Return of the eagles.

January 31, 2020January 31, 2020 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ Leave a comment

The eagles are back!

I live in an area where bald eagles flock to breed. They come back every year in the hundreds.

I haven’t been taking too many photos as my camera’s shutter seems to be wearing out but I did take these while I was walking Sampson. This one seemed very interested in Sampson.

This one did too. His claws are in such sharp focus.

I was playing with some white ink on black paper. The paper seemed a bit soft, it wanted to absorb and absorb which ended up working in my favor, I was able to put many layers. Now in my first eagle here which is about 5×7, I went a little too crazy with my top layer and lost some of the shading.

This one is better. I would have continued down the shoulders but it ended up in a card frame for a friend who likes eagles. The one thing I love about ink, is that it tends to look complicated but it’s all just little dots and lines. Pretty relaxing to do.

I used a dip pen with a G nib on it. I buy the ones that are marketed towards anime online. They flow well and you can make thick or thin lines depending on how much pressure you use.

Since I mentioned Sampson, here’s a quick one of him in white ink on card stock.

I also did a squirrel in the white and grey ink who looks a bit of a know it all.

I did a polar bear too but had to weigh down the paper afterwards as it buckled. He looks like he’s fretting, given that the icecaps are melting fast, I can’t say I blame him.

If you have questions, please ask in the comments.

©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog.com, 2020

Ink ink ink…

November 29, 2019 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 2 Comments

I recently bought some dip pens and have been playing with them. I love the G Nib though for some reason it’s hard to find in my area. I ordered some online since I’ve already killed the one I had.

A fish.

A quack.

A grrr.

A hedgehog with a little teeny tiny woof and a flower.

The sausage woof that I live with.

©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog.com, 2019

Linocuts of “The North Wind & the Sun”

April 23, 2019April 23, 2019 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ Leave a comment

These linocuts were done on a 5×7 inch “Easy-to-Cut” lino from Jack Richeson & Co.Inc. It claims that it “Cuts like butter” and it does! I quite like it.

Apparently you can carve on both sides as well but I haven’t tried that yet.

This lino is based on Aesop’s fable “The North Wind & The Sun”. You can find the story with sound effects even at the Library of Congress’s website. Check it out, it is a fantastic site.

I’ve experimented with different color papers, they are framed in the matte colors shown here though I added these with the computer as the original colors wouldn’t scan well.

I was trying for a folk artsy sort of style. I think the smudges add interest.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

This one is my favourite, the black and red ink melded into an interesting pattern I thought

These two are so bright, heck yeah!

This next one is a bit more subdued color wise, I added a bit of embellishment with acrylic markers.

If you have any questions, ask away.

©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog.com, 2019

The Lion and The Mouse

December 23, 2018 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ Leave a comment

On WetCanvas (a forum for artists) there was a challenge to create something using Aesop’s Fables as a theme.

The Library of Congress, has each story in full (click link). The illustrations alone are worth looking at. Many of the illustrations are interactive, I was charmed by them. Such a great site and resource, check it out!

Using ink and gilt, I chose the Fable of the Lion and the Mouse. The following text is from the Library of Congress’s site. My original illustration follows it.

The Lion & the Mouse

A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion’s nose. Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.

“Spare me!” begged the poor Mouse. “Please let me go and some day I will surely repay you.”

The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let the Mouse go.

Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter’s net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.

“You laughed when I said I would repay you,” said the Mouse. “Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion.”

A kindness is never wasted.

All text and images other than Aesop’s Fable are

©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog.com, 2018

Odds and Ends of the year.

December 22, 2018 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 4 Comments

This is a horse with tattoos, everyone has them now.

Ink and marker, 8×10 inches.

This is a lino print with Brusho (a watercolor product). 5×7 inches.

A quick drawing of a guy named Steve.

A cat that I embroidered on my apron because I like to be fancy when I’m cooking. This design is an original and is about 5×7 inches.

A photograph of a shadow from a lamp that looks like the Eiffel Tower.

A sepia self portrait, titled “Closer than she appears.”

The Chicago Waterfront.

And the Wells Fargo Bank reflected in the windows of the Figge Museum in Davenport, Iowa. My favourite painting ” Blue Horse” by Marc Chagall lives at the Figge.

©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog.com, 2018

Merry Christmas!

December 21, 2017 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ Leave a comment

I was involved in a Christmas card trade on WetCanvas with a few other artists. It was so much fun and I received some beautiful cards from all the world.

These were the ones I made. They’re ink and metallic watercolor. The metallic are so much fun to work with but they are hard to photograph!

I also did a Science Fiction ~ Fantasy Christmas trade. I made this dragon for a wonderful friend of mine, who is a guide on the Science Fiction & Fantasy forum on WetCanvas. She does monthly challenges there that are so much fun and very clever. If you like scifi or fantasy, check it out!

This is watercolor, ink and a whole lot of glitter.

I hope you have a happy holiday whichever one you celebrate!

Much love and good wishes to all!

*********************************

©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog.com, 2017

In the garden.

September 28, 2017September 28, 2017 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ Leave a comment

A hummingbird

A Monarch.

A finch, checking out its feet.

A swallowtail.

Another swallowtail.

And of course, a Lesser Blue Warted Toadgon, native of the Indigo Forest of Cerulean. It is one of the prettier invasive species though it’s a bit of a pest, stomping about and getting bluing everywhere.

©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog.com, 2017

A couple of small paintings.

August 13, 2017 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ Leave a comment

“Rolling Pins in a #3 Jug”

4×6 inches, ink and watercolor.

“Top Hats and a Camera”

5×4 inches, ink and watercolor.

Thanks to the people who put their photos into WetCanvas’s Reference Image Library for all members to use.

Brusho, Lino carving and other ways to muck your hands up..

February 26, 2017February 26, 2017 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 8 Comments

Recently I was given a gift of Brusho. I had never seen it before so I dove into it right away.

A few things you should know if you’re going to try Brusho out..

1) It stains like a stainy staining stain. I was green and blue for a good bit. Now I don’t mind being various colors and Sampson of course has a habit of being various shades of color but from what I understand some people don’t think it’s quite normal to walk around with paint and ink all over them. Be careful or wear gloves. Don’t use this over a good rug or table or what have you.

2) Don’t open the lid, tempting as it is, simply take a sharp implement, a nail or such and stab the lid with it. Do not stab yourself or anyone else.

After I punctured the top, I used little round stickers (Avery coloring coded labels for files) to close them up. It’s not necessary but for some reason I have a tonne of those stickers.

3) If you live in a humid area, you might want to get one of those silica gels things to keep in the box with them or put some rice in there. They are a crystalized salt sort of thing. I live near the Mississippi which is a muggy muddy river, I noticed within a week that it was too humid for them.

4) To activate the Brusho, you shake a bit out onto paper then spray it with water. Test your sprayer first. The first one I used was so powerful, it shot the crystals all over the place. The second was too weak and made puddles. I did find a purse sized one that had had eye glass cleaner in it and that worked well.

5) A little bit goes a long long way. Do some tests to see how much you want to use. It’s pretty vivid and of course mixing complementary colors will get you mud. Complementary colors are colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel..green and red, blue and orange, purple and yellow and so on.

6)You can use it as a fine art sort of watercolor by dropping a little bit in a palette well and adding water. I did not do that. I did watch youtube videos about it. There’s a good tutorial here for a fine art landscape. This lady’s youtube channel shows how to use it more for crafts like card making.

I used a white crayon to make a quick line drawing. I then sprinkled some of the Brusho on and sprayed it. I use the thingy that blows dust off my camera lens to move some of the colors around. The whole thing took maybe five minutes.