Studio Vee

Break Time

2011-12-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

I've decided that it is time to take a break from blogging before the real holiday craziness begins. I have craft projects to finish, desserts to bake, family and friends to spend time with, and some major changes coming my way. It's a time to relax, enjoy, reflect, and make new plans.

I want to thank all of you for stopping by, commenting, and bringing tons of inspiration and friendship.

I'm looking forward to a new year of inspiration and art! See you by mid-January!

Making It Mine

2011-12-13T05:00:00.000-08:00

Last week, I came across a tutorial by Jill Berry to make geo-papers. I am a sucker for maps and map-like things, so I had to give it a try.

I ended up only using what I had on hand: watercolor paper, watercolors, India ink, and a spray bottle with water inside. My final outcome was with the image below. I tried to keep with more natural looking colors to make it seem more map-like.

I really liked both the process and the outcome. The problem with the outcome was that it didn't feel like it was my work. So I decided to play with the process a little more and make it mine. I used colors that I normally enjoy using and included my love of hearts and arrays. The song, "All you need is love," popped into my head as I was finishing this off. I like the use of we instead of you, so I wrote in "All we need is love."

It definitely felt more like me and I wanted to continue. This time I knew I wanted to play with blue and orange. Rays of sunshine felt so appropriate and I immediately had "I Can See Clearly Now" stuck in my head. I had to go with it!

This one was so much fun! The only issue I had was that I made all the lines uniformly thick. Oh well, lesson learned! Next time I just need to reach for something that would vary the line thickness. On to another one!

Now we're getting somewhere!

What have you done to make something you have learned into something that is yours?

I chose to giveaway the heart and first sunshiny ones for a couple of mail art swaps, but the final one is now in my shop.

Building a Rainbow

2011-12-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

Daisy Yellow thought of a great idea to build a rainbow. Each day we were to pick a color of the rainbow and make some art with it. We could do any or all of the colors, no big rules to follow.

Here is what I came up with this past week:

Pink/Red

Yellow/Orange

Green

Blue

I wanted to play with watercolor pencils and make use of the white of the paper in each of these. Each were done fairly quick and a little on the simple side. Though I enjoy them as is, I may go in and add more to them at a later time.

Just an FYI, I'll have to make due with my iphone photos until I can get my scanner up and running again.

A Glimpse Back at AEDM

2011-12-06T14:00:00.000-08:00

Art Every Day Month ended a week ago and I can't believe that I made it! I started participating a few years ago, but this is the first time that I made it to the end.

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone that stopped by to visit and thank you for all of the encouraging comments that were left along the way. I had a such a great experience, lots of inspiration, and found even more artists to admire. I could use the break of doing this daily, but look forward to next year!

The Final Days of AEDM

2011-12-01T16:00:00.000-08:00

This past week has been pretty quiet for AEDM, considering that I didn't feel like showing redundant pictures of a very slow going knitting project. By Day 29 I ended up feeling like I had enough knitting out of my system and was ready to start drawing again.

The problem was that I didn't know what I wanted to draw. So I ended up grabbing my favorite drawing book, Drawing Lab, and picked the first lab that I opened up to (which happened to be Lab 36: Machines and Inventions). I have the holidays on my mind!

AEDM Day 29 - watercolor pencils, ink, gel pens

On Day 30, I knew that I really wanted to draw the little rhino statue I have had sitting on my desk.

AEDM Day 30 - watercolor pencils, poster paint pen

And with that - we're done with Art Every Day Month!

Knitting Up a Storm

2011-11-28T12:00:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, someone came to my house and dropped off two uncovered pillows with the promise that she would make some original pillowcases - one for each of my kids. These uncovered pillows sat and waited, came along with us through two moves, and still sat there uncovered. The promise probably long forgotten. I don't sew, so I left those pillows to wait and see if they really would get covered by that promise.

One day I was looking at my yarn stash and thinking that I needed to use up or get rid of some of it. I remembered the pillows that still sat and waited and immediately started knitting. I decided to make a patchwork pillow with what I had on hand. It has been months of knitting here and there, but this past week I decided to spend my AEDM days finishing it up.

I was so relieved to finally get my son's pillow done, that I decided to get started on my daughter's. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I'll have it done in time for Christmas. Might be hard, since I'm probably the slowest knitter in the world!

AEDM Weekend Catch Up

2011-11-21T15:00:00.000-08:00

Hello and happy Monday! I surprisingly got a lot done this past weekend for AEDM.

My husband had flowers delivered to me last week and I've had roses on my mind ever since. On Friday, I decided to try another loose method of randomly dropping a couple of wet watercolors onto watercolor paper. From there, I lightly layered in colors to form the rose. Lastly, I grab my trusty micron pen and inked in the final lines.

After I was done with my rose, I threw in a couple of final details to something else I feel like I've been working on and off for a while. I bought a couple of gel pens and decided that I wanted to try it out! So I colored in the borders, added in a couple of colors around the letters, and after who knows how long I've been working on this - I'm calling it done.

On Saturday, I woke up with a stomach ache. By midday, I added on a headache and fever. I wasn't sure if I could handle getting anything done for AEDM. I eventually found myself clear-headed enough to grab my sketchbook and doodle for a little bit.

On Sunday, I was feeling a little better, but I decided to keep it easy and just hang out with the family. Towards the end of the night, I decided to doodle a little to keep the AEDM groove going.

Now to enjoy my kids week off and get hopping on more projects!

Falling for Doodling

2011-11-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

Day 17 of AEDM using watercolors, markers, and gel pens.

Since I have kids that I love to make things with, I always have feeds I subscribe to that focus on arts and crafts to do with them. I recently came across a blog post from Pink and Green Mama that I really wanted to try myself. I did not use the same materials as her, but I loved the concept of breaking down an image and making each segment different (and I'm such a sucker for anything Fall related).

I always try to step away from doodles like these (I eventually get irritable and impatient with them), but every once in a while it's nice and relaxing to get back into it.

We are little more than halfway through AEDM, how is everyone doing so far?

Rowing Through

2011-11-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

This was for days 15 and 16 of AEDM.

I started working on this on Tuesday, when my husband decided to buy Saints Row the Third, and finished it off on Wednesday. I liked the symbols and colors of the game cover, so I thought I would like to throw it all together on a journal page. It was a quick sketch with watercolor pencils and then outlined with a prismacolor marker.

This could have easily been done in a day -- Though video games may be fun to play, they can be REALLY boring to watch others play. I ended up falling asleep while working on this Tuesday night. Oops!

The Cottage

2011-11-15T16:00:00.000-08:00

In previous AEDM years, I would slowly give up as we got to the middle of the month because weekends are tough for me to get me time in. I wouldn't feel right if I didn't finish a small piece. This time around I'm looking at it differently. It's about taking the time out to do something - anything. So even if I only had a few minutes, I felt satisfied.

I ended up having a great three day weekend! For the first time ever, I got together with friends old and new to spend the day crafting and chatting. SO MUCH FUN! I didn't seem to get much done because I would stop what I was doing to either talk or listen. But that's okay, because we made times for ourselves.

On the other days, I took a few minutes here and there to complete one project. Sketching out ideas, moving an idea over to watercolor paper, inking in details, and adding in watercolor. All baby steps that I took starting on Thursday and finishing up on Monday.

I don't feel like I accomplished much, but the fact that I got something done at all is awesome!

Following Along

2011-11-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone for stopping by and all of the kind comments. They have really made my days and are getting me pumped to keep working!

Day 10 for AEDM was spent drawing up some plans in my sketchbook.

I know that I've been a little on the slow side scanning in and prepping to post my projects for AEDM. If you happen to be impatient or want another way of following along, you are welcome to come by and see my more messy shots on tumblr or instagram. If you have the instagram app, you can find me with a search for studiovee.

