Collage Grids

There is something wonderful about creating collage in grids…

Maybe it is like a box of chocolates…

Knowing that each space is filled with something delicious!

Or maybe it is finding that one unexpected surprise!

Or perhaps, it is a uniform and consistent result:

That brings you a feeling of comfort…

What collage grid do you like?  How does it make you feel?

I hope you share it with me!

Cheers! 🙂

New Year Inspiration

Happy New Year Friends!!

Have YOU put on a your creative thinking cap(s) for 2019?

 

I purchased this art book a few years ago…

It is just the daily inspiration I need in the new year!

I made a book-marker for it… You can see I have a square as part of my design (see yesterday’s post).

What inspiration will YOU use in your creativity in the new year?  I hope you share it with me!

Cheers to new creative discoveries! 🙂

Holiday Traditions

I often find myself thinking about holiday traditions this time of year and remembering times from my childhood…

This drawing of a sweet girl recently appeared in my sketchbook and I was reminded of the faux hand muffs that my sis and I had as young children, anyone else remember them?

I don’t remember wearing them very much as they weren’t the most practical in keeping my hands warm.  😉

One of my holiday traditions that I started several years ago was making this easy and yummy, Caramel Snack mix:

I thought you might enjoy making it apart of your holiday tradition!

Cheers! 🙂

P.S.  Do you have a favorite childhood memory or holiday tradition?  I hope you share it with me.

Autumn’s Display

Fall was in the air this last weekend at the lake!

I always like when the wild rose hips turn a blushing reddish-orange:

I did a pencil sketch of them in my journal:

I enjoyed taking these photos of Autumn’s Display to share with you:

 

I hope they brighten your Monday!

Cheers! 🙂

 

More Quirkiness…

I don’t think we can ever have too much quirkiness, do you?!  I love drawing these whimsical faces.  🙂

I created these drawings in the Dina Wakley sketchbook that I told you about in this post: A New Art Journal

The first drawing is extra scribbly.  I started with a black Micron pen and added the white gel pen afterwards:

A young man in an extra tall quirky hat!

I’m really liking how the white gel pen pops on the brown kraft paper:

I added a little color and shading to these quirky gals with color pencil…

I am so enjoying Lucy Cooke’s Quirky Characters online class!  Lucy recently did a short video of the quirky character drawings from the class – I hope you check it out at:  ArtcyLucyStudio.com and go to her “Blog” which will lead you to the class artwork.

Cheers! 🙂

Drawing Quirky Characters…

I discovered this online class over the weekend at JeanneOliver.com – Quirky Characters with Lucy Cooke…

And I haven’t been able to stop drawing… a very good thing! 🙂

Here are my beginning drawings in my sketchbook on Friday:

I wanted to loosen up and create more quirkiness in my drawings…

So I decided to start my faces with something familiar…a little paper collage:

Experimenting with different drawing materials helped me relax too.  I also like how Lucy gives different ways to start a drawing of a face:

I started the ones above with watercolor hair and then used water soluble Faber Castell graphite pencils to add the details.

It was super fun to give little “stories” to my characters as I did with my collage ones.

I did the sketches below with a .7mm pencil, blending stump and a little color pencil where mentioned:

I think I have come a long way in my pencil sketches in just 3 days!  I think that Lucy Cooke is such a good teacher.

This class is teaching me so much and I’d highly recommend it if you’d always dreamed of drawing faces that are playful and fun!  It is one of the more reasonable online classes I’ve taken in price yet it doesn’t disappoint in content either.

Cheers to quirky drawing! 🙂

A Whole New World

I recently purchased two synthetic “Dagger” watercolor brushes from Dick Blick.

I learned about these brushes from my blogging friend and talented artist, Patty Anne. Please check out her beautiful watercolors on her blog:  Patty Anne Art

I had never heard of this brush and loved the results that Patty Anne got with her roses.

I started by just experimenting with the 3/8 brush by “testing the waters” so to speak…

I found it extremely relaxing not painting anything specific and just experiment with the brush and color.  I created this on 300 lb watercolor paper:

Afterwards, I outlined the shapes in a black Micron pen and added a few houses.  It looks like a whole new world to me!

This last weekend, I created this abstract in my small watercolor sketchbook:

It was super fun to add details with a black Micron pen and gel pens in different colors. What do you see?

I encourage you to experiment with different materials in your art!  You may discover a whole new world to explore!!

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! 🙂

Finally, It’s Friday!

It has been a crazy week for me.  How about you?

I came down with a bad case of food poisoning or the stomach flu on Tuesday.  I’m still trying to get back to normal!  Ugh!

I drew and painted this silly monster in my sketchbook yesterday evening.

It made me smile and I hope it gives you a grin too!

Cheers!  🙂

P.S.  I’ve decided to take a short blogging break.  I will be back in a week or two… stay well!

YOU Can Be…

Just think of the possibilities…

If you started your day,

Being AWESOME!!  🙂

When Charlie at Doodlewash.com had an art prompt to create patterns in watercolor on March 3rd, I couldn’t resist!

So I got out my Ecoline Watercolor markers – which Charlie was giving away last summer on his blog (I won a few to try, pretty awesome I must say!) and I just started drawing:

 

Drawing colorful patterns, just makes me FEEL awesome, how about you?

Yesterday, I decided to cut out letters on the back side of my paper:

I forgot that I had to reverse the “S” but no big deal, I just cut out another one!

After I cut the letters out, I glued them into my journal and added some flowers with my hand painted papers.  Note:  You can’t see the cut into the center of the flowers or letters when you cut one continuous line into the center.

I had some text on my collage table and found this text, which made a perfect flower center:

 

I was thinking this would make a fun card for a friend by adding a special message inside a flower!

I outlined my letters and flowers with a black Micron pen and a little pencil shading to make them pop, as you can see with my photo on the right below:

 

Part of my inspiration for my lettering was the cover of Uppercase Magazine:

Be AWESOME today!

Cheers! 🙂