eller

Easter egg.

Sun, 20 Apr 2025 19:52:20 GMT

The last time I posted easter eggs here, I had no idea this stuff would ever become political - yet here we are. Anyway. I don't celebrate, except I really enjoy painting eggs. (I do not think I would enjoy painting potatoes. I mean, I'd have to try before I judge, but...) Happy Easter if you celebrate. :3

comments

Inchies for inchie advent calendar

Sun, 20 Oct 2024 22:27:04 GMT

So, this is for an advent calendar game thingy... You know how much I love those. XD We have 25 participants, everyone draws 24 inchies (yes, little 1x1 inch drawings) and sends them to our victim organizer, who then builds advent calendars for all of us... With one inchie from each other participant. YAY! (Holy crap, I'm so f*cking glad I don't have to pack those letters!) These are the 24 inchies I drew. The topics are varied because I looked at everyone's profiles to find something that a) they will like, and b) I can actually draw. (Occasionally, that was one small Venn diagram.)

My favorite is, of course, the bog landscape - out of principle. (Yes, someone asked for that. Can do... LOL) I was also surprised that someone requested minerals, because, hey. XD From a purely artistic standpoint, I'm especially happy how the dragonfly and the fern turned out.

I used Staedtler fineliners (different tip sizes), watercolors, Posca white acrylic pen and Sakura white gel pen on KREUL mixed media paper (which is one of the very few "mixed media" papers that actually work for wet media).I don't know why the scan is so blurry - maybe something in the scanner settings.

comments

Ricinus

Mon, 26 Aug 2024 16:13:40 GMT

The next (very very very) poisonous plant, I'm afraid. We have so many of those here. XD

Materials:
- suuuper awesome sketchbook; a red page (I'm using those up disproportionately) this time
- Acrylic pens: Flysea Acrylic Painter Extra Fine in black and white; Amsterdam Acrylic Marker in Yellowish Green; Liquitex Acrylic Marker in Cadmium Red Deep Hue and Phthalocyanine Green blue shade; Uni Posca PC-5M in white
- waterbrush

comments

Canna

Sun, 11 Aug 2024 14:58:10 GMT

Sunday afternoon in the park. :)

Materials:
- suuuper awesome sketchbook; a bright orange page (HELL YEAH) this time
- Acrylic pens: Flysea Acrylic Painter Extra Fine in black and white; Amsterdam Acrylic Marker in Primary Yellow; Liquitex Acrylic Marker in Quinacridone Crimson
- waterbrush

comments

Oleander sketch

Sat, 10 Aug 2024 17:15:47 GMT

Another page in the lovely chess sketchbook from antaresnox got filled today! I love oleander, it smells so nice. Of course, it is very poisonous, so even touching the stuff is a very bad idea, but... :D

Materials:
- suuuper awesome sketchbook; a light pink page this time
- Acrylic pens: Flysea Acrylic Painter Extra Fine in black and white; Amsterdam Acrylic Marker in Yellowish Green, Permanent Green Light, Permanent Red Violet Light, and Ultramarine; Uni Posca PC-5M in white
- waterbrush

comments

Alcea

Tue, 25 Jun 2024 09:13:16 GMT

Another fast sketch in the new chess sketchbook from antaresnox! This morning, I was walking when I saw this very large flower growing from a crack in the asphalt! (I kind of regret not getting that crack into the picture, but the plant was too large to draw the whole thing while getting any level of detail.) Different pens this time: the very professional (LOL) art technique is called "grab some pens from the bottom of your bag". I don't use markers very often but I really enjoy these ones: they each have two sides with shades of the same color, one dark and one light, which makes shading and blending easy.

In case you were wondering: yes, of course I occasionally sketch on white paper, too! You know I'm mainly whining about the constant lack of sketchbooks with toned paper that is not brown or grey, but that's not because I dislike white paper. It's just that I can walk into any art supply store (and even most stationery shops) and get a very nice sketchbook with white paper (not as nice as a handmade one, obviously, but at least one I can use); no whining needed. I really like having a book with different paper colors for different occasions!