Once again, thank you for coming by! I'm off to enjoy the three-day weekend! Be back next week with an update of my weekend projects!

L'ours Grizzly

2011-11-11T13:00:00.000-08:00

I had recently gone to visit the Natural History Museum and I've been eager to paint some of the fossils that I had seen.

This was done on day 9 of AEDM.

My first attempt on the fossils was to work on the skull of a grizzly bear. This was primarily done with watercolor and then the skull was finished off with ink.

Eight

2011-11-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

For day 8 of AEDM, I wasn't sure where I was going with this one. After staring at my paper for a REALLY long time, I took my nearest stencil and penciled in the circles. After that, it was just putting on layers of watercolor.

After the layers started to get too dark to continue, I wasn't completely happy with the outcome. So I finished if off by taking a paint pen and layering on the number 8. Why not? It was the 8th day of AEDM after all.

Spontaneous Sunflower

2011-11-08T10:07:00.000-08:00

This one was done to practice loosening up and having more spontaneity in my art.

I lightly drew a rough sketch of a sunflower and started throwing colors on a wet background. Then I layered on more colors as I saw fit. Once again, it didn't feel complete even though I was done with the watercolors. So I grabbed my micron pen and finished off the sunflower.

P.S. My three previous flowers are now available in my shop.

Flower Power

2011-11-07T12:15:00.000-08:00

I spent the past three days of AEDM reworking some watercolor paintings that I had done earlier this year. You can see the originals here, here, and here.

The originals were bothering me; they felt unfinished and not completely my style.

So I picked up a micron pen and started working on one each day.

I'm happier with this outcome and I think it feels more like me!

Lovely Autumn

2011-11-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

More work on my stack of backgrounds for AEDM.

This is what it started as:

Continuing with my fall theme on this, I ended up with this:

Now if only the weather here would cool down and make it feel more like fall!

Round and Round

2011-11-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

Playing around with watercolors and circles for AEDM.

All My Love

2011-11-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

In a previous post, I had done a bunch of backgrounds but had no idea what to do with them. I am slowly getting through them.

My latest one, I ended up turning this . . .

into this . . .

by adding on with micron and gel pens.

I'm not sure if it is enough, but I'm calling it done!

P.S. Today is, once again, the first day of Art Every Day Month. Are you participating? Are you ready? I'm not, but I'm excited to give it another try!

That Day Came

2011-10-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

Have you even stopped yourself from moving past a certain point in something? Possibly afraid of where you may end up? I have for a very long time. Afraid to make things because they may not turn out well. Afraid to step past my comfort zone in order to improve and learn more about myself and my work. Afraid to share some things because others may consider it ugly, immature, unworthy, or just plain not good enough.

"And the day come when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom"

I read this quote by Anais Nin recently and it took my breath away. I read it over and over again and I knew that this is exactly where I was. It hurts too much to not push myself and to not put myself out there. So now I'm pushing myself more than ever and putting myself out there and crossing my fingers that it's not too painful.

On that same note . . .
This month, I've pushed myself to move past my comfort zones when making things. Today, I'm pushing past my fears and putting some of my work up for sale this week. You can find them in my new etsy shop. I will be putting up more as soon as they are ready.

Birthday Bracelet

2011-10-17T05:00:00.001-07:00

A little something different than usual. I just finished making a wrap bracelet for a friend on her birthday. Crossing my fingers that she likes it!

Today Was Good

2011-10-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

I've been going through the backgrounds that I made in a previous post. Determined to get myself out of my comfort zone and push myself to make something with them.

The picture below was what the background looked like before.

I ended up coloring in the stamped image with watercolor pencil, using only yellows, blues, and greens. Not feeling like it was complete, I took and ink pad and inked the edges of the paper. On a whim, I inked the middle of the paper to bring the whole thing together.

Despite the bright colors getting muted by the ink pad, I still felt like it was a fun piece and that I needed something fun to finish it off. What could be better than a little Dr. Seuss?

"Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one."

Those words were stamped on and then outlined with a white gel pen.

That's it and I'm off to work on more fun stuff!

Thanks for coming by!

Work-In-Progress Wednesday

2011-10-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

Some sneak peaks into what I've been working on. . .

p.s. I'm just getting starting, but loving instagram so far!

The Layered Pear

2011-10-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

This one was bolder than usual for me. Not only did I collage on some patterned papers, I also used acrylic paint. If you didn't know me by now, I really don't like using the stuff. For some reason I keep going back to it, just to see if I end up doing something that would make me like it.

I started off with taking strips of patterned paper and gluing them side-by-side on bristol, then painted on an off-white color to bring all of it together. I stenciled over it to bring it together even more. Feeling like the stencil was too bold, I lightly brushed on more of the off-white color.

I've got to admit, I've been craving pears a lot lately. During one particular craving, I looked at the background I had done so far and thought that a pear would be a perfect subject. So I quickly drew in a pear, painted the silhouette of the pear white and then inked it in.

I loved the outcome and was going to leave it there, but the more I looked at it I felt like something was missing. A quick mix of watercolors onto the pear ended up sealing the deal.

I'm glad I pushed it a little more and added color, it made a big difference. And to tell you the truth, acrylic paints grew on me a little with this one as well.

Creeping Along

2011-10-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

I can feel Halloween creeping closer with this one!

More wet-on-wet play for the background using primary colors. Just going with it again - I started off placing the letter "g" and had no idea what to do with that afterward.

I added silver to the "g" to keep it from blending into the background. Then I started to doodle and thought the stuff coming out of the "g" kind of looked like spider legs. Added a spider web and then doodled in some smaller details. And ta-da!

Fun stuff! I think that the index card challenge that I took part in over the summer has given me a little more courage to just go with it. Now let's see how far I can take it!

33 and Counting

2011-10-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to get out of my comfort zone. This one was a mix of trying to go with the flow, learning to loosen up, and playing with layers.

I started off with a wet-on-wet background, then immediately took a stencil and sprayed on alcohol to lightly remove some color. After that dried, I took the same stencil and sprayed on some more watercolor. This actually ended up sitting around for days until I figured out where I wanted to go from there.

Looking through my summer journal, I saw a page I had done with a "33" on it. I knew immediately that I wanted to put that number on top of this background. I thought the background looked like water, so I decided that I would make it look like the 33 was falling in. I flipped the background upside down so that the drips would fall towards the top as I worked. After all of that dried, I added some splatters and called it a day.

Bookmarks

2011-10-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't know this about me - I LOVE to read books.

In fact, my kids are little bookworms as well.

So what can be better than playing around with paint and making them a part of our world of books than to make some simple bookmarks?!

Disappearing Acts, Part 2

2011-09-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

I forgot that I did one more image for GPP Street Team Crusade No. 55. This one was done wet-on-wet with yellow and blue watercolors. I thought that I had used too much water and I also wanted some texture, so I took a paper towel and lightly laid it on top of the whole background to soak it up. When I lifted the paper towel, it left little dots everywhere the paper towel had been. After I let the background dry, I stamped on the flower with more watercolor.

This time around the watercolor was more concentrated and since it was stamped on a background where some color was lifted, stamped image really seemed to pop instead of blend with parts of the background. If I do try this again, I think it might look better if I wet the stamped image a little more and then lift some of paint with a paper towel again.

Related Posts - Disappearing Acts

Disappearing Acts

2011-09-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

For the GPP Street Team Crusade No. 55, it is about blending two colors in a background and then stamping a large image with those two blended colors. The interesting part is that this is supposed to make the images drop-out of certain places.

