Grand Manan Sampler - Assorted Rocks

I've gone on about how amazing the rocks from Grand Manan are before. We spend a good chunk of our trip on the rock beaches, staring at the ground.

A few years ago, my friend who usually goes with us wasn't able to come. So I sent her a small box of rocks and decorated it with a chocolate box-like label.

This weekend, I came back to that idea. It's always interesting to retry an old idea again...

This was the first one I made, maybe three or four years ago (sadly I don't have a picture of the final product, just the sketch).

I liked the text from 'Sampler' so I kept that, as well as the shape of the label. But I evolved the lettering and imagery. I did  quick color study on some blue paper to see if the colors I was toying with would work.

And a quick snapshot of the final painting (watercolor, gouache, and Golden gold paint). Now I just have to build a small box.

 

Such desk mess for such a small piece.

Grand Manan Sketches

My family recently returned from our annual pilgrimage up to Grand Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy. Nine hours in a car and another hour and a half on a ferry really pay off for a week of true relaxation in an incredibly beautiful place.

Flock of Sheep hike on the southeast side of the island.

Since we've gone so many years (something crazy, like the last 15 years) there's nothing really new to see. It takes something really extraordinary for us pull out our cameras anymore. But this year I decided to try and do a better job sketching some of it. I don't pride myself on my landscape skills, but it was nice to have time to just noodle around in my sketchbook.

White Head Island

This Years Reading List

I spent this weekend wrapping up a few outstanding pages in my sketchbooks. One was this ongoing list of all the new books I have read this year. I did some little watercolor thumbnails of the cover of each once I had finished reading it. There's a full list of titles and authors after the jump.

Butterfly in the Sky...or on my Bulletin Board

I feel like every time I put up a new post I am prefacing it with 'it's been a busy _______.' But really, it has been. There's still plenty of art getting produced, just never enough time at the end of the day to put it on the internet. This week I'm going to try and play a little catch up. And it will begin with my most recent project, a butterfly collection.

No that's not mine silly, that's from the Manitoba Museum.

I always have found butterfly collections beautiful but also a bit morbid cause those are dead butterflies. And I never knew, did they kill them just to pin them up? Because that doesn't seem quite right to me. So I decided to make a vegan cruelty-free butterfly collection. I have drawn many pages of butterflies and know am on to the painting process. Once they are all done I will cut them out and pin them into a shadow box or frame.

Here's a few sketches...

 

All the tape is there because I would draw one side of the butterfly and then trace it on tracing paper and just flip it over, cause symmetry's a pain.

Flowers, Plants, and Leaves

Lately I have been trying to work on some designs for patterns, though I can't say I am progressing forward very quickly. Basically just been sketching bunches of flowers, plants and leaves. So here are just some drawings that will hopefully become something later...

 

 

A Trip to the Arboretum

A little while ago, a few friends and I went to the Arnold Arboretum to do some drawing. While it really just evolved into us hanging around, enjoying the great weather I also did try and get a little bit of drawing. Isn't it always the way...

 

Horsies!

Now that the semester is over I can fill my sketchbook with pictures of whatever I want. And I want to draw pretty pretty horsies. I love drawing horses, their big bodies on tiny legs and their wonderful muscles. Throw on nine or so years of horse back riding and you have an obvious explanation as to why I'm a horse girl.

The Sea of Tea Sketchbook

My decline in posts has been due to a two and half week trip to Scotland and London and a severe lack of internet in my apartment. So here's quite a few pages from Scotland, with more to come:

Some Sketchbook Pages

Both are crayon resists done with watercolor and some pencil.

Ever since I came home for the summer I haven't had a scanner and it makes recording my work a lot harder. These were done with a camera so they're a bit fuzzy but get the idea across.