Mitchowl Studio

October Banner

2010-09-29T21:43:00.000-07:00

It was my turn to do the banner for the month. I was lucky enough to get October. I LOVE October. This was a lot of fun to do. So, if you mosey on over to Watercolor Wednesday during the coming month you will see this as the banner.

Thank you, thank you very much.

Day and Night

2010-09-26T09:49:00.000-07:00

"They walked all day, and they walked all night."

I did this piece for Watercolor Wednesday. The prompt was Day and Night. I envision this in an elephant story I'm working on.

Lady Bug Party

2010-07-31T19:17:00.000-07:00

This is my submission for Watercolor Wednesday. I've missed contributing due to schooling, but I'm out of school for now and ready to create.

IF: Fearless

2010-05-07T09:47:00.000-07:00

Curiosity oftentimes overcomes fear. Ollie just has to get a closer look at that camera lens.

This is my digital illustration created for Illustration Friday.

Tutorial: Gouache and India Ink

2010-01-18T18:04:00.000-08:00

I like painting with Gouache. It's opaque, but behaves alot like watercolor. There are some interesting things you can do with it, too.

One of my favorite ways to make art involves Gouache and India Ink. Some kinds of ink work better than others. I love using Higgins Waterproof Black India.

The first thing you do is paint your design leaving the paper white where you want the ink to stick. You really need to paint the Gouache on quite thick. If your paint isn't thick enough then the ink will go through and you'll end up with a black canvas.

For this one I painted 3 fir trees on a winter night. Notice I basically just blocked in color on large areas. It's hard to see, but I used white Gouache where I wanted snow. I also painted the sky violet and dark blue, which I didn't get a photo of.

Let the Gouache air dry completely. Then, with a very soft brush you will quickly paint a layer of ink over the top of your piece. I usually pour on some ink and then quickly pull the ink lightly over the entire painting. Some of the Gouache will bleed through. Resist the urge to keep playing in it. Just quickly cover the painting and then set it down and wait for it to dry. Don't use heaters or blowers, just watch it until the ink loses it's shine and is dry.

Turn on your tap and adjust the water until it is about room temperature. You should have a small steady stream, about the diameter of a thin pencil. Hold your painting under the water and let the water wash off the ink. You can lightly use your finger to remove more ink in certain areas, if you wish. Move your painting around until you've washed off as much ink as you want. This leaves some very interesting marks on your paper. Let it dry.

Now you can go back and repaint. Strengthen the areas that were washed away, or covered over. Have some fun with it.

When you repaint over Gouache your new strokes somehow mingle with the paint underneath. They blend together and mellow out a bit. You may have to keep adding more and more layers if you are trying for a strong highlight or pure color. My kitty is just so interested in everything I do. My daughter had to snap a photo of him supervising my work.

And there you go. An interesting piece that was pretty easy to do.

A Design Exercise

2010-01-04T22:06:00.000-08:00

If a large sheet of white paper seems to stopper up your creative juices, try this.
Design a mandala!

Mandalas are simply disk or circle shaped symbolic designs.

When you see a circular shape it's usually easier to start making creative marks.

Simply draw a circle and start creating! I did some smaller "thumbnail" designs in my sketchbook.

Then I chose one and blew it up to about 6 inches across.

The fun part was painting. For this one I used acrylics on watercolor paper using an analogous color scheme.

Try this the next time you're feeling stuck.

How to Draw Every Day

2010-01-01T22:29:00.000-08:00

One of the best ways to improve your drawing is to do it every day. The trick is to actually do it. Busy lives get in the way and if you sit down to a large sheet of paper you can talk yourself out of it pretty easy. You may think you just don't have the time to make art.

A trick I learned a few years ago has really helped me to be more consistent in drawing daily. It involves making a calendar. An art calendar.

In my sketchbook I draw out a calendar leaving the boxes open and blank.

Then every day take my extra fine black pen and draw something in that day's box that represents my day. I then color it with my colored pencils.

An example:

If I forget to do it for the day, or if I just can't think of anything that I want to draw then I usually just put the date. I always try to design each square and experiment with the color palette.

