A Good Egg

Posted on April 7, 2015 by The Timid Artist

Well this was fussy! But it was fun to draw once I settled down to it. Sort of meditative except for the part where I hold my breath. That can’t be good. This egg falls into the category of candles I can’t burn. It’s just too pretty. But then I’m a saver as you know. I was fine with this until I put the shadow in–ugh. Me and my shadows–geez. And the perspective, the curvature of the egg–tricky! Parts are a little awry. A little more time spent tweaking the initial sketch would solve some issues. But never mind all that, it’s still a good egg.

Drip Dry

Posted on March 26, 2015 by The Timid Artist

Here’s a quick sketch I did in the kitchen recently. Emptying the dish drainer is one of those chores I tend to put off until it’s become a precarious situation. Do I live on the edge or what?

Painted Plate

Posted on March 18, 2015 by The Timid Artist

Sweet little plate, love the soft colors. Makes me think of spring…no, summertime. Well, I can dream. It’s 20 degrees with a biting wind here today. Maybe next week it’ll start warming up. Anyway, if you’d like to immerse yourself in exuberant flowers, check out Robert Zakanitch — www.zakanitch.com I came across some of his work (Hanging Gardens series) in a summer issue of Veranda magazine and was struck with joy. Joy! He does wall sized works of colorful flowers and lush scenes. Lots of pattern and decoration. Stuff like that inspires me. Plus I love his quirky paintings of charm bracelets (of all things!) which make me want to draw some too. And paint huge flowers on the walls! Ok, maybe not that. PS: The Hanging Gardens series is not on his website but you can see them on www.nancyhoffmangallery.com

Portrait With Fanciful Headpiece

Posted on March 4, 2015 by The Timid Artist

Portraits with fantastical hats and headpieces still intrigue me. This one was cut from a fanciful chandelier in a decor magazine and I added ivory tulle on the sides and the gold feather flourish. By the way, I was perusing a Veranda magazine yesterday and saw a little watercolor I liked by Harrison Howard. I went to http://www.harrisonhoward.com and enjoyed his gallery of paintings. He does these whimsical garden scenes with flowers as ladies–the blooms being on their heads. And a couple of portraits have whole bouquets on top. Light, delicate, colorful pictures, quite enchanting. Time to start cutting out flowers…

Year Of The Sheep

Posted on February 25, 2015 by The Timid Artist

Home again! And happy new year–it’s the year of the sheep, or goat, according to the Asian zodiac calendar. For this image I smudged charcoal on paper and drew with a kneaded eraser. It’s fun, and I like the soft effect. The downside is having to spray it with a fixative. Oh well. I just got a new book by Maira Kalman–one of my favorite artist/authors. Have I mentioned her before? It’s a children’s alphabet book called Ah-hA to Zig-Zag. She picked 31 items from the Cooper Hewitt museum in NY and painted them for this book accompanied by her unique text. I just love her quirky, whimsical style. Plus I like drawing random objects too, so it’s encouraging that she does that. All of her books are worthwhile–such an interesting person. I’m glad there are people like her in the world. Take a peek sometime.

Vintage Purse With Hearts

Posted on February 3, 2015 by The Timid Artist

Since Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, you might like to peruse the valentine’s available on my RB site. http://thetimidartist.redbubble.com I just ordered some of my own cards to see what the quality is like and I’m pleased– they are nice sturdy cards with a smooth finish. Also the baby horse and marzipan animals are very sweet on onesies and baby tees…if you need a baby gift. Keep in mind, it takes almost a week for the cards and a bit longer for clothing. There, done with my blatant advertising. Here is one of my valentine collages which I forgot to sign. Cheers!

Veiled Portrait With Bird

Posted on January 13, 2015 by The Timid Artist

She’s medieval looking, don’t you think? I saw that jeweled bracelet in a mag and knew it would be a great headdress. The background is gold metallic crayon dotted on the paper and then a grey wash over it. I’d like that as wallpaper. Think how long that would take and how many crayons worn down to little nubbins! I miss drawing my kitschy ashtrays, funky vases and vintage dolls, etc. But the portraits are a lot of fun. Probably more enjoyable to view too. By the way, a few of my drawings are available to buy on kids clothing and cards, etc. on my Redbubble account. There is a link if you click on “shop” in the black bar at the top of the web site. It’s a work in progress with more to come, thanks to my daughter-in-law’s tireless help.

Collage Portrait With Sunglasses

Posted on January 8, 2015 by The Timid Artist

Let’s see now, where am I? Yikes, 2015 is cutting a trail already! But a fresh start is a good thing. Emphasis on FRESH. So cold outside! Good day to stay inside and draw. I did some veiled portraits recently but I never got around to the veil on this one because I saw these sunglasses in a magazine–the perfect size and color–so I couldn’t resist using them. Really the color was so right on! And couldn’t we all use a pair of rose-tinted glasses? I think so. The dress was cut from a treasured scrap of printed tissue paper. After watching some tutorials, I had a little more luck with this portrait by wetting the face, then painting so the colors blend easily. Can’t believe it took me so long to get that. But I’m happy to learn, however long it takes. And if I could just remember it all, that would be great.

Capital Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2014 by The Timid Artist

Actually, it’s raining today but this was the scene in recent weeks…so I’m keeping this blizzardy image in my mind. My inspiration for this image was artwork in the book, Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans. I love his breezy style–specially the Paris scenes in the rain and snow. Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Wishing you health and happiness in 2015.

Rose Bowl

Posted on December 6, 2014 by The Timid Artist

A couple of weeks ago, I was feeling antsy and irritable and I realized I was having THRIFT STORE WITHDRAWAL–so I just had to go browse in one. That’s the only solution. Aside from browsing in more than one thrift store, which is what I did. Good thing because I found this sweet little bowl for two dollars. Perfect blog subject. It’s about 4″ tall and 6″ wide with a super smooth, glassy surface which I just could not manage to portray. It was a challenge–both to draw and to paint–which I would like to try again maybe after I watch some tutorials on painting reflective surfaces. The other thing is when I scan light watercolors like this, the scanner bleaches out the colors…it just doesn’t register the light tones. I tried manually adjusting to enrich it which helped– actually the color is richer here than in both my painting and the vase, which now seem a bit faded. I know, too much information, huh?

theTimidArtist

Jodi Horchler's sketch blog

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