150lb paper – Paper Opera

I am working with Inktense pencils, Micron ink pens, and Canson Illustration 11×14″ 150lb art pad to create 15 illustrations (that is how many pieces of paper are in the art pad) of my current family life and inspirations.

This work is narrative in content and uses color in a monochromatic way accentuating one part of each drawing. These fun and quirky illustrations are a reflection of the current joy and activities I have been experiencing.

“Easter Picnic at St. Andrews” was something we did back in March that really stuck in my mind. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm. St. Andrews Church has an amazing family program and hosted this really fun and laid back picnic and Easter egg hunt the Saturday before Easter. We went to this event and actually brought a picnic lunch – though we realized once there that the “picnic” was more like pick up some food after the egg hunt. We found a table and enjoyed our picnic fully.

I used Inktense pencil Spring Green for the color. This drawing was a bit of a challenge to chose what color and where to put it. I’m not fully convinced I made the right decision on either front, but it’s done now.

Some of my favorite details are the stone and pebble pathway leading to the church, the Easter egg basket and bench,

my make believe patterned skirt, our fun picnic food and flowers, M and E’s portraits,

our family portrait,

and the church windows and architecture.

The inspiration for this drawing:

I received some art supplies at Christmas this year – a Canson 11×14″ Illustration art pad 150lb with 15 sheets – and a set of prismacolor ink pens size .005, .01, .03, .05, and .08. This series is inspired by my family and all of the fun and interesting things we do together.

“Family Time” portrays a family get together in a big bed (the family dog being beside and not on the bed) with an inktense pencil sun yellow patterned wall in the background. I thought it would be fun to add one color (monochrome element) to this series using a different color for each piece. The coolest thing about this series is that I can work as little as 15 minutes a day and see quite a bit of progress. I mostly work on these while E.K. sleeps.