Some months I put a lot of effort into the heading and artwork around the dates and some months I don't. I always use pen and just go for it. Erasing is not an option. I like that. Some designs turn out great and some not quite, but I learn from every one.

It's a great little exercise and keeps me creating, even on the busiest of days.

Doodle of the Day - Eggy Doo

2009-12-15T14:54:00.001-08:00

Illustration Friday's word of the week is "Hatch". I thought my doodle of the day would be a good fit, even though he's not quite hatched. Have a great week.

Doodle of the Day - Boxy Doo

2009-12-13T21:29:00.001-08:00

Doodle of the Day - Twirly doo

2009-12-12T22:13:00.000-08:00

Illustration Friday - Music

2009-11-21T18:04:00.000-08:00

I did this a while back, but it was so perfect for Illustration Friday that I decided to repost. This is done in Photoshop. I used my daughter, a consummate musician, as the model.

Leaf Fun

2009-10-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

The prompt for Watercolor Wednesday this week was Autumn colors and kids. I really enjoyed painting a little pile of leaves with my watercolors.

I really liked how it turned out, but it wasn't really an illustration yet. I had to think of a way for that pile of leaves to tell a story. I wanted to be original so tried to think outside the box. I came up with the idea of kids playing in leaves that were HUGE! My next dilemma was that I really didn't want to ruin the leaves I'd painted. I wanted to be able to use them for another illustration in the future. My solution was to scan them into photoshop. Then I used the lasso and delete key to "cut out" the leaves from the background.

I painted a digital background and stuck my leaves on top. Then I painted little children frolicking amongst them. I really struggled with color. I kept changing the saturation and hue of the children trying to make them stand out more. Finally I decided it was good enough and posted it.

It was a good learning piece and I still have my painted autumn leaves, untouched and ready for use in another project.

Halloweeny

2009-10-06T20:50:00.000-07:00

Finally finally finally. I actually did a little artwork. These were prompted by the prompts on Watercolor Wednesday, of which I am a part. I guess it took October's magnificent arrival to spur me to action. I just love Halloween. This first image just happened. I had no idea what was going to happen until I saw it come out of my pencil, ha ha. It's okay. The thing I like the best about it is that I actually did a drawing! And then I painted it. Both amazing things that haven't happened to me for a very long spell.

This second image was inspired by the Watercolor Wednesday prompt of Frankenstein in his younger years. Since Joni is pretty tall, and was always on all basketball teams growing up I decided I would turn tall Frankie into a BB player too. I even gave him Joni's number. I'm not sure if Joni is flattered or not. *smile*

Cocoa Beach - in Watercolor

2009-06-10T12:37:00.000-07:00

Smores Anyone?

2009-06-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

Summer campfires bring out ancient culinary cravings for delectible delights known as Smores.

This is an exerpt from my daily calendar. Every day I draw something to commemorate the day. It is set up in a monthly calendar form. This drawing was about 3/4" x 1" done in ink and colored pencil. Then I brought it into photoshop to extract it from the rest of the calendar and doctored it up a bit.

A Sticky Situation

2009-06-05T21:52:00.000-07:00

3-Pt Perspective Farmscape

2009-05-01T14:16:00.001-07:00

April Journal

2009-05-01T11:03:00.001-07:00

Subtract

2009-03-22T17:38:00.001-07:00

I did this piece to fulfill multiple prompts.
"Subtract" for Illustration Friday
and
"Girly" for Watercolor Wednesday.
It's been a long time since I've opened up my watercolors. I was ready to take a break from perspective drawing and digital. This was fun. I think I need to do more pieces just for fun.

"Intricate" for Illustration Friday

2009-03-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

My viola playing daughter plays some pretty intricate music. In fact this piece uses a direct scan of some of her pieces.

Illustration Friday - Instinct

2009-02-21T12:56:00.000-08:00

Is there anything more instinctual than parenting? Or learning to walk?
This painting in oil was done from a photo of my son and grandson.

Illustration Friday - Celebrate

2009-02-17T19:49:00.000-08:00

The word for the week..........CELEBRATE!!!!

Living in Idaho has taught me to really celebrate when we finally see those crocuses bravely poking through the snow.

