Showing posts with label coloured pencil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coloured pencil. Show all posts

Thursday, 31 October 2019

Art Elements Challenge Reveal - Eyes

It is the time for the reveal for the Art Elements monthly theme challenge.  This month I set the theme for the month and I chose 'Eyes'.  I love eyes.  I love their depth and mystery.  I can't say I was over productive this month, I have a lot of various things going on and so my free time is a bit disrupted but I did have an idea to create something felted.  I delved into the world of felting.. more dipped in a little toe... last summer.  I blame Art Elements and the ladies in the group with their diverse and talented creations they show which inspire  me to try new things and buy new materials!  

I 'acquired' some soft round balls from someone who was selling them off as surplus to their requirements.  I had absolutely no idea what so ever what to do with them but they appealed to me in their round white softness so I 'had to have them'!  My daughter had this enormous pom pom on her car keys and she managed to lose it and wanted another one, so rather than her buy one I said I would make her a new massive ball and created this felted eye, added a key ring thingie and 'ta dah'.....  it is now on her over night bag she takes to the boyfriends.  I am rather pleased with how it turned out and she loves it so a good afternoon spent stabbing my fingers whilst felting I think! 

 Another one of those round balls and this time I had the idea of 'building' up the ball into a shape.  I also have these 'googly eyes' which I was determined to use.  I created this frog with the idea that he will have felted arms and feet but I am not sure I like him enough to continue so he has been banished to the UFO (Un Finished Objects) pile.
This is still 'under construction' as I am not happy with the scale but I want to make some eye pendants with my eye doodles.  I have rekindled my love of coloured pencils after a couple of years dabbling in watercolours... I always return to my beloved pencils....  This one is a little too big for the pendant frame, which when you consider the frame size is tiny.  I also used the 'wrong' pencils.  This is done with Derwent Coloursoft which do not lend themselves to fine detail but they have a great colour spectrum.  I need to use some of my harder pencils like  my Polychromos... I might have an eye wateringly large collection of pencils.....

To end my post a few doodles from this month in my sketchbook playing with various brands of pencils.  This one is Caran d'Ache, nice pencils to use.  I wanted a tonal study in colour rather than a realistic one.  

Some blue eyes in Derwent Artist and Studio pencils - I did say I have rekindled my love of pencils and my collection is rather extensive..... These are harder pencils which lend themselves to nice sharp points!

And finally a quick study (actually they all are in my sketchbook....) of Gordy, my little cat, eye.  He has the most gorgeous deep golden eyes with very large pupils due to his brain damage. 
I think I need to get out some good quality paper and do a few big studies of eyes again... after a bit more practise that is ;)  
I hope you will follow the links below and see what the others who joined in this challenge created.


AE Team
Susan  
Marsha  
Claire  
Jenny  
Niky  
 
Guests
Dawn  
Hope  
Kathy  
Tammy    
Cat  

Saturday, 31 August 2019

Art Elements theme challenge reveal - Octopus.

This month's Art Elements theme was set by Claire and was Octopus.  Not a subject I was overly familiar with and I struggled...alot!  I have nothing 'concrete' or finished or even started really but I did spend a few evenings doodling and as octopus was on my mind here is a few of the doodles and experiments.  I am sure that everyone else who participated in the challenge will have been far more productive and can show something rather spectacular.. or should that be tentacular? which according the Urban Dictionary means something of many parts which is difficult to manage!  I rather like that word...tentacular...  


So first up was Sharky Malone, actually he was last up and as such I got distracted so I never finished 'colouring' him in - as has been my way just lately my muse is being quite elusive, or is that my staying power for finishing anything!  So Sharky Malone is a shark, obviously and I had this fleeting thought of how Sharky would capture his dinner if he was devious, why of course he would build himself an Octopus Theme Park and fill it with stolen pirate treasure to attract the youngsters.... 
If you can't see the 'story poem' I wrote all over the page here it is...

A plan was hatched by Sharky Malone
Who pretended that he was still at home
But, down at the park, just left of the shell
Was Sharky Malone, disguised very well.
'Come closer little fish, there's treasure to see
Don't be afraid of little old me.....'


I brought some peg doll 'things' the blank wooden wotsits (all technical terms) recently and had this idea I would do a peg doll octopus - I have endless doodles of that but nothing came of it!  I also came across some ply wood (I think) door hanging thingies and as I have Arteza watercolour pens AND Posca pens I decided to see if they would work together on the wood.  They do!  fancy that!  I need to varnish this but I ran out of spray varnish so need to buy some more, then I will hang this on my bathroom door, my kids might have grown up but I think I am regressing!  


