Sunflower

Some days are so busy, I only have enough time for a miniature painting!  So, choosing ink and watercolor, I grabbed an ATC sized paper and started sketching. This week's heat wave has been hard on so many of my flowers this week - I am hoping they make it until things cool off.  I first use a water resistant ink for the composition, and follow this with watercolor.  I have water soluble ink in the TWSBI Diamond mini fountain pen pictured, and I use that where I want the ink to move a little.  Love these little moments in the garden with my paints!  Painting number 3116 in 3116 days. 

Flag Iris

I love getting out in my gardens, coaxing forth blooms while discouraging weeds, and ever transplanting wayward plants.  Often as I work, I see compositions before me, paintings already forming in my head.  Soon, I return to these places to paint with minutes I steel from another task.  Other times, I don't make it back before the fleeting blooms fade, and my chance is lost for another year. Hope I get to all those paintings just floating around in my head. Painting number 3062 in 3062 days. 

Trixie Inked

I had a request recently for a painting which had already sold, but I did have the pre-sketch.  In fact, I had been so busy at the time, that I never posted it anywhere.  So, thinking this little darling should see the light of day, I am sharing this post.  I used a different paper here, one I had picked up at a local art store and found the ink moved a little more fluidly that on my preferred paper.  It does have a nice, heavy thickness to it, which I love. My fountain pen of the day is a TWSBI Eco in a limited edition yellow, filled with my favorite black ink.  I'm running low on that very ink and am waiting for it to come in.  I sure go through the ink!  Painting number 2463 in 2463 days.

Kathys Kottage Inked

What a treasure I found when arriving in Tonganoxie!  This was literally the first place I scouted, and I stayed for TWO paintings - one in ink and the other in oil!  With such a charming cottage, I tried two different approaches compositionally.  The first in portrait orientation, and the second in landscape, unable to choose a favorite!  I liked how the trees reached up to the sky, leaving all that dreamy light through the branches.  I could have stayed all day to paint, with an abundance of subject matter all around!  So happy this drawing has a new home!  Painting number 2052 in 2052 days.

sold

Clouds Over the Lane

The skies have been SO exciting the last few days!!  I'm afraid I'm driving my daughters crazy with all my cloud comments (while shopping, getting pedis, buying snacks). I just can't keep my eyes off the sky!  Arriving home too late for paint, I grabbed my ink and got busy.  I've rarely inked clouds before, their very softness has me grabbing the paint every time.  So, the challenge itself was as exciting as the sky show! I sketched lightly, then let my water brushpen fill out the clouds.  I left the overhead lines out until the very end, but had to put them in.  This is the eastern view down my lane, and as such, they just needed to be included.  Such a Midwest thing, after all.  Painting number 2033 in 2033 days. 

Along the Walking Path

The walking path at Prairie Fire Winery leads one up past the vineyard to the peak of the hill.  Winding to the east offers a bird's eye view over I 70, and turning to the west winds through the prairie grasses around the another hill.  So peaceful is this walk, only bees and meadow larks accompany me.  I've grown so used to the dense and lush foliage of Missouri, I forget how truly wide open these spaces are.  In fact, there are few trees, mostly skirting houses or outbuildings.  The prairie has a beauty all it's own, and I'm so happy to have a small part in capturing it for others.  Painting number 2026 in 2026 days. 

City Market Skyline

The City Market is bringing artists in for First Fridays from now until October!  Urban Sketchers KC will man a booth space to share our artwork and serve as a home base for the evening's sketching.  Each month, an artist will give a short demo from 6:00 to 6:30, and I will kick this off in July.  We'll paint until 8:30, and meet to show our work.  With so much to paint in each direction, it is going to be fun!  All I'll have to decide is ink, oil, or watercolors?  Or maybe gouache or acrylic?  Oh, what is an artist to do?  Painting number 1973 in 1973 days.

ink on paper, 4x6
purchase here

Boulevard Brewing Beer Hall

The Boulevard Brewing Company's Beer Hall is a great place to sketch!  It was easy to get in and sketch when they opened at 10:00. People were already lined up for the first brewery tour.  Within an hour, that place was hopping!  You can order food, sample beer, buy Boulevard goodies in the gift shop, or hang out in any of the many areas throughout this large building.  So many cool things to paint!  And a great place to meet friends!  Painting number 1911 in 1911 days.

Bagnell Dam

As I explore more fountain pens, a few have risen to the top like cream.  Both the TWSBI Eco and Mini are smooth as butter and hold so much ink.  I didn't realize what a benefit this was until I ran out a couple of times with other pens.  I do love the piston reloader, so easy to use!   This paper is a more traditional watercolor paper, and less absorbent than the cotton rag.  The result is a line that bleeds freely with the addition of a little water.  I thought these towers along the dam looked like they stepped out of a Star Wars movie!  So cool to draw!  Painting number 1908 in 1908 days.

Ha Ha Tonka - journal

The Ha Ha Tonka ruins are majestic as they sit high on the bluffs, above a winding spring.  I start first with my TWSBI mini, filled with Caran D'ache Cosmic Black ink.  I most often use black when sketching a scene.  It wasn't long before my pen ran dry - oh why didn't I check it?  It is a demonstrator pen and I can clearly see the ink, if if only pay attention!  So, I move to another favorite, the TWSBI Eco filled with a fancy J. Herbin Caroube de Chypre ink.  My favorite part of this ink is the tiny gold flecks!  I use a little watercolor to tint and a little water to move my ink - which is a little new for me.  I almost always use India ink when using watercolor because it can be tricky to control the ink on a wet surface.  But, I'm growing more adept at the media, and like the depth I can achieve here.  Cool pens, cool ink, cool paper - how can one go wrong?  Painting number 1901 in 1901 days.

Cleveland Inlet

Dropping lunch off for Michael gave me the perfect opportunity to swing by one of my favorite sketching spots!  Though a few raindrops crashed my show - I was still able to get three drawings finished in a mad dash!  The second got a little wet, and I'm afraid it is ruined, but the other two survive!  Pictured here is one of the smoothest fountain pens for drawing - the TWSBI mini.  This is my pen of choice for this kind of work - it has not blocked up yet with dried ink, and always lays down a perfect line.  It is currently filled with cosmic black- which I love,  but I will try another when this is empty.  So many inks, so little time!  Painting number 1891 in 1891 days.

Rugged Tree

Enjoying a spa day with the girls, I waited for the infrared sauna to be free.  Out the window, this old tree stood along the railroad tracks, as if on guard. He's seen better days, and his ragged branches create such an interesting composition, I grabbed my pen.  Right now this TWSBI Mini is my favorite fountain pen. It is SO smooth and silky to draw with. I'm using cosmic black ink and a water brushpen to move around the ink a little.  I was finished in a flash  and ready for a little pampering.  Painting number 1883 in 1883 days.