Once again, Little One is out in the park enjoying the view of the falling autumn leaves. “They’re so pretty,” she muses. And out she sets about playfully throwing the leaves in the air and watching them fall down. Oh and did you see her kawaii green jumpsuit? Today, she just wants to relax and walk in the park whilst having fun with the autumn leaves. And so I created another cute drawing about it, this time having a go with my set of colourful India Ink and those wonderful Japanese watercolours.
Free-style Drawing
I used a bamboo stick pen and set of Dr. Ph Martin’s Bombay Ink on my pad of Strathmore Visual Journal for Watercolors. They’re great! I went free-style with the drawing without making a pencil draft. Sometimes, the graphite from the pencil smudges with the ink or shows through so best to just take the plunge and draw. Who cares if it’s not perfect! What counts is the feeling you put behind. And they do somewhat resemble autumn leaves anyway. I then added part of Little One’s face to get an idea of where else I could draw more leaves without overwhelming her. Colours used were Orange, Tangerine and Iridescent Yellow.
Drawing Further
Hey there she is! Little One is cutely drawn in, also in free-style using my bamboo stick pen. I used a variety of brown shades with the India Ink (Sepia, Brown and Van Dyke Brown) for her hair, and for her green jumpsuit I used Iridescent Green. Originally, I intended to draw just the outline for her outfit and have it coloured in with watercolour but I made a little mistake with the shape so coloured it in with the ink instead. Looks much better with the iridescent finish than it would with watercolour so I’m still happy. Where I felt there could be more leaves added, I drew some in Iridescent Yellow. I blotted out the excess ink whenever I was done with it by dotting them on the bottom of the paper. And now I think I’m ready fill it all in!
Filling in with Watercolour
I again used my pan of Kuretake Gansai Tanbi. My favourite when it comes to painting nature most probably because of its naturally-derived ingredients which does indeed show in the colour. This time, I focused on colouring in the subjects and skipped the background for a change. Quite a simple piece but I must say I like it without adding anything in the background. It’s the colours of the autumn leaves I like to emphasise and hence for now, I’ll just leave it.
And what a cute painting this is! I also like the way the leaves overlap on Little One’s hair and stays transparent, such a cool effect! Something I might try again in another ink and watercolour session. Meanwhile, I will be practicing more free-style drawing with my bamboo stick pen and ink. It’s so much fun!
My Kawaii Quarter 