Another prompt from #WorldWatercolorMonth. I turned the farm life into an Icelandic farm life.
At the end of spring, farmers will bring their sheep up into the mountains, where they will roam wild and free during the summer months. In the beginning of September farmers will go out and start gathering them again. This is called Réttir – the annual sheep round-up.
Revisited my furry creatures from the forest scene. I quite like them. I feel like they are the perfect mix of cute and creepy. What do you think?
At first I felt lost about what to do with the background. So a day later I added the yellow bubbles which was quite meditative.
Even mermaids would like to try out aerial hoop.
After the girl in the striped leggings was done with her hoop session, she left, leaving the hoop behind. A mermaid came along and thought: “That looks like fun. I want to try it”. Her pet octopus was everything but excited about the idea and tried to get away.
I am not sure why all the water inspired illustrations. But there is actually a pose called inside / outside mermaid in aerial hoop.
Another prompt for #WorldWatercolorMonth was Glorious Golds.
I absolutely love how the pelican turned out! I think you can expect more of them in future. The girl was planing to catch the Golden Snitch while hanging in the hoop. Then she got distracted by the pelican, and fed him fish instead.
And why is there a hoop hanging over the water you might ask? Well, if you fall, you fall soft.
Sun is shining! Wet & Dry prompt of the #WorldWatercolorMonth list.
I love pelicans. Saw plenty of them in Mexico and also in Guatemala where they were surfing the waves of the Pacific Ocean. It made me happy everytime I saw one.
Actually I wanted to draw pelicans for a while now but always postponed it. But here they are, watching the girl… or waiting for the fish?
Went on an unplaned weekend trip to the country side with no internet connection. Only beer, horses and hot tub which was fabulous, so I am three days behind with drawings.
There was no forest, only a lot of green fields and mountains all around. So this is my aerial acrobatics themed take on the prompt of day 12 – forest animals – for the #WorldWatercolorMonth
Credit for the mountain goat goes to the boyfriend aka my “creative director” as he likes to call himself.
This little guy again. I saw him parked on a different street this time, waiting patiently.
This small corner shop not only sells essential food items but also their own Mezcal (like probably all the other places) over the counter. I would either go with my own bottle or just ask for a Mezcalito (1/4 litre) which they would fill into a small Coke bottle.
That stuff is delicious. Maybe good that I didn´t stay in Malinalco for more than 3 weeks…
This is what the cool kids do on a weekend night in Malinalco. You get on your horse, and ride to the next Taqueria to hang out at. My friend told me that they are pretty much the local equivalent of a Harley Davidson Gang.
Love their hats.
And the work in progress. Like day and night.
I have been too tired and lazy after work to continue with my latest Malinalco watercolour. So I took a break.
Instead I found my sketch book from last winter again. I had started a pencil drawing when I was in Finland. It was supposed to be a Finnish forest. But now it feels more like: Welcome to the Mexican jungle…
It feels like it has been a while since I drew the last siesta-dog. That´s what I call them. This guy was snoozing in front of my favourite taco stand at the mercado. I loved their tacos because they made them with blue corn tortillas and some papas fritas on top. The best!
Of the three different kinds of salsa on the table, I could only have one of them – the mildest – which was still super hot for my taste and I actually like spicy… Can you handle spicy salsa?
This little guy was roaming the streets around the house I stayed at in Malinalco. The street dogs all have their areas that they stick to, and this one has his close to the center of town.
Just like all the dogs I met here, he was polite and friendly. Same dog that was watching the girl walking up the street.
I would have loved to adopt him and call him Batman because of his ears.
Yes, I love dogs.
Have a great weekend everyone!
“What have you got in that bag?” the dog must have thought when the girl passed by.
Or what do you think?
Actually I love how this one turned out. I did not expect it.
Our next door neighbours. They never complaint about us listening to loud music.
My time in Malinalco sadly has come to an end and I am back in La ciudad de México (CDMX). I still have several unfinished drawings that I am working on, so you will still get to see some more of my impressions of that little Pueblo Mágico.
I feel so much better this time around in CDMX than 3 weeks ago, as I am now able to converse somewhat in Spanish after studying every day, and I am also better used to the altitude and air pollution. So I spend my days walking around enjoying the sun, eating a lot of street food, and I have been visiting one art museum per day.
I have already planned a whole series of drawings inspired by the capital, but those have to wait until I am back in Iceland next week . Unfortunately I’ll be leaving Mexico earlier than planned as a job opportunity came up, so it will be back to grown up life for now. But I will most certainly be back in this fascinating and inspiring country. Until then I am looking forward to my 4 day stopover in NYC next week. Never been, don´t know what to expect.
Meanwhile on the streets of Malinalco during one of my late afternoon walks.
There is this absolutely lovely tiny old lady in my street. She must be 75+ and is half my size. She is there every day all day, sitting in the sun with her two dogs, selling whatever they have straight from the garden. Sometimes her friend, man about the same age, joins her for a chat.
I go almost daily to buy mangos, avocados or granadillas which I had never tasted before but now love.
I heard some commotion outside of the gate and after a while I got curious and looked outside. This is what I saw. White horse in the car lights that were passing by. He seemed rather bored and unhappy being parked on the sidewalk.
Means of transportation for the cool kids at the weekend.
Melanie Franz 