I don't have a lot of stamps. As a matter of fact, I don't have any large stamps. So I decided to work with the closest thing I had - stencils. Already excited about fall colors, I went with a wet-on-wet watercolor background of purple and orange. While it was still wet, I placed a stencil over it and sponged on more purple and orange watercolor. It blended really well and because it was still wet, the stencil actually pulled some of the watercolor away, leaving light outlines around the stenciled parts. I like how subtle the images were, but I wasn't sure that I was going in the right direction.

I started to pull out what stamps I did have and found a stamp that looked like it was sort of big enough to work. Again I worked wet-on-wet painting in a big rose-colored heart and random shapes, then pushing in some purple around those shapes. While the background was still wet, I stamped "all my love" with some rose and purple watercolor. The words are still visible but slightly blended in with the background.

Although I liked how the stamp blended with the background, I thought I would try painting in the background wet-on-dry and then waiting until the background was dry before I stamped over it with more watercolor. I think it would have looked better if I had done a wet-on-wet background, letting it dry and then stamped - something to try later!

One last try for now - I decided to try this process out with ink. I mixed a 50-50 mix of water and ink of yellow and blue, then quickly brushed on some yellow ink. While the yellow ink was still wet, I quickly brushed on some blue ink. The ink seemed to dry pretty fast, so by the time I placed ink on the stamp the background was dry. I noticed that the yellow didn't seem to show up on the stamped image. Either I didn't put enough yellow or it mostly merged with the blue. Either way, it made the stamped image stand out more than I thought it would.

Now I'm off to figure out what I want to do with these backgrounds!

Lotus Blossoms

2011-09-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

I love lotus blossoms. When I see them, I feel at peace. Combine them with me creating something and I am drifting off into my own little world.

Lately, I've been wanting get out of my comfort zone and try working with watercolor layers and blending multiple colors. For the image above, I had first mixed in a couple of colors, wet-on-wet, and then set it aside to figure out where I wanted to go from there.

After a stroll in the park, I was inspired by some lotus blossoms that I had seen. I decided to draw one in and add in another layer of watercolor to bring the lotus blossom out more. It still felt like something was missing, so eventually I drew in the bands to bring it all together. I say that like it was an easy thing to do! I liked how well the lotus blossom turned out, that I freaked out at the thought of adding the bands behind it. I was afraid that it would make the piece look worse and my time wasted. I'm glad I went with it, but that inner struggle was a big one! Definitely a push out of my comfort zone - I hope that I can keep on pushing.

Back On That Wagon

2011-09-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

With the most amazing work that can easily be found on the internet, it can sometimes lead to fear of showing what I can do. I know that for the rest of my life I will always be learning and growing in everything I put my mind to and that this blog is meant to share that. It is about my failures, growth, process, experiments, thoughts, and outcomes. This blog is a peek into my studio (well my imaginary studio, since I work on the dining room table, at my computer desk, on the kitchen counter, while sitting at the couch, etc.) and creating whatever my heart is into making at the time. So it's time to get back on that wagon. See you on Monday with something to share!

Index-Card-A-Day {ICAD} Finale

2011-08-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

The end of this month marks the end of Daisy Yellow's Index-Card-A-Day challenge. I chose to personally end the challenge at the end of July. Below are the last four cards I worked on.

the start
When I first started this challenge, it started out difficult because I wasn't even sure what I wanted to do on the cards. Each day got a little easier as I started to just go with it. Pretty soon I was just going with the flow and enjoying each day. Whenever I would hit a bump, I would ask my kids for an idea or reach for my favorite book, Drawing Lab by Carla Sonheim, for inspiration. I felt like I was on a creative high working on something different.

towards the end
As I was getting closer to the end of the challenge it was starting to feel increasingly difficult to get started on each card. At lot of these drawings would unintentionally take hours to complete - not straight through, just a few minutes here and there between other things that needed taking care of. Although I could have made them more simple, it just feel didn't right as I was creating them to not put my all into it. The problem with that was that it didn't really leave me time to work on other creative projects. So as I daydreamed about working on other things, I started to resent the challenge taking so much time. I was also starting to feel like I was running out of ideas. Honestly, I just needed a change. This was a three month challenge and two months was already too long for me.

conclusion
This was an excellent challenge that got my creative juices flowing by getting me thinking and working differently. Unfortunately, this challenge was way too long for me and left me feeling drained in the end - relieved to finally call it off for myself at the end of July. I've decided that this is something I would like to challenge myself to do once or twice a year for about a month. I will share on this blog when I decide to take up the challenge again.

Thanks for stopping by and supporting me through this challenge! I really appreciate all of the kind comments!

Index-Card-A-Day {ICAD} #52 - 54

2011-07-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that it is getting harder to do this every day as we closer to the end of the Index-Card-A-Day challenge. As much as I love this challenge, I do think that it's a little long. Even if this challenge doesn't come up again, I may end up doing it myself for a shorter period of time. Oh well, five more weeks to go!

Day 52 (Sat. - July 23)

Day 53 (Sun. - July 24)

Day 54 (Mon. - July 25)

Index-Card-A-Day {ICAD} #49 - 51

2011-07-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

And yet again, more index cards!

Day 49 (Wed. - July 20) - I ran out of time to finish this one off, but I'm pretty happy with it as is it.

Day 50 (Thurs. - July 21)

Day 51 (Fri. - July 22)

Index-Card-A-Day {ICAD} #43 - 48

2011-07-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

We're reaching the halfway point for the Index-Card-A-Day Challenge!

Days 43 & 44 (Thurs & Fri - July 14 & 15) - We were out celebrating the July birthdays at Disneyland; index card free days!

Day 45 (Sat. - July 16) - This was supposed to be for the index card halfway there celebration. I didn't have a chance to post it due to an impromptu weekend without kids to celebrate my birthday with adults!

Day 46 (Sun. - July 17) - Was still enjoying my impromptu weekend without kids! Gave myself another free day!

Day 47 (Mon. - July 18) - Disney still on the brain!

Day 48 (Tues. - July 19)

P.S. I have been working on other things besides index cards! I will share some of them soon.

Index-Card-A-Day {ICAD} #38 - 42

2011-07-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

More index cards for the Index Card a Day Challenge!

Day 38 (Sat. - July 9)

Day 39 (Sun. - July 10)

Day 40 (Mon - July 11) - So yeah. . . I actually did two cards for this day, but hated both of them so much that I'm choosing not to show them. :)

Day 41 (Tues. - July 12) - My birthday!

Day 42 (Wed. - July 13)

Index-Card-A-Day {ICAD} #34 - 37

2011-07-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

For several reasons, I'm going to just share my index cards for this point on. My kids are still enjoying working on their index cards and will continue working on them!

Day 34 (Tues. - July 5)

Day 35 (Wed. - July 6)

Day 36(Thurs. - July 7)

Day 37 (Fri. - July 8)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Index-Card-A-Day {ICAD} #30 - 33

2011-07-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

The kids spent time with the grandparents over the weekend. I could have used it as another excuse to pass on my index cards (it was so tempting). Instead, I decided to just get moving again and pushed myself to work on one.

Day 30 (Fri. - July 1)

Day 31 (Sat.- July 2) - The next day, I still wasn't feeling it but I decided to push myself again. In an attempt to see if doing more would get me in the mood again (and to rid myself of some guilt for taking free days), I decided to do an extra card.

Day 32 (Sun. - July 3) - On day 32, I was finally getting to the spot where I was in the groove of working on index cards. I decided to get rid of the guilt of taking extra free days and go with the groove by adding one more index card.

Day 33 (Mon. - July 4)

Next index card update, everyone will be getting back on track!

Index-Card-A-Day {ICAD} #28 & 29

2011-07-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

I knew this would happen! On Wednesday, I did not want to work on my index card. I decided to finally give myself a free day for the week. The problem was the next day, I REALLY did not want to work on my index card. I gave myself the excuse that, until yesterday, I haven't taken any free days since the beginning of Index-Card-A-Day. Bad, I know. . .

