A Cute Watercolour

Whew, it has been a l-o-n-g time since I posted.  I did not realize it was almost a month.  In that time, my hand is healing, Christmas has come and gone, and I have cleaned my studio (LOL).  And believe me, it needed it!
So here I am today, having rewarded myself for putting order in the room, with a watercolour I did today of Annie (or a representation thereof) playing soccer.

It is all ready to frame so tomorrow I am off the buy a frame that comes close to fitting.
Hope you have a great New Year!

Elephant Sketch

I was inspired by a documentary I watched the other day to sketch this elephant.

The documentary was titled "How I Became An Elephant" and I found it very moving.  It really called attention to the plight of the abused elephants in Thailand and I hoped to convey sadness in the eyes of my drawing.  I would recommend that anyone interested in animal rights watch it.

Thanks for visiting!

Bijou - Pencil Sketch

When we were in Detroit, I visited Blick Art Supplies and, wow, I was like a kid in a candy shop!  I could not decide what I wanted to buy.  So I took my time and only purchased supplies I know I cannot get here.  My best find was hot pressed water color paper (2 for 1).  While I was there I got a hard cover sketch book and today I dug it out.  My finger is on the mend so I have decided to dive right in to some serious!!!! art.  As a start, I opened the sketch book and just drew.

Bijou was sleeping on Steve's chair so he seemed a logical subject.  I have never really sketched an animal before but I just looked and drew.  I tried to keep my eyes on the dog and not so much on the paper and I am pretty happy with the result.  Could be a bit better with the shading - A LOT BETTER, IN FACT - but as a first effort he is OK and kind of cute.
I found such relaxation in the sketching that I might need a bigger purse (so my sketch book can come everywhere with me).
Thanks for visiting!

Calico Angel

For our challenge over at TRY STAMPIN' ON TUESDAY this week, we are to create any kind of tag we want and give a short tutorial on how to make it.  Here is mine:

I chose to do a mixed media tag with spray ink background coloured and collaged angel, metal and button accents and a simple printed message.


Supplies: cardstock tag or heavy paper to cut one out
               cardstock to draw your angel on, copy paper
               spray inks of your choice, Kosher salt
               scrap of fabric, foil 2" square
               tulle or netting
               Copic Markers or coloured pencils to colour angel 
               permanent pen
               2 twigs
               wooden heart or button heart
               star brad
               matte medium or Mod podge
               hot glue gun
               scissors
              
To make the background, all you need is spray inks (of any kind) in the colours you want and Kosher salt.  I used two blues and a purple for mine.

All you do is spray your tag (mine is water color paper but any heavy paper will do) with your inks.  You can blot and spray again if you are not happy with the coverage.  Then, while it is wet, sprinkle with the salt and set aside to dry.  IT MUST BE BONE DRY BEFORE YOU TOUCH IT AGAIN.  Then rub the salt off and you have a cool, sky-like background.
Now, draw a very simple angel body on cardstock and paint or colour her face and hair.  My shape is a head with a pyramid body.  Make the entire girl about 5" in height.  Now for the fun stuff:  I used a piece of tinfoil and a 2" punch and punched out a halo for her which I glued to the back of her head.  For her dress, I raided my fabric stash and, using matte medium (but you can use Mod Podge) I adhered the fabric to her body to create a dress.  When it is dry, trim it to the right shape and size.  Her wings are netting which I gathered and hot glued to her back.  Now, hot glue the angel to the tag.  For her arms, I took two tiny twigs and hot glued them behind her body.  Then, I wrote my sayings on white paper with permanent pen and matte mediumed them to the tag.  Lastly, I added a wooden button heart to her dress (first I snipped off the shank) and also I glued the star (which is a brad with the back snipped off) up in the corner.
Very simple! and yet so cute.  I am going to do a series of calico angel tags so please check back.

Snowman Tags

It seems like forever since I was able to do any kind of art.  But really my surgery was not quite two weeks ago.  I am so tired of not being able to create that I gave it a go today.  I did some water color tags with snowmen on them.

The tags are cut out of water color paper (140 lb) and then I water colored the snow people. Any little snow piles are either white acrylics or moulding paste.  I drew the figures in pencil first and did not erase the lines.  I like the softening effect.  After I finished painting the tags, I outlined them in permanent pen.
Although these are not very demanding to do, they are fun and I was able to create them with very little trouble- even though I am still healing up.
Thanks for stopping by!

Winter Fairy

Hi!
Before I go on, I want to explain what happened to my sketch of the day.  I was making a copper wire pumpkin when the wire pierced my finger.  Almost immediately, infection set in and I have been on antibiotics for just over a week.....and it is not cleared up yet. 
So, today was my first day even giving any kind of art a try.  Here is the result:

This is a mixed media canvas (12X6") with the background being layers of spray inks which I blended together.  Then I dripped gesso down from the top.  Next was stamping tiny snowflakes with gesso. I drew the fairy on bristol paper, coloured her face with Prisma pencils and then cut her out.  Her wings are cut out separately out of vellum and I lined the edges with paint pen (as well as adding the dots).  I then used matte medium to adhere the wings and head to the canvas.  Next was painting her hair.  I painted the part that I drew on the bristol and then carried it over to the canvas to incorporate her into the piece. I used fluid acrylics.
The last step was stamping the larger snowflakes using gesso. (I added these where I did so that I could cover over a mistake)
Now, my only question to myself...and to you....should I add some text?  Let me know what you think.
Bye for now!

Sketch Of The Day

Hi gang!
I have got away from drawing and painting for a few weeks and I have no idea why - but I have to fix that.
Today I am starting a series of projects (one per day). Now each of these will either be a sketch or  a drawing and painting.  I miss sitting down and creating.  By my own rules, photos do not count.
So, here goes......
Day 1 - simple pen and ink sketch

Once I finished it, I decided to put it on a card front for Darcey's birthday (hence the black paper and the button you see).  I cannot ever remember drawing a "real" animal before but I think he turned out OK....although his head is a little fat.
Stay tuned until tomorrow to see what I can come up with.
Thanks for stopping by!