What’s In A Name?

The imaginary animal I created yesterday with the letter, “Y” inspired me to create these imaginary creatures with the letters of my name today:

I think this would be a fun project for kids!  Especially around the holidays when they are on Christmas break from school.

Maybe they just want to create their initials:

Or maybe they have a nickname:

I hope you have FUN creating imaginary creatures with someone you love!

Would love to see what you do!

Happy Creating!  🙂

That’s Incredible Too!

My magazine collage from yesterday helped me create these drawings today in my art journal:

I mixed up the order from this collage:

I drew my shapes with a black .01 Micron pen and the shaded with pencil. I like to use a blending stump to shade my pencil.

This exercise helps “train” my eyes to draw the shapes I see and not what I think I see. It also helps me learn how to shade my images to give them dimension.

And it gives me new ideas for my doodles!

I found that I liked the simple shapes best!  What about you?  I’d love to hear what you think!

Happy Drawing!  😄

 

Three Ornaments

I have a bowl of vintage glass ornaments that remind me of Christmas past.  When my hubby and I have his family to our home to celebrate Christmas Eve, I like to decorate my table with these ornaments, bells and ribbons. Add a few candles and it makes an inexpensive yet festive table!

I was thinking about these decorations when I created these three ornaments today:

My ornaments and ribbons are Gelli-printed papers I made with acrylic paints earlier this year. I like how festive this looks!

Do you have a favorite holiday ornament?  I’d love to hear from you!

Happy Decorating!  😄

Pretty Pathetic

I wanted to try drawing something Christmasy so I chose this sweet figurine of a girl that was given to me by my aunt when I was a child.

But try as I did, she turned out looking pretty pathetic!

I wasn’t going to post it but then I thought, what the heck!  I wanted to show that art is all about practice really and not perfection.

And I knew you, my friends would be kind to me which I so appreciate!

If you only knew how many times I erased her face….ugh!  I guess some days I should stick to imaginary creatures. Lol!

Cheers!  😜

My Amazing Moodle

I have finished my moodle that I previously posted:

In case you have forgotten, I invented the name “moodle” to describe my doodle.   I added shading with pencil to complete it:

It always amazes me how a little shading gives more dimension.

Which do you like best?  I’d love to hear from you!  😊

Happy Moodling!  😄

Scrambled Eggs

Sugar plums were dancing in my head today…

Well, not exactly!  😉  I was dreaming of creating art but I took a nap instead!  I don’t know about you but sometimes naps energize me and other times they scramble my brain like eggs.

Today I felt scrambled afterwards…

That is when these two characters showed up in my art:

So I decided that maybe I needed a break from blogging for a couple of days. LOL!

Happy Creating!  😄

Jumping for Joy

I was jumping for JOY on Sunday evening when we finally got our power back on!  YAY!  So I created this “Toad-ally Electrifying Frog” in celebration.

I created a few other imaginary animals and named them too:

Do you have a favorite?  I’d love to hear from you!  😊

Happy Creating!  🎨

The Tip of the Ice Bird

Temperatures may be plunging into the low teens this week in our neck of the woods…

This is when the rare Ice Bird will sometimes appear on a chilly winter day, clutching a blue icicle.

A small bird identified by its skinny, ice-thin legs, blue tip on the end of its beak and large white eyes.

Legend has it, if you are fortunate to spot one, you will likely live in a warm home and never be without electricity for five consecutive days…

Happy Hunting! ❄️🐦❄️

In the Moodle

As I was completing this doodle recently –

I decided to call it a Moodle. My very own word for a doodle.

I find that I have to be in the right mood to doodle that is why I call it a Moodle.  Now I’m not sure what mood this is exactly.  Maybe it is when life gets complicated and I need to slow down.

Moodles can be very meditative after all.  Maybe I need to moodle when I feel distracted as it helps calm me.  Whatever my mood, a good moodle seems to raise my spirits.

What about you, does art help balance your mood?

Happy Moodling!  😄

 

An Elegant Dancer

My painting of a Red Crowned Crane was inspired by my father-in-law who enjoyed ballroom dancing:

Also known as a Japanese Crane, it is renowned for their spectacular and elaborate courtship dances – usually performed in pairs.

This Crane symbolizes long life and since my FIL lived until he was 87 , it seemed fitting!  Dancing became the highlight of his life in his later years which I’m sure helped him live a long life too.  😃

I sketched my painting in pencil and then outlined it with a Micron pen on 140 lb cold press watercolor paper – painting it with gouache.

Happy Dancing!  🌟🌟🌟