So Noted…

I have discovered two fabulous ways to get one’s creative juices flowing as warm-up exercises in art making.

I learned these ideas from Anita Lehmann in her online class, Translating Landscapes, hosted by Carla Sonheim.

The first idea involves creating marks with a variety of art mediums and tools.  One “natural” tool was a stick!  I had so much fun dipping a stick into ink and “making marks” with it… And using a variety of materials to create this piece:

The second idea was making marks while listening to music.  I created this piece while listening to Eva Cassidy and Natalie Merchant:

I enjoyed both exercises.

So noted, my favorite was the one with the music!

I encourage you to turn up the music and create!

Cheers! 🙂

Two Hands

I experimented yesterday with tracing both hands with a black Micron pen:

My right hand on top of my left hand… Then adding watercolor to both:

I used watercolor paper by Daler Rowney, Langton Prestige in rough grain for my above experiment.  I love how a pinch of salt into the wet paint gives a nice texture.

I also experimented on Arches, 140 lb hot press watercolor paper with a different paint color palette:

The smooth texture doesn’t react to the salt or the watercolor in the same way as the rough grain:

Yet, it gives my two hands a different dimension.  I plan to doodle on this one as it is much easier to draw on with ink.

I like the first painting for its simplicity and the second one for its complexity of layers.  How about you?

Cheers! 🙂

A Little Art

Hello friends,

I am feeling much better and happy to be blogging again! YAY! 😃

I couldn’t stay away from creating in my art journal for too long…

And discovered this sketchbook to be the perfect size for a little art!  

Sometimes I think I have to make something BIG for it to be considered as ART…

Yet, this is not true!  After all, flowers come in all shapes, color and sizes so why not art?

And art journaling isn’t about a MASTERPIECE…

But EXPLORING and creating…

And experimenting with different art mediums!

Who knows what discoveries I will make by creating a little art in my journal…

I encourage you to give it a try!

Plant a little art today…

Cheers! 🙂

Painted Papers

I was hoping to show you today how I created a collage with last Thursday’s paper in my: New Collage Paper Series

BUT I had so much FUN creating new painted papers last Friday – see a “square” sample of each paper in Collage Confetti 

I got a bit distracted…

I discovered that I don’t have to have a Gelli Plate to create the “watery” look of gelli-printed papers.  I can use deli paper – as a printing press!  WHOOT!! 🙂

Here is a photo of some of the supplies I used:

Dixie Kabnet Wax is the brand of deli paper I used.  I purchased a lifetime supply (seems that way) from Amazon.  😉

Other supplies I found helpful were a foam brush, water spray bottle, brayer and some mark making tools (I think I got the 4 texture tools at Dick Blick).

I prefer to use Golden’s Fluid Acrylic paint but I you could use any acrylic paint.

I also like to used a plastic tablecloth to protect my surface.  This is a great activity to do outdoors if possible!   It is winter where I live so I used my kitchen where I have the best light and most room to spread out.

I found that I could put a layer of paint on one sheet of deli paper with a sponge brush or brayer, add water with a spray bottle and then use a mark making tool to create a pattern.  Next, I layed a dry sheet of deli paper on top and made a print!

After the first layer had dried, I could add more layers like the example above.  I used Canson mixed media paper to make the print from deli paper.

I added color like the brown paint above by placing some paint on a paper plate and using one of the plastics texture tools to apply it to the paper.

I discovered that I could even use thin, inexpensive computer paper to make a print like in the top example (below).   The second print (with more blue) was done on the deli paper.

I like the transparency of deli paper in my collages.  And the paper is thin so a glue stick works well for a quick collage like for one of my weird birds such as The Flower Bird

I hope I gave you some ideas for making your own printed collage paper.

Cheers to creative art making that brings you JOY! 🙂

Elbows Off The Table

I remember as a child when I was eating dinner with my family, my sister and I were constantly reminded to have proper “table manners” and keep our elbows off the table!  😉

Funny how some of these memories come back to me when I’m writing this blog…

I was thinking about this collage I created yesterday with what I had on my art table in front of me.

It was done quickly.

Probably in less than 10 minutes.

(And probably with my elbows on the table… Good thing I wasn’t eating! Lol!)

What’s on your art table?

What inspires you to create carefree without thinking?

I hope you share it with me!

Cheers! 🙂

Perifish

I invented this word, perifish.

I thought it was an interesting word for this post about a pear and a fish.

I was experimenting with Rembrandt soft pastels yesterday and this wild pear apPEARed:

Do you think it is of the Rainbow variety?

And Sennelier extra soft pastels for this colorful fish:

It looks like a happy, Clown fish to me!

Color always brightens a cloudy day for me – I hope it brings you a smile!

Cheers! 🙂

The Art Of Noticing

I recently started a new online class with Lynn Whipple called, “Joy Stuff – The Art of Noticing.”  The class is hosted by CarlaSonheim.com

This class is about creating art in a journal or sketchbook:

I liked that we would be using monoprints from the Gelli Plate (what I call gelli-prints) and inspiration from nature:

I also liked the idea of making pages in advance like the ones I did here:

And then writing in them later or adding more art.  I know that I can always cover up what I don’t like with gesso! 😉

It is a new way of creating a journal for me – creating pages ahead of time so I am experimenting with new ideas:

Like adding a pocket as you can see on the left page above.  I also discovered that the washi tape adheres better with a little matte medium (glue) on top.

I will be posting more of my journal as I work on it.

And I’d love to hear your ideas!  I hope you share them with me.

Make today awesome!

Cheers! 🙂

Seeing Pink

Yesterday, I did a little printing on my Gelli-Plate – and maybe it was the color of the plastic table cloth…

But I was SEEING pink!  🙂

Maybe it was because I took a photo of these pretty pink roses in my yard before Jack Frost arrived:

Or seeing these blushing blueberry bushes:

I was definitely seeing PINK!

I’d love to hear how nature inspires you in your art making – I hope you share it with me!

Cheers! 🙂

Drawing Apples

One of the assignments in the online class I recently did with Lendon Noe (see yesterday’s post for more information about the online class I took) was drawing apples.

I drew this apple in my sketchbook yesterday:

It felt really great to just DRAW without thinking about the outcome…

I used to do a lot of drawing in pencil when I was a child but then I let “other people’s opinions” stop me from doing what I loved.

This class helped me to ENJOY drawing again without thinking about the finished product.

One of our assignments was to draw apples – quickly – in any art medium – on a cheap pad of tracing paper.  It helped me to look at a REAL apple yet I think it REALly helped me to JUST DRAW…Without any thought of doing it RIGHT or WRONG!!

Below are my favorite apples I drew on tracing paper – some of the art mediums bled through to other pages which I think is kind of cool:

I hope my drawings encourage you to just DRAW and enjoy what you discover!

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! 🙂