Haiti

Colored Pencil on Paper. 9 X 9 in.

My Dad was assigned to take a mobile hospital to Haiti after the earthquake and now they are also helping at a local orphanage. He sent us this picture this week and it was too cute to pass up.

Week 3: London

Watercolor on Watercolor Paper. 4 x 6 in.

My family lived in England while I went to high school. My mom has a little 3-picture picture frame and she has wanted me to do these little ones for a while, this week after 5 years the frame isn't empty haha ;). I am still learning how to use watercolors and have a long way to go. Practice might not make perfect but it does pretty much guarantee improvement ;)

Week 3: Sarah

8 x 10 in. Pencil on paper.

The photography was again done by Cate Sheffer. These are two of my sister's senior pictures. My family members are good sports, I have been drawing pictures of them for years and at first my drawings didn't look anything like them ;)

next week...

Pencil drawing of my younger sister Sarah, and a watercolor series of London.

Week 2: Alta

Oil on canvas. 8 x 10 in.

I snapped this picture on my first day of official missionary work. It is a ger district called Alta on the edge of the capital, and is beautiful in the summer. It is custom for gers (yurt-like tent that many mongolians live in) all to face south. I still haven't figured out how to take a good picture of an oil painting because they are so glossy. (especially when they are wet ;)

Week 2: Erdensovd in Traditional Mongolian Clothing

Colored Pencil on Paper. 9 x 12 in.

This is a good friend of mine dressed in the clothes that the mongolians wore when Chengis Khan was their king. Colored pencils are a really fun and laid back medium, I had forgotten about them and haven't used them in years. I remember how fun coloring books were when I was a kid and colored pencils can still be really fun!

Katherine and Russ

Watercolor on Watercolor Paper. 9 x 12 in.

I did this one last week, these two are my great friends and were just married! I don't have my normal watercolors with me but I found a tray of watercolors that kindergartens use, and it works ;) The photography was done by Caitlin Sheffer.

Week 1: Vacation

mixed media on canvas. 20 x 20 in.

These paintings actually started out as a joke and were really fun! I was with my sister and we found a lot of my mom's scrapbook paper and I glued it to the canvas, and then decided to try painting over it. The paper adds a fun texture ;)

Week 1: Altangerel

colored pencil on toned paper. 12 x 12 in.

I spent a lot of time with this man in Mongolia over the past few months. He is one of my very favorite people, and has one of the most lovable faces I have ever seen.

I learned this sketching technique at an art camp several years ago and I love how it makes images appear realistic and 3-D with very few pencil marks. Our teacher told us to find what we wanted in the paper and then to "sculpt" it with as few lines as possible. The whole drawing is done in a medium brown contay crayon or colored pencil and then the highlights are brought out with white, and the shadows are darkened with dark brown. Try it! It is really easier than it looks.