Pastel Palm Fronds

Posted on May 10, 2014 by Ellen Sherman

I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to make today. (No pressure, it’s Saturday.)
I knew I wanted to play around with a new set of markers and I had a 3 color palette in my head to experiment with – but I didn’t know what exactly to draw. After a bit of time spent fumbling around my sketchbooks, I started to draw out long lines with the markers, overlapping and weaving around eachother. And then it hit me, “Palm fronds!”

I cut a few pieces of watercolor paper to a smaller size and starting drawing.

I am still in love with pastels and was really hoping for a sunset-type resulting mesh of colors, but I think the pinky browns I went with ended up being just a bit too earthy and not as vibrant as I was hoping. It was a good exercise though — now I have a much clearer idea of where I want this Saturday afternoon to go.
Off to make more coffee!!!!

Blank Journals!

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Ellen Sherman

I may have gone a little photo-crazy this afternoon.
I set up a small scene to take a few pictures of the

I just love these journals. I rarely leave the house without 2 blank books (one a dedicated list-book, one a dedicated sketchbook) and have grown to harbor a serious affinity for unlined books.
When I received this package of blank mini-journals I knew I had to illustrate something small and precious on the cover. So I went with the three things I haven’t been able to stop drawing recently; cacti, prickly pears, and crystals.

I’ll definitely be ordering more of the journals, so let me know if you have any suggestions for things to add to the covers!

May Day at the Gardens

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Ellen Sherman

With an open schedule this morning I decided to head over to the beach and visit one of my favorite places; the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens. I walked the grounds as I usually do, checking out the plants in various states of spring foliage and took a few pictures.

I adore bougainvillea. It might be my favorite of plant of all time, I just can’t get over the vibrancy of the leaves. If only I could get it to grow on our balcony…

Eventually I found a nice shady spot, (Necessary today. Was so, so, hot out) spread out my ancient beach/garden/concert/general outdoors throw and started to sketch.

I left a little sunburned, but happy with my sketches. I’m excited to play more with the basic shapes and contours of the plants; removing some of the depth and textural information. It almost feels maplike, and I am really enjoying the process.
Happy May Day everyone!

Fin and Feather Shop — SNEAK PEEK!!

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Ellen Sherman

Hello Friends!
This past week has been a blur of new packaging, new product photography/styling, and copious — nay — unholy amounts of coffee. I am getting *so* close to being able to update the etsy shop with all the new work from abroad, so I figured I’d offer a little sneak peek into the fresh new face of Fin and Feather Art.

I might be on a bit of a pastel binge. Although — with the warmer weather, the delicate scents of flowers and sea salt wafting on the breeze, how could I not be?? I regret nothing.

I am super pumped to get all the new work added to etsy. I still have a few more rounds of new paper to test and am waiting on another shipment of cardboard backing boards, but it should all come together shortly. Hopefully. With that in mind, I’ll be offering a few new coupon codes to celebrate the revamp of the store.

Here’s the first one; help me clear out the old work!
MAKEROOM14
Is the first new coupon code! Simply enter it when checking out on etsy for a 10% discount!

As always, thanks for stopping by – can’t wait to share all thats in store for my little shop

Ram Skull

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Ellen Sherman

Usually I shy away from pink. It’s just not a color I find myself drawn to very often, or at all inclined to use.
I”m not sure if it’s the warm weather or what, but lately I have not been able to get pink out of my mind, or my palette.

I started working on this ink ram skull atop a bed of flowers and decided that yep- they had to be pink.

The final illustration measures 11×14 and will be available at my shop during the Grand Re-Opening event on Thursday! Only two more days, woo!

Time Change and Cacti

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Ellen Sherman

This time change is knocking the stuffings out of me.
Yesterday I was wide awake and ready to take on the world at 3:30 am.

Thankfully, I’ve got lots to work on in the early morning. First thing on my list, was to make lists. And strawberry-chia smoothies.

Today thankfully I wasn’t awake until 5:30, but it still feels pretty ridiculous. I wanted to finish up a few of the sketches from our foray into the Botanical Gardens, so I made use of the silence this morning with some tea and posted up on our balcony. Once the sun came out it was actually quite nice, a very different (quieter) side to Miami.

I should have some more sale info by the end of the weekend, I am beside myself with excitement for the re-opening on thursday!
Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend — go out and make some art!!

