Morning Coffee #28 – Art Blossoms . . .

I love drawing and painting flowers.

This photo was actually taken last fall when my love affair with Hibiscus was just beginning because I had bought some plants at Trader Joe’s! Sky dog had been painting earlier but she wore herself out and needed a nap.

Here is the blossom I was painting . . .

And here is the finished painting . . .

I painted it in one of my very favorite watercolor books – the American Journey Travel Journal. Page size is 12″ x 9″ and the surface is 140lb Hot Press. Finding hot press watercolor paper in a book is rare. These are not inexpensive, but they are on sale for $19.99 at the moment, and they are worth every penny.

American Journey Travel Journal

A really important part of being able to paint flowers is being able to draw flowers. If you have taken my Art of Photography Workshop, you know that I did not even allow you to take photos of flowers for your first challenge, maintaining that a monkey with a cell phone could take a great photo of a flower because they are so darn beautiful.

Not so with drawing flowers, though, because they are complicated. Lots of folks are afraid to try because they don’t know where to start, and monkeys are especially afraid. I’m not talking about doodling fantasy flowers here, which is easy. I’m talking about drawing flowers that are recognizable, even as a line drawing.

You know I like to make complicated things easier, so back around January, I started writing a book on the subject. I was also trying to see if I could create a whole workbook just on my iPad. I have worked on it now and then since, and yesterday, I finished it. Ta-Da!!

It’s a 60 page, instantly downloadable, PDF E-Workbook, and it teaches you how to look at a photograph (or a real life flower), and draw it. I have a formula and a plan to follow that makes it all very easy.

This is the first in a series of Draw Simple Books (I hope), and I did create it entirely on my iPad. It’s available now for $15 here:

Draw Simple Flowers

Suzanne McNeil Wannabe

Not really, but sorta.

I would be surprised if many of you did not recognize that name. Suzanne is an artist who started a company some years back called Design Originals. She publishes single subject art and craft books that are only about 35 pages long and sell for $12.99.

I remember thinking that was pretty pricey when I first encountered them, but then I bought a couple and realized how chock-full of information they were – no waste, no filler. I bought more and so did a lot of other people.

Design Originals grew into a very successful company.

Now – switch the subject to me.

I was publishing PDF ebooks 12 years ago – when everyone who did not have a computer art background was still saying “Huh?”

Well, now ebooks are “all the rage” as they say.

The best format for an illustrated book is still the PDF. Everybody can open, read, and print them, and all the pictures and type stay where they are supposed to. They are better than a real book in that you can zoom in for a closer look at details, and they are searchable.

You can also put them into iBooks on your iPad and read them, search them, zoom them, there.

I think some other tablets can also accept PDF files, but I don’t have any other tablets, so I don’t know which or what. I do not think Kindle can because their format was set up for text only books, and has a hard time with graphics still.

ANYWAY, one big thought blossom that did get put into the permanent To-Do vase was that I want to publish Art-E-Workbooks of all kinds, and that is the business I want to build along with my Sheer Heaven business. Hopefully, I’m off to a good start.

In fact, what do you think of that as a name for them – Art-E-Workbooks? Arty – get it?

The Banana Slicer

You really must visit this product on Amazon if you want a good laugh. Don’t bother with the product, but read the customer reviews. I don’t know where the Review Police were, but the reviews are hysterical. It’s sort of like a flash mob happening in the review section. People just picked up the humor and kept it going . . . hurry before the Review Police get wind of this . . .

Bananas

Artist Showcase – Nagai Hideyuki

Honestly, I could not wrap my brain around this until I watched the little video provided, and then still . . . These are just two flat sketchbooks! And the artist is just 21!

3D Sketchbooks

It’s a Beautiful Day . . .

And I am going out to the garden to draw flowers. You can too. I know where there is a great how-to book! (grin)

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