Friday, February 18, 2011

Winehound

And now for something completely different! In honor of National Drink Wine Day* (or actually in defiance of it, since this was an unauthorized use) I had the notion to do a little sketch using wine as a medium. It was a new experience for me (though I have painted with coffee before). I used some cheap Cabernet Sauvignon on Bristol board, applied with a 10x0 watercolor brush. (The image is roughly 4x5".) The wine right out of the bottle gave a pale grey-violet effect. I wanted to be able to darken some areas, so I tried condensing it for a bit in the microwave. Interestingly, this not only darkened & thickened the "ink" but also caused it to retain its original reddish color, at least long enough for a scan. Further experiments are in order, but first I must answer my country's call & drink some of this stuff. Cheers!

*Thanks to the ever-inspiring Allison Sommers for alerting me to this vitally important national event.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Warmheart

I've been experimenting with sketching quick little characters (who may eventually be animated!!) & this one seemed appropriate for today. I always liked the saying "cold hands, warm heart" (maybe because my hands are often cold), so this week's IF prompt made me think of dressing a little heart guy up in a nice warm sweater.

Brush marker, ball-point pen, & white gouache on cut-out brown paper, about 3x4"

Happy Valentine's Day!