Cactus Monday

And here's the sketch for this week's Cactus Monday!  She was fun!

The White Feather

After that crazy sketch a pal told me a wonderful story!  And at the end she told me one of the meanings of the white feather!  So I calmed down and drew this!  I feel like I'm getting back in the groove.  This piece touched a lot of people!

Quick and Fast Gesture Sketching

Sometimes I want to draw everything and nothing!  So I just scribble out whatever I see in front of me to get out the energy!  It's crazy, but I feel better after!  I think after inktober I was feeling a little like this guy looks!

Cactus Monday!

I also signed up with a FB group called Cactus Monday!  We get together and sketch and/or share photos of the beautiful cacti we see!  A pal posted a pic of one that made me think of the minion characters...so I just had to do this sketch as my first sketch!  So nice to do something fun after inktober!  ♥

October is InkTober!

This month is InkTober!  It was started by Jake Parker when he saw a pen his friend had and wanted to borrow it to learn how to use it.  He found at the end of the month, he also drew better!  So now every year people all over the world get involved with inktober!  The only rule is to use ink!  This is my first time taking the challenge!  Well today is day 10 and I thought I'd share what I've done so far!  I'm using Halloween as my theme.  I drew a template that I will use for each day and then put an object in it!  It has been fun so far, but today I really needed to add some color!  Still all ink tho'!  Hope you like them!  #inktober

44th World Wide Sketch Crawl

Well, today's the day!  It's the next WW SketchCrawl!  I know I haven't posted here in a long time, but I need to post this in order to get it on the WWSC site.  And I'm just SO great at computers!  NOT!  Anyway, today I chose to do Ron working in our yard.  I took a LOT of artistic license & eliminated all the houses between us and the mountains!  But I like how it turned out even if it's only in my imagination!  And I'm trying to hone my ink and wash skills, so this is about where I'm at for now.  And now that I've done this, maybe I'll post more soon!  LOL!

Now for the fun stuff!

I was able to take a few online art classes, and continue to do so.  If you look under my Labels on the left to "Old Work" and scroll down, you will see the kind of art I did a long time ago.  I knew I wanted to loosen up my art as I am looking to get back to my roots & create some whimsical greeting cards.  And to dig out those old children's books I started way back when, and get them finished up & ready to get published!  Hopefully this will help with recovering some of my medical expenses in a really fun way!

The first class I took (and am still involved in) is called "Doodle Arts and Lettering".  It's offered by Joanne Sharpe and you can find her at Whimspirations here:  joannezsharpe.blogspot.com   She has been a teacher forever (sorry Joanne!), and is wonderful and inspiring!  Just what I need to loosen up!

So here are some of my homework pieces from her class:

First, in a little ring book of 100 pages, she gave us prompts for making our own doodles.  It was hard for me to doodle!  I wanted to make things look real!  So it was good to get out of my comfort zone!  These are just a few pages:

Leaves

 Hearts

 Stars

 Flowers

And here are some of the lessons:

The one below wasn't from the class.  

I just did it when I had a headache & needed some relief!

Doodling is very zen!

 Before

After 

Before

After

 This was a birthday card for my mom.

The inside reads:  You can wear purple!

Earth Goddess Diva

I'm still finishing up on the lessons in the class!  Her next class, "Draw Your Awesome Life" starts at the end of October!  Luckily her classes are "forever classes", so like buying a book, you have access to them forever!  Whoot!

ATC practice doodled/tangled Hearts

I've written before about doodling and Zentangle or tangling.  It's so relaxing.  Recently I did 3 practice ATC heart doodles/tangles in my moleskine. 
You can find more about Zentangle here.  I've been inspired by some tangles here.
Here's a pic of the latest...and sorry about the blurry scan.  Need to remember to press down at the bend!

I've added a hint of shading and color to these.

Moodling June 11th

OK...so with the gall bladder issues, I really haven't felt like creating anything! So when a pal came over to go thru' some books, mags & things, I just looked at a magazine & doodled in my idea book that I carry with me everywhere. Just jotted some ideas down to remember for the future. Then I used a photo editing program to X out some personal phone numbers, so this ended up being a collage of sorts! Ha!!! LOL! Are you kidding??? Really stretching it here!!! Well, it's all I have to show for this week! Hopefully more for next week!

Happy creating & everyone stay well!!!

Filler

Since this was gall bladder week, I need some filler for my blog! :) I forgot I hadn't posted the colored pencil kit decision I'd made for our travels back on 4/26. So above you can see the colors I decided to take in my pouch.

Below you can see the previous watercolor pencil choices to take on the left, & the colored pencil choices on the right. Now if I could only decide on my beading & sewing supplies! Is it possible to strap your studio to your back? Luckily my DH informed me we didn't just have to take our one piece of checked luggage when we move! I can take my backpack as carry on!!!! Yahoo! I have room! Forget the change of clothes...I need paper, pens, watercolors, beads, fabric, glue, etc...

Watercolor Pencil Travel Kit

Getting ready to do some travel & needed to decide on some things to bring with me in my backpack. So one day I made a chart of 31 watercolor pencils, plus some gouache, & then saw what else I could fit in this little pouch. I was amazed that all the pencils fit, let alone my water brush, pen, pencil, eraser, rag, etc!!! Now, on the next page of my moleskine, I'm gonna do a chart of about the same amount of regular colored pencils to fit in a different pouch. Two pouches & a moleskine should be enough for me!

