“Berry” Quirky…

We were challenged to make a quirky character on any surface using any material from my online class, Drawing Quirky Characters…

This assignment was just what I needed to get my creative juices flowing again!

I started with a previous drawing and folded the paper in half vertically.  Using the white gel pen sketch as my guide, I cut out my quirky gal with scissors:

I don’t think I could have invented this hat without my scissors… (It reminds me of a hat that Wilma from the Flintstones might wear!) 😉

Lucy Cooke suggested I use it as a stencil so I did in my sketchbook with fluid acrylic paint:

Next, I drew details with pencil, added watercolor pencils, pan pastels to soften her features, black pen, white gel pen and color pencils:

I think she is “berry” quirky!  How about you?!

Note:  This was a fun way to create my own stencil.  I look forward to using this idea with other subjects too.

Cheers! 🙂

A Silhouette

Today’s weird bird has more to do with YOUR imagination!

It is a silhouette of a bird…

What colors do YOU imagine it to be?

What would you name it?

I look forward to hearing your answers!

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

Washi Papers

Did you know that Washi is a Japanese word for traditional papers made from the long inner fibers of three plants?

Wa = Japanese + shi = Paper

In my previous post, Not Exacto  I showed you cards I made with an origami paper, I discovered the term for this type of paper is Chiyogami which is Washi paper that has been hand stenciled or printed with traditional Japanese imagery using bright colors and patterns.  (Note:  Chiyo = thousand generation + gami = paper)

Yesterday, I completed the first half of Lesson Two of my online Paper Weaving Class which is a circular weave:

We could vary the pattern in our own design.  Love the color combo, how about you?

The Japanese paper I used for the red paper in this lesson are a Washi Momi paper…  I think the blue paper is similar but I’m not sure since it came in a kit.

I discovered several excellent online resources of. Washi Paper that I hope to explore further:

Washiarts.com

Japanesepaperplace.com

Papermojo.com

I hope your Friday is a cut above! 

Cheers! 🙂

YOU Can Be…

Just think of the possibilities…

If you started your day,

Being AWESOME!!  🙂

When Charlie at Doodlewash.com had an art prompt to create patterns in watercolor on March 3rd, I couldn’t resist!

So I got out my Ecoline Watercolor markers – which Charlie was giving away last summer on his blog (I won a few to try, pretty awesome I must say!) and I just started drawing:

 

Drawing colorful patterns, just makes me FEEL awesome, how about you?

Yesterday, I decided to cut out letters on the back side of my paper:

I forgot that I had to reverse the “S” but no big deal, I just cut out another one!

After I cut the letters out, I glued them into my journal and added some flowers with my hand painted papers.  Note:  You can’t see the cut into the center of the flowers or letters when you cut one continuous line into the center.

I had some text on my collage table and found this text, which made a perfect flower center:

 

I was thinking this would make a fun card for a friend by adding a special message inside a flower!

I outlined my letters and flowers with a black Micron pen and a little pencil shading to make them pop, as you can see with my photo on the right below:

 

Part of my inspiration for my lettering was the cover of Uppercase Magazine:

Be AWESOME today!

Cheers! 🙂

February’s Square Project

Perhaps you remember, January’s Square Project?  I am adding a section of paper collaged squares and circles each month to complete a challenge I made for myself.

Well, I had to add a little stitching to January’s section with my sewing machine, not sure that it helps but it was super fun to stitch on paper:

February’s section is less busy… phew! 😉

I used two methods I learned from Carla Sonheim’s 365 class, the scraping paint technique and text collage.  I like to take her instructions as a starting point and then take them a step further to make them my own.

Below are my notes in my art journal (please excuse the chicken scratch and word misspellings):

My completed section for February:

I think it looks so pretty, how about you?

What I liked about February’s experiments:

I haven’t had much time to pursue creating fabrics with my designs… life has been busy.  I still want to do this but looks like it will be later in the year.

I am excited to see what ideas will inspire me for March.

Cheers! 🙂

Not Exacto

I love paper!  No, not the junk that lands in my mailbox… Nor, the papers I push around on my desk at work!  Sigh…

I’m talking about decorative paper that is beautiful to see and touch and can add  something unique to my artwork.

I decided to learn more about paper so I signed up to take a 6-week online class on Paper Weaving with Helen Hiebert.  I learned about Helen’s class from Uppercase Magazine. Helen has an awesome blog with free tutorials, called The Sunday Paper; HelenHiebertStudio.com/blog

I finally finished the first lesson of four notecards:

 

 

I enjoyed learning these techniques.  I like the curvy designs best, (the yellow and blue backgrounds).  I will tell you the names of these papers in my next paper weaving post…

Paper weaving takes time, practice and patience I learned.  Part of the technique is learning how to cut the papers.  Although my cuts are not exacto, I am pleased with my results.

Do you have a favorite card?

Cheers! 🙂

Flowers And Trees

I inherited my mom’s journal with 40 years of flowers and trees she planted in the yard where I grew up as a child.

I love that it is in her handwriting…

 

I treasure it too because it connects us together… we both love flowers and trees.

I’m taking an online class from Lendon Noe hosted by Carla Sonheim called, Inspired By Lives and Letters, which gave me the inspiration to create this piece:

I made a copy of watercolor painting I did last year and a copy of mom’s journal page from the year I was born… to connect our past and present together as a remembrance.

It is a way for me to have a lovely conversation with my past…

A way for me to say, “Happy Birthday,” to my mom whose birthday is approaching in early March even though she is no longer with us.

I’d like to think she would treasure it.

Cheers! 🙂

Opposites Attract…

Opposites attract…

You say blue and I say orange,

Love is color blind…

When I was creating my hearts yesterday, I noticed how cool to match two different heart “halves” to create a whole.

It reminded me of my hubby and I… he says, “Blue,” and I say, “Orange!”  So true!! Lol! ☺️

And yet we will be married 34 years in May!  😮 Seems like just yesterday that we said, “I do!”

If you were to combine two different hearts together, what would it look like?!

Cheers! ❤️

Oh, Carp!

If you read my post from yesterday, I shared that today I would show you a piece of art that was a mistake or maybe what I should call an “unsuccessful experiment!”

I can’t really remember my reasoning for creating this acrylic painting on pastel paper… but it didn’t turn out that great… I think we all have these unsuccessful art pieces!  Am I correct?! 😉

Yesterday, I made it into a fish… An “uncommon” Carp:

I’m liking it much better now!

I encourage you to keep your “mistakes” and turn them into “possibilities” at a later date!

Cheers! 🙂

 

A Nature Notan

Perhaps you remember the Notan I did previously?  If not you can find it here.  It is a  Japanese form of paper cutting with black and white shapes.

I decided to try another the other night to unwind from my work day…

I enjoyed the paper cutting part but the glueing went a little haywire.  I was using a glue stick and it got super sticky.  Then I accidentally glued the wrong side of a piece of paper so I dabbed it with a Kleenx and it stuck to the paper….

Rather than panic, I decided to add the “tissue look” to the black paper.  And I think it turned out OK.   I think I have a solution for the next one without using a glue stick.  😉

Hope you enjoy the long weekend if you are living in the States.  I’m heading to the lake!

Cheers! 🙂