So for days 28 and 29, I only have my kids' index cards to show. The top of each day is my daughter's (6) card and the bottom is my son's (8) card.

Day 28 (Wed. - June 29)

Day 29 (Thurs. - June 30)

Index-Card-A-Day {ICAD} #26 & 27

2011-07-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'll be spending the next few days sharing what the kids and I have been up to with our index cards. Each day the top picture is mine, the middle is my daughter's (6), and the bottom is my son's (8).

Day 26 (Mon. - June 27)

Day 27 (Tues. - June 28)

Index-Card-A-Day {ICAD} #22 - 25

2011-06-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

More index cards! I'm finding myself stumped at times, trying to figure out what to draw next. But I love that I'm pushing myself to just draw no matter what. My kids seem to be able to just go with it though!

Unless otherwise mentioned in each picture, the top one was done by me, the middle was done by my daughter (6), the bottom was done by my son (8).

Day 22 (Thurs. - June 23)

Day 23 (Fri. - June 24) - We were out all day and the kids were exhausted by the time we made it home. I was tired as well and ended up doing this in the dark, with only the TV on in the background for light. I was completely surprised when I saw it in the morning, not at all what I remember it looking like the night before.

Day 24 (Sat. - June 25)

Day 25 (Sun. - June 26) - My son's card somehow disappeared! So just mine and my daughters to show for this day.

June's set of index cards are soon coming to a close! Two more months to go!

Index-Card-A-Day {ICAD} #17 - 21

2011-06-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

More index cards for Index-Card-A-Day! As usual, mine is on the top of each picture, my daughter's on the bottom-right, my son's on the bottom-left.

Day 17 (Sat. - June 18)

Day 18 (Sun. - June 19)

Day 19 (Mon. - June 20)

Day 20 (Tues. - June 21)

Day 21 (Wed. - June 22)

Thanks for stopping by!

Crocheted for Me!

2011-06-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while, especially when the requests from loved ones are at a high, I like to make something for myself. I mentioned in a previous post that I was doing exactly that and I finally finished it up.

Yay! On to my next project!

Index-Card-A-Day {ICAD} #12 - 16

2011-06-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

More index cards for you! I know that for the challenge it is supposed to be every day with one day off a week. I also know that if I take advantage of that one day off, I will slack off and maybe take an extra day or two off. So seven days a week for me!

As usual, in each picture the top is mine, bottom-left is my daughter's (6), bottom-right is my son's (8).

Day 12 (Mon. - June 13)

Day 13 (Tues. - June 14)

Day 14 (Wed. - June 15)

Day 15 (Thur. - June 16)

Day 16 (Fri. - June 17)

More index cards to come!

Another Father's Day Project

2011-06-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

I thought that the Super Kids dolls by Creative Kismet were so cute that I had to make them for my husband for Father's Day.

Now, I have to admit that I really suck at sewing by hand and don't own a sewing machine. So I decided to do the next best thing - fabric glue! I made things a bit difficult for myself by trying to make it box like and attempting to do it in a very short time, which ended up making them wonky. But who cares?! The kids loved working on it, my husband loved it, and one more project I've been wanting to do is finally checked off!

Finished for Father's Day

2011-06-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in a previous post that I was trying to finish up my first amigurumi crochet project in time for Father's day. I thought I was biting off more than I could chew, but I got it done in time!

My husband is a big fan of Final Fantasy games (and anything from Squaresoft), so I knew that he would love this little moogle. I ended up using the moogle pattern by Charlotte Davis.

I did make a couple of changes to the pattern. I wasn't going to buy yarn just for those eyes, so I ended up using embroidery floss that I had on hand.

Also, I didn't like the wire being visible between the top of the head and bauble. I decided to knit about a 2 inch i-cord and slipped the wire through it before assembling all the pieces together. I think I made things a little more difficult for myself, but was well worth it for more of a finished look.

A bit complicated for my very first crochet project, but well worth it when I see my husband's reaction for Father's day!

To all the other dads out there, I hope you have an awesome day!

P.S. I have one Father's day project that I took on at the last minute, but I forgot to take pictures of it before I wrapped it up. Hopefully I can take a picture of it and share it after my husband opens it up!

Works in Progress

2011-06-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm really enjoying changing things up, so I decided to take things a little further by learning how to crochet.

The projects I decided to try are on the slow side. Below are a couple of works in progress.

I needed a break from making stuff for my loved ones. So when I saw Futuregirl's crochet beaded bracelet tutorial, I knew I had to make this for myself.

The bottom photo is my first attempt at making an amigurumi. I'm hoping to have this done in time for my husband on father's day.

I'm learning that crochet is relaxing, but not something I want to do often. I do love making things for my loved ones when they request it though, so you may see more projects scattered about here and there.

Index-Card-A-Day {ICAD} #7 - 11

2011-06-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

The end of the school year was a busy one, but the kids and I made sure to work on our index cards as often as possible.

On day 7, my daughter was worn out and didn't get around to it. My card is on the left, the right was done by my son.

On day 8, we were out and about all day. I had time to work on one after getting home and putting the kids to bed.

Day 9, finally back on track again. For the rest of the days, mine is on the top, my daughter's are on the bottom-left and my son's are on the bottom-right.

Day 10

Day 11

Changing Things Up

2011-06-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

As much as I love to draw and paint with watercolors, sometimes I feel like I'm missing something. I end up needing to do something else creatively. Lately, I decided to pick up some knitting needles again.

I made two chain chomp hats, one for my husband and one for my son.

My daughter was feeling left out and requested a Hello Kitty hat. I couldn't find a pattern that I liked, so I decided to so something I had never done with knitting before - just wing it!

And now I've decided to wing making a scarf to match my son's hat.

This little switch (and working on Index-Card-A-Day) reminded me how important it is for me to change things up every once in a while. It brought about inspiration at a time when things were starting to feel stale and stuck.

Index-Card-A-Day {ICAD} #3, 4, 5, & 6

2011-06-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

There are so many days of Index-Card-A-Day to share! In each picture, the top one was done by me, bottom left done by my daughter "A," and bottom right done by my son "C."

ICAD Day 3

ICAD Day 4

ICAD Day 5

ICAD Day 6

Index-Card-A-Day {ICAD} #2

2011-06-03T18:03:00.000-07:00

After I had posted yesterday, my kids decided that they wanted to take part in Index-Card-A-Day as well. The first was done by my daughter "A," the second by my son "C."

Below is what was done today. First by me, second by "A," and last by "C."

I hope to share the index cards that we do over the weekend no later than Tuesday afternoon.

Have a great weekend!

The Letter "C"

2011-06-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

My son liked my little "g" painting that I shared earlier and asked for one using the first letter of his name. So today's letter is brought to you by the letter "C" and the color red (my son's favorite color).

Index-Card-A-Day {ICAD} #1

2011-06-02T14:40:00.000-07:00

I've decided to participate in Daisy Yellow's Index-Card-A-Day. Here is my first day's attempt. . . I decided to get unruled index cards, lines make me freeze up. I'm hoping that my kids will participate as well when summer vacation starts.

Pata Pata Pata Pon

2011-06-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, I guess I was wrong. Just one more set of flowers. I had to doodle these after playing Patapon 3.

Painting Flowers Again

2011-05-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

The last of me painting flowers for now.

The Letter "G"

2011-05-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today marks another wonderful year of marriage. It's funny, the one thing that I dreaded was taking my husband's last name. Not for the reasons that may come to mind.

Why then? Because my cursive letter "G" has always sucked! To this day I still don't like the way my G's look, but I have grown fond of the lower case little "g."

So today's special day is brought to you by the letter "g." I look forward to many more years with that letter.

Painting More Flowers

2011-05-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

More watercolor work with some flowers that I picked up.

