Another landscape of imagination came to me in a dream. Imagine our world with no vegetation, no animals, no warmth from the sun.
The last vestiges of people march in robotic style towards a white sun, orange sky with tiny bright distant stars.
Category: Nature
Golden Sun, landscapes of imagination
It is giving me a great piece of mind to paint strictly from my imagination. I am not sure why it is a healing and soothing activity, but I am enjoying it. I adore this watercolor paint for its intensity and versatility. It is pretty magical and powerful color. the red lines are a red permanent ink done with a speedball nib.
Yellow Koi Green Waters
I’m painting more fish these days. These koi are imaginary and don’t hold true as anatomically correct. That is another reason they are a respite from “correct” drawing and are like a little vacation for me. Koi are valuable and bred for their size and beauty. How wonderful is that? I am having fun with this so I’ll let it be. The original will have some gold leaf to sparkle it up a little. That is the next stage so for now, this will do. I will try to remember to post the embellished version when complete.
I used a fine black marker and a fine white ink over the darks to enhance the patterns. I love painting the deep water with transparent watercolors and tried to use motion and several thin layers to give a feeling of depth.
Here is a print on textile.
Miniature Landscapes of Imagination
I have been pining for arches cold press paper since I used all of my supplies up since I’ve been in Mexico. I scored a lovely small landscape pad and this is the first painting done with it. It’s a dreamy landscape with a subtle pale palette.
This size is certainly small at 4×10 inches but it does put one in a mood to let your imagination soar and it makes me stop and think. At least that is what it is doing for me. I hope to do more like this. The size reminds me of handling delicate lace. That is the mood it inspires. My keyboard is also small. I guess that makes everything relative.
With the magic of digital helpers, here is the image on paper, metal and fabric.
California Live Oak Tree, WIP
This new drawing and is part of a new way of working for me. I am in the process of writing a story and want it illustrate it. It takes place in California under a big live oak tree. There are animal characters that will be placed under this tree. The big difference about this drawing is that it is completely digital. I am still pretty overwhelmed with the digital process because I am doing everything from scratch. I am working on my Wacom Cintiq every day, and every day the environment gets a little easier.
By far the layers and brushes successfully keep me somewhat mystified and even though I am not new to photoshop, I am new to the amazing number of choices I have to work with on the Cintiq. The tablet is still huge at 24″ and I am slow because I have to process the thoughts of how and where to find things on the interface. Which of the new brushes do I use and deciding which colors. Nothing is coming quickly and easily. But today I feel I successfully captured the light of the California landscape here.
So at the end of today’s session, I merged all my layers into this one piece. The next time I will add a new layer and that will be the beginning of the animals that I will be placing in the landscape. I don’t know how I will figure out how to capture the specific point of view I am looking for. But for now, I am happy.
Painting Mexico 
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