Do you remember this piece? I drew it in June but back then it looked much more modest. It was only black and white, and there was no hand-drawn frame.
I rediscovered the drawing when I was going through recent drawings and paintings. I will attend a group exhibition called “Flower Gardener’s Diary” in September. I have quite a lot of work that goes under that title. In fact, if the exhibition would be called “No Flowers This Time”, I would be in trouble.
Doodling a Hand-Drawn Frame
I had given it a title “Flowers for the Soul” for this piece, but I thought I could rename it as “Flower Gardener’s Dream” if I would polish it a bit.
I cut a larger piece of paper and started drawing rough doodles around it. I can doodle quite quickly because I have been practicing a lot lately. I haven’t only drawn a bunch of exercises and additional examples for the class Magical Inkdom but also learned a lot when watching myself in the videos while editing them. It reminds me of athletes who train themselves mentally by watching their performances. Fortunately, doodling is not an Olympic sport because it would be my obsession to be the one who represented Finland!
It always amazes me that what is first just an ugly doodle, becomes a decent drawing after adding shadows and details. The magic of time and effort!
Coloring the Image + My Favorite Color
If I had to name the favorite color of my watercolor set, I would probably say Daniel Smith’s Rich Green Gold. It’s an ugly-looking paste that looks more like Poor Wasted Mud, but when you add water to it, you begin to hear music, feel the atmosphere of a big palace, and you straighten the back because the rich woman inside you is wearing an elaborate dress.
Most of that cool yellowish color is Rich Green Gold. Who could not love that luxurious color!
Two Versions – With and Without the Frame
I used double-sided tape to attach the image on the larger paper with the frame. Here are the two versions side by side. Which of them do you like better?
I am happier with the colored version because it highlights the night scene.
After all, this is about us who love flowers so much that they fill our minds also when we are sleeping.
Hand-Drawn Frame Obsession Continues
I have also been finishing some oil paintings that have been in progress for an embarrassingly long time. Having a deadline is a powerful motivator, eh? I don’t show them all in this blog post, but save them for upcoming weeks. Here’s a snapshot of the tiniest one. She is some kind of flower fairy too, and I am thinking about making a hand-drawn frame around her too. Because this is an oil painting on board, it would require some extra assembly. But I think it would look wonderful if there would be hand-drawn flowers around her. What do you think?
Come to draw fantastic art (+ fantastic frames) with me –
Sign up for Magical Inkdom!
Right after the registration, you will get all the lessons published so far, and you are good to start drawing! >> Sign up here!
Absolutely go with the hand drawn frames…they add a whole new dimension to the piece. DS rich green gold…yummy…
Thank you, Denise!
Gorgeous, dear Paivi. Looks like you’re having a brilliant summer!
Thanks, Susan! This summer has been bittersweet. Out oldest dog Cosmo is so old that we can’t travel and leave him. The weather hasn’t been very good either. But I have been enjoying making art more than ever, perhaps! I hope your summer has been great art-wise too!
I absolutely love this work. The tiny flower fairy portrait is exquisite- she has such an endearing expression on her face- evoking almost a Mona Lisa sensibility!
Thank you, Stephanie! I have used Bernardino Luini’s portrait of Saint Catherine as a loose reference for the facial features.