Wednesday, April 10, 2013

April Stork Sketch

I was working on a sketch to share for April that I really love, and then I went on a pre-Easter trip to the city of Colmar in France that totally changed my idea for this month.  The trip to Colmar was cold and a bit wet, but I got to see some beautiful architecture and visit their wonderful Easter Egg exhibit 

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I wish I could have taken photos of some of the beautiful painted eggs that the artists there were making, but alas, photos were not allowed at the Egg exhibit, but I have lots of photos of the town that are just to beautiful not to share!

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Colmar is sometimes called little Venice because it has these wonderful canals all through the old part of the city.  I loved the half timber buildings and the canals.


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The feel of the whole town was just wonderful.  I loved walking the streets and seeing all the different buildings and colors, but what really inspired me was the symbol of Alsace, the stork.

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Storks come to roost in the Alsace region and are a protected bird in the area.  The storks are encouraged to nest in town and also in various bird sanctuaries in the region.  I thought that it was super cool that we actually got to to see a stork on Colmar's main church.  I was so excited that I started sketching storks as soon as a got home that night.
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I wanted to sketch something illustrative that captured the stork and a bit of the town.  I made a few color variations of this sketch by changing the window frame color and the flower colors.  This one has a red window frame with purple flowers, but I also did pink flowers and a blue colored window.  I'm having a hard time choosing between the two.
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So, what do you guys think of this one?  I'd love some feedback.  

5 comments:

  1. Like the red window frame with the purple flowers Karen.

    There were loads of storks in Lithuania and Latvia, we used to have great fun spotting the nests on our trips in both countries.

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  2. I would like to see the pink version. I think those flowers would pop. The stork is perfect.

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  3. I like this whole illustration Karen. I am looking for craftsy perspective of German quilters.

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  4. Karen, could you place an "follow by Email" button your blog. I'm so busy that if it doesn't come to my inbox, I don't read it. Love to read your blog!

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  5. I totally love this stork drawing. It's wonderful!! I just love it. (Oh, I said that already.)

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