Hamsa Hand

Here is a very quick whimsey drawing of a Hamsa. 



Broke away from my “color inside the lines” tendency on the bottom here and started to color first then outline.  Makes for a more intricate design albeit not so symmetrical.



Didn’t know about Hamsa’s until recently.  Had to look it up and here is what I found.



The hamsa is a popular apotropaic (intended to ward off evil) talisman for magical protection against the evil eye, and is one of the most popular amulets for good luck and prosperity…..Interesting….who knew?

Cherokee Chief

Keeping with my recent colorful drawings, It was time to whimsey-fy a guy. 



I just purchased some HOT PRESS watercolor paper (very smooth) because I’ve been unhappy with my sketching  when using COLD PRESS paper.  Cold Press paper is not smooth, it’s toothy, and the unevenness of the paper becomes very apparent when I sketch on it.



Since I was drawing a dude, I had to bring in some color to make this worth my while.  What is more colorful than an Indian Headdress?  Ahh, and the possibilities to add colorful variety are endless!!



After the beading portion of the headdress, I did my form of the feather look, starting with blue.



Then yellow…..not much creativity going on here other than lots of stripes.



Pretty colorful now! …..the plan



Here are the two Indians that I mixed together. 
Found on Pinterest.

• Navajo
• Chief

Finished and Fun



I seem to be getting a little less reserved as I progress with these color-sketch-marker combo drawings! Haha

Floral Fauna

I wanted to do another marker design similar to my mandelas but with flowers.



The ideal portable project using my 8x11 watercolor moleskine.



I got the design down first, using rulers, stencils and freehand lines.



Fine point sharpies, faber-castell markers and bic markers are my favorites and used throughout.



I try to use all the colors.



Flowers get to be any color they want in these drawings!



I ended up finishing up the background in a parallel line pattern.  Lots of other options I would like to try: watercolor, gray/black patterned background.  But this worked at the time.

Warhol….Watered Down

I enjoyed doing the first Warhol style drawing, so I thought I do another.



I wanted to use a different color pallet….jewel tones.  Teals, blues, purples, pinks. 



The initial pink was Way-Too-Strong, so I went in and took a lot of the watercolor pigment off (watered it down).  Which ended up being the plan for the entire picture.



Apply the watercolor strong initially, then take it off.  I liked how the pigment remained dark at the borders.



I ended up putting a lot more detail into the face….which may not have been the best choice.



But it was an interesting choice.




This picture kind of grows on me, if I don’t expect it to look like the original.

Sunglass Saturday

Yea, Yea, I know it’s not Saturday…but I started this drawing on Saturday, so that qualifies! 

Above, is the inspiration picture for this drawing.  Found on pinterest, but the website [here], doesn’t take you to the artist.  So I don’t know who to give credit to for this. 



Contour drew everyone in….and embellished where I could.



My favorite combination:  Markers and watercolor.  Markers for the skin and the rest watercolor.



Just tried to make the colors sloppy….and swirly. I wanted some white space to show thru.



Added a winter hat to the guy (he turned out to be my favorite in this), and made the lady on the left give the Louisville sign.



Soon, I got to the details….the fun and flowery details.  What really makes this work is when I keep things loose.  Meaning……keep some circles open, let the lines overlap.



Had to do something with those mouths!! They were huge!  I opted out of drawing lips…lips are Hard!  I went in and made all the mouths gray.  Well, big mistake… everyone looked half-dead.  So then, I went over the gray and gave everyone white teeth.  Teeth so white it would make any dentist proud!



Just fun!!  I love how the blue lady looks like Janis Joplin…..too funny

Mandela Mania

I think it’s good for me to keep up with my markers.  When I do, I am better at color selection… that’s for sure.



Needing “something to do with my hands”, I grabbed the ‘ole compass and circled up the page.



I’ve misplaced a few of my stencils so I had to ad-lib a bunch here.



Every now and then, I get into a drawing….I choose a color… then I go “Ugh, why did I think that would look good?”  That’s how I felt when I looked at the pink dollie-forms to the right.



Win some…lose some….moved on.



My favorite shot in this series….Right here.  You can see a bit of the detail starting to be developed.



Just a fun, colorful piece.   As you can see….I colored over that yucky pink with olive.  Can’t ever give up on a piece…cuz a little color change here or there can redeem itself.