I've been MIA for over 20 days for a good reason: my husband and I went on a month-long adventure which included crossing the Atlantic on a cruise from Europe to Brasil, with some dear friends. Before leaving I selected some pictures to work on while aboard: this one is based on a Gothic artifact found in the John Leighton’s Suggestion of Designs (1880) found in archive dot org. Inktense pencils and Pitt Brush pens with a waterbrush.
Read MoreAnother picture with tangle Amplion (Nina Dreher-Goddertz). I also included a historic fragment taken from Herbert Cole’s Heraldry and Floral forms (1922, found on archive dot org). It's a beautiful design of a 15th century French coffer. Tangled and shaded using Inktense pencils and Pitt Brush pens with a waterbrush.
Read MoreMy second picture inspired by Inktober Tangles 2024 including Heart Nouveau (Romi Marks), Feist (Stephanie Jennifer) and half of an S Bahn (Midori Furuhashi). I’m REALLY in love with this picture, still using Inktense pencils and Pitt Brush pens with a waterbrush. When I participate in Inktober, I tend to do it a little erratically, picking the tangles I like instead of going in order.
Read MoreThe name of this picture should be “do as I say, don’t do as I do”. I often tell my students “don’t outline your work otherwise it looks cartoony”. And my hand did just that! Here I have two tangles from Inktober Tangles 2024: Amplion by Nina Dreher-Goeddertz and Heart Nouveau by Romi Marks. Drawn using Inktense paint pads and Pitt brush pens with a waterbrush.
Read MoreThis picture is an adaptation of a design found in a book by Augusto Garneri (1921) at archive dot org and is described as taken from a Celtic Anglo Saxon manuscript miniature. Looking at other ornament books I found similar designs, so it was probably popular motif in Celtic manuscript illumination. I mixed some techniques there and it took me forever to complete! Tangled with inktense pencils, brown micron and Pitt brush artist pens.
Read MoreI'm in love with all the Art Deco architectural jewels of Los Angeles. The Pantages is one of my favorites, and here you see a small fragment from that magnificent theater, combined with Sunbelt, a tangle by Jody Genovese. Drawn using Inktense paint pads and Pitt brush pens with a waterbrush. I'm very happy with the dramatic results!
Read MoreAnother picture based on a historic photo I took in Santa Monica, CA, 1999. Unfortunately I did not register exactly where it was taken. It seems to have a Romanesque feeling - obviously as a revival, since that style appeared around 11th century. I did not try to reproduce the picture accurately, but instead used as inspiration for a stylized version. Drawn using Inktense paint pencils and Pitt brush pens with a waterbrush.
Read MoreGoing through my old photographs and I found some historic ornament that I took in Santa Monica, CA in 1999, wow! I had just moved to Los Angeles a few years before and I was using my faithful Nikon FM camera to take pictures of historic ornament wherever I could. This picture is inspired in one of those close-ups, probably from the Santa Monica Professional Building. Drawn using Inktense paint pads and Pitt brush pens with a waterbrush.
Read MoreThis arch is adapted from a Renaissance arch from the book “Suggestions of Design” by John Leighton and James Colling (1880) found on archive dot org. I also added some Found Flowers on a frame around the arch. Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens. If you goto my blog you'll see I wasn’t able to stay faithful to the original - I love the way my hand just takes over and adds whatever details it feels like.
Read MoreAn Art Raffle game gave me Fife, Eofer and Mooka. I included one fragment of each, plus added a little random flower to fill up the empty space. Using again that lovely color palette with green, blue and purple. Love that one! Tangled with inktense and pitt artist brush pens.
Read MoreMixing and matching fragments is such fun! In this piece I used a combination of three fragments: Tufton (Jodi Christiansen), Stacked Mooka, Munchin (Zentangle) and also an ogee dome. This is part of a mix and match study I did almost a while back, but only developed the final piece now. Tangled with inktense and pitt artist brush pens.
Read MoreThis color scheme was not my favorite when I finished the piece - what was I thinking! - but it's starting to grow on me. Here is Pickpocket (Tomàs Padros) and also a coiled ribbon pattern similar to Cadent with a lotus in the middle, found on Plate X (Egyptian) of the Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones, 1865. Ancient Egyptian ornament was mostly very geometric; flowing lines like this were very rare. Tangled with inktense and pitt artist brush pens.
Read MoreMy art-cheological explorations are not always historic in the traditional sense: this fragment was found in one of my sketch papers from January 2023. The quote is from a friend who told me to “focus on the solution, not the problem”. I don’t even remember what the problem was at that time, so clearly it has been solved! Tangled with inktense and pitt artist brush pens. Love the color palette!
Read MoreContinue to explore the world of historic ornament. This one is my interpretation of a detail found in the Chaukhandi Tombs, a 500 year-old necropolis richly carved in sandstone, located near Karachi in Pakistan. Photos were graciously shared with permission by Tahamie Farooqui, a very talented photographer referred by Jenny Farooqui. Many thanks for the gorgeous pictures and referral! Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens.
Read MoreI can’t get enough of Byzantine and Romanesque ornament. I found this one with a typical S-scroll vine in the book Byzantine and Romanesque Architecture by Thomas G. Jackson, 1913, page 256. I replaced some of the leaves with berries and light tangling. Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens.
Read MoreI have a thing for the “palmette”, a historic motif used by many ancient civilizations. In this Assyrian design it is flanked by what seem to be two birds deities or birds of prey (mine look a bit like tangled chickens, hahahaha). Palms were sacred trees for the Assyrians and the palmette was their main motif of ornamentation, along with the round daisy-shaped rosettes. Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens.
Read MoreThis new picture includes two of the tangles that are new to the Art Raffle app: Fandango (Vicki Bassett) and Potted (Liz Drake). I love the medieval look that these two have together! I worked the two tangles using Inktense pencils and Pitt Brush Pens over a 4x6 inch watercolor card.
Read MoreIn this picture I combined two medieval foliage artifacts found in a public domain book by James Colling. They are described as “triple buds” in the book. I also love the presence of Mooka tendrils sprouting from the branch. Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens.
Read MoreLast April I had a family reunion in Lisbon and as part of our trip we visited the stunning Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, built in the 15th century in the Portuguese Gothic Manueline architectural style. As most Portuguese historic buildings, it was full of beautiful painted tile panels (azulejos). This picture is inspired on one such panel. I included some “Found Flowers” to replace the center decoration and changed the color palette. Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens.
Read MoreOne of the most beautiful historic places in the world has to be the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. This piece is inspired not by any one particular panel, but just the overall look as I was scrolling through my pictures of that place. Using my new favorite palette with blue/greens and oranges, using inktense and pitt brush pens.
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