Wacky Animal Prints

I had fun creating more Gelli-Plate Prints recently for the online class with Carla Sonheim.

After making an animal head as a stencil, our assignment was to cut it into four unequal quadrants and make monoprints.

Like a puzzle, pieces could be added or subtracted on each layer so the final prints were a little bit of a mystery.

Next, we were to add paint pens to complete our animals.  I used Posca paint pens which are opaque and cover most surfaces.

Below is one wild hare print before and after the paint pens:

We had the option to add eyes or a nose so I also included a bow tie! 😃

Below is a pig I did – before and after:

And two more, they look like “party” animals to me!

I also created some face “masks” in spirit of Halloween.  I hope to post them tomorrow.

I hope these wacky animal prints give you a smile today!

Cheers! 🙂

 

Wild Horses…

I created this wild horse using a masking tape technique recently.  I scribbled copic markers inside the tape as my first layer before adding watercolor.

I hadn’t planned on creating a horse but after I removed the masking tape, he appeared! Lol! 😉   I added pan pastels and watercolor splashes to soften the image.

The masking tape was EXTRA sticky so I tried my next animal creature using washi tape.  Below is a before and after photo:

I learned this technique from Carla Sonheim. I think it would be a super fun activity to do with children.  (The washi tape was much less sticky and worked better than the masking tape for me.)

When I took this photo at the lake Saturday evening, I saw a horse head in the storm clouds afterwards:

Do you see it?  I must have had horses on my mind!

Hope your Monday starts out in a slow trot and not a fast gallop!

Cheers! 🙂

Weird Monday?

I enjoyed creating with my hand-painted collage papers over the weekend.  Carla Sonheim gave us a fun assignment to cut out random collage shapes from our own painted papers with our eyes closed!  Who knew this could be so fun and freeing!!

This cat and mouse showed up first:

Then Louise…. Louise loved to dress with lots of color and patterns:

I just love Louise’s sense of style, don’t you?!

And lastly, this friendly beast made its appearance:

It is a Rhino-leaf-a-rear-as!  The children loved to ride this beast at the strange animal zoo…

I hope this silliness gives you a smile today!

Cheers! 🙂

A Donkey-Pig

I was went to target practice yesterday… with a paint brush and acrylic paint!

It was an experiment in mixing and layering opaque acrylic paints.  I started with a base of yellow, red and blue.  I mixed variations with white, gray and black paint.

Below is a sample of each one on one page:

I’m not real excited about the colors and found the exercise a bit tedious.  Yet, it was good practice with learning to use a paint brush in small spaces.

I created this donkey-pig with overlapping circles:

I learned this technique in Carla Sonheim’s 365 – Creating Art Everyday online class.

I hope you are on target for a fabulous day!

Cheers! 🙂

A Yackety-Yack

I spotted a yellow, Yackety-Yack…

Who was yacking with a wild Yak…

But this silly Yak wouldn’t talk back… Can you believe that?!!

If you are feeling out of wack, I hope today’s post puts you back on track!

Or at least gives you a smile! 🙂

Happy weird bird animal Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

Random Pick Drawing

One of the assignments I am enjoying from Carla Sonheim’s “365” online art class this year is Random Pick Drawings.

Carla chooses two words out of a hat and we are to create a drawing, using our own imagination.  Recently, she chose the words, fox + bucket so I created this picture:

“Mary Fox was excited to cross one of her dreams off her bucket list!”

I’d like to go on a hot air balloon ride some day too! 🙂

What’s one item on your bucket (wish) list?!  I hope you share your dream with me!

Cheers! 🙂

Clear Skies

We have been dealing with smoke from wild fires in our area for several weeks.  Not only do we have poor vision but the air quality has been awful!  This photo was taken last weekend at the lake:

So we were thrilled to have a few drops of rain and wind to clear the skies this last weekend!

Yesterday, we were able to enjoy a short boat ride and breathe in fresh air in clear skies.  It was wonderful to see blue sky and mountains again.  Hoorah! 😃

We noticed the air and water temperatures were cooler and leaves starting to change to autumn’s glorious show:

It was so nice to enjoy the beauty around us again!  We hope that the firefighters are able to get control of fires around us so that the smoke stays away.  We still need rain badly.

Even the wild animals are hurting from the dry weather.  I found this wild bunny eating an apple from a neighbor’s tree.  The deer love the apples but I have never seen a bunny eat one!

Such bizarre weather this year, everywhere it seems…

Stay safe friends!

Cheers! 🙂

 

Dreaming in Color

Do you ever dream in color?

Charlie at Doodlewash.com loves to paint AND dream in color…

And what a wonderful dream it is!!  He is encouraging everyone not only to paint every day with watercolor for #WorldWatercolorMonth but also give financially to the Dreaming Zebra Foundation to help children have the opportunity to create art or explore music! 🙂

Here is more information about how the Dreaming Zebra Foundation got its name!

About Dreaming Zebra™

The Dreaming Zebra Foundation is a (501)(c)(3) charity providing support so that children and young adults are given an equal opportunity to explore and develop their creativity in the arts.

How did Dreaming Zebra™ get its name?

The answer is that every zebra is unique, just as every child is one of a kind! Zebras are black, with white stripes that are as individual as fingerprints. At Dreaming Zebra, our mission is to encourage children to embrace their individuality, to express themselves creatively, and to follow their artistic dreams. Hence the name, Dreaming Zebra!

The Dreaming Zebra Foundation was incorporated in Portland, Oregon in the interest of promoting greater access to the arts for children and young adults. Our founders recognized a pressing need in many communities for the promotion of charitable donations of art and music supplies to support individuals, schools, and other nonprofit organizations serving youth and the arts.

Core to our identity is the belief that all children, regardless of their financial circumstances, should have access to art education. As a public charity powered by volunteers, this belief drives all that we do.

The Dreaming Zebra Foundation’s supporters share a common passion for education, the environment, and community, and as such, we are able to connect the synergies between those who support the arts and those in need.

I am so thankful to have ART to express my creative JOY!

I hope you join me in sharing this gift of expression by giving to the Dreaming Zebra Foundation.

All it takes is one dream to make a difference!!

Cheers!  🙂

Cute Critters

I’ve been taking an online watercolor class from Danielle Donaldson.  It is fun to learn to paint in someone else’s style.  I hope to apply bits and pieces to my own style.

I don’t paint a lot of “cute” but these critters were fun to do – a bear:

And a hound dog:

They might make fun cards when I need to cheer someone up – like YOU!

Cheers!  🙂

Learning To Draw

Drawing doesn’t come easy for me but I am amazed how just a little practice can improve my skills.

I am taking Carla Sonheim’s year long online class called, “Y is for Yellow.”  You can find out more about it here:  http://www.carlasonheim.com/2016-y-is-for-yellow/

Lately, I have been drawing LOTS of animals.  One of the exercises that helps me to really SEE an animal is to draw with my non-dominant hand.  Here are a couple of my pages:

After drawing the animal with my left hand – which takes quite a bit of concentration, I draw it with my EYES CLOSED!  I have to say that my eye-hand coordination is starting to improve – here are a couple of my pages from my third day of practice:

The bird on the right is a Flamingo if the legs don’t give it away!  hehe!

The other drawing I have been doing is called “smudgies.”  I define the head  and the body of the animal with soft pastels and smudge it.  Simple details are added with pencil to complete it.  I have to say that I like this exercise the best!  Here are a couple pages:

I hope you give some of these drawing exercises a try and tell me what you think!

Happy Drawing!  🙂