Close up of the Octopus door hanging thingie...  I was thinking of costumes for some reason, I think I had been in my wardrobe and spied my dragon onesie - for winter you understand ;)  - and wondered if you could get an octopus one.. I bet you can! 


Just a random doodle in water colour pencil with the same pencil used dry on the top.  


...and another doodle in the sketchbook this time using my lovely Faber Castell Polychromos pencils, oh how they glow with colour and so gorgeous to use...  I like layers and some evenings are just made for sitting and layering....  

That is all from me this month for the challenge.  It isn't very much or very complete.  I doodle a lot!  I can't keep still!  But I thought I would show that although I don't have anything particular I still was thinking of the challenge.  I am looking forward to seeing finished pieces from those that have taken part as I have seen a few 'in progress' photos on Instagram and am intrigued....


Tuesday, 30 October 2018

Art Elements October Theme Challenge Reveal - Petroglyphs.

This month's Art Element Theme Challenge was set by Karen from the team and it was Petroglyphs.  You can see the original post here  

I have to admit I didn't know the word or that it has any history to it but I have been drawing on rocks and just about everything for as far back as I can remember - and that includes walls, I used to do murals in my kids rooms and the bathroom.. the en suite... I might have done the downstairs looe in one house too... but I just love to draw, doodle, illustrate.

The oldest stone I have ever done that I still have, is from 2006 and I use it to stop my kitchen door from bashing into my fridge as the handle of the door just connects nicely with the corner of the fridge.  I remember painting it, one summer holiday day, the kids were off school and the sun was beating down, it was 'almost' too hot to be outside so I was sat at the table in the kitchen painting a big old stone we had unearthed from the garden.  



I love watercolour paint these days, after many years of hating them they are now my go to for any doodling I do but before watercolour paint my instrument of choice was the coloured pencil.  The stone below of the orange cat is Inktense pencils, activated with water to make it smooth and many many layers later.......

A coat of spray varnish and this cat sits on my hearth, the only one in the family to not put hairs on the furniture!   I have a few more on my hearth in the living room too but this one is my favourite.

When Karen announced this challenge I started looking around for stones to paint.  This time of year the farmers are harvesting and plowing the fields ready for winter plantings so lots of lovely stones come to the surface of the mud but filling your pockets on a dog walk with stones a) makes people look at you funny and b) makes you walk oddly.  I fancied sourcing some wooden pebbles that I had seen others paint on via Pinterest.  


I found some!!  I ordered 6 approx 2 inch ones, the shapes do vary and slightly bigger one of approx 3 x 2 inches.  They are lovely wooden pebbles and for a while after they arrived I didn't want to spoil them. 


I tried Inktense blocks as watercolour paint on the wooden pebble at first and I hated it so I washed it off - I was a little surprised that when the Inktense had dried it wasn't stable, it did leave a small stain but I just turned it over...  

Some of my problem in drawing on the wooden pebble was me.  This last month, blame the weather, things going on at home, life in general and my creative muse was just not forth coming and when that happens I revert back to being very picky about everything I do and whereas I favour a looser illustrative style I tend to work very photo realistic when I am stressed.  I used to work photo realistic in coloured pencil in the very beginning, that is how I learn't to use the pencils with the many many layers but now that annoys me, I like colour and fun and illustrative not formal.  Thankfully I picked up the pencils and as I had 'ruined' one side of this pebble I just set about having fun and my muse didn't disappoint me.  I rather like my little girl pebble. 


I do paint on just about anything - by paint I mean use pencils or watercolour or acrylic although the latter is not fluid enough for me even with the flow medium to make it so.  This little disk of wood is small, approx 1 inch round and I used Inktense blocks as watercolour paint.  I love strong vibrant colours.  I also LOVE outlines, just don't ever tell my art mentor from many years ago as he always steered me towards 'proper' art!  


Another wooden disk this time with acrylic, I find acrylic too gloopy for me and I struggle but I do love painting cats!  

Varnishing these things is a completely different subject!  You can't use a painted on varnish as it smudges the work - which is my favourite way of doing it - and on most I have used spray clear lacquer but I don't like it, the wooden pebble I experimented and sealed the surface first using a pencil fixative then when that was dry I used my acrylic matt varnish which you paint on, which worked brilliantly and I will be trying that again, hopefully it wasn't a one off!  

The others that took part in this theme are below....

Our Guest Artists:
CraftyHope: http://CraftyHope.com

Art Elements Team:
Jenny Davies-Reazor: https://jdaviesreazor.com
Cathy Spivey Mendola: http://cmendola.blogspot.com
Marsha Neal Minutella: http://blog.marshanealstudio.com