pen and ink | Annie Mason

Annie Mason
- 1 min read

A Seahorse with Style

This is a quick little blog post where I create a new and different work (not my usual watercolor).

I LOVE white pen on black paper. I have several images that you can check here. Rolling the gel pen across the paper's surface is fun, which I find relaxing.

Seahorse first phase (0.35 sec)

Seahorse 2nd phase (0.24 sec)

Finished Art

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Art supplies used in this drawing:

Black Paper - CraftMore Cardstock 8.5 x 11 inches 25 sheets
Uni-ball Signo Angelic white gel pen five-pack
Acrylic Paint Pens - 6 pack (three white and three black)

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Annie Mason
- 2 min read

Gift your crafter | artist MOM

My mom loved crafts. She was a professional cake decorator by trade but also loved floral crafts, knitting, crochet, wreath making, and anything she saw that looked FUN to make. Our basement area shelves were stacked full of boxes of yarn, candle wax, needles, and ribbon; you get the picture.

I know, I know...it's hard to buy for someone else's wish list, especially if they have tools that they love. That's when a few questions to the artist/crafter in your life might be helpful. The products below are some of my favorites and I think universal in the art field.

*As an Amazon Associate,

I earn a small commission from links to products with no extra cost to you, the buyer. Most of the items are similar to those that I use or that I am familiar with as quality suggestions. Thank you.

Active Algae Lightweight Moisturizer

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Annie Mason
- 2 min read

A change of pace, and style.

Watercolor is my medium (check a recent blog post on this topic)... CREATE. Why? I have talked about how I love pen & ink with watercolor. It might not be much of "a change of pace," but it seems to be a HUGE change in style.

This idea began when the owner of Heather a Boutique in downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia, had a quick chat with me while I visited her shop. Heather wondered whether some of the iconic sites in this historic district could be the subject of some of my greeting cards.

The thought stayed in my head for months, pushed back by the strange intervention of Covid-19. Heather's shop was one of so many in Fredericksburg that needed to shut its doors in mid-March and continued to do so into the summer months. Like many shop owners, she had to devise creative ways of selling her wares remotely, by phone, email, and/or appointment. It's been very hard on the independent shops.

Now to my revelation: Why not just pick a place, take a picture, pick a pen, and start?

The result is quite striking, at least to my eye. Architecture has never been my strong suit. The curves of flowers and birds keep my arm loose, and accidents can be quickly adapted with some paint to the affected boo-boo.

The straight, bold, perspective lines of buildings and facades are unforgiving. "Oops" cannot happen with a pen or ruler. Can I do this? Yes. Yes, I can.

First came the photographs. A foray down to Fredericksburg on a lovely day gave me at least three different places to dive into. I knew well enough not to do this on a Saturday afternoon. Even during the lockdown in March and April, people were bound to be out walking their dogs along the tree-lined sidewalks.

Camera at the ready, I found parking spots (Fredericksburg is notoriously hard to park your car, and you had better beware: the local police might mark your tires and come back to boot that exact tire if you haven't moved in the allotted time frame).