This time, I actually managed to destroy the paper: it takes acrylic pens fine, it takes the markers themselves fine as well, but the spots where I used the white Posca to draw highlights over the marker-colored areas kind of dissolved. Interesting! XD (No matter how nice the paper, there's always some way to damage it, and I usually find it very quickly. LOL)

Materials:
- suuuper awesome sketchbook; a white page this time
- Copic Multiliner, black, 1.0
- Markers: Kuretake ZIG Brushables in spring green and hyacinth
- Acrylic pen: Uni Posca PC-5M in white

comments

Lily in the new chess sketchbook :)

Mon, 24 Jun 2024 20:31:23 GMT

The first page in the new chess sketchbook bound by antaresnox! :D I saw these lovely dark red lilies by the side of the road and simply had to draw them. How very fortunate that the sketchbook contains some bright red drawing paper that's thick enough to work with acrylic markers, too! :D

Materials:
- the PHENOMENAL sketchbook I showed you all earlier; bright red page
- Copic Multiliner, black, 1.0
- Acrylic pens: Liquitex acrylic markers in Hooker's Green Hue Permanent and Cadmium Red Deep Hue, Amsterdam Acrylic Marker in Yellowish Green, Uni Posca PC-5M in white

comments

Daffodil... again

Fri, 29 Mar 2024 13:35:08 GMT

I mean, these things are everywhere, too. Can't avoid them. XD

Materials I used:
Stillman&Birn Zeta Series sketchbook (270 g/m²)
Watercolors: Turner Permanent Lemon (PY109), Michael Harding Yellow Lake (PY180), Mijello Bamboo Green (PG36), Nila Colori Armenian Violet Ochre (PR102)
White gel pen (Pentel)

comments

Scilla

Thu, 28 Mar 2024 11:04:06 GMT

I almost never use blue... Except today I did. This ATC shows a typical spring flower that's everywhere these days: Scilla, sometimes in German also called 'Blaustern' (blue star). It also happens to be one of my mother's favorite flowers. :) I had a lot of fun with the composition.

Materials I used:
Stillman&Birn Zeta Series sketchbook (270 g/m²)
Watercolors: Schmincke Horadam YInMn-Blau, LUKAS Türkis (PB16), White Nights Burnt Umber (PBr7), Phoenix Yellow Ochre (PY42), Turner Permanent Lemon (PY109), ROSA Gallery Magenta Rose (PR122)
White gel pen (Pentel)

comments

Daffodil Accident

Sun, 24 Mar 2024 22:50:06 GMT

A page in a black sketchbook that was a gift from CaitlynMurphy. In case you're wondering why I work with art supplies I got from other people so often: I'm such a ridiculous level of 'social learner' I'm not just more motivated but literally learn more art when the stuff I'm using has some connection to another human being. So, sending stuff back and forth it is. XD (I'm not actually gaining anything financially because I also send stuff to others. I'm learning to draw better this way, though. Buying the same sketchbook for myself would be useless.)

In this case, the white Posca blotched. Badly. I used the large ink blots to create large sunlit areas so it looks kinda-sorta intentional. (I hope.) XDD

comments

Forsythia and rhododendron

Thu, 21 Mar 2024 18:05:40 GMT

Another page filled in the sketchbook from antaresnox. I'm trying to draw something fast every day. The forsythia is in front of the house... And, of course, rhododendron is everywhere.

It's kind of fascinating: rhododendron is an invasive plant, and when I was a kid, people started to plant it in their gardens deliberately "because the bugs don't eat it". This used to be true, except, oh wait, these days they do... I suppose we're seeing some evolution in progress. XD

comments

Magnolia sketch

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 16:45:49 GMT

Continuing in the little sketchbook from antaresnox.

I filled a blue double page with magnolias. Various black fineliners, Faber Castell PITT brush pen in "sky blue", white Pentel gel pen. :)

comments

Handmade sketchbook from antaresnox

Mon, 11 Mar 2024 13:56:18 GMT

So, a few weeks ago, I received a wonderful handmade sketchbook from antaresnox, and I just (finally) got around to testing it!

Isn't it lovely? It's tiny (7x7 cm, which is a bit under 3x3'') and has colored pages in pink, yellow, green, and blue. YAY! I love drawing on colored paper!

( More pictures, including the art supplies, behind the cut! )

Here are proper scans of my first two sketches, fuchsia (on a pink page) and aconitum (on a blue page). I used fineliners (Staedtler in 0.1 and Faber castell PITT in M), markers (Faber Castell PITT pen B in sky blue, pink madder lake, and light phthalo green), and a white gel pen (Pentel).

