Shiitake mushrooms

Prismacolor colored pencil on Stonehenge Kraft, 5" x 7"

I have such a great time drawing different types of mushrooms on the fabulous Stonehenge Kraft paper. Click on the "mushrooms" label below to see some others.Follow my blog with Bloglovin

A Paper Bag Family?

18" x 24"

Prismacolor colored pencils on Stonehenge Kraft

As I explained in this recent post about my drawing of two envelopes, I have a habit of imagining inanimate objects as people. Well, I was sifting through a stash of paper bags, looking for my next subject (after drawing this one back in April), when a little grouping caught my eye: it looked just like a couple with a baby to me. Go ahead and laugh, but just look at them!

Interestingly, this week's topic on Illustration Friday is people. I'm guessing that no one else drew paper bags for this one!

I feel a paper bag series coming on, but I think I need to lay off the Stonehenge Kraft for a while; it's addictive stuff.

Oh, and apologies for the less-than-perfect photo quality. This was too big for my scanner, so I just shot it with my iPhone.)

Flavor-of-the-Month: Stonehenge "Kraft"

I'm infatuated with Stonehenge "Kraft" paper at the moment. You've seen it in my paper bag drawing, and this portobello mushroom.Yesterday I drew some plain ol' white button mushrooms to go with the portobello. (I love them, but did I overdo the outline?) Stonehenge paper is nice and heavy, and "Kraft" is a perfect tone for drawing light-colored things. Like all of the Stonehenge paper, its surface takes colored pencil beautifully—it almost felt like I was painting on it.

One challenge with using any toned paper is getting an accurate scan. Drawings on white-ish paper are easier to color correct using the paper as the whitest point. You'll notice that it looks slightly different in my three drawings; I'm going to have to play around to see if I can find a good group of Photoshop/scanner settings for it. (If anyone has any tips, please share!)

Paper bag camouflage

Prismacolor colored pencil on Stonehenge Kraft

click to enlarge

Stonehenge Kraft drawing paper is such a classic "paper bag" color that I couldn't resist doing the obvious. I could have gone with bolder highlights, but I like the way this bag is just lying there, trying to blend in...

Fungi Friday

Portobello Mushroom

approx. 8" x 10"

Prismacolor colored pencil on Stonehenge Kraft