So, it feels like a cop-out for this week’s Illustration Friday topic, but with various December Craziness going on I dug back into the archives again.  Click the image to enlarge and see all the detail. This was a small series I did about ten years ago just to experiment with different media. I’d set up a simple still life and rendered it in (clockwise from the top left) watercolor, acrylic paint, India ink (with watercolor) and colored pencil. I tried to make a conscious effort to take advantage of the strengths of each medium – the soft shading of watercolors, and the vibrant colors of acrylic, for example – while keeping the image itself as much the same as possible, and was forcibly reminded of the weaknesses in my techniques. Little exercises like this are always a good reminder to keep exploring and pushing myself. Also a good reminder to date my artwork, which I’m notoriously bad about…

 If I remember correctly, the India ink one was last, and I was losing the light and totally sick of drawing that window which is why I left it out, LOL.

Holiday shopping alert! 

Right now my CafePress store is featuring a wide variety of items with my drawing “The Holiday Courier” just for the holidays: http://www.cafepress.com/Critterwings

I have several pieces on display and available for purchase in my RedBubble Gallery too, although it may be too late for Christmas delivery from there: http://www.redbubble.com/people/stephsmith I’ve purchased a few items from this site already and they are all gorgeous! If you’re a member, look me up!

I’ll be adding more pieces to both galleries soon, if there’s anything you’ve seen here that you’d particularly like, let me know!