Saturday, May 23, 2009

Seashells


Seashells, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

I meant to practice some techniques for Cathy Johnson's online watercolor pencil class, but got a little carried away. Watercolor pencils are a stretch for me -- I want to either sketch or paint. I have to say that I'm falling in love with them, and hope the honeymoon period continues!

These little treasures were collected from Barefoot Beach in Florida at various times; I don't mind broken shells or unknown parts of things, it adds to the mystery.

Below is a scene from the same beach from an earlier time. Enjoy!


Surf birds

~ Elizabeth Smith Naples, FL, USA

9 comments:

  1. Your shells are beautiful. So also that wonderful blue in the tide. What kind of pencils and paper are you using?

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  2. I have several wonderful collections of seashells, too, Elizabeth...just beautiful on the toned paper!

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  3. Both are beautiful, I am really drawn to the coloring in the second drawing, and love the detail in the first.

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  4. Oddly enough I just unearthed 3 boxes of Florida seashells today while looking for something else...your beach scene is sooooo lovely!

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  5. Your seashell drawings are some of the best I believe I've ever seen! I, too, really like the toned paper.

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  6. Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments!

    Vickie, the top drawing is a brown toned paper by Canon, but I'm not sure what kind as I bought it several years ago and am using up my scraps. The medium is watercolor pencil, both Albrecht Durer and Ederhard Faber DESIGN brands.

    The bottom sketch is on Lanaquarelle watercolor paper. I also bought this years ago, but I think it's a 140 lb. (or more) cold pressed paper. It is watercolor with Prismacolor colored pencil in white. If I posted these correctly (!) you should be able to click on the photos and visit the Flickr page they reside on, and read any notes or other explanations that might be there.

    I was hoping you could all enjoy a vicarious beach getaway!

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  7. This is great! I've never been to FL and I haven't been to the beach in years. I want to get to go to the beach this summer, although the beaches in NE are a lot different than in FL.

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  8. Elizabeth I am so glad when seeing your art. It is always a treat to the eyes.

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  9. Truly enjoyable images of nature. Well done.

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