Somehow, it’s April…

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Ellen Sherman

Happy April 1st!
I hope everyone is wary today — don’t believe anything on the internet. Except maybe for this post, I’ve already gotten the April Fools-ing out of my system today anyway.

So somehow, it’s April already. This means a few things to me;
1.) Holy cow, time flies.
2.) Our European Adventure is almost over.
3.) My shop re-opens soon!

As we prepare to bring our fantastic little trip to a close, I am a whirl of emotion. I am sad to leave behind the exploration and the challenges of living abroad, but I am so, so, ready to sleep in my own bed and get back to real life.

Part of ‘real-life’ (one of my more favorite parts actually) is the running of my etsy shop, Fin and Feather Art. As I mentioned earlier in the year, I closed my shop during our travels to focus on creating my art and to spend a bit of time considering the final touches to the rebranding of the store that I started earlier in the year.

And I am so excited to show off.

April 10th will be the Grand Re-Opening (Bob’s burgers anyone?). To celebrate, I’m having a little kick-off party in my studio that evening, and will also be sending out special gifts with all orders placed that whole weekend! (April 10th – April 13th) Pop over to my facebook page for more information on the upcoming sale

It should be great a few days, and I am a bit antsy to get to it! Though, while I am absolutely pumped about the store, it is our last day here in Barcelona — so we should go outside and enjoy it. I wish everyone a great (and scare-free!) April 1st!

An afternoon in the garden

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Ellen Sherman

Today we ventured out to the botanical gardens , up in the Montjuic area. It was a rather hefty walk from our apartment to the gardens (looking back, we probably should have just gotten a cab) so by the time we arrived, Dan and I were quite happy to post up on a bench while I sketched and he took in the scenery. The sun was shining, the air was crisp and as we were one of the few people in the park — it made for an extremely peaceful afternoon.

The park itself is pretty great. It is divided into geographic sections devoted to particular region of flora and was teeming with some really interesting specimens. I’ve been to a fair amount of botanical exhibits (it is kinda my job…) and I was impressed at how many plants they had that I had never seen before. Also birds. There were lots of the little animated green Quaker Parakeets putting on shows and squawking with their friends.

How great are these guys?? They look like colorful bottle brushes, or some type of alien q-tip.
When we arrived back home (after a siesta of course), I decided to clean up and ink over a few of the sketches in my moleskine. Much to my frustration I somehow managed to lose my trusty xs faber-castell pen while we were in Venice, so the lines are a bit thicker than I would have liked.

I may see if the local art store carries a similar pen, I really prefer my lines as thin as possible when doing work like this. And it will give me a chance to stock up on a bit more watercolor paper before heading back to the states. I’m pretty sure my bag is going to be painfully close on the weight limit for our flight… but how can I pass up afforable Arches paper???
That’s right, I can’t.
I can however throw out some shoes…

Doing What You Love.

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Ellen Sherman

I wandered around La Boqueria for a good while yesterday afternoon. With only a week left of our adventure – I needed to doubledown on my effort to find souvenirs for our friends and family. Granted, none of the stuff at the market is exactly TSA approved, it was still a wonder to behold. Flowers, nuts, fruits, candies, meats and *very* fresh fish (still bubbling at the mouth…) and people crowding each stand, handing bags of purchased goods over hands reaching with euros. It was a fairly chaotic exchange but thoroughly entertaining.

This morning I felt like playing around in my new pink pantone moleskine (Which I am adoring. The subtle white dots on the page are sort of my favorite thing ever.) With the foliage from the previous day still whirling about my mind I set to draw out a phrase that’s also been circling back in there. A good way to start off a day of work

See the dots? Aren’t they great?

Aaaand a gratuitous shot of the new sketchbook and compass, because they rock my socks right now.

The Most Delicious of Subjects

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Ellen Sherman

While exploring Barcelona today I stumbled upon one of my favorite things ever.

Macarons.

It took a good amount of willpower, but I managed to get the tasty bits home, photographed and even sketched before eating them. If that’s not artistic dedication, then I don’t know what is.

I made a few studies of the individual cookies, but decided to focus on a poster-sized watercolor instead.

The paper needs a good pressing after the water-heavy washes, but I’ll do that when I’m back in Miami in my studio. Until then, I may just have to go back to the little shop and get more macarons. You know, for research 😉