2016 calendar has arrived

 I really like creating a calendar each year. It gives me a real goal and I know people are expecting it.

 It is available in both English and Lithuanian. If you live outside Lithuania, visit my Etsy shop.

 All the 12 illustrations and the cover depict animals in their daily lives. No difference from ours, right?

All the months in one place.

Birds and jars

Don't ask me why. It just felt right. Birds surrounded by jars, full of curious objects and ... a cat.
When I make my calendars, not all months get an illustration, meaning something specific. Sometimes it's just the feeling or colors, appropriate for the time of the year.
I am a bit confused n this case. Which month could it be? Why?

Partridge run

Working on yet another month. I quit the Inktober marathon due to time shortage, but I am not putting the ink away.

Colaboration with daughter

 Hanna likes to paint. And I admire her compositions a lot! I have used three of her paintings for my calendar. 

And another thing. I don't know how many people have noticed that my male antelopes are wearing dresses. Some antelopes have horned females though. I am not sure about the ones here, but let's say we don't care. With all the transgender stuff happening, nobody should really rise eyebrows, right?

Red and blue

I am a little bit into these two colors now. And watercolor+color pencils. Color color rololololo...

Animal migration

I had a book about animal migration in my early teens. All kinds of fact books on animal behavior fascinated me a lot when I was growing up. The funny thing is, the knowledge has changed a lot and what was true when I read the books, doesn't necessarily apply nowadays.

This is a detail from another month for the upcoming calendar I am making.

A foxy month

A calendar without foxes is just not possible! This is a close up, which means the whole work looks better with the thinner line.
I guess I feel less gloomy, judging by the yellow color in almost each drawing...

Back to the calendar

A little bike ride for one month.
To be honest I haven't finished anything yet. I am making all the months simultaneously. It's more fun this way.

Jungle around me

 A new haircut for Hanna by me. Easy, when i Pad is insight.

 I am a bit torn about this watercolor. I think I like these white spots everywhere, but I also want to see how it will come out when all covered in green. The big palm leaves in the foreground a tricky. But I hope I will manage to capture the light.

 The staghorn fern is a bit crazy this summer. How many leaves can it grow?

And the small orchidarium. More plants are gonna live here in winter.

Jungle growing

The jungle is growing bit by bit. Hanna sometimes helps to destroy the watercolors.

But seeing this photo makes me realize, that this is just an exercise. I would really like to stylize the animals and plants more. Well, material for another month, right?

And another thing. I can not leave Photoshop alone. I really like to enhance colors or add some small details to hand painted or drawn and later scanned work.

Water color jungle

I am in trouble. I just had to draw this lush jungle, with hidden animals.Will take time, that one. But it works as a relaxation for me.

The year of the monkey

One more page for the upcoming calendar. This is just a draft so far.
But sometimes some sketches look better than the finished work.

And what to expect from a year of monkey!? A red fire monkey!

No calendar without birds

I miss my finches very much. They had such personalities!

I have started working on a another month for the 2016 calendar.

Disco monkey

A color test and a sneak peek.