a surprisingly wet and cold April weekend. After the temperatures hanging in the mid 60's to low 70's the past few weeks, who would have ever thought we'd be watching it snow again! Because of the blistering cold temperatures we've pulled out our thick sweaters and boots once again...

All of this has molded into a quiet, cozy weekend, curled up on the sofa with my sketchbook and hot water bottle in hand. Enjoy some of my misc. practice doodles. Happy Sunday Sketches!

*NOTE* I look forward to popping in over at your comfy, creative blogs. Please do forgive me when it takes me a few days to visit everyone each week. My workload is getting pretty full so I'm trying to figure out a good balance for everything at the moment. On top of this, Michael's mother's health has been deteriorating over the past several weeks and just yesterday, we were informed she is no longer conscious and her lungs are now filling up with fluids. It's been a rough week here and would appreciate your thoughts and prayers.
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If you're participating in Sunday Sketches, you can grab the NEW Sunday Sketches button HERE.

Submit your artwork by signing up below with a link to your blog. PLEASE make sure to visit each other! One of the biggest reasons for this wonderful art co-op is encouraging one another in our creative endeavors. Thank you!

Scribble Picnic (Tree Haven)

Scribble Picnic...a little TREE haven for this sweet family of bunnies in the forest. It's a bit different for me this week but I must say I enjoyed not creating an illustration with great detail! Ha! Nevertheless, it was good practice once again on creating depth within my work.  If you'd like to see photos of my "work-in-progress", visit my Instagram account for a peek.

For more wonderful contributions make sure to grab your basket of goodies and head over to Michael's blog to visit with other fabulous artists across the world! Heck! Why not join us? :)

Sunday Sketches (The House Guest Cont.)

This week has flown by way too quickly! It's been quite a wet week with all of the rain and chilly temperatures here at our little Bungalow. I've been working away on various projects and hope to make some special announcements very soon. Until then, enjoy the progress painting of "The House Guest" sketch from earlier this week posted for Scribble Picnic. I've been painting this since Thursday afternoon and still have at least 2-3 more days to go! Ha!

Happy Sunday Sketches and Happy World Book Day!
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If you're participating in Sunday Sketches, you can grab the NEW Sunday Sketches button HERE.

Submit your artwork by signing up below with a link to your blog. PLEASE make sure to visit each other! One of the biggest reasons for this wonderful art co-op is encouraging one another in our creative endeavors. Thank you!

Scribble Picnic (The House Guest & his ladders)

My idea for this week's Scribble Picnic theme, ladder, took quite some time to develop. After thinking and researching...and then doing more thinking and researching... and then MORE thinking............ and MORE researching.......an idea FINALLY came to mind as to what I would illustrate. Yay me!

Once I started sketching the detail for my books I realized how utterly insane it was to think up such a grand idea! This piece took two full days to come up with and implement the design for each one. How long do you think it will take to paint?! :)

With that said, can you spot my special guest and the home he's making among my favorite books?

Visit Michael's blog for more sweet and delightful contributions to this week's Scribble Picnic!

Sunday Sketches (Bunny Tales...)

I've been working on this illustration off and on over the past few weeks and am super pleased at how it turned out. One of my focuses in between regular client work is improving and fine-tuning my digital painting skills. Although my primary illustration skill-set is hand-painted artwork, I'm told it's good to broaden one's skills across the board. (e.g. digital work).

How about you? Are there any skills you're working or would like to work on this coming year? If you're looking to learn the basics of watercolor, I offer a very affordable online class (Watercolor 101 for $40.00) covering this plus a few of my own hints and tips. My Spring 2017 class launches May 1st and you can take it whenever you want...and it's all online! This includes lifetime access, free downloadable PDFs for reference, great video lessons and a private Facebook group page to engage with others. Why not join us in a few weeks for some creative fun?

Happy Easter, everyone! I look forward to catching up with each of you.

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If you're participating in Sunday Sketches, you can grab the NEW Sunday Sketches button HERE.

