Closed Doors vs Open Ones

Wow, I can't believe that I haven't posted since December!
I have been crazy busy, purging my studio and home, writing two articles for publication later this year and resting.
All of which are very important, including resting when you know that you need it.

I have a post up on the "8 That Create" blog today.

I'll copy it below for your viewing pleasure.

I'll do my best to post again real soon...



Closed Doors vs Open Ones


I don't know about all of you but after I have a big push to reach deadlines, I have to take a break.

Literally I have nothing to offer.

I  just completed two articles for the same publication (with only two weeks to write them both) (my own schedule blocked me into that corner) and I am so very wrung out.
I feel like I couldn't come up with one bit of inspiration at the moment.

But I still crave the daily creative activity that I am used to.

What is a girl to do?

I read for a couple of days or at least until my vision was blurred.
Then I watched a couple of good movies followed by a couple of really bad ones.

But I couldn't sit still much longer and not do something.
What I really wanted to do was draw or work in my art journal.

I don't know if you can really call one of the handmade books that I write/draw/collage in an "art journal" but I guess that's the best description at the moment.
Sometimes it feels like an "art" journal but other times it feels more like a regular journal.

It's a huge book that I made in a workshop that I took a few years ago.

I certainly learned my lesson there about making Big Books.

I prefer the smaller ones that I can complete easily or the "theme" book that I can carry on trips with me.

I have a "Colorado" book that I work in while I am visiting friends and teaching there.

I also have a "Charleston" book that I carry when my husband and I venture to The Holy City.
I used a printed copy of a rich beautiful painting by Robert Henri called "The Green Fan (Girl of Toledo, Spain)" that is owned by Gibbs Art Museum in Charleston, SC

One of my favorite paintings.
She stands 41 inches tall
and commands any room that she is in.

My Charleston Book (aka Book of the Holy City).
"The Green Fan (Girl of Toledo, Spain)"
Robert Henri

Having a book like that makes it really simple to decide what to carry with me when I travel.

But back to the Big Book.

She is almost six inches thick, holds a lot of pages and even more words and drawings.
Lots of room for random mark making.
I turn to her pages when I have that desire to draw (or write) and have no idea or concern for the outcome.

I opened her up yesterday morning, grabbed a couple of pens and set to work (while watching one of those bad movies).

Here's a sampling of the pages that I marked up.

A colorful owl that started out as a curved doodle.

I had stitched a doily/sun shape into my page
before I stitched the signature into my book.
Yesterday I journaled deep, dark secrets on the page.

Ah, more secrets.
I'd have to kill you if you read them.

Ideas for simple, yet engaging journal doodles.

You can see the progression in this page.
I love adding the tiny details to finish the doodle drawings up.
I'll go back in later and add journaling.

I also add in single pages with ideas for thermofax screens.

More blurring to make you wonder why I have
so many deep dark secrets.
Most of it is aimless pondering of a bored woman.
Like this one -
"We never consider death before it considers us"
What?
"Dead men do tell tales albeit quietly".
I am a fountain (a deep one) of thoughts.

So you can see that I have an expanse of fertile ground on which to practice my trade.
In other words- I have a big ass book that I draw and write in.

The Muse may be out at the moment but at least I left the door open for her.

Do you find that you close the door completely or do you leave the door open for ideas to flow back in?

You gotta leave room for the entry of creative ideas.
You also need to spend time with these ideas every day.
If you keep showing up and opening that door, they will show show up as well.

Filling Your Time With Creative Endeavors

Over at the Sketchbook Challenge blog this month, the theme is "doodling".
This is one of my favorite things to do!
I always carry a travel art kit with me - it includes several folded pieces of paper (usually Exact Vellum Bristol) or a ready made sketchbook, travel watercolor paints, Faber Castell Pitt Artists Pens and a pencil & eraser.
When I find myself with a minute or two , I pull out a piece of paper (or sketchbook) and a pencil or pen and fill my time with emptying some of the images rolling around in my head (which can be kinda scary now that I think of it).

