Sea Shells and Kittens

The Zentangle I posted Tuesday with the figure drawing ended up looking like a shell. I only semi drew the shape as a shell, meaning that I was drawing a shape that reminded me of a shell not that the shape was that of a real shell. But I had fun with it, and  thought why not draw real shell shapes. I am a long time collector/lover of shells. I actually have a collection of shells but most of it is not accessible as it is fill for a glass lamp base. Still there is the internet so I went looking for reference photographs rather then take the lamp apart. I didn't find as many as I would have liked, but did find enough for my purposes. So you see my first attempt at real shells above. The outlines are accurate drawings of shells, but the fills are sort of Zentangles.

I added color by using my watercolor pencils and a wet brush. The pencils are fun as I can do some shading with them before I add the water. Then I can go back into the wet areas with the pencils to intensify the colors if I feel I need to. I am terrible with true watercolors so for me these pencils allow me to add color in a controlled manner. Needless to say the colors are mostly from my imagination and not real shell colors.

Having done the one I though why not a series so below find my second attempt.

So far I only have the two finished, but I have started a third. Maybe I will have it done to post with my figure drawing next week.  The shells, like the drawing below, are all done on Hot Press Watercolor paper, and are fairly small, the drawing size is within a 4 inch square on paper that is approximately 7.5 inches square.

I have been working on this kitten for weeks, obviously off and on. First it took me a while to get the drawing done to my satisfaction, then I put off inking the interior of the kitten. I wasn't sure how I wanted to do it and didn't want to mess it up. I don't consciously plan the interior lines, at least not all of them, but I have to figure out how I want to start and then I can work from there. Usually I start at the head and work to the back.  Once I had the figure of the kitten done I needed to add something for the background. I didn't want to clutter this drawing up so just added the corner of a stool to give the kitten some reference.

Doing these little drawings along with my figure drawings brings up a question. How do I title my works. So far I have been taking a fairly predictable path, so the shell drawings are Shells # 2 and Shells # 3. Not the most creative of titles, but at least they are descriptive. I am open to other suggestions.

That is it for today. One last comment: I have been saddened by recent events in Japan and Libya, one an act of nature the other caused by man. May both countries start to see some relief and positive resolutions to their ongoing struggles in the near future.