Assorted sketches

Sketches, mostly birds, in ballpoint pen and colored pencil:

Some random sketches

I have been taking a break from painting in order to study up on some aspects of art that have always eluded me. How long I'll be busy with that, I don't know, but I'll post the occasional sketch here just to keep the blog alive.

Two still life sketches done from life:

And two in ballpoint pen plus colored pencil, cobbled together from various reference photos:

I have actually been itching to take up the brushes again, so perhaps I'll soon succumb to temptation and paint something...

Random bits and pieces

I can't always just work for the market; I'd go crazy that way. I'm an artist, not a money making machine. And thus, in between, I make time for all manner of random things. Like a fun hobgoblin:

It's the evil hobgoblin from Hans Andersen's story The Snow Queen, with his magic mirror. I may just get it into my head to do a whole set of illustrations for the story, which is on eof my favorite Andersen tales.

A portrait sketch:

And some quick studies after Pieter Bruegel, the Elder, and artist whose work I have long admired:

Fallen things

After an evening storm, another batch of fallen leaves and blooms. Ballpoint pen and watercolor pencil on paper:

Autumn Treasures

Autumn in the southern hemisphere. I have long loved weathered late-season leaves, and this time of year there is such a glut one doesn't know where to start. On my morning walk, I collected a bagful, and sketched some in ballpoint and watercolor pencil...

In the meantime...

I have been rather busy, getting my latest children's book ready for publication. It's the first one with lots of color pictures, so there are all manner of technical considerations of which I knew little when I started out, so I am going through a rather steep learning curve, so I have little time for much else. But I did try to fit in some experimental bits and pieces and random sketches.

I now and then indulge in these rather relaxing and meditative pseudo-mosaics, done in ballpoint and colored pencil:

A botanical sketch:

A quick colored pencil sketch after Van Gogh:

And some experimental watercolors, after YouTube tutorials:

I hope to put final touches on the new book by the end of next week, but who knows - things always take much longer than planned!

NaNoWriMo, and other weird things

I have gotten it in my crazy head to join NaNoWriMo this year. Even though I'm going to cheat  - the story I have in mind is another tween novel that will probably not take more than 30 000 words or so to tell - things will be hectic for a month, so I will probably not get any painting done. Instead, I'll focus on making some small drawings. Here's the first, WIP, and I'll post updates as I work on it:

Pencil, 14 x 15 cm.

Vase of Sunflowers

Coloring picture; feel free to print out a copy. And perhaps color it in the style of Van Gogh?

Michelangelo study

A study in colored pencil after one of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel figures; 297 x 210 mm (A4):

Fallen flowers

Found a whole carpet of these colourful flowers under a tree. I have no idea what kind of tree, but they made for a nice subject for a few sketches. Ballpoint pen and coloured pencil on bits of scrap printer paper.

Black-collared Barbet

A sketch of a Black-collared Barbet (Lybius torquatus). Ballpoint pen and coloured pencil on printer paper, about 20cm x 20cm.