Harry Potter

I'm not actually a big fan of Harry Potter (I know, I know, I'm probably the only person on the planet who is not). I was just trying to do a portrait with paint only and wanted to pick someone who had some distinguishing characteristics.  I really struggle with portraits.

Linking to Sunday Sketches.

EDM #251: Draw perfume

I wish I were someone who could wear any kind of delicious smelling perfume out there, but I suffer from migraines and am very sensitive to heavy, perfumey scents.  Fortunately, there are a few exceptions and one of my favorites is a light airy scent from Issey Miyake.  It takes me FOREVER to get through a bottle... sometimes, when I know I'm going to be spending most of my day indoors, I don't even use it, I just open the top and let myself take a little whiff to get my day going.  I even love the shape of the bottle!

 

 

 

Linking to AEDM #19 and EDM #251. 

The Graceful Envelope

Each year, the Washington Calligraphers Guild sponsors the Graceful Envelope Contest, which draws participation from some of the most amazing lettering artists from around the world.  This contest, in its 18th year, was originally created and sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution's National Postal Museum. In 2001, the Washington Calligraphers Guild took over as sponsor and, starting in 2003, the National Association of Letter Carriers has co-sponsored. 

Its open to all ages (separate judging category for children) and there is no cost to enter.  I'm not sure how many people enter, but I've been amazed at the talent and creativity of those whose entries have won in past years (each year's winning envelopes can be linked to from the Graceful Envelope Contest page).  According to the website:

Designs that incorporate postage stamp(s) into the theme are encouraged. Judges look for skill in lettering, effective use of color and design, and creative interpretation of the theme.

This year, I decided to join.  Not in the hopes of having a winning entry, but just I love the idea of this contest and I wanted to be part of it and to show my support of it.  This year's theme focused on creating a graceful envelope around something that begins with a D.  Pretty wide open there, huh?  So broad that it took me a while to come up with a theme that was meaningful, but I ultimately settled on the the idea of donors. Here is what I submitted:

I had a lot of fun with this and can't wait to see the winning entries!

Please check out what my friends at Paint Party Friday have been up to this week!

Words to Live By

Earlier this year I participated in the 2012 Sketchbook Project.  Once you register, the Art House Coop (project sponsors) sends you a small Moleskin journal, tagged with information specific to you.  Ultimately, your journal is housed as part of the permanent collection at the Brooklyn Art Library.  Before that, all the journals are part of a multi-city tour, where they can be viewed as part of a traveling show.  I thought that was a pretty cool way to connect with sketchbook junkies around the world!

The rules are fairly simple.  You can create whatever you want within the cover of the journal you receive.  You can add pages, subtract pages, alter the pages, use different paper, etc.  At the end, the journal must be held within the original, tagged cover and must have the same dimensions (height and length) as the original. Because I wanted to use watercolors and some bold inks, I choose to create on heavier, watercolor paper instead of the thin paper that was in the original journal.  I THOUGHT that it would be an easy task to just create my pages and then staple them back into the cover.

Not so much.  It turns out (and I discovered this just a day before it needed to be postmarked!) that a stapler that will reach to the center of the journal spread is apparently impossible to come by.  After much thought (well, as much thought as can be thunk in a panicky 24 hour period), I decided to sew the pages in.

Now, anyone who knows me will be having a good chuckle right now. (Suffice it to say that one time, while attempting to hem a pair of pants, I managed to cut a hole straight through the thigh... yes, that's right, the thigh!)  As far as the sketchbook goes, though, I ended up getting the pages attached to the cover (perhaps a little overzealously) and mailed it off. 

All of this got me realizing, however, that maybe I need to start now in preparation for Sketchbook Project 2013.   More importantly, I would really like to have the flexibility to create my own journals with hand-picked papers and varying numbers of pages for other projects as well. 

It's taken me several months, but I'm now on my way.  I found a great book by Alisa Golden called Expressive Handmade Books and have started with the simplest project, a basic accordion-style book:

After following some simple folding instructions to create the folds, I crafted covers out of covered cardboard and voila! my first handmade book. 