There are times that I allow the stress of living in this world occupy a larger space there (in my head) than it should so drawing  is a great way to get my mind off of the negative things.

I've had a Moleskine watercolor sketchbook for a while now but (evidently) put it on a higher shelf in my studio...I have found it again and started using it to see if I like the paper. I believe it is a 200 gsm paper.

I haven't found the "perfect" sketchbook yet...
I suspect that there will never be that "Perfect One" because my sketching habits change, the medium that I color my images with changes as well as the size that I am willing to carry around.
But I sure am enjoying the hunt for one!

Before Christmas (seems like that was sooo long ago, doesn't it?) I was working on a few small handmade books to submit to Christopher Park Gallery in town (they are carrying my work!).

Here is a sampling of the original sketches that led to some of the cover art for the "Little Books" series.

It's a little difficult to see - I drew the images with a harder lead pencil (2H) (which makes a lighter mark).
It was all I had at the time. I have since switched my "regular" sketching pencil to a "F" lead.
I'm not sure if I'll be pleased with that either...I'll keep switching around until I am happy with the results.
And I love drawing with the "2H" pencil, I just don't like the lightness of the scanned image.
I know that I can adjust that in post-editing...but the truth is - I not very good at "post editing" images.
I usually just scan images and use the file as is.
(I did go back and adjust the brightness/contrast just to get the lines darkened up).

Perhaps I should resolve to take a class on that...

I had started drawing all the cats after this little angel came into our life
(cute kitty photo alert).

He has not only cemented himself into our hearts but onto our couch as well!
(I snuck that photo in rather seamlessly, didn't I?)

In drawing the cats, I began branching out to the Big Cats.
Lions and tigers quickly followed.

Here's one of them. I love the curly, flowing mane.

I'm still working on him though.

This is the way that a lot of my artwork evolves.
I begin with a loose, often very ugly sketch but it serves to remind me later of what I originally had in mind.
It's a great "jumping off" point.

I hope that all of you are flexing your creative muscles this New Year!
Get your sketch on!

Sketchbook Challenge Blog 2012

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope that all of you are readers (and participants) in the Sketchbook Challenge Project that I am a guest host at.
I wanted to post the opening theme for the 2012 Sketchbook Challenge.

This month, Diana Trout has offered up a perfect beginning to our blog.

Here is a re-post of the 1-2-2012 post.

Happy New Year, Sketchbook Challengers and welcome to newbies. Diana here with January's theme

*Doodling**

None Threatening Drawing for Anyone At All

Doodling, Noodling, Moodling, call it what you'd like.

This quote from Brenda Ueland, sums it up nicely:

So you see, imagination needs moodling - long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering. 

We all doodle: on the phone, at meetings, on grocery lists. On our calendars. Do you remember all of the hearts and little flowers on your school notebooks? Until your teacher told you to "pay attention." Really puts the kebash on doodling greatness. (I pay better attention whilst doodling.) 

Somewhere along the line, you may have stopped doodling. Let's get your doodle on this month! 

Here are some doodling starters tips for beginning-again doodlers.

Doodle on brown paper, graph paper, looseleaf paper, in your journal.

1. Use a really simple pen and any kind of paper. For instance, are you working on a work related problem? Doodle on the edges of that paper. Let doodling begin to creep into your everyday life.

2. Doodling is meditative but sometimes our minds resist (believe me, I know). Decide to "take 5" and put on a song you love. Doodle to it. I'll bet you go for 15 minutes.

3. Doodling is really good for developing drawing skills. Your eye-hand coordination will improve.

4. Doodle straight lines, curving lines, open shapes such as boxes, circles, ovals. Look at what you've already doodled and repeat some of these motifs.

5.  Make a doodle sampler. A page full of doodling ideas: flower shapes, pod shapes (like my pods). Link the shapes together with lines, dots, flourishes. 

6. Mix it up and use different line widths. I like to start with a Micron 01 and go up to 03 and 05.

Coming up ... resources in the art world to broaden your doodle vocabulary. Happy Doodling!

