Japanese Earthquake Relief through Zazzle - Japanese Crane T-Shirt

In response to the overwhelming disaster that occurred in Japan on March 11, Zazzle has created a way for shop owners and customers to donate to earthquake/tsunami relief funds by creating/purchasing products from this store: Zazzle Japan Relief. 

For every t-shirt on the above page Zazzle will donate $10 to the relief fund, in addition, any royalties that shop owners would have earned will go directly to the relief fund as well.

NOTE (3/16/ update): Apparently there was some confusion in the initial days of the Japan Relief store. Zazzle has corrected it's page to say that it will be donating $10 to the relief fund from purchase of it's *official* t-shirt only, not from sale of others designed by store owners. I want to assure you that I will still be donating any royalties and earnings that I receive from the sales to the Japanese Red Cross. My apologies for any confusion and thanks to those that have already purchased!

I created a t-shirt featuring my Japanese Crane illustration as cranes are a symbol of hope and healing. There are also many other designs and products available, so please check it out! Every little bit helps. I will be keeping the people of Japan and everyone affected by this event in my thoughts and prayers. 

NOTE: I have also created a button, mug, bumper sticker, iPad case with this design.

Japanese Crane -Helping to Heal Earthquake Support by ccreech21
See more Japanese crane T-Shirts

Purple Iris Study - Ink and Colored Pencil

I bought a beautiful bunch of purple iris today. They have a bright yellow rib in the center that you can't see yet (I'll save that for another day!) I just love studying the buds before they open and then as the petals unfold. 

I did this study in ink and colored pencil on Fabriano Artistico extra white 140 lb hot press watercolor paper. I am not entirely pleased with how the color of the petals turned out. They seem much more luminous in person. I think that I need to do more light layers of pencil as well as use some different colors (perhaps the purples I have are too dark...maybe need some medium blues...) How do you deal with colored pencils and dark flower petals?

Daffodil Sketches - ink and colored pencil

I have added some colored pencil to these daffodil sketches. This is definitely a loose addition of color as I did not have lots of time to spend on it, but I love that it shows the brightness of the blossoms. This was done on Strathmore vellum drawing paper, so the texture was much rougher than what I usually work on (which is smooth Bristol or hot press watercolor paper.) The drawing paper adds a lot of nice texture, but it is also harder to get the smoothness that might work better with the blossoms in this case. It would take more layers of color, sharper pencils, and a bit more patience/time than I had for this round!

Vinca plant in graphite - line study

This is a graphite pencil drawing of a Vinca plant that I did for a course in botanical illustration a few years ago. I thought I had uploaded it here before, but guess I had not. The piece was supposed to be done entirely with line work (employing thick/thin lines bold/faded to indicate depth when possible) basically showing what you could do *without* shading. Very interesting exercise. I hope to someday redraw parts of this in pen and ink, and then maybe get another plant and work on some light and shade studies.

Daffodil Sketches - Pen and Ink

I had a chance to sketch some beautiful yellow daffodils that I bought from the store. These are done in pen and ink on Strathmore drawing paper. I haven't had time yet to add color - perhaps soon! I just loved seeing these in various stages of opening up. I practically itch to draw as spring comes around. So many flowers, buds, branches, and leaves - so little time! Getting a head start with some store-bought flowers will help prepare for when the flower beds and trees start blooming. Fingers-crossed that it will be soon! :)

House portrait - pen and ink. Finished!

I just completed another pen and ink house portrait commission. It is a beautiful home that really worked well for this format/style of drawing. This one is approximately 10 x 8 inches and done on smooth Bristol paper using a 3x0 (.25) Rapidograph technical pen.  

There were lots of fun details on this home including the wrought iron stair railing, front yard light post, stone work at the foundation and beautiful plants and foliage which help to soften the overall drawing and give it some warmth and dimension. I hope you enjoy this one!

Blog Giveaway! A set of my notecards...

My friend Anna Mae is sponsoring her first blog giveaway this week and she's giving away a set of 10 of my note cards!

Check out the details for entry on her blog:  

Ann Arbor Area Events & Activities for Preschoolers.

You have until February 25th and have up to 5 ways to win. Go ahead - take a look and enter today!

House Portrait - in progress (final pencil draft)

I think I have finalized the pencil draft of this house portrait. I added the landscaping in the front and actually had to tweak the perspective a bit as the line from the back of the house to the front flower bed was a bit off as I worked. I also finished penciling in the siding - it looks a little rough here, but when I do the final inking I will be using a straightedge for some of it to make sure it stays on track. I did some additional adjustments with the front steps, sidewalk, and also added some foliage to the side beds, working closely with the client.

I should be ready to start inking now. Stay tuned for the final artwork!

House Portrait - in progress (pencil draft)

I have been working on an 8 x 10 house portrait this week. I thought it would be interesting to post some in-progress scans so you can see how the process works. I always try to get as much detail down in pencil before I do any inking. It's much easier to correct pencil, of course, and so the longest part of the process is getting the pencil just right.

What you see above is the first pencil draft I scanned. Here I am still working on the siding and adding details in the landscaping as well as some details on the home. It is starting to come together nicely, but still needs to be finalized. 

Stop back to see an update on the pencil scan as I finalize it. Then onto the inking!

Car Commission (ink and colored pencil) - Completed!

I've been busy working on a commission over the last couple of months, and I just completed it. It's a birthday present and represents the hobbies and interests of the recipient. The main features are two cars that the recipient has raced in the past and also two of his other hobbies. The drawing was done in pen and ink and colored pencil on Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press watercolor paper. The paper size was 12 X 18 inches and the drawing filled up most of that space.

It was a different sort of drawing for me to do and so it was fun to explore how to render the cars, include graphics for the hobbies and add color to the whole thing.

Now, onto a pen and ink house portrait - stay tuned!