Sunday - a time for quite

A couple post back I showed you a WIP sketch. Well it is still hasn't gone anywhere from there as I have been pondering colour and background. Today's watercolour painting is attempting a background. From doing the above I learnt that if I wish to get a salt effect I have to really get it in one go or layer, as it does not work well with mutliple layers. What was also reinforced in not to add watercolour pencil to wet paper and then expect it to spread far - it does not move at all! Ahh well live and learn. It was good to paint.
The little bird is actually a digital stamp/ line art I made which I printed rather lightly via my epson printer on watercolour paper, and guess what - the printer ink did not run - cool eh?! :)
May your colours run how you want them and pop on by to  Sophia's Sunday Sketches to see some fab art!
Cheers

Faber- Castell on Sunday

(Click to enlarge )

 It is a dark and dreary Sunday here. Been like this all week and the forecast for next week looks about the same.  Got some non-kids colour pencils (although my monsters strongly disagree) and boy what a joy they are, how they slide across the paper and how easy the colour is transferred. These mermaid sketches were done with Faber-Castell pencils. The pink haired one is on "artist" sketch paper and the green one on my regular dime a dozen paper. Why mermaids - well a bloggie friend asked for some and I got a manuscript (sounds fancy eh :D) with some mermaids in it, so they were on mind.
Hope you are having a sunnier Sunday than I and pop on by to  Sophia's Sunday Sketches to see some fab art!
Cheers.
p.s yes scanned and adjusted by my Epson and the colours are very close to the original

A little gift from the hub :)

When on holiday my hubby either missed me or wanted me to get off his pc/ printer as my new improved win 7 did not speak to my old hp all in one - MS and HP decided I had my printer too long and needed to upgrade.
I think I had an HP printed from university but the price of ink has been rather inhibiting. So when we went printer shopping ink cost's was a major factor as well as potentiality scanning resolution and printing capability.  In the end what we decided was best for me was an all in one Epson  Stylus SX218. This is not an expensive printer, it cost about 30-50 lats here depending on the store ( i.e 60-100USD), so  I was not expecting much.  However after Heather asked about printers I actually took out the manual and started to investigate and read, and found it has some really cool options.
What I have found in the week that I have had it, is that if I scan and print using the epson control screen (not photoshop or any other program), I get a really good quality scan and print ( the above pic). In their own (epson) program there are a lot of options you can use to adjust the scan in preview mode to get it to almost the original. Also in their print mode you can get a very good likeness too. I am sure if I really knew what I was doing it would be identical. Click pic to enlarge.
However, I have found so far, that if I import the scanned image via photoshop I have to do a lot of manipulation and the result is not really that good when compared to the original (yesterday's post was adjusting via photoshop). Also when I have printed via photoshop or illustrator the colours have been either too red or blue. Now I have to say you can adjust the print and ink and there is an adobe profile option but I have not figured it out as yet.
So overall if you are looking for a reliable inexpensive printer ( I'm sure it is cheaper in the states), this is a good one one to try.
Cheers

a little romance ♥

As I grow older one of the things that surprised me about myself is that I am a romantic at heart. Life is so full of being practical and making choices and decision that are based on facts, situations, and dollars, that there is nothing I like more than a hero coming in and sweeping the capable non-weak heroine off her feet. So when I read Inspirational Avenue theme today I said "ah ha! something for the little stamp I made and tested out yesterday". Okay back to life and squabbling monsters- ahh the discord of quarreling. 
As usual the lines were created in Illustrator and the printed on my new epson (thank you  hubby :) ) and then coloured with Faber-Castell wooden crayons (splurge from my recent UK hols :) )
Cheers