Mary Jansen "Tuckered Out" 6x9"

It took me a whole week to complete this little drawing! I just don't know how pencil and colored pencil artists have the patience to go through this process over and over again! Thankfully, for me this was just an exercise to get back to drawing for a spell. Drawing is SO important in the painting process. It's easy to forget that sometimes when all one wants to do is play with those pretty colors!

This is a rendering from a photo of my sons when they were little. Of course, my sons now think this picture is creepy. I told them I didn't care. It reminds me of those wild times when those two had unlitmited energy and wrestled each other until they dropped. Ah...the good old days! Today they are two outstanding young men but they still have been known to take a respite from maturity and wrestle each other to the ground on occassion!

Coopers Hawk graphite miniature 3.5 x 2.5"

This guy was rather a quickie. He's just graphite after all...no color to worry about. I love drawing and this hawk and old oak tree allowed me to indulge in textures and value range like no other! I may have to do another pencil drawing as this one was so satisfying and fun!

Saucy Sunbathers 2.25 x 3.5"

One can only dream of those summery garden jewels while trapped in a wintery ice cave of a studio in February! This miniature is done on hot pressed Frabriano watercolor board. I used both watercolors and colored pencils for this composition. Perhaps a spring boquet or landscape should be next. I need bright colors to pull me out of this winter stupor!

Sentient 4.5 x 2.5"

Here's the first miniature of the year! I found this guy at the Lincoln Zoo. He was sitting at the top of this rock pile in a single beam of sunlight. He knew he was breathtaking and regal. That's why I titled it "Sentient". I think this ape knows he's of royal lineage! Now on to something a bit more colorful to chase the January blues away!

Bromeliad Mary Jansen 3.5 x 9.5"

I'm kicking the year off with a burst of color. I love the Bromeliad collection they have at the Garfield Conservatory in Chicago. These plants look as though they have landed here in little space pods from alien planets! It would be fun to do another Bromeliad using a rainbow of colors...perhaps I shall! On my pallette now however is a Green Heron and miniature for a spring show. So much to do! So little time! Happy New Year's!

Golden Goose 6.5 x 20.5 Mary Jansen

This wonderful guy posed for me beside the Salt Creek Trail in LaGrange, IL. He wouldn't let me get very close for a good reference photo but he sure did want the other geese to know how magnificent his plumage was! I enjoyed watching him on the banks of the river but it was a greater joy trying to capture his strutting bravado on paper! This was done on hot press Fabriano paper. I love the smooth surface for rendering feathered friends.

My Christmas Cards are now up on Ebay! It has taken me, the computer moron, quite some time to learn the basic instructions but I think I have it down, (at least for now...) Take a peek:
http://shop.ebay.com/marymjansen/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340