Three Spring Chicks

Since Spring is supposed to be here where I live in the Pacific Northwest…

I created these three Spring Chicks:

Maybe you’d like to see my creative process for today’s weird Wednesday birds.

I started with a watercolor background and pulled out some of its colors with paint sample cards.  The name of the paint sample for yellow was “Forsythia” which gave me the idea of Spring flowers!  And since Easter was last Sunday… I thought of baby chicks!

 

I looked up baby chicks on the internet for a reference.  Then I tore scrapbook paper for their bodies, cut old painted maps for their beaks and used three of the paint sample cards for their Spring hats.  I drew their feet with pencils.

I added some pencil shading, black pen for their eyes with white highlights and Posca paint pens for dots on their hats.  I used music notes for patches of flowers.

As I was writing, Happy Spring… I misspelled the word, “Spring” so I just cut the word out of the background and added the word, “Day!” (No reason to fuss…)

I created a few “Spring” flowers with more paint sample cards to complete my piece.  And added a sprinkle of buttons:

HAPPY DAY to you, no matter the weather or season!

Cheers! 🙂

Letter “F” Is For…

Fabulous food, fun and flamingos!

I find Jenna’s blog at The Painted Apron so FUNtastic! 🙂

I completed this still life recently:

And it reminded me of the colors in Jenna’s Fearless Friday, Flaming Flamingo… it does have a fiesta feel don’t you think?

I want to try creating a still life painting with Jenna’s Tablescape, Spring at the Farm.  Perhaps a French hen would be a funky addition!  😉

I also enjoy Jenna’s recipes like this one, A Rainbow Salad… It looks fresh, flavorful and color-filled! 

I hope you will join me in following Jenna’s blog for more fabulous fun!

Cheers! 🙂

Name That Fish!

Perhaps you remember my “put a BEAK on it,” birds?  If not you can find some of them here:  Chicken ‘A La King

Today I have “put a FIN on it,” fish!  I thought you might enjoy naming them:

Both are fun to create with scraps of paper and a little imagination… A fun project to do with children!

Cheers! 🙂

A Fish Walks Into A Bar…

A little fish joke for you today…

Hahaha! I hope this gives you a smile today!

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday with a Fish twist!!

Cheers! 🙂

It’s Fry Day!

I thought today would be an eggs-cellent time to share a card I created for a friend:

He was celebrating his 80th birthday!

I wanted to give him a chuckle in case he was in a “fowl” mood…

So this was my answer to the riddle:

You see, Tom likes to sit on his porch at the lake and talk to everyone who happens to stop by.  He is one of the nicest people I know!  🙂

We all flocked together to help him celebrate this birthday milestone and sign his card!  And eat cake…

As my friend Laura says at Create Art Everyday, it’s time for YOU to shake your tail feathers!

Have a happy day!  🙂

Is It A Bird?

I had so much fun making my Picasso dogs (see yesterday’s post) that I decided to try making some Picasso birds!  I created these in color pencils and a black marker.

My first one is doing the yoga pose, “Bird of Paradise!”  LOL!

The fun part about making these is you never know what you are going to get!

The “Frowning Frout” appeared out of nowhere!  I used a gelli-print for his nose:

And my last one looks like a chicken:

That is if chickens could fly!  LOL!

Hope these make you smile today!  🙂

Chicken ‘A La King

I was thinking about cooking up a chicken dish for dinner so this prompted me to create these silly chickens:

I hope they are a good recipe to make you smile!  🙂

I started making these silly birds after I took an online class from Carla Sonheim last August.  You glue down a scrap piece of paper and then add a beak to it.  They are kind of addicting to make:

I used a page from an old book on card playing to create Dapper Dan.  The rest are scraps of scrapbook paper that I tore into funky shapes.  They reminded me a bit of a card game I played as a child so I had to give them names of course.

You could make any animal with them I suppose – not just birds.  I hope you give them a try.  I think they would make you laugh!  And a good belly laugh is the best medicine in my book!

Happy Creating!  🙂

My Art Journal Birds

In January, I started keeping a daily art journal.  I have always kept a written journal but I wanted to start including a drawing in my journals.  I have found this experience has really improved my drawing skills.

I thought you might want to see some of the birds that have shown up in my journals:

The above one I created with paper scraps that were lying around.

Here is a more realistic looking Flamingo that I drew:

And sometimes an imaginary bird shows up:

I find that when I look back on my completed journals, it’s the images I enjoy the most, such as these:

So I decided to sign-up for an online class called:  Sketchbook Skool.  Maybe you have heard of Danny Gregory?  He is the artist who started these online classes.

I’m taking the class called, “Beginnings.”  I have just started watching the videos and I like that I can work at my own pace.  I also like that I can access the class information and videos forever.

So you will be seeing more of my art journals in the future.  Maybe you will want to join a class with me?

Happy Creating!

A Collywobble Bird

I started my bird today with 3 sections:

Two scribbly squares and a piece of scrapbook paper.

I added lines to create a shape:

And this funny bird appeared!  I decided to name him a Collywobble.  It is an actual word that comes from two words:  colic and wobble.  It has two meanings: 1.  Intestinal cramps or other intestinal disturbance.                                                 2.  A feeling of fear, apprehension, or nervousness.

I added a little color to finish my bird:

My bird reminded me a little of a Greater Prairie Chicken.  A male of this species, inflates a strange orange-yellow sac on his neck to create an impression on a female during his display.  To see what one looks and sounds like:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Greater_Prairie-Chicken/id

Enjoy your day!

Chicken Little

I am participating in an online creativity class called, The Year of the Spark.

Carla Sonheim gave a warm-up drawing exercise that I find really fun to do so I wanted to share it with you.

You start with an index card and then scribble on it with a black pen.  Next you cut up the card into squares.  You then take one of the squares and glue it to a larger piece of paper, like I did here in my art journal:

Next you finish the drawing with a black pen by continuing the lines.

Chicken Little appeared!  I added a little color to it with watercolor pencils.

And grounded it with my black pen and it’s done!

Now you try it!  Have a great day!