eller | Entries tagged with postcards

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

Schnecke-kl

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

Two animal postcards for people on Postcrossing.

Eidechsen-kl

Both cards are made with acrylic pens (various brands) on watercolor paper (JAXON Aquarell Postkarten, and by the way, those suck, I am only using the box up so they are finally gone). I like that the acrylic pens behave almost like watercolors when you spread the color with a wet paintbrush but are waterproof after drying. I used spray varnish on the cards anyway, to protect them in the mail.

...for people on Postcrossing. Very different techniques, because I enjoy some variety.

Baum-kl

This tree is a classic fineliner sketch painted with watercolors. Most of the drawing was done in the park during lunch time, but I did the last color layer later. (Had to let things dry!) Of course, I used spray varnish in the end, so the thing is sort-of-safe to mail.

oktopus-kl

And this little underwater scene is a combination of acrylic paints (mostly smeared with my fingers, because that gives me more control than paintbrushes, and besides, it's fun!) and acrylic markers.

Just something quick I drew for someone on Postcrossing - the person likes hippos, but unfortunately, I didn't have a hippo card in my collection, so I made one. I had to use lots of references for the animal because I simply don't see them very often. (Fortunately. I don't particularly want to encounter one...)

I'm mainly posting this because I (finally) took the opportunity to use one of the Schmincke supergranulating watercolors I was posting about a few days ago. All that grainy dark blue that brings out the paper texture is done with layers of Tundra Blue (PB29, PBr7) over the other colors. I think it's especially noticeable when you compare the earthy shore (no supergranulating layer, just ochre - ironically, my favorite ochre is a very cheap one but I love the tone - and some purplish PR102) to its mirror image in the water (same paints, but with a layer of Tundra Blue over it).

hippo-postcard-kl

Materials I used:
JAXON watercolor postcard paper (approx. A6 size)
Copic Multiliner in 0.4 and BM (brush)
Watercolors: BLOCKX Blockx Red (PR254), Michael Harding Yellow Lake (PY180), Phoenix Yellow Ochre (PY42), Nila Colori Armenian Violet Ochre (PR102), Mijello Bamboo Green (PG36), Daniel Smith Jadeite Genuine, Daler Rowney Manganese Blue Hue, Schmincke Horadam Tundra Blue (PB29, PBr7), Rembrandt Spinel Grey (PBk26)
FlySea Acrylic pen, white, fine

Two recent papercut postcards... When people on postcrossing are into a particular sport (which seems to be kind of rare, unfortunately), I usually try to send them something related to that. Also, sports postcards that can be bought commercially are even rarer. I wonder - maybe "sports fanatics" and "people who send excessive amounts of snail mail" are considered separate target groups?!?

darts-kl

This one is a papercut card I did send on Postcrossing. Someone stated they like horses, I happen to like horses too, so the decision was easy! Also, it's a very fast work (20 min or something), so I didn't feel bad about giving it away.

horse-m

Papercutting is one of those art forms that are incredibly complicated and slooooow when you're a beginner, but where the working speed increases exponentially with practice - and, of course, if you've ever watched really experienced papercutters, you'll know they'll produce something like this in two minutes or less. (Interestingly, it tends to be faster than drawing the same thing!) Basically, I'm viewing pieces like this as practice. It's cut from one of these super cheap white square note sheets that come in those plastic cubes - you know what I mean. Fixed with spray glue on 300gsm construction paper. Simple, but I kind of like the composition, and I hope the recipient will enjoy it.

Fanart. Because, hey, I like ballet. (I quit dancing because it turned out I love chess that crucial bit more, but that doesn't mean I quit watching...)

Swan-Lake-Original-Format-kl

This is again a papercut postcard, though it's not sent to anyone yet. Was intended for Postcrossing, but... I like it a bit too much to send it to a random stranger. (I guess I'm just not nice enough. I've sent original papercuts, but only much simpler ones.) I may get prints of this one, though. It's a design that I enjoy.

The saga of artistically questionable postcards goes on! This time, I drew the address of someone I already knew a bit from the Postcrossing forum - and they're another paleolithic art nerd! YAY! Of course, I could not resist the temptation to produce some cave art fanart.

faux-cave-painting

I prepared a piece of thick Kraft paper (A6 format) with sand (collected myself, of course) and acrylic paste, so the result looked kind of like a sandstone cave wall. (The closest approximation I could manage, anyway.) I then took charcoal and pastels and drew on it, which was somewhat tricky. I fixed the end result with spray varnish. (Also, obviously, I had to send it in an envelope, but I’m told it arrived undamaged, which makes me very happy.) This was SOOO much fun! XD

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.

