Birds & Poetry

Coming in 2021 – a beautifully illustrated poetry book.

Recent

Work

Currently exploring bird paintings & portraits in various media.

Michaela Majce

me_and_joe_creating_stuff

Today I got a huge delivery from the art supply sh

Today I got a huge delivery from the art supply shop. We're still in lockdown here in Vienna, and will be till May at least. New paper pads, watercolors, soft pastels, brushes. And blotting paper. I told you in one of the last posts that I'd been watching Kim Whitby's @kimwhitbyart for that tip in her wonderful ink demonstation for Artists & Illustrators magazine @aandimagazine last month. Apart from the 4H pencil trick, she also showed us how she uses blotting paper to soak up excessive ink and create an intersting texture in the ink layer at the same time. So, me, where do I get blotting paper?! Art supply shop of course has various kinds, so for the time being I ordered a small pack to try and see if it works for me as well. When that parcel arrived today, it had tons of brown packing paper to protect the stuff. I looked at the paper, felt the consistency, and thought that must be a pretty well absorbing paper. 🤔 Maybe just as good as blotting paper? Or just a little bit worse? So I tried. Works fine, soaked up ink and water immediately. So I folded it up to keep it and use it as just that - blotting paper. 😂😂😂 Might have to iron it a bit though. 😉 @kimwhitbyart, have you ever tried packing paper for blotting too? Do you think it might have any downsides compared to the real thing? I would love to hear your thoughts on this. 🙂

#blottingpaper #upcycling #reuse #repurpose #artmaterials #artsupplyhoardersunite #paper #igersart #igersvienna #igersaustria #afpaotw

On Sunday I went for a little walk along the Danub

On Sunday I went for a little walk along the Danube and took my Moleskine sketchbook, some tiny watercolor box and Pentel pocket brush pens with me. Not easy to find an empty stairway to the water in lockdown. 😉 Finally found one close to a rowing club, with view on the Bisamberg (more of a hill than a mountain) in the distance. I like the way the shoreline on the other side (which is Danube Island) looks this time of the year, with the all the tree trunks and shrubs being so present to your gaze, yet shimmering, almost glowing, with a light green haze of the new leaves just coming up. 🙂

#usk #urbansketchersvienna #urbansketching #Vienna #Danube #frühlinginwien #spring #watercolor #sketching #watercolorpainting #urbansketch #landscape #sketchonlocation #artwork #sketch #artistsoninstagram #watercolorart #watercolour #aquarell #sketchbook #sketchbookart #moleskine #artworkoftheday #instaart #watercolorillustration #platinumpreppy #igersaustria #igersvienna #afpaotw #urbansketchers @urbansketchersvienna @urbansketchers

New sketchbook arrived this week. Yeah! 🙂 Saw it

New sketchbook arrived this week. Yeah! 🙂 Saw it on Amazon and fell in love with the rough, cotton rag paper. It's got this extra wide landscape format, so I thought it's going to be perfect for (abstract) watercolor and ink landscapes. Also got myself th classic ink series from Platinum, beautiful colors, that will darken a bit with time. The first page was just to try how the inks will be doing on this paper. So I just put in 4 rectangeles and experimented with the inks, water and a 4H pencil to pull out some color (thanks to Kim Whitby @kimwhitbyart for that tip in her wonderful ink demonstation for Artists & Illustrators magazine @aandimagazine last month.) I'm very happy with how they turned out, hope you'll enjoy them too.

#art #artdaily #artistsoninstagram #artlover #beautifulart #watercolour #watercolourartist #watercolourart #landscape #landscapeartist #landscapepainting #inkstagram #inkpainting #watercolorlandscape #moodylandscape #artoftheday #artofinstagram #artstudio #artgram #artlovers #watercolourist #sketchbookart #watercolourpaintings #abstractlandscape #abstractlandscapepainting #abstractlandscapes #afpaotw #igersart #igersvienna #igersaustria

Losely followed Laura Krieger's watercolor demonst

Losely followed Laura Krieger's watercolor demonstration for Etchr yesterday. Loved her landscape painting the demonstration was based upon. Perfect project for my new sketchbook, a wide, landscape format, artisanal cotton rag paper book. Loved how the colors and water worked on that paper. Hardly any buckling while wet and totally flat again after drying. Perfect for lose, watery watercolors. 🙂 Very happy with the result.

