Spring Stock-Taking of Beetles

My weekend drawing’s finished. Something about springtime again. The idea is:  it’s time to count, who made it through winter and who not. Survivers are buzzing all around. I have ants in the kitchen and first spiders in the corners of the windows. I like my home spiders, but I really wouldn’t mind ants returning under floor, where they belong. You see, I live in typical Jura-region country house, half of it made from wood, half of stone. Stone part was, originally, built for animals. Wooden part was for people.  We have improved the house quite a bit, but the wooden part still stands  directly on the ground; this is hard to be changed without disassembling the whole building.  One day, when we had crazy idea to inspect the bottom side of the floor planks, we discovered that 30 cm below  floor was sand, and milions of ants lived there. We were outnumbered, so we had quickly put the planks back to  show our willingness to keep peace.  So far ants haven’t come for us, but in spring they send out scouts.

watercolors, ink

Spring Doodle

There’s beautiful sunny weather here, at last! And all mums with babies walk along the street here and there, looking very happy. They all pass our house, because our house is next to a shop, and the shop is the main attraction of our street. Let’s be honest; the only one.  Even if you can’t buy much more there then beer and icecream.

inks

Two Dormouses

I have sketched simultaneously two dormouse family scenes, here comes the bigger one (meaning the paper size). I wonder if there’s some fairytale about dormouses. They are definitely made for this purpose.

ink & watercolor

Dormouse

I’ve found some great photos of dormouses in the internet and this is a result. In reality these little animals are still cuter!

ink & watercolor

Watercolor Rabbit Hole

One of my friends liked my last rabbit hole with roots  hanging down from all walls, and I’ve promised to do it again; I think this is perhaps the fourth or fifth time when  I draw a rabbit hole.  This time Alice isn’t too realistic, much closer to my usual way of doing things (old habits win!). Next week there will be two more Ellas and I’ll be free. I should use this free time to invent some new subject to draw, it’s high time.

watercolor and ink

Watercolor Snape

To finish with the sixth part of Potter’s audiobook:  Snape and two sisters again, in watercolor. For Nicky 🙂 I’m starting the seventh part now, and this is a real thriller. Maybe even a horror. My recent theory is: Harry is the last horcrux, created by mistake when Voldemort had murdered Lily Potter. That’s why Voldemort is always failing now, he can’t fight with the part of his own soul. But maybe this will turn other way round. I’m at the end of wedding day chapter and nothing is explained yet.

Attack on Hogwarts

One more illustration to my Harry Potter audiobok; probably last one, I’ve finished this story and I’ve just started the seventh part of the book. But the battle in the tower defintely deserves some attention. Foreground characters are Hermione and Ginny, Potter’s not to be seen (he’s on the tower’s top, witnessing Dumbledore’s death). The boy running downstairs is Malfoy.

inks, pastels and crayons,

The Raven And The Fox

I have made watercolor illustration to this tale a few months ago and I’ve promised to return to the subject for the sake of my friend. This time it’s  in ink and pastels (crayons, too). I can’t change the scene, but at least I can change tools. I’m not quite sure where this piece of carton comes from, but I suspect I could have cut it out from the shoe box; I guess I’d better not tell my friend. It’s a very good material for drawing anyway. 

The Rabbit Hole

This was a busy week! And next one will be just the same, I guess. This is a drawing I’ve made in a little break between one part of Ella story  and the other. A shading excercise on  abominably popular subject.