Akelei-kl

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.

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

daffodil-m

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.

Another postcard for Postcrossing. This time, I decided to combine watercolor and papercutting. The person this card is for is another North German and loves the North Sea coast in particular. I am, of course, always happy to help out with North German nature... Comfort zone. LOL.

North-Sea

The seagulls and the island with the lighthouse are cut from cheap white note paper and pasted on a watercolor background, Winsor&Newton Payne's Grey on Vaessen Florence Texture White watercolor paper in A6 (postcard size).

I'm actually quite happy with this one - in hindsight, I'd change a few things about the composition, and also, give the birds more detail, so maybe there's going to be a remake of this one in the future. Possibly also with a nicer seascape... And better papercutting paper that doesn't deform... (Initially, that lighthouse was more or less straight!) Yeah, many things went wrong here, because I didn't want to spend hours on this piece, but all that can be fixed in a remake. The overall concept is fine as far as I'm concerned.

No sketchbook pics yet, sorry, those will have to follow tomorrow - but here's another postcard I made for Postcrossing.

acorns

I used black and white acrylic pens, a grey marker, and... Schmincke is selling bottled opaque white these days (it has to be very new, I just saw it for the first time), and clearly, they developed that product just for me. XD It behaves just like white watercolor (as in, it can be diluted with water), it's just slightly more opaque overall, and slightly less rewettable when dry (which is good for layers) and dries with a matte finish. I'm very happy.

I made this one kind of indirectly for Postcrossing... A nice person sent me a very lovely, very detailed drawing with fineliners and watercolors, and of course, this made me very happy! So happy, in fact, that I offered to send her one in return. She took me up on the offer. Her profile stated that tulips are her favorite flowers, so, that was another easy decision...

Tulpenpostkarte2-kl

This is another one for Postcrossing! I really like getting people who state on their profile that they like handmade postcards - that way I know the effort won't be wasted. (Some people collect only "professional" postcards, and that's fine. I just like to know, so I don't spend an hour on a card when the recipient would have been happier with something store-bought for 20 cents. I don't have the time to make cards for everyone, so I'm limiting that to those who explicitly state they like self-made things.) Anyway, this random person likes frogs and handmade cards, so I did the obvious thing and drew a frog for her.

Frosch-kl

The drawing is, unfortunately, on really crappy paper - I had once ordered a pack of 100 blank A6 postcards on Amazon, and while I received those 100 postcards, and they're not even flimsy or anything (350 g/sqm is a perfectly solid weight), they're kind of the worst of both worlds: extremely smooth (like, smoother than Bristol board) so working with pencils won't work, but buckling when they get wet. :/ The only medium that kind of works on them is acrylic pen. I also used fast washes of liquid acrylic color for the background of the leaf, but that was already kind of risky... I hate these cards, but I feel like I have to use them up somehow. Anyway, I'm getting faster with those small drawings, so, yay?

I was sooooo amused earlier when I drew an address on Postcrossing and got a nice person in Russia whose hobbies are... music (!) and papercutting (!!!). That's... kind of niche, but of course, I was super happy! I don't usually make papercut cards for postcrossing, simply because that's too much work, but in this case I was willing to make an exception.

Musik-Scherenschnitt-kl

Not very detailed, but hey, it would be a shame not to send a papercut, right? I didn't find my good scalpels so I had to use one that wasn't really sharp anymore, and it kind of shows, but whatever. This took me a bit over an hour as it is. XD At least I used decent paper (not silhouette paper, but a very good alternative intended for... lamination?!?, but also very stable - it works great!) and decent spray glue. The background is simple white cardboard. I'll be mailing this in an envelope because I don't trust Deutsche Post with my art. XD

So, uh, who wants to receive a chord zither postcard? A pile of these just arrived from the print shop, and I'm perfectly happy to send them out to those who follow my ramblings about rather obscure musical instruments.

Chord-Zither-printed-postcard-kl

The picture itself is matte, but the strings and pegs are glossy! It’s very difficult to demonstrate this effect in a photo, but I tried:

chord-zither-glossy-effect