Painting Flowers

2011-05-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

I recently picked up some flowers and had to paint them. Still trying to stop myself from marking my stuff up with a micron pen to learn how to improve my watercolor skills.

TBP: Journal Spilling, Part 7

2011-05-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

I was really hesitant with the next part of Journal Spilling. Collage, gesso, watercolor, and stamping. All that I predicted was an unhappy process. Although still unhappy with the outcome, the process wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

After previously playing with gesso and watercolor (and hating it), I cringed at the thought of doing it again. This time around, with expectations of the worse, I was able to free myself up and just go with it. I suddenly liked the possibilities of that combination. I found the only downside was the paper that I used for the collage. I found that I didn't mind the thinner paper, but the thick cardstock became a hindrance. Working over and around the thick paper became difficult and just plain irritating.

Overall, the project was not that bad and a few lessons were learned. Moving on . . .

The Book Project is an ongoing project to put my collection of art & craft books to good use by working through them. You can read more about it here. I would also love to hear if you are working through your books as well or would like to join me!

Woman in Watercolor

2011-05-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

Practicing to paint people with watercolor, while trying to restrain myself from marking it up with a micron pen.

Playing with Gouache

2011-05-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

I recently picked up some gouache give it a try. This is a little something I made playing around with it.

TBP: Journal Spilling, Part 6

2011-05-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

The next part of Journal Spilling was creating backgrounds, tearing/cutting them apart, piecing it together, and completing it with journaling. I decided to rip out a journal page, tear that in half, and practice some techniques.

The top half of the page was embossed doodled, emphasized with a wash of watercolor.

The bottom half of the page was a wash of watercolor with playing with different colored inks.

Ripping those completed technique pages into smaller pieces; I threw them onto a page, wrote in some journaling, and finished it off by drawing in some lines to look like they were sewn together.

Some things are more goals than wishes and dreams . . . but those shown above are just a few of them.

The Book Project is an ongoing project to put my collection of art & craft books to good use by working through them. You can read more about it here. I would also love to hear if you are working through your books as well or would like to join me!

Starting, Finishing, and Taking Breaks

2011-05-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

A quick drawing of things on my desk using a brush pen.

Very recently I got into a routine of working out. It became a habit, a part of me. I ended up getting sick and pushed to do my workouts - even without the energy. The only problem was that I didn't seem to be getting better. I was getting worse and hating my workouts. That's when I figured out that I needed to take a break, get better, and get then get back on to working out.

Around that time, I was driving myself crazy with the book project. What little time I did have was spent working on the project and through the current book. I was frustrated because I was starting to feel like I wasn't really making anything for myself. Sure, I was learning and pushing myself out of my comfort zone in order to better myself. Still, something felt wrong.

That was when I decided to pick up a book and start reading just for the pure enjoyment of reading. I didn't touch any art or craft supplies, spending my spare moments reading book after book. Weeks later, I finally picked up a ballpoint pen and started drawing. I felt refreshed and enthusiastic about creating again.

The hardest part of any project is finishing. But this is also for fun and fulfillment; I need to remember to take a break when it is needed.

Cut It Out

2011-03-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

My favorite pair of scissors.

TBP: Journal Spilling, Part 5

2011-03-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

"Every act of creation is first an act of destruction."
-Pablo Picasso

This one was a work of layering gesso, paper, and paint - which ended with a lot of mixed feelings. Since layering (especially with acrylics) is something that I don't normally do, it was actually quite freeing to do something different. It was fun going along with what Diana did for her own page and having my own twists.

I don't know if it was the layers of paper, the use of acrylics, or something else; but as each layer was placed down I got a heavy feeling. A downer, of sorts. As much as I was having fun, the other feeling kept getting in the way. I was glad to finally be done with it.

This is leading me to hesitation on doing some of the future projects of Journal Spilling, because I don't think that I should be doing anything that I am not enjoying. How far do I really go and try something out before I completely rule it out? I've actually veered away from most mixed media books because their main techniques & materials involve acrylics and plenty of layering of either paints or paper.

I don't want to give up on the book, it has a lot of promise. Just don't expect to see any more of the projects that include acrylic paints or too much layering (unless I happen to go along with it on a whim).

What would you do? How long would you try out a technique or material before you rule it out as something you are willing to work with?

The Book Project is an ongoing project to put my collection of art & craft books to good use by working through them. You can read more about it here. I would also love to hear if you are working through your books as well or would like to join me!

Book Project Update

2011-03-23T10:17:00.000-07:00

I updated my page about the Book Project; it now lists books that I would like to go through in the future. It's quite a mash-up of books.

If you are interested in working through any of these books and would like a buddy, I would love to hear from you. Accountability buddies rock!

Check back soon, my next entry for the Book Project will be here on Monday!

TBP: Journal Spilling, Part 4

2011-03-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

On a previous post about the Book Project, I showed the background page I made below based off the book Journal Spilling. This was a resist page of masking fluid with watercolor.

I added more on to the page with watercolor crayons and gel pens, ending up with the journal page below.

This was a simple journal page that started off with the words "letting go" and a heart immediately showing up afterwards. I drew in the borders and started in on some stream-of-consciousness journaling. It became a page of learning to let go of the little things and just keep moving. I quickly colored in the words, heart, and border with watercolor crayons to finish it off.

You might notice bits of red popping out of the border. I had actually thrown in different shades of red to liven the border up, but with felt that it brought more attention to the border instead of the words "letting go." To tone it down a bit, I ended up throwing on a layer of a light brown over the whole border. The reds still popped through, but no longer seemed to fight the words for attention.

The Book Project is an ongoing project to put my collection of art & craft books to good use by working through them. You can read more about it here. I would also love to hear if you are working through your books as well or would like to join me!

TBP: Journal Spilling, Part 3

2011-02-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

Last week for the Book Project, I showed some background pages that I created using some of the resists mentioned in Journal Spilling. This week I would like to share what became of some of them.

The one below was a white gel pen resist with watercolor.

I turned the above background into the journal page below. A self-portrait done on a lined sheet of paper that was a stream-of-consciousness about myself and my critic. It was glued on top and then more color was added to both the background and self-portrait to bring it all together.

The background page below was a gel pen and salt resist with watercolor.

I turned that background into the journal page below. I added more lines and posted a picture of a favorite character of mine, Yomiko Readman a.k.a. "The Paper" from Read or Die. I proceeded to write about my critic a little more. I finished it off with stamping "the critic" along the top and highlighting those letters with white gel pen.

My favorite project so far was making the self-portrait page. I was really resistant to cutting into the page that I wrote, but I'm glad I went along with it. I also liked that it was my own drawing. I do like collage, but I feel my journal pages are lot more personal when I include images that I made (photos or drawings).

The only the thing I might change/do is maybe add more text to the background of the self-portrait. I know it's not supposed to be about looks in my journal, but something about the page makes me feel like it is unbalanced. I'll let you know if I choose to do something more to it!

Been There, Done That: DQ

2011-02-25T11:15:00.000-08:00

One day, I picked up the kids after a long day at school and proceeded to drag them along with me as I tried to finished off the last of my errands. I knew they were tired and wanted to unwind for the day, so I surprised them with "one more errand" - a quick trip to DQ. It turned into something that made everyone's day and a chance to just spend some time paying attention to nothing but the kids.

After ordering some cones for all of us, I found that I loved the little wrap that came with the cone - which is what started this page. Slowly, I started to add things around it day after day. First I drew in the cone. Next my daughter came along and gave me a sticker she wanted me to have, which I promptly stuck next to the cone. I then added in color on the cone and eventually the background color with watercolor crayons.

This spontaneous trip became a good reminder of just taking a moment and enjoying it, I wanted to keep remembering that so I wrote "enjoy the sweet things in life, especially with the sweet people you love." That was roughed out in pencil, outlined with micron pens and filled in with white gel pen for a little pop.