Enjoyed the demonstration by Laura, though I couldn't get myself to use any salt on my painting. Interesting to see her experiments with salt on different papers and with different colors though. 🙂 Reminded me to experiment more without expecting to get any nice pic or painting as result, just for the sake of getting to know your materials better.

#etchrstudio #etchr @etchr_studio @etchr_lab @artbyellekay #etchrstudiofam #etchrlivedemo #art #artdaily #artistsoninstagram #artlover #beautifulart #watercolour #watercolourartist #watercolourart #landscape #landscapeartist #watercolorlandscape #moodylandscape #artoftheday #artofinstagram #artstudio #artgram #artlovers #watercolourist #sketchbookart #watercolourpaintings #afpaotw #igersart #igersvienna #igersaustria

Quick #lineandwash self portrait before going to b

Quick #lineandwash self portrait before going to bed. Superfine Japanese gelpens, ink and watercolor in my tiny A6 #artezasketchbook, the one that is not made for wet media but does so much better with them than their actual watercolor sketchbook. 😉

#watercolor #lineandwashwatercolor #arteza #portraitsketch #watercolor #watercolorportrait #lineandwashportrait #selfportrait #portrait #sketchbook #sketchbookart #portraitartist #afpaotw #lockdownart #instaart #instaartist #artwork #artworkoftheday #artofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #igersaustria #igersvienna #art
#selfportraitwithdinosaur

Bird Artist of the Week, a challenge created by @c

Bird Artist of the Week, a challenge created by @carlajart is back. Yeah! The source pic for the Bird Artist of the Week competition was provided by Warren @wossa_price, a cute little robin. I used ink and watercolor, and my Pentel pocket brush pen and Molotow one4all for some darker spots and highlights.

#BirdAOTW #robin #watercolor #illustration #artchallenge #birdart #birdpainting #inkpainting #lockdownart #instaart #instaartist #artwork #artworkoftheday #artofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #igersaustria #igersvienna #afpaotw #ink #inkstagram #botanicalillustration #botanical #botanicalwatercolor #botanica #bird #birdsinart #birdlovers #naturelovers #natureart

Decided to take part in the #upcratebattle this mo

Decided to take part in the #upcratebattle this month. The theme is "colorless beauty", fitting for the materials they sent, graphit pencils and an awesome electric eraser. I had already done the mini-me portrait when the box arrived. Now I went for a self portrait done after a Snapchat pic of mine. 😉 Bärenstark, btw., is a German expression. It means strong as a bear, but can also be used for something (or someone) very cool.

I might do some more Snapchat drawings, but more of the really weird ones, that remind me of the hall of mirrors I visited with my grandparents as a kid. Make me laugh in the same way. 😉

Oh, and Captain Crate, in case you're reading this, I think my box was missing some item(s). I saw quite a few videos and pics of crate unboxings, and they all had more than just one standard brush as replacement items for the batteries? 🤔

@upcrate #upcrate #upcratebox #upcrateartcrew #upcrate19 #graphiteportrait #portraitsketch #portraitdrawing #pencilportrait #selfportrait #snapchat #portrait #sketchbook #sketchbookart #portraitartist #afpaotw #lockdownart #instaart #instaartist #artwork #artworkoftheday #artofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #igersaustria #igersvienna #art #bärenstark

The one time I painted an Easter egg. 😉 Happy E

The one time I painted an Easter egg. 😉 Happy Easter to you all! 🙂 🐇🐔🐣🦖

#eastereggs #easteregg #paintingeggs #dinosaurs #dinosaursofinstagram #coloringeggs #happyeaster #easterdecor #easterdecoration #igersaustria #igersvienna #pictureoftheday #afpaotw #artsyeastereggs

This week I came across a lovely landscape paintin

This week I came across a lovely landscape painting here on Instagram. As it's been reposted by @gramsketchers, I read the text to find out more about who painted it. Turned out it's part of a #drawthisinyourstyle challenge originally started by Brian, @brejanz. I thought, come the weekend, I'll give it a go as well. And so I did. 😉 Here's my take on Brian's hut. Used watercolor and ink (the green is ink too, not only the black outlines), a fountainpen with an extrafine nib, and my Platinum pocket brush pen, oh and a white Molotow one4all.