Submit your artwork by signing up below with a link to your blog. PLEASE make sure to visit each other! One of the biggest reasons for this wonderful art co-op is encouraging one another in our creative endeavors. Thank you!

Scribble Picnic (Rabbit Teacups)

Look what I'm bringing to our scribble picnic party this week.....tea cups for one and all! Uh huh, fancy a cup of tea with me, sipping from these cuties? I had so much fun illustrating this "rabbit" piece for the round this week. Oh gosh! So much, I'm seriously considering designing some actual mugs/tea cups.

Anyway, you can see a few of the process photos over on my Instagram account. Simply swipe or click through to view them. Besides my watercolors, I utilized my Tombow brushes quite a bit this time around. If you're not familiar with them, keep an eye out for a post I'm working on to explain a little more about them and how to incorporate them within your own art.

Until then, grab your favorite picnic blanket and hop on over to visit with everyone else. You're sure to enjoy the sunshine and fabulous peeps!

Sunday Sketches (Little Red Dress)

I've been practicing faces and hairstyles the past few days. Something I need to get better at, as well as being able to create the same face/character in various poses - not always easy to achieve, let me tell you! Anyway, I thought I'd share my doodle from earlier today based off a photo of my father's parents holding me as a little baby. Every photo I've looked at of me in that red dress, I'm just smiling away. I must have loved that little, red dress!

You can check out another daily doodle I sketched out a few days ago of me and my little blue overalls. I LOVED playing in those in my grandma's backyard. So much fun and adventures! Hee

How about you? Do you have something specific you're practicing as of late with your art, photography, etc? It's such a joy sharing our art, tips, etc. Looking forward to hearing from you.

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If you're participating in Sunday Sketches, you can grab the NEW Sunday Sketches button HERE.

Submit your artwork by signing up below with a link to your blog. PLEASE make sure to visit each other! One of the biggest reasons for this wonderful art co-op is encouraging one another in our creative endeavors. Thank you!

Scribble Picnic (Grandfather Clock)

Another challenging sketch for me this week but am thankful for the weekly themes over at Scribble Picnic to keep us on our toes! It was grandfather clock for this week and what a great way to incorporate it into the children's book I'm currently writing entitled, "Thickleberry Village"...enjoy their very own town (grandfather) clock. Hee

I spent so much time on the details and sending out yet another survey to my wonderful followers for what kind of shops, that I ran out of time to paint it this week. Can you spot the 4 shops and various details? After adding a few woodland creatures, I'll get to coloring it in and promise to share near the end of this week.

Want to get creative with us? Well, grab your summer basket and hope on over to this week's picnic on Michael's blog. It will be so much fun!

Sunday Sketches (Miss Lilly's Home)

Well, it's finally finished! Can you believe it's taken me 6 weeks from start to finish?! I'm sure it's because I've been hesitant to start the floor and ceiling. I wasn't quite sure which direction to go so I decided to reach out to my Instagram (IG) followers and got some pretty amazing feedback.

The following images share my little process along the way. As you can see from the last image (where I began) I started with sketching out my idea on tracing paper. Once it's finalized, it's then transferred to my favorite watercolor blocks (Fluid) and I start painting.

You'll notice my final painting is a wee bit different from my beginning sketch - and that's OK! This is the very thing I love about illustrating...the ability to let one's heart go and see where it all ends up when you're done.

How about you? Do you allow yourself the freedom to simply sketch and paint? Or do you place unnecessary restrictions upon yourself that by the time you're done, any joy you had in creating the piece has been smothered or diminished? I'd really like to hear any thoughts you might have on your process of making art. Happy Sunday Sketches!

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If you're participating in Sunday Sketches, you can grab the NEW Sunday Sketches button HERE.

Submit your artwork by signing up below with a link to your blog. PLEASE make sure to visit each other! One of the biggest reasons for this wonderful art co-op is encouraging one another in our creative endeavors. Thank you!