Fairy with a Fiddle

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drawing, fairies, fiddle, illustration, Val Webb, watercolor

Berry break

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creativity, drawing, fairies, illustration, Val Webb

Baby fairy and a mouse friend, drawn in pencil. Sometimes I think I like the pencil sketches even more than the more elaborate color work. What do you think?

May all your wishes come true

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birds, fairies, illustration, Val Webb

My latest fairy (and a bluebird friend) in colored pencil and sepia ink. Enjoy!

Fairies vs Brownies: An illustrated comparison

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birds, Books, fairies, illustration, Val Webb

 

click on photo for larger image

Work moves forward on “A Field Guide to Fairies.”  And for help in the accurate identification of any tiny folk spotted in your home or garden, here is a helpful guide to the differences between the two varieties common to the southeastern United States, where I live: fairies and brownies. It’s too hot here for elves – and in recent decades the rapid development of real estate has eliminated the habitat of gnomes — so what you’re going to spot in this region will be one of the two diminutive creatures illustrated here.

I’ve learned a great deal in the past few weeks, spending time in the field with a sketchbook and a pair of binoculars, staking out gardens and tool sheds and other places favorable for close observation. For example, did you realize that the common house sparrow often serves as a babysitter to the local brownie population? The energetic little bird provides childcare to an infant roughly the size of a pecan, while industrious brownie parents are occupied with their secretive benevolent (or occasionally mischievous) deeds. I spotted a mother sparrow tucking a tiny brownie into a nest under the eaves of my patio. Who could have guessed?

 

More work on the field guide…

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Books, fairies, illustration, Val Webb

New project: A Field Guide to Fairies

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Books, drawing, fairies, illustration, Val Webb

I’m writing a field guide. But not featuring the usual flora or fauna… this one will provide detailed information on fairies, brownies and elves of the southeastern United States. (Southern brownies are notorious egg thieves, in case you happen to have an unguarded henhouse. And garden fairies of the South have a weakness for heirloom tomatoes, although they never take one without leaving something else in return.)

I’ll share some of the sketches and finished illustrations as the book moves forward. All the text will be hand lettered, so it’s a fairly ambitous project. This will be fun!

 

Classes and workshops for June and July

Summertime… It’s the official season for drawing tropical plants, migratory birds and coastal critters. I have scheduled several classes and workshops, both here in Fairhope and at the studio cottage across the bay in Mobile, for June and July. Please email me if you have any questions. I’d love to hear from you!

Botanical Drawing: Tropical Summer (daytime class in Mobile)
Thursdays beginning May 19, from 2pm until 5pm
Six weeks
$140 includes all art supplies
It’s the season of brilliant colors and unusual forms — we’ll use watercolor and colored pencil to create realistic renderings of summer plants including palms, succulents and tropical flowers. We’ll also paint butterflies and other insects associated with summer blooms.  In addition to our regular class meetings, we’ll plan one weekend field drawing day for anyone who wishes to attend. No experience necessary, and all art supplies are provided.

Botanical Drawing: Tropical Summer (evening class in Mobile)
Thursdays beginning May 19, from 6:30pm until 8:30pm
Eight weeks
$140 includes all art supplies
The same subjects as the daytime class, but scheduled for those who need a class with evening hours.

Old and New: The Lost Art of Hand Lettering… and a New Way to Make “Vintage” Photo Transfers
ONE DAY – Saturday, June 4, from 10am until 3pm
Val’s home/studio in Fairhope, AL
$60 includes refreshments and all art supplies, plus illustrated tutorial pages to take home
This is not calligraphy, but the “drawn letters” used by old-fashioned sign painters and type designers. Learn to adapt this method to label your botanical artwork or write beautifully in your sketchbook or art journal. We’ll cover how to letter on curves, how to use perspective in your lettering, and how to design your own personal lettering style. After lunch in a nearby cafe, we’ll turn our attention to photo transfers for the afternoon. I’ll show you how to transfer a vintage-looking image to paper, cloth or wood using butcher’s paper and acrylic medium. The original photo is not affected in any way, and the final product has a hauntingly ephemeral look that is quite beautiful. Plus, you can tint your transfer with watercolor for a more impressionistic result. This works especially well with old family photos and garden subjects.  Embellish a journal or family album, make truly lovely greeting cards, frame them as keepsakes or gifts — the possibilities go on and on.  This is a limited, small-group workshop and may fill quickly.