#dtiys #staysafe #drawthisinyourstylechallenge #challenge #cottage #hut #fishermanshut #cornwall #mullioncove #mullion #drawbrianshutagain #drawbrianshut #afpaotw #watercolor #watercolorpainting #landscape #watercolorlandscape #lockdownart #instaart #instaartist #artwork #artworkoftheday #artofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #igersaustria #igersvienna

This Wednesday's figure drawing night by Artmakess

This Wednesday's figure drawing night by Artmakessense had Hieronymus Bosch' triptychon The Garden of Earthly Delights as inspiration. Our awesome model Nasim @nasimluczaj was posing with all kinds of fruits, veggies and plants. Amazing session. Enjoyed the music as well, lots of Everything but the Girl and the Beatles. 🙂 I'm a huge fan of your playlists, Helen, no way I would switch the musikc off. 😉 Here are some of the drawings I did. Not happy with the rest. I'll give all the poses another try once I get the replay, maybe try to arrange them into one painting. 🤔They all deserve more time. Plus I wanted to experiment a bit more with different materials. 🙂 Started out with pastels this time, non of these made it into my cut. 😉 Then switched to watercolor pencils and Japanese watercolors.

Thanks for another inspirational evening, Helen, Nasim, and Michel. 💕😘

#lifedrawingzoom #zoomfiguredrawing @artmakessenselife @artmakessense #lifedrawing #figuredrawing #zoomdrawing #sketch #sketching #japanesewatercolors #inksketch #artmakessense #artmakessenselife #gesturedrawing #nudedrawing #humanfiguredrawing #lockdownart #instaart #instaartist #artwork #artworkoftheday #artofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #igersaustria #igersvienna #expressivefiguredrawing #afpaotw

On Friday my new #ScrawlrBox arrived, yeah! 🙂 Lo

On Friday my new #ScrawlrBox arrived, yeah! 🙂 Looked inside and was slightly disappointed, given the awesome things they usually send out. 😉 I was really impressed by the print that came with it however, an artwork done by Shane Vorhaben @svorhaben. In spite of not being too happy with the markers, I did something for their #ScrawlrChallenge. The colours we got and the theme for the challenge - "Leading Lines" - brought up an image of the Ever Given, that cargo ship stuck in the Suez Canal. 😉 While drawing, I found that I really dislike those markers we got for coloring a drawing. Felt like a 5-year-old with felt-tip markers. 😉 If you guys use the Faber Castell Pitt Artist pen brush markers in your artworks, what do you do with them? Seriously looking for inspiration here, so that they won't be just accumulating dust on my desk. 😉

#sketching #leadinglines #evergiven #pittartistpenbrush #afpaotw #drawingchallenge #artchallenge #sketch #lockdownart #instaart #instaartist #artwork #artworkoftheday #artofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #igersaustria #igersvienna

Followed along a very inspiring demonstration of

Followed along a very inspiring demonstration of Ian Fennely @ianfennelly organized by @etchr_lab today. Really enjoyed the session and learned a lot. 😊 Already looking forward to painting an ancient tractor at his workshop in April. 😉

#watercolor #sketching #inksketch #watercolorpainting #drawing #illustration #artwork #sketch #artistsoninstagram #watercolorart #watercolour #aquarell #sketchbook #artworkoftheday #instaart #watercolorillustration #watercolors #etchr #igersaustria #igersvienna #afpaotw #lockdownart #ianfennelly #carpainting

So, Wednesday is becoming my life figure drawing d

So, Wednesday is becoming my life figure drawing day. 😉 I love the Zoom life drawing session by Artmakessense, Helen always finds an interesting theme and wonderful models. This week's inspiration was the Italian performance artist Vanessa Beecroft. Our model, Maria, had painted her body white and was posing against a black background.