Something seemed to be missing from the page. Since this was about my little loved ones, a heart seemed appropriate. That was enough to call it done and a good reminder to take time for my loved ones and just enjoy them.

This was also done as part of the GPP Street Team: Crusade #48.

DA February Calendar Draw

2011-02-22T10:05:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month, I created a calendar page for February 2012 to enter into the Doodlers Anonymous calendar draw. I had a lot of fun brainstorming this one - I actually drew quite a few different versions before I settled on this. I didn't want to focus on Valentine's day and love, so I looked into what else February represents. I eventually settled on violets (the flower of the month) and a hummingbird (bird feeding month).

I started out by drawing just the outline of everything. After masking out some parts, I threw on washes of watercolor. I removed the masks and started doodling in the details with a micron pen. My final touch was adding in the white doodled background with a gel pen. What a blast!

P.S. The entries are now up and if you are a part of Doodlers Anonymous (or would like to be) you can log in and vote for your favorites!

TBP: Journal Spilling, Part 2

2011-02-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

This time around for Journal Spilling on the Book Project, I decided to focus on playing around with watercolor in my journal using different resists that were recommended in the book. Nothing spectacular, but easy to do and a good starting point.

Masking fluid & alcohol resists

Mix of different watercolors on a wet page

Gel pen resists

I actually had to go back over it with watercolor to darken the page a little more and add more white gel pen for more contrast.

Gel pen and salt resists

I used table salt on this, next time I'll try a different kind because I thought that the granules were too small and uniform in size.

Colored pencil resists

I was supposed to use to use crayon but colored pencil was what I had close by. It didn't pop very well, so next time I'll try crayon.

I plan on giving these another try whenever I start up a new journal (hopefully with pages that can handle watercolor better). I think watercolor paper would have made a big difference on the outcomes and would not have frustrated me as much as the paper in my current journal.

Next week I'll share an art journal page that I created using one of these background pages. Thanks for looking!

TBP: Journal Spilling, Part 1

2011-02-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

The next book that I am working on for the Book Project is Journal Spilling. In order to make this a little more fun for me, I am going to complete this book by taking part in the Journal Spilling workshop that is hosted by Artists of the Round Table.

time to spill
The first exercise for this week is one in loosening up and letting go - just going with your gut and moving along without really thinking about it.

Usually I get so held on up exercises like this; to just randomly pull stuff that calls to me and putting them all together. As I was ripping pages out of my magazines, I was first afraid to rip them out. The pictures that I was choosing didn't seem to go together and I was afraid of wasting those pages. I forced myself to get over it and ripped away. The more I let myself go, the easier it got - I was able to listen to my gut more. As I turned over one picture to glue down it down, I saw the checkerboard in the back and knew that I had to use that image instead. I loved the way that it all worked out and felt that it really expressed where I am right now.

time to play
The second exercise for this week was to play around and learn more about the materials I have to work with.

When I started working in this journal I didn't like that way that it handled watercolors and gave in to not using watercolors in it whole-heartedly. In this exercise I decided to break out the watercolors again and play no matter the outcome. I found out that the paper could actually do more than I expected if I added a lot of water in the beginning and had more water in my brushes. That was the most fun I've had using watercolors in this journal. I didn't like that I had to add so much water, which in turn took the paper forever to dry and gave the back of the paper a weird, mottled look. But that's another story, I'll talk more about this journal when I'm finished playing around in it.

Good times so far, more to come when I receive (and complete) the next workshop assignment!

Even More Zebra Journaling

2011-02-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

In my previous post, I mentioned that I was taking part in Milliande's art journaling prompts. The latest prompt that I used was to first doodle a zebra manadala. The second part was to make a copy and the cut it up to make another journaling page.

Going with the zebra theme, I ended up cutting them into zebra stripes and placing them throughout the page. Some slow journaling in between the stripes and I called it done. Who says journaling has to take a long time and be complicated? The ones I'm having the best time with are the ones done in a decently short amount of time.

More Zebra Journaling

2011-02-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

As mentioned on a previous post, I am taking part in some of Milliande's art journaling prompts. Her second prompt was a two parter. First first part was to doodle a zebra mandala. I ended up making mine rectangular and quite large (about 7" x 10"), which in turn took me over a week to make.

I keep telling myself that I won't make anymore doodles like this, but for some reason I keep returning. Since this piece was so big, it caused me to take my time. Besides a lot of patience, I learned that I tend to favor more curvy lines. That in itself was surprising because I've always been one for straight lines and rulers. In forcing myself to just go with it, I'm actually learning more about myself and what I like. I have a feeling there's a lot more to learn.

Next post, I'll share what I did for the second part of the prompt.

Zebra Journaling

2011-02-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

Milliande has been providing art journaling prompts every day for the month of January along with videos of her take on each prompt. I decided that I would use it as a jumping point and do some of the prompts that either inspire or push me at a time that I see fit. No stress over this!

The first prompt was to "zebra" up your page. At first I decided to just draw in a zebra and go from there. "Most things are not in black and white." I knew that was what I wanted to write on this page as soon as I saw the zebra but something felt like it was missing. So I let it sit for a while until I realized that I really was in need of some color. I did a quick watercolor wash with some color lifted using a sponge. I then wrote out my words and colored the centers with a white gel pen in order to make it pop more. And that was that. Simple and fun - a nice change from my usual planning to just doing it!

One Little Word 2011

2011-01-11T18:00:00.000-08:00

Every year, I choose one little word that I try to keep in mind through out the year. Something that pushes me in the right direction. In 2010, by the middle of the year I couldn't even remember what my word was. It was a disappointment, because in 2009 my word was so strong for me that I felt like I had accomplished a lot due to keeping it in mind.

So for 2011 I needed to find something that was easy to remember and would push me to keep moving. I had considered the word "active" for a long time, I wanted to be more active in my life - exercise more, make more art, and just do more things. The only problem with that word is that it wasn't inspiring to me at all. One day I was reading the blog of an inspiring artist when I remembered she ends her blog posts with the same word each time. I knew that was the word I wanted to use for 2011.

My word for 2011 is GO!

Do you have a "one little word" for 2011? What is it?

Artfire Collection

2010-11-29T06:00:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited! My one of my doodled "thanks" cards has been featured in an Artfire collection!

After the Gifts are Opened..

Curated By: StephanieRonn...

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

I hope that those in the US had a wonderful Thanksgiving. And I would like to thank all of you for visiting my blog and all of your support and kindness!

Verna's Holiday Wishlist

2010-11-23T10:26:00.000-08:00

TodaysMama and GameStop are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?

Good health and happiness. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's been a trying year for many around me - so all I want is for those I love to be healthy and happy.

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition?

Christmas morning is always a rush due to needing to be somewhere else to celebrate the holiday. So it's generally getting up and ready to go out. To offset the craziness, my immediate family now celebrates on Christmas eve. We check out our stockings, open our presents and then make a big brunch. We like to keep it nice and easy to remember about being with the ones we love not stressing about going here and there.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?

I would LOVE an all expenses paid trip to either Artfest or IMC.

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?

The kids and I love to go through our craft stash and just make whatever comes to mind for the holidays. Otherwise, we love to go to the library and pick up holiday books to read over and over.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?

I honestly don't remember playing any games with my family when I was growing up.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?

The one tradition that I have always carried on is putting up the Christmas tree with my family the day after Thanksgiving (No Black Friday shopping for me).

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip?

To a place that has gentle snow falls. All my life I've lived where it doesn't snow (it hardly even rains) and my kids have been asking to go somewhere that it snows. So any beautiful place where I can experience a white Christmas for once.

