Using one of my tiny sketchbooks

A long time ago I got a tiny little sketchbook as a gift. I have been using it now and then, but not very often. I did the colored doodle on the left using markers and colored pencils, mainly to try out color combinations of alcoholbased markers and colored pencils. 

I have organized my colored pencils quite well and know which pencils I have; unfortunately I didn't know how many markers I have until the moment when I decided to get them organized. Now I am in the process of doing that. Knowing which colors I have definitely helps to keep me from buying the same colors a second time (something which happened in the past!).

Some kind of strange fish

This time I tried something different - creating a shape out of shapes put together. When I showed the illustration to other people and asked them whether they could identifiy a certain object most of them went for "fish". So "fish" it is. 

Medium: Alcoholbased markers and colored pencils 
Surface: Watercolor paper

Markers and colored pencils again

This is the second piece done with alcoholbased markers and colored pencils, the latter blended with baby oil. After having finished it I noticed that actually quite a lot of thinking went into it: Which markers to choose for a pleasing underpainting? Which pencils go well with which markers? Which colors go where? And not to forget: Which shapes please the eye? 

I also realized that the process of creating such a piece is a slow one and it has to be a slow one. Trying to rush things can lead to an absolute failure. 

I also notice that I am still focussing on doing this kind of art. I still create art using AI Art Generators, but I am spending way less time doing it. 

Alcoholbased markers, colored pencils and a bit of baby oil

I like to try out new things. There are tons of videos on YouTube concerning drawing with colored pencils and / or alcoholbased markers. However, I didn't find any video about painting abstract art with markers and pencils, and I didn't find any video about blending the pencils on top of the markers with baby oil. 

That is what I did. I first applied the markers and then, in order to create some shading, applied colored pencils and blended them with baby oil using a q-tip. 

The painting on the left side was an experimental one from the beginning to the end. This also means that I did not do any line drawing first; I just added one shape to the other. I was happy that I could finally use my very light markers. They are ideal for underpainting. 
 

Traditional art and AI Art

 I do not see traditional art and AI Art as matters which exclude each other. I think there are several ways to combine them. 

Create AI versions out of traditional art pieces
As you might know if you follow my blogposts I have been focussing lately on creating art with colored pencils. Or, to say it more precisely, I have been creating abstract art with colored pencils (which, by the way, seems to be quite unusual). My latest painting done with this medium however ia the illustration of a mask.

A long time ago, I had done a line drawing of a mask and colored it markers, Now I decided to color it with colored pencils, changing the drawing a bit in the process.

I used drawing cardboard as a surface. It is not as smooth as Bristol paper, but much smoother than watercolor paper. 

I then used the colored pencil piece as a so called starter image with an AI Art Generator. 

And this is what Mage Space made out of it. There are a few changes, but the color combination is more or less the same. I feel that it is still "my painting".

Colored Pencils with a bit more planning

I must admit - I mostly do not plan my paintings. I've got an image in my mind - often a blurred one - and then I grab my medium - be it pencils, acrylic inks or whatnot - and begin to paint. However I've got the feeling that I might be more satisfied with my paintings if I invest more time in planning. 

So I drew out the lines with a graphite pencil first with this painting. Then I thought about which color might fit at what place best. Then I grabbed my colored pencils. 

This way of painting with colored pencils is one thing I'd like to do more in 2025. And there is a second thing I'd like to do: weed out my reference binder. Up to now I haven't used my AI images as reference images at all. I've got some of them printed out in the size of postcards; but it might be better to have them printed out in a bigger size. So I pasted one of my latest AI images on an Office Writer page, transformed that into a pdf file and will have it printed out at the beginning of the new year.
 

Colored Pencils painting No 2

This painting was done with colored pencils. I used mostly Polychromos from Faber-Castell, but also some Pablos from Caran d'Ache. Here in Germany it is easy to buy single colored pencils from Faber-Castell and Caran d'Ache. Derwent colorsoft pencils are more difficult to get, but you can get them online. I haven't seen Prismacolor pencils yet, neither in a shop or even online.
The surface here is watercolor paper. The blending is done with Baby oil. 

I am still creating AI Art, but I notice that there is a certain shift of focus. I spend at least an equal amount of time painting with my colored pencils, and there is even a tendency at the moment to spend more time experimenting with my pencils.