eller

My most recent ATCs. (6,4 x 8,9 cm)





I didn't take pictures of my art supplies this time, but it was again a mix of fineliners, watercolors, acrylic pens, gel pens, and a lot of glitter. :)

Another ATC! This one took forever, but I'm kind of happy with the result. It was inspired by finding a shimmery dark green in my advent calendar, and, well... What to do with that? Old glass was my first thought. Also, two different light sources (one cold, one warm), just to make my life difficult...



In the end, I actually managed to use all the four different types of shimmer and glitter from my advent calendar in the picture! (Shimmery transparent white on the window and the glass parts of the thermometer-weather-thingy, shimmery green on the bottles and the leaves (because why wouldn't those shimmer? XD), golden gel pen (on the jewelry, thermometer-thingy and fire-thingy), and silver gel pen on the rock samples - I guess those are ore minerals, then...) It feels kind of decadent to have a designated old-glass-watercolor, but hey, I love drawing old technology and lab equipment (and old glass often does have this color - not because people dyed it but because they had no way of removing the iron impurities), so I absolutely needed that one, I just didn't know it yet!

( List of art supplies behind the cut. )

Another page in the sketchbook! This time, more contrasts in saturation than in hue or brightness... For the fun of it.



Materials:
- suuuper awesome sketchbook from antaresnox; a "boring" white page today (hey, I have to use them at some point, right?)
- ballpoint pen (a normal one that writes in blue)
- Derwent Inktense pencil in Deep Indigo (this is, essentially, almost a watercolor pencil except that after drying the color becomes waterproof so you can add more layers over it - very useful)
- Acrylic pens: Amsterdam Acrylic Marker in Ultramarine and Yellowish Green; FlySea Acrylic Painter in white
- waterbrush

This was a drawing challenge: over at kakao-karten.de, there's a thread with weekly drawing challenges for one's sketchbook. This week, the task was to draw various objects that accompany you. Sure, I can do that! XD



Shown in this sketch:
One of my MANY MANY MANY puukkos. (Stacked birchbark handle with metal end caps; drop priofile, though that's not really visible from this perspective and at this level of scribbly-ness.)
One of my MANY MANY MANY travel watercolor boxes. (I refrained from adding paintbrushes, pencils, and pens - imagine my bag to contain a lot more art stuff than this! Also, yes, a watercolor box in monochrome looks kind of sad, but it couldn't be helped.)
One of my MANY MANY MANY travel chess sets. (No, I don't go anywhere without a chessboard. Not without chess pieces, either, but I was simply too lazy to draw those they would have distracted from the composition... Also, the wood of this set is actually much more reddish, but never mind.)
One of my MANY MANY MANY sketchbooks. (It's a new one that I received as a gift in my advent calendar from Taddi. Ironically, most of the art supplies I used to draw this picture - with the exception of the Liquitex marker and the book this sketch is in - are also from this advent calendar. It was a good opportunity to test the new art supplies!)

Not shown in this sketch:
The boring stuff. (Keys, wallet, feminine hygiene products, though in hindsight I almost regret not adding the latter.)



Materials:
- suuuper awesome sketchbook from antaresnox; a beige double page. (Yes, I deliberately used very thick black outlines and positioned the objects in a way to minimize the visual impact of the black bookbinding yarn... XD)
- Acrylic pens: Marabu YONO in black and white; Liquitex acrylic marker in Unbleached Titanium
- Glitter gel pens: Ohuhu Gel Ink Pen in gold and silver (on the knife)
- waterbrush (not in the photo)

Another postcard for someone on postcrossing - this time, it's a combination of drawing, painting, and papercut. It has transparent windows! The book page, inkwell, ink blob and large leaves are see-through.



Materials:
Watercolor paper: Florence watercolor paper, smooth, white, 200gsm. This was a bit of a compromise: it's the thinnest possible paper for watercoloring, but the thickest possible paper for reasonable papercutting. (Still: not much detail possible.)
Transparent paper: Folia, 115 gsm (I chose the thicker variety, for obvious reasons), light green.
Fineliners: Staedtler, different sizes.
Acrylic pens: FlySea, white and black.
Watercolors: various brands, no idea which was what. It was not my watercolor box. I'm not at home and didn't grab the box in my bag when there was a perfectly good one open on the table.
Knife: snap-off utility knife. Cheap but good. XD Seriously, it performed really well (as in: non-wobbly, good angle, and ergonomic in my hand) but it's a no-name thingy, no manufacturer printed on or anything.
Varnish: LUKAS spray varnish, satin gloss. (Added to protect the watercolors before gluing everything together.)
Spray glue: Ghiant Hightac, an ancient can. Oh well, it came out a bit yellowed and blotchy but it still worked... Somehow.

More pictures (of the papercutting and of what the card looks like with backlighting) behind the cut.

( Pictures! )

I'll definitely make more cards with this technique. It's so much fun! :D

Literally. A "postcard" (though I'll have to send it in an envelope because I don't think the paper is going to survive otherwise) for someone on Postcrossing. This person likes snails. Did I have a store-bought snail postcard? No. Am I able to draw one when I have to? Kind of. So, here's a giant snail... XD



Materials:
- paper: this is on an interesting handmade watercolor paper from India, called "Wanderings", in light brown. Layers on top of each other are not really possible, so the paper is mostly suited for more "sketch-like" work, but I like the effects the color creates on this a lot.
- fineliners: Copic multiliner 1.0 in black, Faber Castell PITT artist pen S in dark sepia
- watercolors: Schmincke Chromoxidgrün stumpf (PG17), White Nights Indanthrene Blue (PB60) and Mars Brown (PBr6tr)
- acrylic pen: Posca in white

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

Yes, someone asked for this plant. It was specific enough I felt inspired to draw this ATC.



It was fun. :)

This sketch is actually a collaboration with Mom, who had the picture idea and composition all in her head but didn't want to draw it all by herself, so instead, we sat down together at the kitchen table and she told me exactly what to draw. She also drew a few of the tree branches and the plants on the ground. It was fun! (Not a very tidy result, because we were drinking tea and chatting at the same time, but simply a fun family activity. Straight lines, what are straight lines? XD)



I had to start a new sketchbook, also bound by antaresnox, for this - the chess sketchbook has exclusively warm colors, but this picture asked for dark green paper. Fortunately, that package had many wonderful sketchbooks. I had promised pictures as soon as I start the other ones, so...

( Pictures of another really awesome bookbinding project behind the cut! )

Materials:
Awesome sketchbook; dark green page
Watercolor marker: Faber Castell Albrecht Dürer Watercolour Marker in Warm Grey III (this is literally the only watercolor marker I ever use; I don't like the medium otherwise)
Acrylic pens: Flysea Acrylic Painters in black and white, Amsterdam Acrylic Markers in Permanent Green Light and Yellowish Green, Liquitex Acrylic Markers in Raw Sienna and Raw Umber, Posca in white

Drew this at Planten un Blomen (a park in Hamburg). Unfortunately, the very tame bird came over as soon as it noticed me and begged for food. They do that...



Materials:
- suuuper awesome sketchbook; a grey page this time
- Fineliner: Faber Castell Multimark permanent, black, in F
- Marker: Faber Castell Pitt big brush in Cold Grey III
- Acrylic pen: Flysea Acrylic Painter Extra Fine in white (in some places diluted with water and paintbrush)