ATC, Figure and WIP Geese

Above is my latest Artist Trading Card. These are some sort of ornamental cherry blossoms from a photograph I made last spring. I took some liberties with this so the flowers are more a gesture than an accurate reproduction of  the real blossoms. Oddly enough I almost like the scan of this card better than I do the original.. Not sure I have the color of the blossoms quite right, that pink/blue/red is tricky to recreate with pigments.

The card has ink outlines for the flower blossoms and was then painted with watercolor, on cold press watercolor paper. I suppose I should stop working so small and see if I can make a watercolor that works on a larger sheet of paper. But I still feel that I am the rankest beginner with watercolor so am hesitant to work much larger. The ATC's are good practice for me.

Above is an update on my Geese drawing. It still isn't finished, but I have made a fair amount of progress. Background has been darkened, bodies of the geese have been darkened and I have done some work on the foreground though there is still a fair amount of work needing to be done. So far so good, at least with pencil I can correct most errors as I go along.

Above is last nights figure drawing. I think I should have spent a bit more time making Photoshop adjustments with this photo. The blue cast is from sunlight, or rather shadow, since the photo was made outside and the paper was in shadow when I made the photo.  The paper is more cream than blue or even white, and I know I can make a better correction in Photoshop if I take the time.

Hmm, I was working this morning on making some lines lighter and I may have made one the lines around her upper leg a bit too light. Ah well as I usually say there is always next week.

My photograph for today I made yesterday at Ames Nowell State Park, two Canada Geese, one stretching its wings. There is no Journal Spread today. I didn't make it over to Daniel Webster for the first time in months if you don't count my misses while I was in Chicago. I did get a short walk at Ames Nowell (it is closer to me) but didn't bother writing a Journal entry. These weeks of late winter don't have much going on for me to document. There is always something at Daniel Webster for me to write about, birds at the feeders, and the amount of water in the woods and pond, but with parks I visit less often it is harder for me to find something to write about.

March is almost here and with it should be some of the earliest signs of spring. In the meantime that is it for today, comments are always appreciated.