The theme for January 2012 is: 

*Doodling*

Special Prize Giveaway Announcements:

This year on the Sketchbook Challenge we're going to be giving away some art!  Each month one (or more!) of the Sketchbook Challenge Artists will be sending a piece of mail art to one (or more!) winners each month!   Winners of the mail art will be chosen by random draw from the photos posted on the flickr group for that month.  More details on how to be eligible are below.

And we also have an additional prize package this month donated by our sponsor Joggles!

Two winners will each receive a $25 gift certificate to Joggles.com!

How to be eligible for prize drawings: 

In order to be eligible for one of the January 2012 prize packages you must post at least one photo of a sketchbook page related to the January 2012 theme to the Sketchbook Challenge Flickr group and you MUST tag one of your photos with the code "jan987".  

 IMPORTANT:  PLEASE ONLY TAG ONE OF YOUR PHOTOS with this special code!  

It is not necessary to tag more than one and it will not increase your chances of winning.

Information on how to upload photos to flickr can be found here.

Winners will be chosen based on random draw on 1/31/12 and announced on the Sketchbook Challenge blog either on that day or on 2/1/12.

***Go to the original post for the links that Diana added to the entry.***

Now let's see your doodles!

Spilling Over (as in abundance)

The theme for March over at the "Sketchbook Challenge" is "Spilling Over".

I'll repost part of what I posted on the challege blog here.

 

Here in upstate South Carolina March brought warming temperatures, beautiful sunsets

and the return of baseball season.

Why, what an odd thing to talk about on an art blog...

baseball season?!

Not for me, not really.

My sweetie is a college baseball umpire and I go to a LOT of baseball games (another abundance!).

Since baseball does tend to move (a little) slow, I have to find other things to do while sitting there.

So, I draw.

Or I paint.

I sometimes stitch.

Sometimes I knit or crochet.

This particualr day I painted and drew.

The campus I was at had an abundance of pine trees.

It was spilling over with pine trees actually.

Not to mention pine cones...

I decided to do some (kinda) realistic sketching this day.

I had my handy dandy sketching kit with me,

a brand new watercolor pad (140 lb hot pressed this time)

and a lightweight folding chair.

I picked a shady spot and set up my sketching area.

Oh, don't forgot sun screen and a hat (or an umbrella).

I looked around for something that had a pleasing shape.

I draw a lot of trees (they spill out from me) so it seemed natural that I would pick one to draw.

I actually wanted to paint this one first, then add a few details...

this is a fairly close rendition to what I drew the first time (I'm doing this tutorial after the original was completed).

We're not going for a balanced composition here - I'm just painting showing you how I paint/draw a tree.

Anyone could paint this, right?!

Right!

Now, add a few smears of green paint at the ends of the tree limbs...

Don't think about it, just do it.

Now comes the fun part!

If you read my blog, you'll remember the tutorial that I did on drawing a great journal page when you are having one of those "I can't draw days".

This technique is done almost exactly the same way.

Check out this post to see what I'm talking about and then hop back over here.

Okay- ready to put some marks on the page?

Honestly, this is all I did to begin detailing the tree.

Very.

Simple.

Outline.

See?  It really is a quick, uneven outline of what I had painted.

Now, I went back in adding the "zippers" (my friend Denise named them) at random sections of my outline.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I use a smaller nib size on this part of the detailing.

I used a size "S"  for the first outline and a size "XS" for the outer line and for the pine needles.

Here is a completed section.

Notice that I added the pinecones in on the limb - I didn't paint anything extra, I just drew the shapes in.

I could go back later and add a little highlight to them.
Click on the image to see a close up of it.

You can really see the difference in the way that the tree looks after adding the detail lines, can't you?

I want you to try this.

Then post your results on the flicker site so we can all see them!

Here is the completed tree that I did that day at the ballgame.

Actually, I want to go back and bump up the color a little bit

and add more detail on the pinecones /limbs on the ground.

Or maybe take a cue from Kelli Perkins and add some stitching with black thread..

yum, that sounds good.

Now, where did I put my black thread at...