Drawing Small Mammals of the Gulf Coast
ONE DAY – Saturday, June 11 from 10am to 3pm
5 Rivers Delta Resource Center (on the Causeway)
$45 includes all art supplies
Working in one of the most beautiful natural settings in our region, learn to draw fur textures, lifelike eyes and realistically rendered gray squirrels, rabbits, opossum and other small creatures that inhabit our coastal fields and forests. No experience necessary! Bring a sack lunch. All art supplies provided.

Quick and Easy: Watercolor Pencil Workshop
ONE DAY – Saturday, July 9 from 10am to 4pm
Val’s studio cottage in Mobile
$50 includes some art supplies
Versatile and easy to use, watercolor pencils are perfect for drawing outdoors or adding color to your sketchbook pages. Learn three techniques for getting a wide range of effects from your watercolor pencils, plus tips on using them to capturing light and texture. Bring your favorite set of watercolor pencils, and your other supplies will be provided. We’ll break for lunch at a nearby cafe.

Drawing Birds (daytime class in Fairhope)
Tuesdays beginning June 7, from 2pm to 5pm
Six weeks
$140 includes all art supplies
Use traditional illustration methods to accurately see and draw migratory birds in pencil, ink, colored pencil and watercolor. Also draw realistic nests, wild bird eggs and feathers. No experience necessary, and all supplies are provided. In addition to classroom sessions, there will be one Saturday field trip for anyone who wishes to attend.

Drawing Birds (daytime class in Mobile)
Thursdays beginning July 14, from 2pm to 5pm
Six weeks
$140 includes all art supplies
Use traditional illustration methods to accurately see and draw migratory birds in pencil, ink, colored pencil and watercolor. Draw realistic nests, wild bird eggs and feathers. No experience necessary, and all supplies are provided. In addition to classroom sessions, there will be one Saturday field trip for anyone who wishes to attend.

Drawing Birds (evening class in Mobile)
Thursdays beginning July14, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Eight weeks
$140 includes all art supplies
Same as the day classes, but designed for those who need a class with evening hours. In addition to classroom sessions, there will be one daytime Saturday field trip for anyone who wishes to attend.

So what is that workshop about, exactly?

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Alabama, angels, art classes, Val Webb, workshops

You know the old saying… a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, instead of trying describe what we’ll be doing in the “Old and New: Hand Lettering and Vintage Photo Transfer” workshop on June 4, here are a few thousand words’ worth of explanation.

Not calligraphy, but hand-drawn letters that you design to fit your taste and personal style. Perfect for labeling botanicals, enhancing your journal or creating a wondrously literary sketchbook! Here is another example:

After lunch, we’ll switch to “vintage” photo transfers, using a simple nontoxic technique with baker’s parchment that does not harm your original in any way. Here’s one made from a snapshot of a stone angel in a New Orleans cemetery, transferred onto heavy Strathmore watercolor paper:

…and here’s one made from a 1932 photo of my grandparents, transferred onto handmade bark paper. Enjoy!

Start to finish: Sparrow in Prismacolor pencils

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art, birds, colored pencil, drawing, how to draw, illustration, Prismacolor, Val Webb

 

This spring, so far, house sparrows have constructed nests in my cottage mailbox and in a quart Mason jar in our garage. When it comes to selecting a site to raise their young, they seem to favor recycling. I drew this little male in Prismacolor pencil, starting with a basic sketch in dark umber and then adding layers of color on top. Here he is in three stages:

Basic sketch, first in 2B drawing pencil then in dark umber Prismacolor. The dark umber creates a nicely shaded “underdrawing” with shadows and other details already in place, ready for layers of color to be added on top.

Now I begin to add thin layers of color — yellow ochre, terra cotta, dark brown — to build rich tones for feather patterns and also for the surface of the clay flowerpot perch. Though it sounds a bit odd, the warm gray on the sparrow’s belly is a blend of peach and sky blue.

The final details are added with a dark umber Prismacolor Verithin pencil (the harder lead holds a very sharp point, compared to the pigment-rich regular Prismacolor). Hooray! All done.

More garden fairy sketches

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drawing, fairies, illustration, Val Webb