Red Flower

Red fantasy flower. Pen and ink drawing, coloured in photoshop.

I had used the same drawing before and coloured in in blue hues, as you can see here. This time I thought I could play with reds, and a different background.

The desperate plant

The desperate plant. Pen and ink drawing coloured in photoshop.

This time I wanted to try something monochrome. and I went for shades of green which I would identify as “sick” colours. Either this plant is having a certain sickness, or it lives  in surroundings which are definitely not good for plants. In either way this poor being is suffering.

Technically speaking I played with applying the gaussian blur filter in certain selections.

Mind you, this is meant to be nothing more than a quick sketch, an exercise for working with monochrome colours, of trying to produce a certain mood by applying those colours.

The Merbeing

The merbeing. Pen and ink drawing coloured with photoshop.

I did this a very long time ago (two years or so, I think). I’d coloured it with copics then, but still kept the lineart. As I am deep into colouring with Photoshop at the moment I thought why not do it again, this time with a diffeerent colour combination. It still is lacking the final touches.

Horse portrait – coloured

Horse sketch – coloured. May 2014

At the moment I lay my hands on everything that can be coloured. Browsing through my archive of scanned sketches and drawings I found that horse portrait, opened it in Photoshop and tried to do my best colouring, using the lasso tool, the burn and dodge tool and the gauss filter. I must say that I’m quite satisfied with the result!

Purple Pansy

Purple pansy. Pen and ink sketch, coloured with photoshop

I love pansies. They are spring flowers, and you can get them in a tremendous range of colours. I also love purple. And just now I focus on art projects which can be done in a day. So one morning I sat down and did this sketch – first with a pencil, and then with ink. This time I also used a pink brush – an Artist brush pen.

When I scanned the drawing into photoshop I made sure to save the line drawing. So I can try out other colour combinations using the same scan.

Cat on the Prowl – finished

Cat on the prowl. Pen and ink drawing, coloured in photoshop. April 2014

The wild cats had already been to the village and discovered that it was full of mice and rats. They hadn’t met any humans, everything had been quiet. The hunt had been easy, and so they decided to come back again. They are more confident now,

I did the drawing with a staedtler pigment pen on drawing cardboard, scanned it into photoshop and coloured it with photoshop. The tools I used were the lasso tool and the dodge and burn tools. The colouring took its time; not only because I am still learning how to use the tools, but also because I am experimenting with colours, hues and shades.

Hissing Cat

Hissing Cat. Staedtler pigment liner, coloured with photoshop. April 2014

Another of these quick cat sketches (I hope you don’t get bored with them!), done with a Staedtler pigment liner. I then scanned the sketch and decided to colour the eyes in photoshop. But once I was colouring the eyes I decided to try to colour the whole sketch in photoshop. This was something I haven’t done for ages, and I must say, I enjoyed it very much!

Chrysanthemums again

Chrysanthemums. Inkscape vector painting on a photoshopped background. Ulla Hennig November 2013

With this digital painting I focused on trying out some photoshop filters and on creating a background with a photoshop brush. I did not want to create a realistic digital painting; I was interested in the contrast between the very clear lines and shapes of the vector chrysanthemums and the soft, blurry background in various shades of green.

Pumpkinflower – final Version

Pumpkinflower – final version

I tried to add more contrast by working with gradients. Then I exported the image into photoshop and added a background with a big sized airbrush in various shades of green. The soft, blurred background acts as a very nice contrast with the sharp lines of the vector pumpkinflower image.

Happy Snowman

Happy snowman. Inkscape and Photoshop, October 2013

Yes, it is quite early to think of snowmen. I’ve seen some of them on the web, and I was fascinated. They consist of very simple forms, however they can have a distinct personality. This guy was created in Inkscape and imported into photoshop. It was a playful process creating him – and I couldn’t resist playing with the layer styles in photoshop.

I know that he’s hovering over the ground – and snowmen do not usually hover. They are in firm contact with the place they are built upon – until they melt away. However, I gave myself the permission not to be realistic.