Cayman Islands Water Bottles

I got a surprise in the mail yesterday. My cartoon map associate in the Caymen Islands sent me these Cayman Islands cartoon map water bottles. It's one of the ancillary products that he has spun off of my Cayman Islands Cartoon Map.  He has also produced giant Cayman Islands Cartoon Map beach towels. I put the water bottles on the book shelf along with my new Monster Safari How-to-Draw Book. Thanks, Paul!

Discovery Bay Rhododendrons: More Progress on the Background

 I've been working on my Rhododendron painting on the side since last November 27th. I'm keeping track of my time, and I shudder to think how many hours I will rack up on this painting. Instead of working in watercolor, as I had originally planned, I decided to render the flowers in Prismacolor pencils, then use a colored pencil blender to add the "wet" effect. I'm quite pleased with the results in using the blender for the first time, but I learned that the tip of the blender doesn't last long. I begins to break down fairly quickly, which makes is more difficult to be precise in your blending. I will go through three or four blenders before I'm finished with the painting. For tips on how to use colored pencil blenders, see the post below.

The finished painting will be posted on my Painting in Paradise web site. Our next workshop is scheduled to depart this coming March 30, 2014. Details at the web site: www.PaintingInParadise.net

Have you seen my other blog, The Trowbridge Chronicles? trowbridgechronicles.blogspot.com