This is a watercolour and mixed media painting done for a friend who lost her little white terrier dog recently. In fact the middle dog was inspired by one picture she took of her beloved dog which was posted on Facebook. The result will give her hopefully a bit of joy and memories of happier times.
Did you know that the well-known English nursery rhyme “Sing a Song of Sixpence a pocket full of rye, four-and-twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie” could have been a coded message used to recruit crew members for the notorious 18th-century pirate Blackbeard. His real name Teach was a shrewd and calculating leader who spurned the use of force, relying instead on his fearsome image to elicit the response that he desired from those whom he robbed…
I liked the clever attitude of this dog and I had to find a quote which would match that particular facial expression. I hope you agree with my choice and Salvador Dali’s statement!
Drawing done with brush pen and watercolour on Moleskine sketchbook.
I chose to put this elephant behind the foreground decor to give a feel of space and depth. I painted the background with a graded wash for the light effect. I was inspired by the African theme when I chose the golden pattern reminiscent of African design.
This sketch was done mainly with watercolours and brush pen. I did not feel the need to put any comment or lettering as the elephant was naturally taking a lot of space already in this double spread.
Watercolour sketch done with brush pen and decorative tape in my moleskine sketchbook. I continue doing the animal series with bright colours as there is endless inspiration and fun with this subject matter.
I did this sketch using on purpose the elegant writer pen which bleeds when you touch the line with water. I liked the result which gives a watery colour to the feathers.
I found a Thai proverb matching very well my double spread. Very meaningful!
Impressed by this magnificent creature, I painted it in my sketchbook adding some gold accent and framed the watercolour/brush pen sketch with some decorative tape. In the little lettering above the horn, I used the word learning curve for obvious reasons !
Tomorrow the world will be watching Harry and Meghan’s Royal wedding. The pigeons will definitively have the best point of view !
Today is a rainy day in the South of France and definitively a good day for frogs!
Interesting facts : Frogs are amphibians and the word “amphibian” comes from a Greek word that means “both kind of lives.” This is because frogs start their lives in the water and then live on land.
The British have been poking fun at the French for their penchant for eating frog’s legs since the 16th century by calling them “frog-eaters,” now commonly shortened to just “frogs.” But did you know that the Chinese are known to have eaten frog’s legs for millennia, and the Aztecs were partial to them too ?
Marmots painted in watercolour and pen brush in my watercolour sketchbook.
Marmots can be seen in our region in the Mercantour National Park, North of the French Riviera running along the border with Italy. Marmots typically live in burrows, and hibernate there through the winter. Burrows can be as deep as 7 meters (22 feet).
They generally begin hibernating in late September and survive entirely on their fat reserves accumulated during the Summer.
They emerge through the snow in April and early May (now), during which time there may be nothing to eat, and when they are especially vulnerable to predators..
Hobby Sketcher 