Holidays are Behind

Oil, 35x50cm

10 days of holidays are behind. It was a time when the city was felt to be covered  in big warm fluffy blanket. Empty streets, no traffic, laziness in the air. And I tried to use this occasion to draw and to paint.

Why 10 days? Orthodox church Christmas is on 7th January. And New Year (orthodox calendar) is on 14th January (here wiki calendar's explanation if you want the details). And if you are a dedicated "celebrator" you can start on 25th December and finish celebrating on 15th January..
So our government decided few years ago that Russia needs long holiday in January (some people say that government people set this law for their own winter comfort in the Alps skiing, but I do not believe).

It was good time. And good that it is over, time to wake up!

My upper still life is from the drawing class.  Though the drawing has a lot of mistakes, I like the overall warm impression.

A5, Ink and watercolor in sketchbook

 The EDM drawing list is always great help if you search for drawing ideas. It inspired me to draw "something china". It is china pot and the chick on chicken's back hides the water hole.
The date stamp is my latest purchase.  I saw it in one of the "Urban Sketchers" blog and decided I need the same for my sketchbook.

A5, Ink and watercolor in sketchbook

 

This one was "Draw your toothbrush" in EDM. I spread the idea to wider view of the bathroom interior.

30x40cm, watercolour

I kept the photo of this vase on the windowsill for so long that I can not remember the author exactly. It was one of Jen's photos in Rookiepainter challenge in 2009, I think.


This painting was very well corresponding to the stillness and calmness of January holiday time .

This one is the result of the experiment, which I found in the drawing manual:
Take a photo, turn it upside down and draw lines and shapes, not legs, arms and head. That idea really worked! I did this sketch in upside down position in 30 minutes with almost no corrections. Time to switch off the thinking process and draw what one sees!

A4, watercolor and Neocolor sticks

And apples. I was inspired by apples' photo in this Russian artist's blog.
I wanted to practice watercolor's transparency and color combinations. Instead sketch was started in watercolor and finished in watercolor Neocolor sticks of my favorite bold colors' combination.



And, as usual in this blog's latest posts, I want to share my latest discovery:
Oona and her watercolor wonders.