More ACEO Art Cards Editions and Originals

This series of ACEOs is along the theme of “mouse in a teacup”. Lots of artists have used this to create cute paintings and drawings. So here’s my take on an old theme. Not just a mouse in a teacup but several hummingbirds, a wren, a chickadee, a ginger kitten, a hedgehog and lastly a guniea pig! All sporting different cups.

Found on my eBay shop.

Creating depth in watercolor

To create depth in my painting I starting with a good sketch then apply masking fluid to the pine needles. Then added a wet on wet wash for the background with slightly darker colors to give the impression of the nest deep in the tree foliage.

More cats . . . .

Following in the line of my last post, here are more cat paintings. Still trying to capture the feline character in watercolor and pen & ink for these little ACEO art cards (sold on eBay). . . . the last painting below is so much prettier in person just doesn’t show well on the screen.

Cats, cats and ACEO cats!

With the desire to learn how to paint cats with watercolor and pen & ink I began a project of making several paintings a day. Having found cats to be a difficult subject I am determine to break the barrier keeping me from representing them with ease. Cats seem to be a popular subject for ACEO cards so this is a perfect venue for this project. Here is my progress so far. I think I am getting the eyes pretty good but still have a ways to go on the shape of the head and the representation of fur

Some of these are available on my eBay shop.

More ACEO art cards

These small paintings are a great way to practice watercolor technique. Adding just a touch of pen and ink to bring out detail. Hummingbirds are still one of my favorite subjects.

Watercolor ACEO cards

Do you remember what these little original paintings are? ACEO stands for Art Card Editions and Originals. Small works of art about the size of a trading card. These allow people without much art budget to collect art, little pieces of original art!

I find these a lot of fun to make and a great way to practice the watercolor technique - this is quite the learning curve - learning watercolor I mean. The longer I work with it and better I like it.

I sell these on eBay

Here’s some of my recent ACEOs :


Illustrations

The last few months have been so busy with moving to a new home, dealing with the pandemic and all the related remote services. As a result I have been absent from blogging. Since its not one of my strengths even in the best of times, blogging was the first to go when life became so crowded with activities. I’m back now and here is a look at one of the projects from the recent past.

Book illustrations. . .

Watercolor instruction

Several artists who have YouTube channels have been helpful to me in learning further how to watercolor. Pen and Ink has been my medium of choice through my artist life but the pull of color has been coming along for a few years now. I recently found Louise De Masi a watercolor artist from Australia whose tutorials are a lot of fun and very helpful. This is one of my recent paintings combining watercolor and pen & ink.

The artists' way of seeing-

“Many artists have spoken of seeing things differently while drawing and have often mentioned that drawing puts them into a somewhat altered state of awareness. In that different subjective state, artists speak of feeling transported, “at one with the work” , able to grasp relationships that they ordinarily cannot grasp. Awareness of the passage of time fades away, and words recede from consciousness. Artist say that they feel alert and aware yet are relaxed and free of anxiety, experiencing a pleasurable, almost mystical activation of the mind.”

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards

Hedgehog ACEO artist trading card

Interesting comment by Temple Grandin regarding Van Gogh's work

“Van Gogh’s art became bright and brilliant after he was admitted to an asylum. The onset of epilepsy may explain his switch from dull to extremely bright colors. Seizures changed his perception. The swirls in the sky in his painting ”Starry Night “ are similar to the sensory distortions that some people with autism have. Autistics with severe sensory processing problems see the edges of objects vibrate and get jumbled sensory input. These are not hallucinations but perceptual distortions.”

- Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin (pg. 184 Chapter - “Einstein’s Second Cousin”)

Making some new ACEO artist cards

Passing time during these dark days making some miniature original watercolor pieces. ACEO artist cards 2.5” x 3.5” available in my eBay shop.