I already adore this little book! :D

comments

Flower ATCs

Sun, 18 Feb 2024 22:25:02 GMT

These ATCs are for a swap that challenged us to use new materials. So, I used some things from my advent calendar and from Christmas. :)

Michael Harding watercolors and Schmincke opaque white on paper from a Paul Rubens watercolor sketchbook (hot pressed, 300gsm).

comments

Rose Inchie

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 19:37:25 GMT

I'm sloooooowly starting to send out snail mail again. (I took a break from that when I was ill and potentially contagious.) This inchie (yes, that's a little square of 1x1 inch) is for Atlicedrawsstuff who sent me a care package with art supplies that I also haven't seen yet because I've yet to go home to my family. Anyway, I'm sure it's lovely mail! XD

Paper: Vaessen Florence watercolor paper, smooth, 200 g/m² - I'm actually very happy with this paper although it's rather thin and was super cheap, which means it was a really positive surprise to discover it doesn't buckle much when wet. I originally bought it for sketching while traveling, but I may actually use it for more 'serious' artwork as well. It's much better quality than I would have expected, and labeled as acid-free as well, so, YAY.
Watercolors: Winsor&Newton this time. :) Winsor Violet, Permanent Rose, Cadmium-Free Yellow, and Burnt Sienna. I don't use this box very often but technically these paints are perfectly fine.
Acrylic pen: Uni Posca in white. I'm actually not happy with that one. It dries kind of crackly (I don't know how to describe this, but the dried lines are soooo not elastic they crack when you bend the paper), and it's one of the more expensive acrylic pens on the market, while the super-cheap ones (FlySea) I bought in packs of 12 (!) handle much better.

It's kind of embarrassing but I don't have any scissors here, so Atlice will have to cut the painting once she receives it, ahaha. (I'm not going to buy new scissors because, heck, I've done that before when I forgot to pack any, so, uh, I have enough scissors at home. I mean, I do papercuts, so... I have enough scissors. Really.) I'm also sending Atlice some ATC-sized outlines she can color - I guess I'm going to link those when she got them and painted them. I drew everything on the same postcard-sized piece of paper anyway, which at least makes mailing it really uncomplicated.

comments

Aquilegia

Fri, 26 May 2023 14:17:04 GMT

Another postcard, though maybe I'll not send this one out quite yet... I think this will stay on my desk until I've decided what to do with it.

The thing is - I'm happy with the design. Very happy. These kinds of extreme contrasts and psychedelic color choices make art teachers very unhappy (speaking from experience) but are quite characteristic of my style, which is also my way of perceiving the world - so, I like how this looks. It's just that, in hindsight, I should have paid more attention to the placement of the leaves in the background. (It was a very fast drawing I made in the botanical garden in Klein Flottbek that was never supposed to become a "serious" painting.) Basically, with only some tiny adjustments (also when it comes to less squiggly lines), this could be a much stronger composition. So, I'm seriously considering a remake of this one, and if it turns out nicely, it may actually go into print.

comments

magnolia and daffodil

Thu, 25 May 2023 17:20:04 GMT

Two more postcards for Postcrossing. Simple flowers, my comfort zone - I can produce these reasonably fast.

The daffodil actually does not involve any watercolor - that's transparent acrylics with lots of water. The magnolia is colored with watercolors, in the same style. The preliminary drawings and final highlights were done with acrylic pens.

comments

Inchies by Ismael

Sun, 15 Jan 2023 07:08:04 GMT

So, I should have shown this in December, when I had these Inchies by Ismael in my Advent Calendar (they were in the 'books' on the bookshelf in that awesome room), but, anyway... Here's an overview picture of all 25 pictures!

(Yes, 'inchies' are really just 1x1 inch tiny pictures.)

WHEEEEE, all my favorite 'fandoms'! It has botanicals, astronomy, fairy-tales, mythology, and even some Nibelungenlied illustrations, YAY! (Also, since I use the two-raven symbolism often enough in my own pictures, which Ismael clearly noticed, I appreciated the last one for Christmas... Ahahaha!) This is suuuuuper awesome.

comments

Elderflower

Sun, 25 Dec 2022 14:23:57 GMT

Another plant-themed ATC. This one, I drew as a Christmas gift for Lumelievm, who happens to like elderflower, which is a very nice coincidence. :)

I used watercolors and a white acrylic pen.

comments

Christmas Cactus for Christmas

Thu, 22 Dec 2022 21:46:40 GMT

This is a watercolor ATC I painted for Smellabi. The profile said something about succulents, and, well... I considered the 'Christmas cactus' the most appropriate succulent for Christmas.

I had to take a photo of the finished painting instead of scanning the thing because of the (artistically questionable but certainly very Christmas-y) decision of painting the whole thing on glittery paper (Paul Rubens sparkling watercolor paper, cold pressed). The camera killed the background gradients, but it couldn't be helped. Anyway - I had a lot of fun with this. As you might have noticed, flowers are my comfort zone. :)

comments

Sunday Sketches

Sun, 15 May 2022 21:05:39 GMT

I don't have much time for drawing these days, but at least I have two new entries in my sketchbook, one from last Sunday and one from today! :)

Last Sunday, friends from work decided (relatively spontaneously) to take a trip to Hamburg, and, because I happen to live there, I met with them in the park. (Planten un Blomen, nicest source of interesting botany around here.) They also brought their art supplies! Well, they wanted to do some watercoloring, but that was rudely interrupted by a water show that got everyone (and, worse, everyone's paintings) wet. XD I was not actually productive, but the bench we sat on was surrounded by lovely yellow tulips, so at least I was able to fill a page with those.

