A Pine Cone Study

A friend at the lake brought me this wonderful dish of pine cones recently:

She thought I might enjoy painting them… And I did!

It amazes me how such a simple subject can bring me so much JOY to paint!

I noticed how one of the greener pine cones reminded me of a pineapple.

May you find beauty in what you treasure today!

Cheers! 🙂

Dreaming in Color

Do you ever dream in color?

Charlie at Doodlewash.com loves to paint AND dream in color…

And what a wonderful dream it is!!  He is encouraging everyone not only to paint every day with watercolor for #WorldWatercolorMonth but also give financially to the Dreaming Zebra Foundation to help children have the opportunity to create art or explore music! 🙂

Here is more information about how the Dreaming Zebra Foundation got its name!

About Dreaming Zebra™

The Dreaming Zebra Foundation is a (501)(c)(3) charity providing support so that children and young adults are given an equal opportunity to explore and develop their creativity in the arts.

How did Dreaming Zebra™ get its name?

The answer is that every zebra is unique, just as every child is one of a kind! Zebras are black, with white stripes that are as individual as fingerprints. At Dreaming Zebra, our mission is to encourage children to embrace their individuality, to express themselves creatively, and to follow their artistic dreams. Hence the name, Dreaming Zebra!

The Dreaming Zebra Foundation was incorporated in Portland, Oregon in the interest of promoting greater access to the arts for children and young adults. Our founders recognized a pressing need in many communities for the promotion of charitable donations of art and music supplies to support individuals, schools, and other nonprofit organizations serving youth and the arts.

Core to our identity is the belief that all children, regardless of their financial circumstances, should have access to art education. As a public charity powered by volunteers, this belief drives all that we do.

The Dreaming Zebra Foundation’s supporters share a common passion for education, the environment, and community, and as such, we are able to connect the synergies between those who support the arts and those in need.

I am so thankful to have ART to express my creative JOY!

I hope you join me in sharing this gift of expression by giving to the Dreaming Zebra Foundation.

All it takes is one dream to make a difference!!

Cheers!  🙂

Red Heads

Do you know anyone with red hair?  I was drawing one-liner faces last night and a few red heads appeared on my page:

I hope they give you a RED smile today!

Cheers! 🙂

 

World Watercolor Month Starts July 1st

I had so much fun participating in World Watercolor Month last July that I decided to purchase a few new art supplies in anticipation for this July.

I splurged on a Stillman and Birn mixed media art journal from Amazon and decided to try a couple different brands of watercolor paint.  I also purchased a Quill watercolor brush.  Here are my supplies:

I couldn’t wait to try out my new journal so I had to splash some paint inside before I left for work!

Charlie O’Shields at https://doodlewash.com has been busy updating his blog and I must admit it looks soooo cool!  I hope you check out, “World Watercolor Month,” at the top of his page and subscribe to his blog.  Charlie always has an interesting story to share with his amazing watercolor paintings! 🙂

Perhaps you remember some of my watercolor posts from last July:

I really enjoyed painting the natural beauty around me when I was at the lake.  And I hope to continue this year plus add a few faces to the mix!

Back to this morning’s journal; I added these letters to my painting:

And splashed on more watercolor…

I will add some doodles to my letters and show you my results later…

I hope you will join me in celebrating World Watercolor Month.

Cheers! 🙂

An Artistic Confession

I have a confession to make…

I’ve always wanted to be able to draw pretty faces ever since I was a young girl… BUT my faces always looked much like this drawing (eyes closed):

Until recently, drawing a face (or two or three!) EVERY DAY has really improved my drawing skills!  PRACTICE really does makes a difference!

PLUS, learning from other artists in books, YouTube videos, online classes… thank goodness there are SOOOO many great ways to learn to draw (faces) today!

I drew this face with pencil last week and I hope to paint it with watercolor:

She is my first face that I’ve drawn that I have REALLY liked loved!!  I am a little scared to paint in watercolor as I don’t want to mess her up.  I think I will scan my drawing first so I have a future reference.  🙂

My second face, I also created with pencil and used an Elegant Writer pen (with water) to create the black lines:

She reminds me of a flower, opening its petals to reveal its inner beauty – much like I hope my art does with continuous practice!

I know I have SO MUCH MORE TO LEARN but I feel like I’m starting to create some pretty faces…

Do you have a subject that YOU would like to learn how to draw better?!  I hope you give it a try!!  (And I’d love if you shared it with me!)

Cheers! 🙂

Collage Expressions

Yesterday, I decided to challenge myself with creating faces from pieces of collage paper in my sketchbook.  I used scrap pieces of my gelli-printed paper, text from old books such as a dictionary, scrapbook paper, sheet music and a postage stamp!  🙂

Here is my beginning:

And my finished piece:

I was having so much fun I had to add a couple more faces!  Do you have a favorite?

Perhaps I will inspire you to give it a try!  Happy Monday!

Cheers! 🙂

Nothing Crabby!

There is nothing crabby about this Crabapple tree!  It blooms the most gorgeous colors every Spring!

I decided to try painting some of the blossoms in watercolor… yet was only able to get a sketch done today.

I’m going to try painting this one looser… hope you check back in next week to see how I do!

Happy Mother’s Day to ALL mothers – furry or human!

Cheers! 🙂

Moody Mother Nature

Since my last post, we have had many changes in weather.  It inspired me to draw some of Mother Nature’s moods:

I hope it gives you a smile today!

Cheers! 🙂

Woman In The Window

I learned a lot when I tried to copy master artist, Picasso.  How does he draw shapes? Where does he place color?  How does he draw eyes?

I used Neocolors (water soluble crayons) over a pencil sketch of my rendition of this Picasso painting called,  Woman In The Window that I found on Pinterest:

I encourage you to “copy” a Master artist’s original work for your own learning.  It may surprise you!

Cheers! 🙂

More Picasso Inspired Faces

I love the abstraction in Picasso’s faces.  It continues to inspire me for the 100 day project on Instagram.

The one below,  I used color pencils for color and patterns – I was feeling tired when I created it:

And Neocolors II for this one – I used a Picasso drawing from Pinterest for inspiration:

I like Picasso’s use of bright colors and his abstraction in his faces.  Pinterest is an excellent source for his artwork.

Happy Weekend!  Cheers!  🙂