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Cozy Things

watercolor and gouache sketches, about 4″ by 6″

Today’s sketches are from last week, when we got our first snow fall where I live, and the temperature dropped. This is the time of year when I can’t help but use my sketchbook to keep myself warm in the morning. These are just two of what will probably become a whole winter filled with cozy themes.

On the left, I copied the pattern from a couple of images of carpets. Having such small paper is great in terms of surface area, but what makes the paper so great for watercolor makes is hard to draw detail in pencil without smearing it everywhere. The carpet drawing was practice to see how detailed I could get without completely losing detail. I’m happy that I added an oxblood red background around it with gouache. It made the graphite really pop, and gave the illusion of tassels without me having to get all specific about drawing them.

The right is a wonky but kind of cute drawing based in real life! I was too excited to play with paint to get the drawing really right. It’s also not “done” in the way that I would say the sketch on the left is done – there’s a lot of detail that I was thinking about adding. Like a lot of the things that I post, it might get the update treatment in the future!

I’m hard at work on stuff for the shop. I’ll be back on Friday with some cat toys – probably not the kind you’re thinking of.