Purple Tree

My first Page for the Milliande Artist Dates, is Purple Trees.

















I started by drawing my tree and then coloring it with watercolor crayons. I am really trying to use these more. I like the soft look of them. I then covered it all up- go figure. :0)

I added a fluffy sparky eyelash type fiber for the large branches, and then seed beads for the smaller branches. I used dyed purple cultured pearl beads for leaves. I think they were really fun to use for this project, as they are just different and unique. I used the brown fibers below the tree, because all the grass has died off for the winter here.

I am trying really hard to work on my sketchings, so I wanted to add an owl in the tree. It is late fall here, and if you listen carefully just before night hits you can hear an owl hoot from one of the trees near our house.

"Owls"

I am posting a couple of pages that I have done lately for a Round Robin Journal swap, for Paper Traders yahoo group. Below is the "Owls" I did for Marion's book Deep Sea of Poetry, and then the "Chooks" I did for Jenene's book Backyard Chook Shed.

I have been busy lately trying to catch up on some Round Robin Art Journals. There was a bit of a mailing mix-up, and the journals got stuck over the Christmas package overload. Anyway, I received three to work on, and to get done quickly. I have finished the second one which is for Marion. (The first was Jenene's chook shed.)
I chose to do the pages with these beautiful pictures from an old childrens educational book. The images are gorgeous, but had absolutely no color. They were just rather flat, so I spent some time chalking them oh so carefully. The eyes are a rich gold color, and the feathers are several tones of browns. The beak is a grey and brown mix, and the branch is a sage and grey mix. It was a lot of fun to see these birds come to life.
The background of the page was also a ton of fun to do. My mom taught me how, by taking white gesso, and brushing it on with a prickly paint brush. It was fun how the bristles make the cool stroke look. Then when it was all done and completely dry, I distress inked the edges, to give it that old look.
Then I added the birds and the fun owl poem.