Thank You Cards

I have been told that it's good business practice to send Thank You cards to clients. And it occurred to me recently that since I've taken up the mantle of artist and designer, that I should create them myself. So yesterday, I took the afternoon off from business development and took pen in hand. to create this Zentangle™-inspired drawing.

Then I worked with watercolor pencil and some digital enhancements in Photoshop.

I'm still on the fence about whether I will produce these or make another attempt (this time using watercolor or at least mixed media paper instead of heavyweight sketch paper). This was my first time using masking fluid.

What this also informs me of is that I really need to do some work every day to be able to get my children's book done. I need a bit more control over my paint.

ACEOs Are Done, and An Afternoon of Sketching

The weather's been a bit weird the past couple of weeks; we're getting our fall preview, I guess. Temps have been more like the UK was in August (in the mid-60's in the day and the 50's at night), except for this weekend, where we had a small burst of summer heat.

I spent the afternoon sketching outside on my back porch.

And my ACEO cards are done and living in their clear sleeves and inserted  into Strathmore Frame Cards. I finished all of them yesterday. I activated the Derwent Inktense pencils with a brush I acquired in the UK at the art supply store in Bath, on the recommendation of the saleswoman. It's a Pentel Aquash brush, with a self-contained water reservoir - rather designed specifically to use with watercolor pencils, I think. It lets you work in watercolor out in the wild without having to deal with bowls of water.

Here are photos of some of the cards before cutting and packaging:

ACEOs for the fall (WIP)

I started working on some artist trading cards last night for a Halloween card/gift exchange among members of one of my online communities. Here are some progress shots.

I like creating my ACEOs on large paper and cutting them down to size. The pencils I've used to color these are Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils. This is the first time I've tried them. I haven't "activated" the pigment with water yet, so I don't know how it's going to act. I wanted a good scan of these before I get them wet, just in case I mess something up.

I quite like my Pumpkin Witch. I think I'll do a few more of her over the weekend. I'm also digging my Totoro-influenced raccoon.