A Puzzler

I love to experiment with color and patterns, as you may already know! I find it very meditating.

I recently completed this doodle:

One of the things I did differently with this doodle was I added three flowers on top of my doodle that I printed on deli paper using my Gelli plate and a stencil.

What is really fun about printing on deli paper with fluid acrylics is that the pattern is transparent when you glue it down to your paper. You don’t see the deli paper. I printed my flowers in a light red color.

This time I took my experiment a step further and glued it over my doodle (with a glue stick). I next added further details with Copic markers and color pencils on top of the deli printed flowers. I didn’t know I could do that!

I also experimented creating patterns with color pencils in my doodle and coloring Copic markers over them.

Another great thing about creating a colorful doodle is making copies to use as collage. The colors came out exceptionally bright with the Copic markers.

And behold! I found a rabbit:

And a bird (think swan–like):

The journal is for my online class I’m taking with Carla Sonheim, The Year of the Rabbit. I added some postage stamps from other countries to add interest to my pages.

I hope you have fun doing some art experiments today! I’d love to hear what you are working on.

Happy Wednesday!

Cheers! 😃

Winging It

I have been hand stitching and beading two wings for a second bird for an online class I’m taking with Kelli May Krenz.

These two wings are for my Wide Winged Bird:

I still have to complete the body but I just love how the wings turned out so I had to show you!

And speaking of bird wings, did you know there are 4 general wing shapes for flying birds?

According to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, these wing shapes are:

Passive soaring wings – These wings have long primary feathers that spread out, creating “slots” that allow the bird to catch vertical columns of hot air called “thermals” and rise higher in the air. Examples of birds with this wing type include eagles, most hawks and storks.

Active soaring wings – These wings are long and narrow, allowing the birds to soar, or fly without flapping their wings, for a long time. However, these birds are much more dependent on wind currents than passive soaring birds. Examples of birds with this wing type are albatrosses, gulls and gannets.

Elliptical wings – These wings are good for short bursts of high speed. They allow fast take offs and tight maneuvering. While they allow high speed, the speed cannot be maintained. Examples of birds with this wing type are crows, ravens, blackbirds, sparrows and thrushes (such as the American Robin).

High-speed wings – These wings are long and thin, but not nearly as long as birds with active soaring wings. As the name suggests, birds with this wing type are incredibly fast, but unlike those with elliptical wings, these birds can maintain their speed for awhile. Examples of birds that have this wing type are swifts, ducks, falcons, terns and sandpipers.

I hope you enjoyed this little lesson about bird wing shapes!

Spread your wings and soar today!

Note: Still more stitching and beading of the bird’s body so stay tuned for a future post!

Happy Wednesday!

Cheers! 😃

Rabbits, Balloons and A Feather

You will be seeing a lot of rabbits and bunnies from me this year!

Carla Sonheim’s year-long online class is The Year of the Rabbit.

It is my goal to spend 10 minutes each day, drawing a rabbit!

Hot Air Balloons:

I recently completed this 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. I just love how colorful it is!

A feather I doodled with black Micron pens:

I kind of messed up on the top so I glued a piece of paper over it! Ha! And drew on top of the paper.

I like how the pencil shading adds dimension:

Do you have any creative goals this year? I hope you will share them with me!

Happy Wednesday!

Cheers! 😃

Featherstitched Wings

Today’s weird bird is rather dazzling! At least I think it is…

I recently took an online class with Kelli May-Krenz called, “Winged Wonders.”

My little bird has featherstitched wings and lots of hand stitching and BEADS!

I love beads!

My little bird has a gold painted beak and a vintage bead for an eye.

I sewed a pin on its back so I could wear it…

But I kind of like it on the top of my little Christmas tree!

It was a fun project to do last week when I was sick with a cold. I find beading and hand stitching very meditative.

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

May you find joy in creating or doing something out of the ordinary this December.

Cheers!

A Scribbly Doodle Do

Yesterday, I started an online painting class with Jennifer Mercede, hosted by Carla Sonheim, called: Bright Color Scribble Journal Painting.

I was inspired by the artist’s use of bright colors in her paintings especially since I am ready for Spring! If you are interested in seeing more of Jennifer’s art, she is on Instagram: #JenniferMercede

One of our first assignments was to scribble with a ball point pen and then color in shapes with color pencils. This is my scribble drawing:

I made a color copy of my scribble and discovered two weird birds so I cut them out and added a black circle for an eye. I added a couple of additional shapes to complete them.

How to do you like my Scribbly Doodle Do’s?

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 😃

P.S. I think this would be a fun project to do with a child.

And for extra credit, I challenge you to find any additional Scribbly Doodle birds from my colored doodle page!

An Amazing Day

I have been enjoying the free online art class:

“The Layered Page” with Kellee Wynne Studios! I discovered it on Instagram. You can find it at KelleeWynneStudios.com

I have been creating larger pages with acrylic paint and stencils that will become mini books. Kellee shows you how to do this in her videos.

This led to experimenting in my sketchbook with marks and bubble wrap:

And creating smaller cards that are 5.5 x 3.5 inches:

I decided to make positive affirmation cards with some of the smaller cards:

And I created my own layered pages with paper collage in my art journal:

Perhaps my art will inspire you to create art you enjoy!

I hope you have an amazing day!

Cheers! 🙂

P.S. I have decided to take a blogging break so I can focus on creating art. There are some awesome free online art classes right now that I want to take advantage of!

If you are needing some additional creative inspiration, Carla Sonheim is offering a free pdf with 22 artists sharing their ideas. You can find it at CarlaSonheim.com Great ideas for all ages!

Have fun and stay safe! 🙂

Illustrated Recipes

I’m enjoying the assignments for Carla Sonheim’s year-long class, Words and Pictures.

This assignment was especially fun because I enjoy cooking. 🙂

My hubby helped me make this recipe in the crock pot last week since I get tired standing fairly quickly with my hip. I cooked it on low for 8 hours.

We made it without the wine and just added more broth. It was really delish!

For the second recipe, I experimented with tissue paper and gelli-printed papers. Plus, a few other scraps of purchased paper:

I look forward to Spring and fresh rhubarb in my yard so I can make this recipe.

Do you have a favorite recipe you like to make in the Spring? I’d love to hear about it!

Cheers! 🙂

A Game Changer

I am very excited about Carla Sonheim’s year-long online class for 2020!

It is called, “Words and Pictures.”

For the first assignment, I used the phrase, “This might be impossible to read but it was fun to make,” using a game theme:

I am hoping this class will be a game changer for me and help me write a children’s book!

If you are interested in Carla’s class, you can watch a 3 minute intro video at CarlaSonheim.com

Cheers! 🙂

A Trendy Bird?

Today’s weird bird is shaping up to be…

HIP as in hippo:

And ROCKIN’ as a Robin:

Does this make it a trendy bird? (Combining hippo and bird shapes)

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

P.S. Next week I will continue with some “chic” birds!

Primary Fun

I’m enjoying the assignments from my online class, Creating Simple Characters with Nelleke Verhoeff.

It was primary fun to color these characters with yellow, red and blue color pencils:

I encourage you to draw characters as things from your imagination!

Cheers! 🙂