Grandma Minnie

 

 

 

There is a lovely group on Facebook called Plum Loved Art in which members can find free digital images to work with in any way they would like. The owner of that group is artist Shelley Plum, who owns an Etsy shop by that name. She has a great variety of adorable images to use for personal art. This image is one the "Gray Hair, Don't Care," sets (V1). I named her Grandma Minnie! I'm sure my Grandma Minnie never held a paintbrush! Oh well, I like the name!

 I copied the line drawing making small changes to it, making it my one own. I drew Grandma Minnie with a Graphgear 1000 Pentel Pencil in  my Canson watercolor sketch book. She is outlined in Micron Pen. I used Jane Davenport and Prima watercolors and a small amount of Arteza and Holbein Artists' Gouache to paint her hair and the dotted apron. 

Grandma Minnie was so fun to work on!

Challenges:  

https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/07/july-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html 

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/07/challenge-202607-anything-goes-wopt.html 

https://classicdesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/06/classic-design-challenge-06-2026-junjul.html 

https://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2026/07/challenge-853.html 

 

Flower Fairy Boy

 

This colorful "Flower Fairy Boy" is from a tutorial by Karen Campbell for Awesome Art School.  As I drew  this 3/4 portrait, following Karen Campbell, I really wasn't sure how well it would come out.

I drew the boy in my Ohuhu Marker sketch book with my Graphgear 1000 Pentel Pencil. I did the outlines with Molotow  Fineliners. I tried to continue and color him with the Ohuhu Markers, but I don't have many of the colors Karen used. I had to substituted many of the colors. I blended a bit of Prismacolor Pencils into his skin, drew veins in the wings with a Master's Touch Mini Fine Pen and used a Gelly Roll pen for highlights around the boy.

I was surprised and happy with how well I did considering the mistakes and colors I had to switch! My favorite part is the sunflower!

Challenges: 

 https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/07/july-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html 

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/07/challenge-202607-anything-goes-wopt.html 

https://creativefingerschallengeblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/challenge-326.html 

https://classicdesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/06/classic-design-challenge-06-2026-junjul.html 

Are You Kiddin Me, Ruthy?

 

This granny portrait is from a mixed media tutorial by Karen Campbell for Awesome Art School. The lesson was meant to be collage. But not being into collage, I copied the line drawing and made it my one own. I drew this granny with a Graphgear 1000 Pentel Pencil in  my Canson watercolor sketch book. She is outlined in Micron Pen. I used Jane Davenport and Prima watercolors and a small amount of Arteza and Holbein Artists' Gouache to paint her hair and the dotted shirt. 

Before I had finished with her shirt and sweater, I showed the portrait to my husband. As soon as he saw her, he said, "she looks like your mother!" As I painted she began to show up as my mother Ruthy! It wasn't my intention, but as she did, I painted a sweater and shirt, that she might have worn.

This was such a fun piece to work on!

Challenges: 

https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/07/july-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html 

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/07/challenge-202607-anything-goes-wopt.html 

https://creativefingerschallengeblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/challenge-326.html 

https://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/2026/07/crafty-catz-challenge-717-anything-goes.html 

https://classicdesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/06/classic-design-challenge-06-2026-junjul.html 

Wonky House #7

 

When I saw saw "Wonky House #7," I immediately picked up my Graphgear 1000 Pental Pencil and began to draw the house, on my Fabriano hot press watercolor paper. The drawing looked so good, that I felt just shading with a paper stump was just the right thing to do. No watercolor on this one!

I love this finished piece!

The inspiration for this piece is from Etsy in a file from Plum Loved Art, called Wonky Walls and Tilted Tops by Shelley Plum.

I'll be going back to that file for my Wonky Houses!

Challenges: 

https://paperfundaychallenges.blogspot.com/2026/06/june-2026-challenge-88-anything-goes.html 

https://lilpatchofcraftyfriends.blogspot.com/2026/06/280-june-21-patties-creations.html 

https://creativefingerschallengeblog.blogspot.com/2026/06/challenge-325.html 

https://craftygalscornerchallenges.blogspot.com/2026/06/challenge-278-anything-goes-woptional.html 

So Many Houses, Oh MY!

Here's a bunch of houses from Shelley Plum's digital file Wonky Walls and Tilted Tops. 

 I drew this whimsical house using my Graphgear 1000 Pentel Pencil to draw onto the Fabriono hot press paper. I add the Gen Crafts colors with their brush tip pens and the added an outlined and patterns with a Micron Pen. I especially like the faded colors I got with a water brush.

I had fun coloring in with those brush pens. It was kind of like a puzzle to see where the colors fit and might look the best!

So fun!

Challenges:  

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/06/challenge-202606-june-2026-anything.html 

https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/06/june-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html 

https://paperfundaychallenges.blogspot.com/2026/06/june-2026-challenge-88-anything-goes.html 

https://craftygalscornerchallenges.blogspot.com/2026/06/challenge-278-anything-goes-woptional.html 

Magical Unicorn

 

This "Magical Unicorn" is from a tutorial by Lucy Brydon for "A Year Of Magic and Fairy Tales. I totally enjoyed working on this piece in my Canson watercolor sketch book.

Lucy opened this tutorial with some historical context of the unicorn in Scotland.  I followed her detailed direction as I drew it with my Graphgear 1000 Pentel pencil.

For the background of this piece I used a set of Crafty Manor gradient pearl watercolor paints.   I used that same watercolor paint for the cone and huffs of the unicorn and painted it in with Jane Davenport watercolors. I used a Gelly Roll Pen for highlights and Gen Crafts Brush Pens for the hair and tail. I used Master's Touch fine liners for those parts also, along with a Micron pen to bring out details.

Challenges:  

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/06/challenge-202606-june-2026-anything.html 

https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/06/june-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html 

https://classicdesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/06/classic-design-challenge-06-2026-junjul.html 

https://creativefingerschallengeblog.blogspot.com/2026/06/challenge-325.html 

 

Playful Wings

 

I'm always happy to work on a tutorial by Tamara Laporte. This one is for Mastering Mixed Media 2026, which she has been hosting. Although I've done several of her Quirky Birds in the past, I was still happy to work on this latest one. I followed her drawing lesson as well as the template she offered.

I painted this cutie with Jane Davenport Watercolors and some Liquitex Acrylic Ink. I used a few pens for details including Sharpie Creative Markers, Micron Pens and Gelly Rolls.

This is a nice colorful piece to be included in my Canson Watercolor Sketch Book. 

Challenges:  

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/06/challenge-202606-june-2026-anything.html 

https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/06/june-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html 

https://alessandrasangels.blogspot.com/2026/06/allys-angels-107-challenge-anything.html 

https://creativecrafterschallenge.blogspot.com/2026/06/challenge-101.html