Watercolor, gouache and Inktober

October is Inktober and its all over Instagram! I can't say I've fully participated but I've done a few things and I'm using the definition of ink pretty loosely....ball point pens, micron markers and the real stuff (to me), my Winsor&Newton colored inks. Here are few :

 

Then I have been using my watercolors and gouache. I realize I have so much to post because I haven't been blogging alot lately. I've just recently got the blogger app so I think that will help me to be more consistent. Below are some new watercolor paintings. I'm trying to stretch myself and create more abstract pieces, which I love, love, love doing, they just take alot of planning.

 

Today is Sunday, we don't have alot planned, just laying low today... It's going to be a busy week coming up. I hope everyone has a great day and lovely week!

ICAD 2 - 2013 - PEONIES

I picked this flower on my walk the other day

 and was looking forward to sketching it.

But for me, peonies are pretty daunting.

They are gorgeous but look at all those petals!

I just love the quote!

 I know nothing about this person Bashō,

so I went to Google to find out. 

Wikepedia says he 'was the most famous poet

of the Edo period in Japan and

that during his lifetime,

Bashō was recognized for his works

in the collaborative

 haikai no renga form; today, after

centuries of commentary, he is

recognized as the greatest

master of haiku (at the time called hokku).'

Great stuff!

 

 

Please take a few moments to check out some

of the other artist's cards and visit:

 

 

Happy Sunday and enjoy your day!
Take care,

Fran T xo

 

 

 

iPhone portraits! 29 Faces - Portraits #17-21

Joe, Eric, Carl, Emily and Julianna

I thought I'd try to do portraits of REAL people the time around. LOL! I flipped thru my phone and painted my family.. They're a cute lot:))

I am almost caught up for 29 faces!

Hope everyone has a safe, happy, creative, fun and relaxing holiday weekend. Please be careful on the roads.. WELCOME SUMMER!

enjoy

Small Steps Will Lead You There

When I paint realistic its more stressful to me than doing an abstract. I feel so much more relaxed when I paint abstracts. So that is my intention going forward. I am not going to stop my journalling and sketching but I feel this strong pull to paint much more intuitively. I need this in my life right now. I have so much going on with work, the new house and just things in general. I need to slow down, get meditating a little more/longer every day and stretchhhh :)

My son is back home and all is right in our house:) Joe took a mini vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's. He got to have a sleepover with his cousins. I know he loves going there and spending free time with the kids. Now that he's back the dog is a bit more settled. Poor Einstein was concerned about our missing child. And, boy, did Joey get a welcome home from the pooch. Very touching. I hope everyone has a wonderful, relaxing weekend. Take care:)

AEDM Days 26 + 27 - INKYDINK

 On Saturday, Day 26, I visited Michaels and purchased these W/N Inks. I had a 50% coupon so I had to get them ;) To hell, with Christmas shopping! I tried them out last night and continued on this morning, Day 27. I tried using a brush as well as my calligraphy pens. They aren't too forgiving so  typical method of 'winging it' isn't working out as well as it usually does. LOL!



My attempt at using the inks like watercolor. They dry super fast! No chance for fooling around and pushing colors..






George Eliot quote

 








I love this Buddha quote... I just found it recently

 So this is the last day of the long weekend. We're going to run over to IKEA and then off to our friends' home to help them trim their tree. They are much organized than us. We're trying to remember where our tree is:) Last year we had a real one but this year I'm going to stick with our lovely artifical tree. It really is so lifelike and easy! Have a wonderful day and happy Day 27!

AEDM -Day 16 Pasta in the Pantry

{click to see a larger view on flickr!}

My finished page, detailing the influx of carbs in my home this weekend. I get that tomato sauce at Waldbaums. It's so good and organic too. She even gave me the ricotta (2) and the blocks of mozzarella cheese (2).

Below are my pages from this afternoon. I brushed the colors in quickly after I ate lunch. Then back to work. I've been busy and worked till 7:30 tonight. My good husband made the baked ziti dinner. He didn't cut the cheese into cubes like I do but everyone has their own way of doing things and it was delicious as ever. He's a much better cook than I will ever be and more adventurous.

The page colors are off in this photo. the pink/red page looks orange/red here:) that green page is for tomorrow, maybe.