Flawed

2009-02-03T16:13:00.000-08:00

The word for the week - Flawed!
Isn't it great when you can have a great self image even though your flaws are as big as the nose on your face! This is a digital simulation of the oil lift off method.

The Rooster Crows

2009-01-13T17:38:00.000-08:00

Children's Book Cover

2008-12-09T14:21:00.000-08:00

Ollie the Ostrich

2008-12-04T16:30:00.001-08:00

IF - Ear Envy

2008-11-29T19:36:00.000-08:00

Illustration Friday's word is Balloon. I wasn't sure what was going to come out when I started sketching the dog. This thing just kind of evolved. It was pretty fun to do, and inspired by my Llasa Apso, Oscar and the neighbor's bunny village. Oscar always wants to run over to them and get acquainted.

Primitive

2008-11-18T19:20:00.000-08:00

Bald is Beautiful

2008-11-18T11:20:00.001-08:00

Class assignment: Do something patriotic. We once found a bald eagle. I was just a little girl at the time. My brothers came home with this amazing beautiful injured bald eagle. They nursed it back to health and let it go. I still remember it over 40 years later. What beautiful birds.

Illustration Friday - Pretend

2008-11-16T22:00:00.000-08:00

A pretend duck dog? Well, why not?

Bald is Beautiful

2008-11-13T16:25:00.000-08:00

My Favorite Artist

2008-11-11T11:52:00.000-08:00

Class Assignment: Design a CD cover for your favorite artist.
I did this in collaboration with the artist herself. She loves it! We'll see what the teacher says.

The teacher said the viola was not in harmony, so I graphicized it up a bit.

Illustration Friday - Wise

2008-11-07T20:29:00.000-08:00

I did this for Illustration Friday. The word for the week is "Wise". I've always had a thing for owls. I hear they really aren't that wise, but....

I think I like them because I'm kind of a night owl myself.

Death by Toast

2008-11-06T11:58:00.001-08:00

foot

2008-11-04T14:28:00.000-08:00

Castles in the Sand

2008-11-03T19:22:00.000-08:00

Rhino

2008-10-27T22:53:00.001-07:00

Pumpkin Stack

2008-10-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

Winter

2008-10-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

The assignment for Digital Illustration was to make some textures to use with brushes. I had a lot of fun crinkling paper towels, saran wrap, and anything else I could get flat enough to scan. The image is then saved and used in conjunction with a brush in photoshop. We had to come to class with a few premade backgrounds. While I was waiting for class to start I brought up one of those backgrounds and started sketching with a "white conte pencil". It wasn't really a conte pencil, just the photoshop equivelant of one. This is what I come up with before we got going in class. I kind of like the cold swirly background with this winter scene.

Caricature

2008-10-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

Real Scream and the imitation in progress

2008-10-07T13:59:00.000-07:00

The assignment was to choose an artist and then copy his work using only Photoshop. I chose the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch and his slightly disturbing piece, "The Sream". Here is the original work.

This was as far as I got on it by class time Tuesday.

I had to put in a long night last night to finish it by today. I then printed it out in the photo lab (they have the best printer), matted it and took it to class. My professor said it looked pretty good. I think it was a good fit, stylewise. I enjoyed doing it alot. Here is my final draft.

Captain Winky

2008-09-24T22:23:00.000-07:00

"Draw something to do with pirates."

That was the instructions given in class. I'm just not a piratey kind of girl, but when I got home and looked at my poor one-eyed cat I got an idea.

My Captain Winky should get his stitches out on Friday.

Clique - Illustration Friday

2008-09-22T23:28:00.000-07:00

"Clique"? Oh....., I thought it said "Cluck". ha ha

I was raised on a chicken farm and saw first-hand how cliquish hens can be. Ever hear the term "pecking order"?

Playing with Texture

2008-09-18T15:52:00.000-07:00

Illo class today we played with texture. Pretty fun!

A is for Apple

2008-09-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

First image created digitally during my class. Not awesome, but I was learning the tools. It was pretty fun.

Island Dancing

2008-09-15T23:55:00.000-07:00

"With the embarrassing seatbelt-extension episode on the plane forgotten, Ella had a great time learning the hula."