 

Left handed Birds

Now, who has ever heard of a left handed bird?!

Me either...

What I meant was that I drew these birds using my left hand (non dominant).

I saw where Jane LaFazio and her art buds posted pictures of drawings that they did of each other using their non dominant hand...

I thought I'd post the little birdies that I drew on my recent trip to Nashville.

The wobble-ness in a couple of the sketches could be the bumpy road -

or it could be my left hand drawing wobble-ness.

Either way, here ya go.

Left hand Birds.

Revisiting an Old Friend

A few blog posts ago,

I was strung out on sewing with some of the fabric I made with

deconstructive screen printing.

I neglected to post the last piece that I made during that whirl of inspiration.

I didn't want to use the pieces of fabric with bold colors

on the smaller items that I was making (I'm saving them for a bigger bag!)

but I had a couple of pieces of fabric that had very pale colors

that would be great for a small bag.

I used one piece of pale fabric

along with a scrap of hand dyed batik

(and batting of course) to make my quilt sandwich.

I did some free motion quilting along with a poppy shape

(I know! I know! I'm trying to wean off that shape...)

and a little odd shaped leaf motif.

I rolled white paint (along with textile medium)

onto the back side of the quilted area.

I wasn't sure which side I would like the best

but at this point I was just experimenting.

I painted the poppy and leaf shapes

with a colored textile paint

to make them pop.

After deciding (okay - agonizing) over which side I liked the best,

I made a very simple bag shape.

I added a binding around the top edge and zig zagged the inside seams.

Then I added some shiny beads (for the magpie in me)

and hand stitching along the top edge.

I plan on going back and adding a button and loop closure

and maybe a carrying strap later.

It's a great size for my field sketching/watercolor set

and I plan on using it for that.

In this photo you can see

that it could almost be reversible with the

painting on both sides.

I love the color combinations.

I also love the marks on the side of this

that were made with the deconstructive screen printing method.

I think that I will definitely be doing more of this in the future.

See how the stitch lines show up so well when you roll paint on top of your quilted fabric?

If you're like me and you're afraid that you will mess up a large quilted item,

why don't you experiment with a small piece like I did?

Here is the front of the small bag

(which, btw, measures about 5 1/2"x7" and is apx.1" deep)

with my awkward stitching on it.

I'm not very good at free motion quilting

but practice really does make a difference.

Won't you try something new this year?

Try combining several art forms into one...

I used screen printing, sketching (or drawing), art quilting,

fabric painting and sewing.

Oh, beading and hand embroidery.

I hope that you will exercise your creativity

on a daily basis this year.

I plan on doing just that.

Rainy Day

It's a rainy day here in Piedmont South Carolina.
My husband tells me that it is cold outside as well...
I wouldn't personally know since I haven't stepped outside the house today.
I've been inside, in the studio.
Busy as a bee.
Working on wayyy too many things at once.
Here is a sampling... Doodling, working out the kinks on a new technique for a collaborative project and another book cover.
Oh, two books.
I am working on a black/white and a touch of red book.
And "The Green Fan (Girl from Toledo, Spain) (Robert Henri 1912) book.
Jeesh - that's not the name of the book,
just the painting (printed on fabric) that I put on the cover.



It's one of my favorite paintings.
It is on display at Gibbs Art Museum in one of my favorite cities - Charleston SC.
The museum owns the painting so it's on permanent display there.
It is just breath taking.
So if you're planning a visit to historic Charleston,
head over to the Gibbs.
You won't regret it.

Small Sketch Book

I carry a small (3.5"x5.5") Moleskine Sketchbook in my purse
along with two Pitt Artist Pens (S & XS).
I'm slowly filling the book up with my "Doodle Drawings".
Very simple yet intensely detailed little drawings.
Can be done anywhere -
with any inspiration.
These drawings were done while
looking through my well loved copy of Graham Leslie McCallum's
"4000 Animals, Bird & Fish Motifs (A Sourcebook)".
Love, love, love his sourcebooks!
Check them out!
Oh, and draw -
EVERYDAY!