Hummer Guarding his Food Supply

This is one of the hummingbirds that stayed close to the feeders the entire time we were in Texas on our vacation.

This sketch is strictly ink and wash and I don't think I'm going to add much in the way of color. He was basically black, gray and white with maybe a touch of tan or brown........very different variety from what we are accustomed to seeing in West Virginia.  Due to the fact he was primarily gray/black, I thought the washed effect would work out beautifully not really needing much in the way of additional color.

This little guy continuously perched on this line we had a feeder hanging from or a limb right above it.

Sketched in my Stillman & Birn Alpha journal with 3/8" angular flat pulling the gray from the ink lines.  To obtain the darker areas without hatching or cross hatching and washing out with damp brush, I scribbled ink onto a plastic surface and used a damp brush to pick the ink up and "paint" in those areas.

Painting the Blues

After a long evening of storms passing through and tending to terrified dogs (not to mention owner), I finally managed some painting tonight.  Nothing extravagant...........just playing with my blues on my palette.

My scanner didn't exactly scan these blues 100 % correctly but they are close.

I love the Phthalo Blue Green shade!!!!

I may have to pull out my Winsor & Newton pigments and do some comparisons.......especially Blues and Siennas.  

This is using The Langton 140lb Cold press.  I haven't used this paper in some time!!!

Fungi Growing on Tree - Ink and Wash

This is using my black Tombow Brush Marker and waterbrush.  Only tree around behind us that has this fungi growing, which seems odd.  You'd think there would be others as well.  The fungi is growing fairly high up on the trunk above our heads.  

New Ink and Wash Sketches

Here are three new sketches to start the New Year off  that I completed while visiting my husband's lovely family in North Carolina.  All were done with a Rotring ink pen and water wash in a small 4 x 6 Daler Rowney sketchbook consisting of cartridge paper.  Not sure exactly what cartridge paper is compared to what we are used to using here in the USA but I like it and seems to hold up fairly well to light washes.  I love creating these quick sketches with water soluble ink and then applying water either with paint brush or a water brush to give substance and depth to the overall scene. 

Example using Daniel Smith Lunar Red Rock

A small sample or illustration using Daniel Smith Lunar Red Rock. On Langton 140lb Cold Press, this pigment didn't granulate like the other Lunar pigments. Might show more granulation on a larger scale or different paper. A very pleasant color.