I recognize that this is pretty rudimentary, but I'm looking forward to finding more styles to play with. Given that I'm a visual learner, I will no doubt also scour YouTube for some great instructional demos.  If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

Absentee Doodling

I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted.  It has been a crazy and  introspective year for me in many ways and while I haven't had much time for "serious" art, I have continued doodling away as a means of distraction, stress release, inspiration, sleep avoidance, work avoidance, chocolate avoidance, etc... :-)

I think part of my issue is that I feel like I shouldn't be posting anything unless it's real art, but my sweetie has been encouraging me to post more often so that I can go back and see trends, progress and sources of inspiration over time.  He is completely right-- smart man!  I find so, so many things that interest me that I want to try and then I lose track of where they came from or how to find them again. 

This year I have been trying to take some online classes.  I keep telling myself that it will be easier to fit them in my schedule when you can take them at your own pace, but I have not been able to carve out the time to really jump in as much as I'd like.  I think I need to take a no travel vacation-- just a couple of weeks off to do nothing but revel in artiness! Doesn't that sound just like heaven??

Late last year, I took Lori Vleigen's LetterLab class and it was wonderful.  I just love Lori's sweet, distinctive style. 

I enjoyed that class so much that I was encouraged to take Joanne Sharpe's LetterLove class.  Also fantastic.  Another artist with a very distinctive style.  I so admire that as I believe I'm still trying to find my own.  This past week, I enrolled in Part II of Joanne's class, called Artful Alphabets. It starts on Monday and I can't wait!

Can you tell that I'm a bit obsessed with lettering?!?

Well, in attempt to broaden my repetoire a bit, I have stumbled upon another class that appears to be a dream!  Martha Lever-- yet another source of great inspiration-- recommended an art "playground" called 21 Secrets.  There are 21 distinct classes-- one taught by Martha, by the way!!-- all wrapped up into one program.  I've enrolled and have only had time to dip my toe in the water, but oooohhh... it looks to be very refreshing.  I'm so looking forward to spending lots of time pouring through the classes and videos this weekend!

With all these classes, I should have plenty to keep me even busier in the upcoming months!  Woo hoo!

In the meantime, I've been trying to keep creativity out in front... when I don't have time to engage in any of that serious art, at least I'm doodling about it.

I've been missing my sweet, creative friends over at Paint Party Friday so I'm linking up there, despite it being late in the day!  A whole collection of great artists there... check it out.  You won't be disappointed! 

serendipity

i have been meaning to do a little work on updating my blog to something a bit more personal for a few weeks now but tonight was the first chance i had to look at what that would take.  obviously, i am a novice at this, but i must admit that blogger makes it relatively easy for a newbie like me to at least be dangerous.  hopefully, i haven't made it harder to read than before.  i'm going for a sparser, dare i say, more sophisticated look! :-)

this month, lindsay ostrom has created a challenge for which she provides a different word each week and participants can create anything related to that theme.  the word for this week is serendipity.  isn't that such a great word?  not only does it mean 'happy accident' (and let's face it, if there's going to be an accident, it's always nice when it's happy, no?) but it even rolls off your tongue is such a fun, happy way.  not to mention that the word is practically synonymous with ice cream in NYC.  It doesn't get any better than that!

Also on the list of "lots of fun" this week, Paint Party Friday is celebrating a birthday as it rounds the corner into its second year!  What a fun group of eclectic artists this is... Many thanks to Eva and Kristin who not only host the party but have nurtured and grown it into a dedicated throng of artists with widely distinct styles!  Each week, I'm excited and amazed to see what everyone has been up to.   If you haven't already been involved, jump on board for YEAR 2!!

serendipity, meaning happy accident, just screams fun and color to me... so i had some fun with colors!

 

Sketching

i have several friends who are urban sketchers and i am in awe of their talent.  the fact that these artists can plop themselves down on a street and, with the mere flick of micron pen and a splash of watercolor, render the most beautiful scenes in no time at all, is just astonishing to me.  i can look at a scene and recognize the beauty of the architecture, the glory of the natural setting, the vibrancy of the people, but ask me to capture that in anything that looks like more than a 1st grader's refrigerator sketch and i'm lost.  nevertheless, i so WANT to be able to do that... so, i'm going to work on it.  i post this here as what i hope will someday be my 'before' sketch. :-)