8. Check out GameStop and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?

1. Zumba Fitness - I'm all for getting fit and having fun!

2. Okami Den - This isn't out yet, but I've been looking forward to this so it's still on my wish list.

3. Game Party: In Motion - My family loves playing console party games, I think this would be a great addition.

AEDM #s 10, 11, & 14

2010-11-15T12:04:00.000-08:00

Yes I did say 10, 11, & 14. Friday and Saturday were days of getting stuff done and spending quality time with family - so no guilt tripping myself over missing a couple days. I'm loving that I'm taking more time for my art and have no problem missing a day or two so far.

My husband came home earlier last week with roses for my daughter and me. Whenever he comes home with flowers for me, he always takes one from the bouquet and gives it to my daughter. That special flower ends up in a little vase of it's own. I knew right away I wanted to draw or paint those roses. Since my daughter LOVES when I draw something that belongs to her, I chose to concentrate on her rose for Wednesday and Thursday.

Sunday was a day of relaxing with the family, so I was able to take some time and doodle when I had a few minutes throughout the day. After things settled down and the kids were in bed, I ended up throwing some color on with watercolors.

That's it for now, thanks for looking!

AEDM #8 & #9

2010-11-11T15:56:00.000-08:00

For Monday and Tuesday I got a chance to play around with some colored india ink that I watered down. I had heard that it was different from using watercolor and wanted to give it a try. So far the differences seemed very slight, but I do want to play around more. One thing I did like was that it was a lot easier on my micron pens to draw on top of the ink. Watercolor seems to dry them out really fast.

I'm also having fun playing around with different lettering and just loosening up. Not the greatest looking outcomes but definitely a learning experience!

That's all I have scanned in for now; more to come soon enough!

AEDM #6 & #7

2010-11-09T11:32:00.000-08:00

Below are what I did on Saturday and Sunday for AEDM.

On Saturday there was more play with watercolor pencils and a micron pen. I was planning on going one direction (I don't even remember what the direction was anymore), but for some reason it just felt like a funky tree belonged there and so I just went with it.

For Sunday it was just using watercolor pencils. I'm actually thinking of going back to this one and working on it a little more with a micron pen or something. Maybe . . .

I'm finding that watercolor pencils and a water brush are so convenient when I don't feel like dealing with my watercolors, but I can't seem to get rid of the some of the visible marks that pencils make. Any artists that use them have any suggestions on how to fix this?

Thanks for visiting!

AEDM #5: Love

2010-11-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

I had an idea to do this for quite some time, but some reason I never got around to actually doing it. So today was the day to actually get it done.

This time around I used watercolor pencils and a micron pen. The colors need a little readjusting (the yellow is not that bright in real life), but I wanted to get this out before relaxing for the weekend.

I'll be be back next week with that I have done for AEDM on the weekend. Have fun creating!

AEDM #4: b

2010-11-04T13:41:00.000-07:00

More play with watercolor layers! Here we are with the letter "b":

This time I tried using masking fluid, which I couldn't control very well. That in turn made my letters look really shaky when I removed it. I tried to fix a little bit of it up in photoshop. I think I prefer just trying to control it without the masking fluid. Oh well, live and learn!

AEDM #3: The Little Pumpkin

2010-11-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

When picking up pumpkins for Halloween, my daughter found a pumpkin that was less than two inches wide and she had to have it. Now that it's over, I didn't have the heart to throw it out. So I decided to keep it and draw it instead!

This was done with watercolor washes and then some of the the details were added in with graphite pencil. This painting (as well as the two others I've done so far for AEDM) have been 4" x 6" on watercolor paper.

AEDM #2: Vote

2010-11-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

Today I voted at the polls and as soon as I received my "I Voted" sticker, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for today's AEDM.

This was a quick trace of chipboard letters and laying down some watercolor. I'm glad I was able to find some time to do something today, but I will put this aside to see if it needs something more. Any suggestions?

AEDM #1

2010-11-02T11:38:00.000-07:00

The month of November is Art Every Day Month and I've decided that this year I'd like to take part. I'm still deciding what book I would like to work next on for the Book Project, so for this month I'm happy to just make time to play.*

For day one (yesterday), I just wanted to play with my watercolors. When looking through some of my paper-crafting stash, I came across some old chipboard letters and it all just fell into place. I started to trace the letter "a" on watercolor paper and began layering on the watercolor. It was a big learning process since I am fairly new to trying out multiple layers of watercolor, but I loved the outcome. Definitely on my list to practice and try again.

Thanks for looking! Happy Art Every Day Month!

*The Book Project will resume in December.

TBP: Drawing Lab, Part 8

2010-10-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

Here we are on unit 7 of Drawing Lab. I'm actually to the point where I need to take a break from the book, but I will definitely be coming back to this over and over again.

The final lab that I have worked on (for now) is lab 49 - Illuminated Pages. These came out quite differently than the other labs, but I fell in love with both the process and outcome. Working with my favorite mediums, pen and watercolor, on books was a refreshing change. Of course, I will be working more on this lab.

It may be a while before you see more of my projects from Drawing Lab. If you liked what you have seen so far, pick up the book and give it a try yourself. You don't need to know how to draw to get started and I think that makes it even more fun!

Check back weekly for my latest update on the Book Project. Thanks for looking!

37/52 (71%) projects from Drawing Lab completed.

Bleh

2010-10-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

I've got a case of the blehs. I've been fighting something for over a week that has left me sapped of energy and not thinking clearly. I'll be back next week when I hope to be better and all caught up! For now, enjoy my little germ-blobs that I can't stop doodling.

TBP: Drawing Lab, Part 7

2010-09-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

Unit 6 of Drawing Lab focused on being inspired by nature. I don't know if it is because I have been working solely out of this book for so long or because of the labs themselves, but I had such a hard time getting myself to do any of the labs in this unit. Although at this point I shouldn't be, I was still surprised how much I enjoyed doing these labs. They were fun to do and I was actually pleased with most of the outcomes.

Below are my three favorites from this unit.

This one was actually a bit different from the other labs because it was more step by step of what to do. The flower above was done with graphite pencil, watercolor, acrylic, and a white gel pen. I enjoyed playing with all the different media in one piece (more than I would normally dare), though I did end up confirming with myself that I am not a fan of acrylic. There are some things I would change if ever decide to try this lab again, but overall I liked the piece.

The bug one was just so silly! Made up bug names, lots of doodling, some contour drawing, and just having fun playing with colors.

This one surprised me the most. I did draw from real life things placed randomly on the paper. I was planning on painting them similar colors to the real objects, but realized that it was just going to be a bunch of green and grey. How bleh! So I went nuts just choosing whatever colors I felt belonged there and fell in love with the piece. This one was by far my favorite from this unit and I'll definitely be going back to this lab!

Check back weekly for my latest update on the Book Project. Thanks for looking!

36/52 (69%) projects from Drawing Lab completed.

Pen Pal Art Swap

2010-09-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

I recently took part in a the Small Art Pen Pal Swap that was hosted by Kira Harding (Journal Girl). I was to make one small piece of art and write a letter to a person that I was assigned to. My pen pal should have received it last week, so I thought that now would be a good time to share what I ended up making.

I ended up first making the picture above, but I was on such a roll after Peace, Love, and Joy that I ended up making the one below as well.

Peace, Love, and Joy were all outlined with black colored pencil. For Enjoy Life I decided that I wanted to try using black watercolor and a small brush instead for the outline. That one small change seemed to unify the picture a lot more than the colored pencil did.

I wanted to play around some more and see what an outline using micron pens would look like, which led to the Sara painting. Unfortunately I completely killed two perfectly good micron pens in making it. Whenever I use microns or pitt pens on top of watercolors, it seems to quickly kill off the pens. I really need to find a similar fine line pen that won't do that. Or maybe it's time to go back to my quill pens and bottled inks. To bring the name out more, I also took a watercolor pencil about the same shade as the blue background and darkened around the name.