I had a great time with this illo. I kind of liked the colors that happened. I inked this first, then painted with gouache. When dry, I held it under a stream of warm water and let it wash off the extra paint. I had some happy accidents when the paint washed off in patches in the sky making clouds.

Memories

2008-08-31T16:21:00.000-07:00

Fall always brings a lot of pleasant memories to my mind. When Illustration Friday used "Memories" as their prompt I decided to do a fallen leaf. Fall is like metaphor for my station in life. The weather is less heated, maybe a little slower, some things falling (like certain body parts) and a bit drier. I really love fall.

This piece was inked first and then painted with gouache. Then the paint was washed off to leave the stained paper. Really easy and fast technique.

A Very Relaxing Way to End the Day

2008-08-26T23:19:00.000-07:00

Illustration Friday Word - Routine

While musing about what routine piece to do I heard a thing on the radio. If you have a hard time sleeping at night try a nice relaxing bath before hitting the sack. I think I like that idea.

It's late now, and I think I hear some warm water and bubbles calling my name.......

Poof

2008-08-26T09:06:00.001-07:00

The theme for Watercolor Wednesday this week was "Magic Wand".
I drew a blank (no pun intended). I just couldn't get a picture in my head. The next theme comes out tomorrow so I was feeling a bit of pressure to produce something. I decided to just do a wand in action. So that's what I did. It worked up pretty quickly, and then wouldn't you know it, I started getting ideas right and left. I guess that shows it's always good to at least start doing SOME kind of art when you reach a block. It will get the juices flowing again.

Ella Distracted

2008-08-18T19:24:00.000-07:00

While on a family walk, Ella saw the most fascinating things.

This week for Illustration Friday the word is "Detach", and for Watercolor Wednesday the word is "Triplet". I combined the two so that I could post for both.

Can you imagine? Triplet elephants? Just imagine how big you'd get while pregnant. ha ha ha. I almost had a disaster with this. I used a different kind of paper and when I went to wash off the gouache the paper started to disintegrate! I didn't panic, just layed it out on a table as flat as I could until it dried. Oh well, you learn by doing, right?

This was outlined in India ink and then gouache. When the gouache is dry you wash it off! (I know, it's hard to see all that expensive gouache going down the drain.)

Illustration Friday

2008-08-12T22:16:00.001-07:00

The word for Illustration Friday this week is Sail.
I thought the gouache and ink wash-off technique would be pretty fun to use.

Poof!

2008-08-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

While playing Hide and Seek with her friends, Ella ducked behind a street lamp and **POOF**
....she disappeared!

Peas in a Pod

2008-07-31T22:47:00.001-07:00

Petey Pea was never as big as his brothers. He couldn't wait to move out on his own.

Canned

2008-07-27T19:35:00.001-07:00

This is the time of the year when you can your garden produce to prepare for the long cold winter, and this little guy wants to make sure he doesn't run out of his favorites.

Spooky Enough For You?

2008-07-22T09:39:00.000-07:00

Done with gouache first, painted very heavy. I left the paper white where I wanted it to end up black. When the gouache was dry I quickly painted india ink over the entire project. That's the scary part. When you can't stand to wait any longer you wash off the ink under running water. I think it turned out pretty good for my first attempt at using this technique.

Mushrooms in the Fog

2008-07-11T19:41:00.001-07:00

This week the subject for Illustration Friday is "Foggy". I've always loved doing mushrooms and thought a swirly fog may be fun. I painted this with acrylics, then put a layer of clear packing tape over the top before painting on the fog. Then I scratched off to give the texture. This was my first time using this very interesting technique

Illustration Friday - Fierce

2008-06-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

I'll be fierce in a minute......right after I take my little cat nap.

Forgotten

2008-06-10T20:31:00.001-07:00

A quickie this week. I did this in colored pencils in about an hour. Illustration Friday's theme is "Forgotten".

"Now where did I put my glasses.....?"

Walking In His Shadow

2008-06-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

Illustration Friday this week has the theme "Baby". I did this piece for my illustration class. This is actually my son and his son walking down my driveway.