Artist and Student ATC Trade

A teacher posted on Facebook that she would like artists to volunteer for a one-on-one trade of an atc with her students.  I agreed.  I did a picture of a dog from a photo by Andy Mathes, a photographer/veterinarian and used with his permission.  

The dog is Bruno.  I did a picture of him when he was just a puppy.  He was a cute little thing that looked so sad.  Her is looking more grown up now.  I love his face and enjoy doing his portrait even if it is so small.  And I so much appreciate Andy Mathes for taking such great photos of his clients.  It is so fun to see his clients from the time they are in for their first puppy shots, thru until they grow up.  And so many breeds of dogs and cats.

This is an ATC (2.5x3.5 inches) and done with colored pencil and ink.

Animal ATC Trade

When I first started the animal trade, I worked and finished 5 cards right away. Then before I could get them mailed, one was missing. I never did find it but I have my suspicions that my Mini Schnauzer Dizzy ate it.

Dizzy likes to eat paper. In fact she sits and waits for the envelopes from the mail. If I am cutting paper for the cards, she is sitting there waiting for the scraps to fall. She chews the paper and even eats it. So I figured odds are that my goat (er...dog) ate the card.

Well fast forward to the card I did last night. It was from a photo I took of a dove sitting on a wire in my back yard. I felt like I finally got it just right and put it on a table with the envelope waiting until I scanned it.

I went to the computer to check email. When I went back to the living room, I happened to see the envelope on the floor. Panic attack..."oh no where is my card?" I jumped up and there was paper sitting in front of Dizzy. It was my card. All mangled. A little of the watercolor paint missing. The lower half of the card bent and crumpled. I grabbed it and put it in my Moleskine sketch book with a heavy tape dispenser on top for weight hoping I could save the card.

Well the card is in one piece. No holes from teeth. Still a little crinkly but still nice enough so I mailed it today. The only thing it did was make the wing look more 3-D. I hope the recipient doesn't mind that she got a special card that my Dizzy helped me prepare. A one-of-a-kind (hopefully).

2nd "Water" Card

This is the second card for my Water Project. Watercolor, watercolor pencil, pen and ink. This one is headed to Texas.

Water ATC Trade at Wetcanvas

We got the address list for the Water ATC trade. I finished one card, a swan, and sent it off to Canada. I plan to do some waterbirds on this trade. Not sure if they will all be waterbirds but some will be. This one is postcard size and done with watercolor, watercolor cps, and pen and ink from a reference in Wetcanvas' RIL>

Sheep

Here is my last ATC for the Wetcanvas Project. I have enjoyed doing the cards but as usual, I am glad to get finished.

I have a couple things I want to do. One is the Virtual Paintout. I haven't participated for several months and I want to get back to it. I have been cruising around the towns/countries but just haven't taken the time to paint any of the shots I have saved.

Bunny Rabbitt

Everyone who knows me pretty well knows that I have boxes of drawing references. Not just photos but the actual things. Lots of stuffed animals, ceramic animals, a few assorted dishes, twigs, leaves, pine cones, and just about anything I might want to draw some day. I probably have more references than I do pencils and that is saying a mouthful.

Well this latest ATC card I just finished is from a ceramic rabbit I bought about a week ago. Sadly as I brought it into the house, the bag slipped a little and off came one of his ears. $2.99 and already broken. I tried to fix it with super glue but it wouldn't hold I need something that will bond faster. Maybe the super glue wasn't good for the ceramic material.

I will keep my rabbit. It is still "drawable" even if the ear is a separate piece. I don't want to spend another $3. But I have learned not to try to carry too many bags at once.

This one is another for the trade on Wetcanvas. I used watercolor, pen and ink, and a touch of Conte white pastel pencil for highlights on the eye. the white dot is white-out stick. (If it works, why not?)

Saucy Bird & Happy Puppy

I finished two more cards tonight. These whttp://www.blogger.com/ere done with watercolor, watercolor pencil, and pen and ink. The dog is from a photo I took of my Great Niece Kylie's Valentine Dog. The Bird is from a reference by Macdragon from Wetcanvas.

That's four finished and two more are sketched and have pen on them. They are another bird and a ceramic cow from my collection.

Elliott

This is Elliott. His photo was one that was provided by Valri for the Wetcanvas WDE this week. I believe that he has passed. This was done in watercolor with some micron pen. ATC size.

I have been playing around with pen and ink plus watercolor. I want to be able to use a medium that goes a little faster than cps. I still love doing cp but sometimes I just want to do something quickly. I have been known to put cps over watercolor. I like combining the two. But this time I wanted to try watercolor with pen.

I have done two others in the same way. One of my hand and one of my lab Penny asleep on my bed. These are also ATC size and will go to participants in my new Wetcanvas project.