I thought drawing white on black would be easier. Those high contrasts had me struggling quite a bit to be honest. 😂 So, I'm pretty sure I will revisit all those poses once I get replay and screenshots. I think my brain needs more time to switch from painting shadows to highlights instead to shape a face or body. 😉 Thank you so much also to Helen, Maria, and Michel for this wonderful and inspiring evening! 💕😘

As for the materials, I used color pencils, white charcoal, gouache, and Japanese watercolors. One of those on white paper also used a black brush pen with water soluble ink.

#lifedrawingzoom #zoomfiguredrawing @artmakessenselife @artmakessense #lifedrawing #figuredrawing #zoomdrawing #sketch #sketching #japanesewatercolors #inksketch #artmakessense #artmakessenselife #gesturedrawing #nudedrawing #humanfiguredrawing #lockdownart #instaart #instaartist #artwork #artworkoftheday #artofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #igersaustria #igersvienna #expressivefiguredrawing #afpaotw

Yesterday I followed a tutorial by @artefacto_scho

Yesterday I followed a tutorial by @artefacto_school, more or less at least, of a lake szene painting in watercolors. I loved the beautiful reference pic, also liked a lot what the instructor Konstantin Sterkhov @strekhovart had made of it. It was a free tutorial, so I'm not going to complain. The painting process had been prerecoreded, so I found it a bit hard to follow, as they seemed to speed it up a bit, plus the colors were different from the list they provided and that I had prepared upfront. So I was mostly listening and occasionally looking up to what was happening on the screen, but otherwise doing my own thing with the reference pic in front of my nose. 🙂 Lots of inspiration indeed, thank you very much for that. 🙂 Made me want to dedicate more time into exploring watercolor landscapes again. I also have to check out the artist Konstantin Sterkhov, seems he wrote a few books on watercolor art and is also cofounder of a watercolor magazine.

#watercolor #landscape #landscapepainting #landscapeart #watercolorart #lakescape #watercolorpainting #boatpainting #afpaotw #lockdownart #instaart #instaartist #artwork #artworkoftheday #artofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #igersaustria #igersvienna #art

Hello, my name is Michaela, and I am addicted to b

Hello, my name is Michaela, and I am addicted to buying art materials. 😉 For a pleasant surprise at least twice a month I subscribed to some mystery art supply subscription boxes, upcrate and Scrawlrbox. This week my upcrate box arrived and I did a little unboxing and trying out the new materials video. In case you want to watch that you'll find it on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZL957iBL6M

The drawing I created with the stuff in the box - graphite pencils - was a portrait of me as a tiny wee kiddo. Here it is, my mini-me. 😉

@upcrate #upcrate #upcratebox #upcrateartcrew #upcrate19 #graphiteportrait #portraitsketch #portraitdrawing #pencilportrait #selfportrait #childportrait #portrait #sketchbook #sketchbookart #portraitartist #afpaotw #lockdownart #instaart #instaartist #artwork #artworkoftheday #artofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #igersaustria #igersvienna #art

Last week's Portrait Artist of the Week episode -

Last week's Portrait Artist of the Week episode - which, unfortunately was also the last for a while - had the lovely Oti Mabuse @otimabuse as the sitter. She'd been painted by Curtis Holder @curtisartist, the well-deserved winner of last year's Portrait Artist of the Year contest, who is not only an amaaaaaazing artist with a very unique style, but also seems to have discovered the fountain of eternal youth. 😉

I finished my take on Oti within the 4 hours of the program actually, but wasn't happy with the result. Pastels with some color pencil accents, and gold to give the portrait the sparkle Oti brought across. 🙂 So I didn't post it, and instead tried to find out what was wrong with it. Today I changed a few things, and while I'm still not entirely happy, I'm ok with it. 🙂

