Tag: black

Poinsettia

Another morning with sewing ahead of me – but not too much!  Just a touch here and then, thread trimming, ironing, and finally wrapping.

To start my day – after coffee, breakfast, a review, and the news – I decided to use my watercolor pencils, InkTense blocks, and Neocolor II by Caran d’Arche to draw the classical Christmas / holiday poinsettia, and some permanent black ink.

Did you know the red is really the leaf and the little yellow dots in the center are the flowers?  Poinsettias are not only crimson, but come in pale pinks and whites.  And, they are easy to grow – just take a cutting, let it dry out until hollow, and stick in some dirt, and you may be ready for next year!  I think they may also be poisonous . . .

Happy Holidays, everyone!

The Days of Inktober 2018

October is “Inktober” to many artists – a time when, around the world, artists focus on ink drawing, from a suggested list of words, or just because you can.  Drawing in ink can be done spontaneously, over a preliminary drawing, with pen or brush, with black or colored inks.  Ink is ink.  And the experience is great.

I’ve been focusing on the list, which you can see below.

When you think about it, it can be really hard to be inspired by the topics.  How do you depict “precious”?  “Chicken” can be pretty obvious – until you pursue the more obscure meanings of “chicken” – as in cowardly or yellow.

Below are my Inktober drawings through the 11th day.   For the last one, the mushrooms just have to have that glorious red – so watercolors were added.  And, to be honest, I needed something beyond the black and grey and whites of ink.

I hope you enjoy them!

1a. Poisonous
1b. Poisonous
2a. Tranquil
2b. Tranquil
3. Roasted
4. Spell
5. Chicken
6. Drooling
7. Exhausted
8. Star
9. Precious
10. Flowing
11. Cruel

Fremontia, BW

More post-production playing.

In a way, just devoting some time to playing with a color image and converting it to black and white is a very educational experience.  For instance, many times with black and white film and no filter, everything gets lost – it’s all the same as far as the film goes.

Here, a digital image of a fremontia, a low-growing bush found in California, with bright yellow flowers, gives way to a rather lovely black and white image (at least I think so!) when properly manipulated.  Filters are necessary for good b&w, but here, just a few mouse clicks, some home-made or pre-made presets, and off you go!

I am currently going through my archives and looking at yellow things – how well do they change into mono?