Author: Michele B. Naquaiya

I'm an artist/illustrator living in Mexico. I'm exploring life through art and the art of the journal with pictures and a few words.
abstract imagination, cityscapes, Revising Old Work

Fantasy City Moroccan style

Michele B. Naquaiya
Fantasy city Moroccan style

Watercolor from imagination. This watercolor was almost thrown away and I realized it had redeemable qualities. It was on a watercolor pad and we were traveling with minimum art supplies. It was just a testing of random colors splashed on the pad. It was about 4 years old and had been long forgotten. The only water I had was in a small spray bottle. I had 2 brushes and a small dish on my gouache palette. Believe me it did not start out looking like this. The dark shades were my muddy water mixed with browns and blues which I used to define the shapes. I pushed the paint around and did a lot of lifting with a thirsty brush. I worked on it very gently and slowly for about an hour, a little bit at a time. It turned out amazing. I just love it when little miracles like this happen.

animals, fantasy illustration, Pen and Ink Drawing, whimsy

Two Fish with Bubbles

Michele B. Naquaiya

These two fantasy fish are pen and ink line art drawings done the old fashioned way .,..with a crowquill pen and Higgins black drawing ink. Of course, they are mirrored images of themselves in photoshop.

I digitally colored them today as the original felt a little plain in just black and white. This is an untraditional color palette for fish in the sea but I think it’s exciting. Well, why not have some fun. The picture it will be next to is of a soft grey/blue/turquoise palette and they hopefully will work together well. Maybe my fish are a little on the whacky side? They would like that.

I originally just wanted to add some bubbles as they are supposed to be saying HI to each other and then look what happened. I think the eyeballs are better placed in the original, so I may go back and change it again. I got carried away coloring. I thought they needed eyebrows too. Ha. Here’s the original black and white. This is a page from my little picture book BFF Best Friends Forever, which I have been working on for a few weeks.

AI Art

Make a line, make some art

Michele B. Naquaiya

When I was a kid, my brother and I would play a game. It was fun with the two of us but you could easily do it with lots more. The first person make a line on paper, or a curve or a dot…whatever was your fancy, They pass it to the next person and he picks it up and adds to what you did and then passes it on to the next. By the time it passes a few hands it begins to look like something. This is a fun exercise I used to do with my students because it frees them up and they feel less self-concious about what they are doing. You can get some interesting results.

Lately I’ve been drawing like this a lot. It’s very relaxing and if you try it, remember the only point of reference is your brain and your imagination. Don’t use any references of any kind. It might be hard to do in the beginning but if you stick with it, it will get easier. Why do it? Because it let’s your self-conscious mind release the hidden images you walk around with every day and never release. When you draw from a photo, you rely on an external image to trigger creativity. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not.

This is the latest one I’ve done. It turned out to look like my white orange tabby cat Guero. Guero means very blonde in Spanish. He is almost white…a very fair haired fellow. HE is living here on a tee.

abstract AI Ajijic animals art cats cats and quilts children Christmas coloring book creativity culture daily work design dogs drawing fantasy fish flowers fonts garden girl Holidays horses how to humor illustration inspirations kids landscape local artisans mexico musicians Nature people plaza red restaurants stories traditions valentine watercolor weaver wildlife women

AI Art

Green Raven on the Moon

Michele B. Naquaiya

Mr. Raven just happens to be green. Mr. Raven likes to sit on the crescent moon and think about stuff. He likes companions…like his friend spider who tags along. I would venture to guess he’s thinking about how far away the earth is now. Flying home might be a challenge. Do you think he’ll make it?

This drawing is a scratchboard from a series of green raven fantasies I did a while ago. People loved this character and I’m bringing him back. He really does hang out with a spider. He protects the spider and the spider protects him by warning him if he hears any bullies around. Bullies are a menace and don’t do anybody any good. Least of all to themselves. I never had compassion for bullies. They are boring.

Here he is on a tee.