A Carnival Ride

My mark making has the feel of being on a carnival ride…

I started this doodle over a month ago and just finished it Saturday:

I used Micron pens and a new set of Uni-ball fineliner drawing pens.

Perhaps it influenced this one in my sketchbook with Copic Markers and Micron pens:

And the bright colors of watercolor, Neocolor crayons and Copic Markers in this one, definitely make me feel like having some cotton candy! Lol!

Sometimes life can feel a little like a carnival ride with its unexpected twists and turns.

I find creating marks and patterns quiets my mind and helps me tune out life’s stressful times.

Peace be with you! 🙂

Cheers!

A Beetle Doodle

I have been sorting through closets and cupboards in my home this past weekend.

It feels good to get things better organized. I have discovered that I have too many hobbies however… and I need to get rid of a few as they are cluttering my mind.

Any suggestions? How do YOU get rid of art supplies you are no longer using?

In the evenings, I have been working on a beetle doodle:

I am using gold pen in addition to black ink. I noticed that REAL beetles tend to have an iridescent shine.

I cannot remember ever working on a symmetrical pattern. It is a bit more challenging. 😉

What did YOU do this past weekend? I hope you share it with me.

Cheers! 🙂

P.S. I will show you my finished beetle doodle when it is complete!

March Square-A-Day Project

A new month has arrived which means I get to show you my March square-a-day project:

I have a little more yellow in this one…possibly I have been thinking of sunshine and warmer days ahead!

I hope you share your favorite squares with me!

Happy April!

Cheers! 🙂

Pattern and Color Play

Sometimes I make art for classes that are just for practice but I dislike wasting good art paper.

Yesterday, I decided to add pattern and color to two of such papers.

My first experiment were repetitive triangle shapes on 90 lb hot press paper.  I added more pattern and color with water soluble crayons and then softened them with water:

Next, I mixed a tiny bit of transparent orange acrylic paint with matte medium and brushed it onto my paper.  I added more pattern on top with a plastic tool by Plaid.

My second experiment was adding to shapes I had done with sumi ink and water soluble crayons to create a feeling of rhythm.  I added additional pattern and color similar to my first experiment.

I mixed a tiny bit of transparent red with matte medium but got a little too much red so I softened it with more matte medium for the second half on the left.

I used the end of my acrylic brush to make marks into the wet paint on this one.

Orignally, I was going to use both papers for collage material but I’m not sure I will cut up the first one!  I like it too much.  It reminds me of sailboats and summer.

I encourage you to experiment with pattern and color play over some artwork you’d like to repurpose.  You may surprise yourself!

Cheers! 🙂

Wacky Animal Prints

I had fun creating more Gelli-Plate Prints recently for the online class with Carla Sonheim.

After making an animal head as a stencil, our assignment was to cut it into four unequal quadrants and make monoprints.

Like a puzzle, pieces could be added or subtracted on each layer so the final prints were a little bit of a mystery.

Next, we were to add paint pens to complete our animals.  I used Posca paint pens which are opaque and cover most surfaces.

Below is one wild hare print before and after the paint pens:

We had the option to add eyes or a nose so I also included a bow tie! 😃

Below is a pig I did – before and after:

And two more, they look like “party” animals to me!

I also created some face “masks” in spirit of Halloween.  I hope to post them tomorrow.

I hope these wacky animal prints give you a smile today!

Cheers! 🙂

 

H, I And Pattern Play

I realized that I hadn’t shared my letters, “H” and “I” from my watercolor Alphabet Journal that I did in July on my blog.

I added the collage portion to these letters last weekend.  I think this page is extra happy:

And you all know how much “I” love flowers!

Last night, I had only a few minutes to paint before dinner so I created this experiment in watercolor:

Watercolor pattern play is relaxing and fun!  I encourage you to give it a try!

Cheers! 🙂

 

Pattern Play

One of my favorite black papers for drawing is this Strathmore Artagain paper:

It is super fun to draw on with Prismacolor pencils…

Faces and imaginary hats were my inspiration yesterday evening:

And pattern play with color!

Cheers! 🙂

Color Play

I cut more circles and squares from my hand-painted papers this week and created a new collage yesterday:

Color play cheers me up – I hope it will bring sunshine to your day too!

Happy December!

Cheers! 🙂

 

Just Words?!

I’ve been drawing my own patterns lately for collage papers.

I got the idea from Kara Kramer’s online class, hosted by Carla Sonheim.  You can check out her class at Improv collage

She got me thinking about words…

So I started cutting out JUST words that “spoke to me” from old magazines and junk mail:

It helped to think about words I like AND different lettering “styles.”

Then I created a page of words that I can copy and use in my own artwork:

What WORDS speak to you to write and doodle on a page?!

I have to say that YOU inspire me every day in your art, poetry, photography, blog posts and encouraging comments.  Thank you!

Cheers! 🙂

The Flower Bird

Zen doodle meets Weird Bird Wednesday!

The Calendula Bird AKA the Marigold bird loves to flap its wings and spread the seeds of flowers in the Fall so that we have a beautiful Spring!

Did you know that deer don’t like to eat this flower?  I like to plant it at the lake in the summer where deer like to nibble on all leaves, flowers and fruit – like this skinny one:

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