Today's page is rhododendron with (not-very-friendly) guests! :) It's a year for maybugs: these huge beetles that appear every four years and eat everything green in sight. The one I drew here, on the bottom of the page, was able to finish the whole young rhododendron leaf while I was drawing. I was impressed! (Also, until today, I didn't know these things even eat rhododendron, which is not a native plant they'd be adapted to. They usually prefer beech mass destruction! But, apparently, they really just like anything and everything green...) The rhododendron was also being attacked by others, like the snail I also drew here. Poor rhododendron.

comments

Office Kalanchoe and other sketches

Thu, 05 May 2022 13:10:30 GMT

I have not much time right now (posting this in a short break, ahaha), so here are just a few botanical sketches from the last few days.

The first two sketches are from Sunday, when I managed to fill two sketchbook pages.

The last one is the Kalanchoe in my office. It's, of course, bright yellow. :) There is an orange Kalanchoe as well, but it's in someone else's office.

comments

Help with identification? EDIT: Kerria japonica

Sat, 30 Apr 2022 19:23:44 GMT

Help with identification? The incredible thing happened: unknown plants two days in a row. ~~If anyone recognizes this thing, please SCREAM!~~

EDIT: This turned out to be Kerria japonica, thank you so much for the identification, mific!

I was pretty lazy today, art-wise, but decided to take a little walk and take my sketchbook with me. Maybe I'd find something interesting? And, sure enough, someone in the neighborhood has a very pretty yellow flowering hedge. From afar, I thought, sure thing, that's going to be a Potentilla, how nice!, but when I came closer... Uh, what's that? The leaves are all wrong! (You can see how the leaves stood in the drawing below, I have reproduced one of the shoots of the hedge as accurately as was possible in the short time - about 40 minutes). But, we're still somewhere in the Rosaceae, aren't we?!?

~~Basically, I'm very confused.~~ Actually, we are in the Rosaceae, so at least I was not totally off, botanically speaking?!?

On the art side of things, I'm quite happy with this page. This time, I didn't just take the same pens I used in my sketches from yesterday, but additionally used a grey marker (Faber Castell), and it's incredible, the difference a few shadows can make! Everything looks much more detailed, even when it isn't really. XD

comments

Sketches! :)

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 22:23:45 GMT

Soooo, today we had a bit of a Friday afternoon group trip... We went to the Rhododendronpark (in Bremen) and took our art supplies. Ironically, today, I was the only one of the group not working in color: I had brought my watercolors but a) was feeling lazy, and b) would have had to share the watercolor box, since some group members don't have their own paints.

Isn't this magnolia pretty? XD Funnily enough, there are enough magnolia trees in the park, and they're all blossoming, and yet, my friend I., independently of me, chose the exact same bloom to draw. (She did that after I had already finished my drawing and moved on - she had no way of knowing...) Great minds think alike?!?

This tulip was just starting to wither a bit... But I found the shapes very interesting! (Also, in this picture, you can see the material I used: two thin acrylic pens by Flysea and a broader white pen by Uni Posca. The paper is the Hahnemühle Cappuccino Book, A5 size.)

Oh, and this flower, the Americans among you probably already know - I didn't. This one was completely new to me! It's not native to Europe, so... Yeah, you probably wouldn't see it in the wild in these parts. It's good to have a park with a very enthusiastically maintained botanical collection, you learn new things every year! Anyway, I was super happy to learn a new plant, and immediately had to draw it from different perspectives! :) I was the only one to choose this flower, though: IT STINKS. Wow, it stinks.

comments

First outside drawing session this year

Tue, 29 Mar 2022 21:47:48 GMT

First outside drawing session this year! The weather was great last week, so I went to the Rhododendronpark (in Bremen) one beautiful afternoon and took my art supplies. :) That is: I didn't actually finish the ATCs there, that would have taken too long. I finished at home! But, the drawing was done at the park.

These are my first ATCs this year. I was being minimalist with the watercolors: I only used purple, green, yellow, and white. (I took advantage of the fact that mixing PV23 dioxazine purple and PG7 phthalo green makes a wonderful, deep black, so I had the whole tonal range covered.)

The flowers, of course, are very typical of springtime: daffodil and pasque flower.

comments