#mypaotw #otimabuse @skytv @katebryan_art @kathleen.soriano @taishanschierenberg #PortraitArtistOfTheWeek #PAOTW #SkyTV #SkyArts #Painting #Portrait #thegreatbigartexhibition2021 #afpaotw #portraitpainting #portraitpainter #contemporaryportrait #portraitartist #lockdownart #instaart #instaartist #artwork #artworkoftheday #art #artofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #igersaustria #igersvienna #portraitart #contemporaryportraiture #pastelportrait #pastelpainting #pastels

Another wonderful, yet intense Zoom life drawing s

Another wonderful, yet intense Zoom life drawing session by Artmakessense on Wednesday night. Very inspiring again! This weeks theme was the perfomance art by Ulay and Marina. Our models, 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒌𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 & 𝑹𝒆𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒄𝒂 @lifedrawingduo, were amazing. Loved the session! Thank you so much also to Helen and Michel for organising these inspiring evenings! 💕😘

As for the materials, I used new fude pens from Kuretake and Japanese watercolor which only arrived yesterday. On the last pose (the first pic I upload) I also used Artgraf chalk for the background, and for the whole drawing in the red and black standing pose. I added some pen strokes there later, as it was just too crude. Still don't like that particular drawing. 😉 I have to try those chalks in a different kind of setting, like large paper, lots of water. Maybe next time. 😉

#ulayandmarinaabramovic #ulayandmarina #lifedrawingduo #lifedrawingzoom #zoomfiguredrawing @artmakessenselife @artmakessense #lifedrawing #figuredrawing #zoomdrawing #sketch #sketching #japanesewatercolors #inksketch #artmakessense #artmakessenselife #gesturedrawing #nudedrawing #humanfiguredrawing #lockdownart #instaart #instaartist #artwork #artworkoftheday #artofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #igersaustria #igersvienna #expressivefiguredrawing #afpaotw

Saturday the weather was nice, a bit stormy but ot

Saturday the weather was nice, a bit stormy but otherwise ok, so I met with a friend and we went for a walk at the Old Danube. Opposite the DC Tower, we found a bench, a bit protected from the wind, and sketched a bit. Long time since I last sketched on location, in the fresh air. 😉

#dctowervienna #dctowerwien
#usk #urbansketchersvienna #urbansketching #Vienna #watercolor #sketching #inksketch #watercolorpainting #illustration #artwork #sketch #artistsoninstagram #watercolorart #watercolour #aquarell #sketchbook #sketchbookart #moleskine #artworkoftheday #instaart #watercolorillustration #platinumpreppy #igersaustria #igersvienna #afpaotw #ink #inkstagram #urbansketchers @urbansketchersvienna @urbansketchers

These are some of the landscape format drawings of

These are some of the landscape format drawings of today's Zoom life drawing session with @artmakessense and @richard_ruth_art. Let me add, that the theme of the session was Aging Bodies, and it was inspired by the art of Francien Krieg. Thanks again for a perfect session! Love those Wednesday evenings. 🙂 ❤️

Btw., I used watercolor pencils and watersoluble graphite and charcoal again.

@artmakessenselife #richardandruth #ageingbodies #lifedrawingzoom #zoomfiguredrawing #lifedrawing #figuredrawing #zoomdrawing #sketch #sketching #watercolors #inksketch #artmakessenselife #gesturedrawing #nudedrawing #humanfiguredrawing #lockdownart #instaart #instaartist #artwork #artworkoftheday #artofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #igersaustria #igersvienna #expressivefiguredrawing #afpaotw

Another Zoom life drawing session with @artmakesse

Another Zoom life drawing session with @artmakessense, this week with the fab models @richard_ruth_art. Such an amazing session! 🙂 Thanks again to Helen and Michel for organizing the event, and to Ruth and Richard for the inspiration they brought. ✨❤️

I've divided the pics into portrait and landscape format today, so here are some of the portrait ones.

#lifedrawingzoom #zoomfiguredrawing @artmakessenselife #lifedrawing #figuredrawing #zoomdrawing #sketch #sketching #watercolors #inksketch #artmakessenselife #gesturedrawing #nudedrawing #humanfiguredrawing #lockdownart #instaart #instaartist #artwork #artworkoftheday #artofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #igersaustria #igersvienna #expressivefiguredrawing #afpaotw

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