Maria Strutz

A large raven in an enclosure. Instead of the usual black, it is white with blue eyes

Today I got to meet a white raven at a wildlife rescue center! This is Opal 💗

I love the textures and marks in this one, and their movement 🖤🌀🤍

Digital drawing in white ink against a black background of an armadillo facing the viewer and leaning protectively over a pangolin which is curled up on the ground. The armadillo's shell is a series of dots and the pangolin is made up of wavy dashed lines indicating their form rather than being realistic portrayals of the animals.

Illustration countdown to #WrensAria publication!

10/52 Wren meets a peculiar pair who, after some initial skepticism, agree to escort her across a desert wasteland

A black and white illustration inspired by Susan Hill's novel The Woman in Black. A woman in late Victorian mourning stands in a graveyard in a flat desolate landscape. There are two stone pillars in the foreground.

An illustration of the ghost of a woman in a dress of the mid to late Georgian era with a sort of skeletal face. She is stood / hovering in front of a detached Georgian house in the dusk, flanked by dark trees, with its front door lit from above.

A print of a black and white illustration inspired by John Masefield's novel the Box of Delights: a bearded man with a heavy pack trudges through snow pursued by wolves. There's a big white house in the distance, and a small aeroplane (in fact a car-o-plane) in the sky. The scene is flanked by trees and emerges from a square box. The face of its beholder is just visible.

A ridiculous black and white illustration (in print form) of worshippers dancing around a ceremonial bonfire in the trees. The flames take the shape of a large cat's head.

Hello! I've been a bit preoccupied lately with real life and stuff but I've finally put a bit of effort into my Etsy shop... added new prints and restocked old ones. Do have a look. Sharing much appreciated. Thank you.

sarahcoomershop.etsy.com

Inside the witch is a library of feral spirits, a hundred books that need not be written for their knowledge is best told by tree root and hedge blossom. Her living practice is a curation of wonders and wild wisdom. – #EmilyCBanting, 1982 #WitchSky

Ein mit Bleistift gezeichneter Biber steht und schaut mit erhobener Nase den Betrachter des Bildes an. Seine beiden Händen mit den langen Krallen hält er am Körper. Vom Körper ist nur die obere Hälfte zu sehen. Der Hintergrund ist mit sonnengelber Ölpastellkreide gemalt und es fällt zusätzlich noch ein Sonnenstreifen auf das Bild. Der Biber sieht aus als lächelte er.

Ein Biber im Sonnenschein für den #animalmarch.

so true :) 🌿🐾🌀

:) Thank you!
This time I set my stop-watch for 20 minutes, which was enough for the beaver basics but not that satisfying an image, so I played around with ink and oil crayons for a while, which was fun :)

a crouched beaver on a rounded mound looking to the left, a black background with blue dots, the beaver's coat shining in shades of yellow, brown, white and black. Linedrawing, Japanese ink, oil pastels, Maria Strutz

Beaver/Biber
#AnimalMarch #KleineKunstklasse

On the 6th of March, a composer returns to his home town. Without melodies, but a memory. Of the kind that haunts you.

Quite literally.

Our 6th #darkspringtide tale is a ghost story for #phantomsfriday.

Read it below.

🎨 Alphonse Inoue

1 blaue Linie, die einen Biber im Profil bildet

Biber für #animalmarch aus einer einzigen Linie #kleinekunstklasse #onlyoneline

'tis true, larger format means bigger area to cover :)
My challenge to myself is to loosen up though, and I have a tendency especially with smaller formats to tighten up and to fiddle, so I thought going back to A1, means longer looser strokes. Let's see how that goes 🙃

I think the 20 minutes challenge would have been very difficult with the snow leopard in A1 format, but the 3 to 4 hours were *slightly* more than I'd hoped for ;) )
The Goldfinch (A2) took about 2 hours (1 for the drawing, one for fiddling around with colours and salt), so already *much better* 😆

thank you so much, Amelia! 🌿🐾🌖

I will give it a try :) (In fact I did give it a try with the snow leopard but failed miserably. Hours later... 😅 )

thank you, Rike!
I really struggle with the drawings this time round. I want to not spend that much time on each one, and then get stuck and fiddle for ages...
I'll have to make a decision whether to focus on the ones that 'really speak to me' or try the stopwatch approach ;)

The buff/beige colour on the goldfinch's feathers is mostly from black tea.
I started using turmeric for the yellow feathers but tthe shade of yellow wasn't quite right. Also: I'd shaded in the feathers a bit too much using fineliner pen so the yellow didn't have a real chance to shine... 💛

so schoen! Und ich finde (immer noch) die 20 Minuten eine solch tolle Idee. Und so bewunderswert, wie klar und rasant Deine Zeichungen sind, Rike 🌿🐾🤍

a gold finch from behind with the bird looking to the right and slightly backwards, seated on a branch. Line drawing, black tea, turmeric and water colour paints. Shades of white, buff, yellow red, brown, dark blue and black. Maria Strutz

Stieglitz / Goldfinch
#animalmarch #kleinekunstklasse

der ist super schoen geworden, und so klar! 🤍

Aquarell von einem Stieglitz auf einem Ast sitzend.

Tag 5 : Stieglitz
#animalmarch #kleinekunstklasse
#Aquarell #watercolour #art #birds

Aquarell - von der Seite ein Stieglitz auf einem Zweig mit Blick nach links

Der Stieglitz für #animalmarch #kleinekunstklasse

Diesen Distelfink habe ich in zahllosen Stunden Arbeit mit Kreuzstichen gestickt.. Er sitzt auf einem Felsen und reckt sein Köpfchen.

Aus meiner Vogelsammlung: der Stieglitz-eine Kreuzstichstickerei
#kleinekunstklasse
#animalmarch

eine tintenzeichnung eines distelfinks auf einem ast, der dir zugewandt sitzt und dich leicht von der seite anschaut

#animalmarch 05: distelfink 🪶
—
hullo! mehr sonnenblumenkerne bitte, danke.
—
#20minuten #ohnevorzeichnung #fusseltusche #pinseltiere #ink #art #federundpinsel #kleineKunstklasse

der ist toll, so 'einfach', perfekt getroffen

wie schoen!

"One year during a summer squall, he told me ghost stories, how he invoked the Lord against bits of haunted furniture and how his own dead son had walked through the door one day."

A blog with a new poem from the collection & the story of what inspired it: a little bit of first-hand folklore.

I love working with tea. And I like that I can create different nuances with it; with some homemade inks there is just one colour without shades or nuances I find...

a snow leopard walking through deep snow from left to right, look out at the viewer. Shades of white, buff, blue and brown. Water colour and oil crayons, Maria Strutz

I did a painting of the same snow leopard in 2004 (i.e. this one) but thought I'd give it another go and do a quick sketch for #AnimalMarch but I struggled wih it (again) and it took me forever (again. I.e. the one above)
- reference photograph by Oleg Belyalov 🌿

a snow leopard walking through deep snow from left to right, look out at the viewer. Shades of white, buff, blue and brown. Mixed media, black tea, oil crayons, water colours, white gesso. Maria Strutz

My first contribution to #AnimalMarch
- a snow leopard 🤍🐾🌿
The buff of the leopard's pelt comes from black tea