Quick Notes

Every year in Hawaii, there is a special festival/competition called the Merrie Monarch Festival. You can see some info about it here. It is a time where hula halaus come from around the world to compete. Some ancient dances, some more modern. It goes on for days.

So I decided to watch it again this year...mostly to see the ancient dances & costumes. I kept my "idea sketchbook" next to me with a pen & some colored pencils. I made some quick doodles of colors, words, stories, meanings, etc. This was just a quick exercise, 'cuz I really wanted to experience the dances & chants. Here's a few pages from my fave "keep it with me for everything" idea sketchbook! It will give me some immediate impressions of color, placement, texture, etc. Sometimes all you need is a line or two to remind you!

EDM 019-Draw Something You Made

OK...so I can't follow things in order!!! I just finished EDM challenge #4, but didn't feel like doing the next one. So I picked out one I wanted to do which was this one below:

I didn't realize that it would be harder to draw all those beads than it was to bead the project!!! But it was...so something to keep in mind in the future! ;)

Above is a close up of the sketch without all the journaling.

And above here are some samples bits I did to see what process I liked doing the best. I guess it all depends on what I'm working on! I like whatever gives me the effect I want. I'm also reverting to my regular brushes 'cuz I'm still having problems with my waterbrush. I think I just got a lemon!!!

EDM 004 Draw your mug or cup

OK...so the last "mug" I put in here for the EDM challenge was an old one! I cheated! So I figured I better get myself back to it, & do a new one. It's above.

As you can see by the pic below, I was inspired to get back to the challenges after re-reading one of Susan Branch's keepsake books that she illustrated. I'm not sure if it's the formality of doing something in order, or what, but I sure am having a hard time doing these! I will sketch ideas, designs, etc in my regular sketch book, but the idea of putting something into my moleskine seems to be more "precious". I know I'm the only one who thinks of it that way, but it stymies me! Hopefully I'll get past that block soon!

Valentine's Day is coming!

Below are some doodles I did while at the dentist waiting for my DH who had to have some fillings done. I always carry this small sketchbook with me for ideas, phone numbers, recipes, etc. It's amazing how much you can fit onto a small page. All you need is a tiny sketch so that you can remember what your idea was.

And below are a few of the cards I ended up making. They don't show up real well on the white background. But then I'm learning what works with this photography thing!

Inchies

"Life's a cinch, inch by inch!" ~author unknown

Has anyone ever heard of Running Rhino & Co? I used to use their recycled paper journals when I lived in Seattle. I wanted to see if I could find them, & if they were still in business. Well, not only are they in business, but they've developed a really good licensing program. You can purchase their artwork on various items at parksidepapers.com , which I will be doing shortly! You can also learn about their licensing here. (Challis & Roos) Anyway, Leigh from EDM emailed me a grid she made to sketch inchies. (If you click on her name, you will go to her site & see what I'm talking about!) So, for my art journal, I practiced on the left using simple designs from Running Rhino for practice. Then the next day I used another part of the grid to make up some of my own doodly designs. I used colored pencil for a change & it was so relaxing! I could just sit on the couch & color like when I was a kid! I sure can tell that my style is way different than Running Rhino's, but that's OK. I like to use brighter, more intense hues, & tend to use alot of complementary colors. The point is to learn from others, but be 100% yourself! So, thank you Leigh for your inspiration with inchies! And, Running Rhino, glad to see you still in business!

Old Parrot Head for EDM 004

OK...so since it was our anniversary this week, and there was other stuff going on, I didn't get a chance to draw a mug or cup! So I decided to cheat & show one I did in 2007! Over a year ago! It was just after I'd read "Creative License" by Danny Gregory & I was getting back into sketching! I did get some "inchies" done this weekend, & will post those next! :)

EDM 003

OK...so what is EDM 003? It's the 3rd in the weekly challenge for the Every Day Matters Group. I decided to start at the beginning of the list of challenges. Others have already done over 200! I'm tempted to start up with them, but really, the whole idea is to just get drawing, sketching, painting again! So, no matter what the # is, it's just nice to be doing some art again.

This challenge was to draw Purses, Wallets or Bags. I decided to sketch my favorite wallet - my Island Queen! Here I am starting:

Next, I decided I wanted to try a new process. So instead of a pencil sketch, followed by watercolor & maybe some ink, I decided to ink in the whole outline of everything:

I sure wish I could get that smudge off my lens, but DH thinks it's inside the camera!

Next I did some watercoloring with pencils & regular pans, which you can see here:

Next came the journaling & a question...does anyone else's water brush just stop flowing for no apparent reason??? You can see mine in this photo...I even let it lie upside down in the hopes it would release more water! I just can't squeeze it any harder!!!

And here's the final challenge done:

I really wish you could see the rich colors in this, but a great photographer I'm not! :) And you wouldn't believe how many people have asked about this wallet! I've only met one other person who had one & she said it was a limited edition in 2000. Mine's missing a few beads, & is pretty worn, here & there, but it's still my fave!