I hope that Sara enjoyed her small piece of art and much as I enjoyed making it!

TBP: Drawing Lab, Part 6

2010-09-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm up to unit 5 of Drawing Lab for the Book Project. This one seemed to emphasize process over end product. I wasn't happy with most of the outcomes in this unit, but had a really good time getting there.

Here are a few of the outcomes:

Check back weekly for my latest update on the Book Project. Thanks for looking!

25/52 (48%) projects from Drawing Lab completed.

Peace, Love, Joy

2010-09-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

love
Funny thing, all I wanted to do was make a piece that said "love" on it. My original idea was to make it with a bunch of patchwork rectangles and then place the letters on top with a different material. Then one day I was looking around a noticed a picture where someone had such bold dashing lines in their work. The lines seemed to come alive and I began to ask myself . . . Why am I limiting myself? Why do I keep myself within the orderly lines? Why can't I have lines that move?

Right away, I knew my "love" piece was going in the wrong direction and so I trashed what I was working on and started over again. This time I worked differently, letting my lines flow where they wanted to and choosing to just go with it. When I was done, I had displayed it in a spot that I would walk by often to see how I felt about it. I decided something was missing and added the words to the background. What a difference that it made!

joy
I fell in love with "love" and the background really turned out completing the picture. While I was working on "love" I was already thinking of doing another one with the word "joy." With the "love" background in mind, it all came together and I just knew how I wanted "joy" to work out. I wanted bright, cheerful, and uplifting - so I used my favorite combination of colors: blue and orange. The words and form seeming to pop up from the bottom just felt like the right thing to do.

peace
I knew I wanted to make at least one more word, so I started throwing words out there. When I came up with peace, I just felt like it was the right choice. I wanted calming colors, so I went with blue and green, later picking the rose for some contrast. Thinking of peace, "Silent Night" popped into my head and a star came to mind. A star felt appropriate, but no matter how I tried to apply it in my thumbnail sketches nothing felt right. I remembered what I did with the first two words and just went with it. That's how I ended up with a sort of funky/wonky star. The background was also hit and miss. I ended up just playing around with different shapes until I came to the diamonds, which is when everything seemed to click together.

I love hearing about the the thought process that goes into other people's work, so I wanted to share my thought process on these. I would love to hear any questions, comments, or suggestions. . . would you like to see more posts like this?

Joy

2010-09-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

The final part of the three part series that I made. Well who knows, I had so much fun making these that I may end up making more.

Come back tomorrow for the story of these pieces!

Love

2010-09-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

This is part two of the three part series, though this is the first one I ended up making.

Come back tomorrow to see part three!

Peace

2010-09-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

This is the first of a three-part series, though the last one I finished up.

Come back tomorrow to see part two!

Life Drawing Lessons (TBP: Drawing Lab, Part 5)

2010-09-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

My past posts about Drawing Lab for the Book Project have been separated by the units of the book. I'm breaking away from that today to go back to unit 2 and discuss life drawing (Labs 14 & 15). This is actually something I've been wanting to do for a long time but never got around to doing. I finally got the chance to go to one recently.I went in with assumptions and left realizing that I have a lot to learn with plenty of questions to ask.

To sum it my assumptions up, I thought that all life drawing sessions were the same. I thought that there would be some kind of teacher/mentor type person and that the model poses would vary with short and long poses to practice both gesture and form. I ended up going to a workshop with a model that was to stay in one pose for three hours and no teacher/mentor in site. Thankfully, it was a small turnout and the other attendants were friendly and willing to answer any questions I had.

I came out with a better understanding of the different varieties of life drawing sessions and came up with a list of questions I might want to ask before attending a life drawing workshop elsewhere.

What is the usual routine for the session? Is there a mix of different timed poses? Or is it one long pose?

How long is the session?

Is this a class with a teacher/mentor? Or is an open session to work on my own?

Is there a limited amount of people allowed in? Do I need to make reservations? Or is this on a first come first serve basis?

Will there be critiques afterward?

Will the model be costumed or nude?

What are we allowed (or not allowed) to bring?

I hope that these questions are useful to anyone else that may be considering taking a life drawing session as well. And if anyone has any more advice or questions I should add, please let me know.

Check back weekly for my latest update on the Book Project. Thanks for looking!

20/52 (38%) projects from Drawing Lab completed.

P.S. Stay tuned tomorrow for the start of a three-part watercolor painting I've been working on.

TBP: Drawing Lab, Part 4

2010-09-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

Unit 4 of Drawing Lab for the Book Project is a precious one - collaborating with children. Some of the labs can easily be done by yourself, but all are well worth doing with children (even a lot of the labs that are not in this unit).

Below are my favorites that I have done so far.

The picture above was done with my daughter. She painted me and then I drew her in. The picture below is the same thing done with my son. We all a blast and the kids loved the attention!

Check back weekly for my latest update on the Book Project. Thanks for looking!

19/52 (36%) from Drawing Lab completed.

The Friday Five

2010-09-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Friday Five is a monthly list of five sites that inspire me. It can range of anything and everything - maybe some art, papercrafting, or photography. I hope that they can inspire you as well.

Joseph's Art - I love this guy's work, primarily done using moleskine journals.

Draw Gabby Draw - More artwork I'm drawn to.

Book By Its Cover - I'm a book addict and this site just adds to my cravings!

Sustainably Creative - This blog has plenty of advice and reminders to focus on what's important and to keep working in increments on those important things without overwhelming yourself.

Shed of Reality - I love how Cathy Johnson (Kate) shares her experience in building a shed that she is going to use as an art studio.

Need more inspiration? Check out some other Friday Five picks.

TBP: Drawing Lab, Part 3

2010-08-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm up to sharing the third unit of Drawing Lab for the Book Project and I have to say that this is the book I've been waiting for. I love drawing, but have been in a rut. I'm usually not sure of what to draw or just drawing things around me which sometimes just does not interest me. I've loved how this book has been full of different ideas and twists on the old. Even some of the labs that I was hesitant about turned out to be a fun learning experience. It's a good reminder that drawing can be fun, even when working on the fundamentals.

Below are some of my favorites from the third unit.

Check back weekly for my latest update on the Book Project. Thanks for looking!

15/52 (28%) from Drawing Lab completed.

TBP: Drawing Lab, Part 2

2010-08-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm definitely going to be finishing up Drawing Lab as my first book for the Book Project. I've been blasting through some of the labs and still having fun. Below are some of my favorites that came from some of the labs in the second unit.

Check back weekly for my latest update on the Book Project. Thanks for looking!

10/52 (19%) from Drawing Lab completed.

TBP: Drawing Lab, Part 1

2010-08-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

My second book of choice for the Book Project is Drawing Lab by Carla Sonheim. I'm having a blast with this one and have a feeling it will be the first book I get through. This book is made up of 52 labs (projects) separated into 7 units (themes). Enough to keep a person busy for a year, if choosing to do one a week.

Above is my favorite project from the first unit. It is of a flamingo that I took a picture of from my last trip to the zoo. Below is a quick peek at what I have completed in the first unit.

1. Cats in Bed, Part 3, 2. Cats in Bed, Part 1, 3. Cats in Bed, Part 2, 4. Giraffes, 5. Multiples,
6. Pet Project, 7. Imaginary Creatures, Part 2, 8. Flamingos, 9. Imaginary Creatures, Part 4

So far the labs that I have tried were quick & easy, doable by anybody whether or not you think you can draw. I would love to know if you are taking part in any of the books I am using or doing your own book project.

Check back weekly for my latest update on the Book Project. Thanks for looking!

5/52 (9%) projects from Drawing Lab completed.