New - Zazzle Gallery!

I am excited to announce that I have created a gallery at Zazzle with products featuring my custom illustrations. Check it out and let me know what you think!

I have started with botanical notecards and greeting cards and plan to add more illustrations and products going forward. I'd love to hear from you with any feedback on the gallery along with any suggestions for additional illustrations or products that you would like to see in the future.

Rough sketch - daffodil blossom

This is a rough pen and ink and colored pencil sketch of a daffodil blossom. It was a freebie at the grocery store. They were clearing out flowers that were nearly wilted, so in addition to one for my 2-year-old to hold while we shopped, I asked for one for myself!

I could have been a little more delicate on the colored pencil application, but I just wanted to get some rough color laid down to get a sense of the blossom.

Maple tree buds

Our maple tree out front has been budding up recently, and the buds look like bright red berries. Very pretty!

I did some loose pen and ink sketching of a branch, and then a close-up sketch of one bud. I then added color to the bud. I've included images of both the pen and ink only version as well as the bud in color. I just love pen and ink, but can't help adding the color in colored pencil these days! I think it livens it up and it is a comfortable way for me to add color since I like working with pencils.

Lady Slipper Orchid - pen and ink, colored pencil

This is a lady slipper orchid that I saw at the Meijer Gardens Butterfly exhibit a few weeks ago. I did work from a photo since I didn't have time to sketch while we were there. I loved the rounded and curled petals and leaves.

I started with just a rough sketch and then decided to go over it in pen and ink. I wanted to add some color since it included such a beautiful purple, so I went over everything with colored pencil. I used three colors in most areas, except for the green stems (just using two there.) It was a relatively quick drawing that I did last night, so I was pleased with how it turned out.

Pussy Willow Branch - colored pencil and pen and ink

In Eastern Rite churches, pussy willow branches are typically blessed and distributed with palm branches on Palm Sunday.

The pussy willow branch is both strong and woody, but with very delicate, fluffy blossoms. I first did this drawing in graphite pencil. Then I decided to do the line work in pen and ink, erase the pencil, and add some color with colored pencil. The branch has a bit more reddish in it than came through in this rendering, and the blossoms are quite silvery/white in the highlights.

I enjoyed the view of this particular branch as two of the blossoms still had the papery brown covering on the back, and one blossom at the bottom had fallen off, leaving a few wispy bits on the branch.

Rose - colored pencil study - finished!

I did some additional work on the main flower, the stems, and also the leaf. I think it's finally finished. It's been a fun project to get some practice with the colored pencils.

Rose - colored pencil study - almost done

The rose is coming right along. I spent a good bit of time this evening on the rest of the stems, and then working on the buds and the one leaf study that I included. I thought I might be done, but realized that I still need to work on the center of the rose itself. Still needs a bit of shaping/shading.

So, I'll leave it for now and hopefully do some final touching up to finish it.

Rose - colored pencil sketch - draft

So I have started working on the colored pencil of this rose drawing. It's interesting to study the shading and try to replicate that in color. I have a ways to go yet, but I like how parts of it are turning out. We'll see if that continues! Everything is a learning process... :)

One thing I do notice is that keeping the pencils very sharp and using a light touch helps keep everything blended together. I can then darken shadow areas as needed, without having too much heavy color already on the paper. This also allows for better blending of different colors. For example, on the darkest shadows of the rose itself, I'm using three different Faber-Castell Polychromos colors - light purple pink (started with this), middle purple pink, and dark red.

Rose - graphite

I'm working on a sketch of a rose - once again from a photo. Best to work from life, I realize, but in terms of practicing shading/colored pencil work the photos are useful tools for me (especially with toddler interruptions!)

The graphite rendering below is rough, but I want to use it as a starting point to refine the shading and eventually render in possibly pen/ink and colored pencil. The color of the rose is a beautiful, bright pink, with darker red buds, so I am testing out my pencils on the side to see what will work.

Sea Shell Study

I finally had a chance to do a sketch of this beautiful little seashell I got at the beach a few years ago. It has dark green and gold/brown markings and a lovely spiral shape. I did a thin outline in pen and ink and then used colored pencil for the shell markings.

Sea Lions - graphite

This is a drawing of two sea lions that I did last year. We saw these sunning themselves on the rocks in Monterey, CA several years ago. I loved the poses - they looked so regal as they tilt their heads up to the sun! The smell on the jetty where there were probably a hundred of them sunning...not so much. :)