Old and New

I made art both the old-fashioned way and the new-fashioned way this past week.  First, for one of our Zoom sketch practice sessions, I used pen and colored pencils to draw these seed pods:

The photo we worked from had a dark background, which I didn't have time to put in (we meet for one hour):

I decided to add the background later, though, because I had spilled some colored pencil solvent on the piece and stained it.  Covered it up successfully using dark sepia colored pencil:

The next session's photo was of this rather creepy tree:

I came up with this colored pencil and watercolor sketch during the hour-long meeting:

I liked it, but I wondered if I could get something closer to the original by re-drawing it later using my new-fashioned toy, the iPad, with the Adobe Fresco app.  This is all digital painting:

I think it is closer to the photo, though not quite as creepy looking as my watercolor version.

Finally, I used the Adobe Fresco program to draw a wacky thing from a dream I had, about seeing a Giant Platypus Bird (because hey, why not?).

I have no idea how that entered my brain while dreaming, but there it was, soaring through the skies, and my friend Connie was in the dream too, explaining the field marks in case I couldn't tell what kind of bird it was....uh-huh..  WEIRD.   But fun to draw.

Okay, in non-art news, I got a delightful present from my friend Michelle:

Some people read it as, "I am an angel, you are a lemon..."  The design could have been a bit clearer, I suppose, though those of us who are over-the-top Good Omens fans recognize the quote instantly as "I am an angel, you are a demon.  We're hereditary enemies."  After which, the angel Aziraphale politely invites the demon Crowley into his bookshop to share a few bottles of wine, because they are also best friends.

Speaking of best buddies, I have been remiss in posting cute dachshund pics of late, so here are a few shots from Sunday morning of pals Pippin and Truman relaxing on the sofa, their favorite spot in the whole world.  

Enjoy!