Pencils, Paper...and Pastels?

I love working with colored pencil, but sometimes I want to work more quickly. Of course, there are always watercolors and other paints, but the closest relative to colored pencil might just be...pastels.

I just found this box among some old art supplies, but instead of drawing with them, I drew them. In colored pencil. Go figure.

Two Envelopes

(Prismacolor colored pencil on Stonehenge paper)

click to enlarge

It's sometimes hard to explain why we draw what we do. I suppose that many people will wonder why I drew these two envelopes. But I can only explain that I love paper and things made from paper, and when I saw this black envelope lying next to the white one, it looked rather beautiful to my eye. 

The black envelope became more of a grey one in the final drawing. I might have used graphite but chose to use colored pencil and I liked the cross-hatched grey tone I was getting. I think that the white envelope might have been more successful in graphite, though. Next time.

I tend to anthropomorphize things while I'm drawing them: a group of tomatoes becomes a family; some ground cherries are proud parents; even an eggplant becomes a Jane Austen heroine. I see something here as well—do you? 

A couple of WIP shots. (I think I like the second one as well as the finished product.)

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...

An April birthday cupcake

There are lots of April birthdays among my family and friends, so I have been repeatedly reminded that I don't have a "birthday card" image in my portfolio. I often use this one as a kind of all-purpose card, but a cupcake with a candle seems to say "Happy Birthday" much better.

I went in search of  a "classic" cupcake and ended up with this carrot cupcake from Whole Foods, as I liked the swirls in its icing. (I actually bought two—just in case one got smooshed on its way to its modeling gig. And also so my husband and I each got our own.)

Now for its "birthday suit": I scraped off the little icing carrot, sprinkled on some very old non-pareils that I found in my pantry, and donned a little blue candle, and...

...my little cupcake was ready for its close-up!

I decided to make the cake part look a bit more like chocolate, and realized that a person could easily get carried away baking drawing all sorts of cupcakes! And, as often happens, I started making WIP scans and then completely forgot to do more.

After I gave it away on several birthday cards, I realized that it looked a little forlorn sitting there unlit, so I added a little flame. (It's "optional" because I drew it separately and laid it on top in Photoshop.)

Make a wish!

Papayas & Pencils

Prismacolor colored pencil on Stonehenge paper

It takes a lot of pencils to draw a papaya—

and these were just for the outside.

As you know, I love comparing the exterior of a fruit or vegetable to its interior, which is often wildly different. Looking at its humble yellow skin, you'd never know it is concealing a cache of beautiful, black caviar-like seeds.

 Apologies for the quality of these last WIP shots...I took them at my desk with my phone instead of scanning.

This next one is a great example of the "ugly phase" that a lot of my drawings seem to go through—where I'm just about to toss the whole darn thing in the trash. Then, somehow, things finally start to come together. Whew.