Finding Beauty

This started out as a very simple watercolor, really just splotches. In fact it looked like a 1st graders depiction of flowers. I did it in a hurry about 2 weeks ago and left in on my work table in case I was desperate. Yesterday, I realize I had 7 cards to make in 3 days so I was desperate! It orginally was just the watercolored flowers and vase against the white index cards so I watercolored around the whole composition and that helped but it was still simplistic. I added a little more depth and dimesion to the flowers and vase by adding darker shades of watercolors to them.

 It still wasn't quite right so I picked up my Pitt artist pen....again! I am officially addicted to black line work now. Nothing feels finished or right unless I go around it with that pen. I'm going to need a 12 step program to help me put down that pen. But for now it helped me get this card looking presentable. And in that whole process I found the beauty in this card and created something I like. 

Put a Little Love in Your Heart

For this card, I think I used a little bit of inspiration from everyone on ICAD.  I like Charlie_Brown's idea of using rubber cement for masking watercolors so I painted the whole card a turquoise color and then painted rubber cement in heart shapes. After the rubber cement dried I watercolored the background a reddish, magenta color.  I removed the rubber cement and added details with the Pitt artist pen.  Then I outlined in white gel pen and black watercolor pens, which was then moistened with a wet brush to soften.  Thank your Tracy Scott for that technique. Then, like Pam, I started layering on colors of paint until I had a soft textured background. 

I was very happy with that but wanted to finish with some words.  I had a song in my head I wanted to used but had the darnedest time finding the exact words because it was a song I though Diana Ross did.  And I couldn't quite get the turn right to sing the song to myself.  And I had the words wrong. I thought it was Shine a Little Love in your Life, which turned out to be a song by Electric Light Orchestra. But I finally found the right song and it wasn't Diana Ross, it was "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" by Jackie DeShannon.

So there's my card for today and it put a little love in my heart to create it.  Only 2 more days of ICAD and I have 4 cards to make to get to my full 61 cards.  I've got a couple of ideas for 2 cards.  We'll see what I come up with!

Giraffe

I actually drew this cute guy a few days ago and left him sitting un-colored on my work table. I didn't think I would actually be using him but I'm getting down to the last few days of ICAD and I'm behind by at least 4 cards so it's not time to be choosy.  Actually once I got the color on him I liked him a whole lot more.  The color on his face is funky.  I don't remember what giraffe faces look like in terms of coloring.  I had my computer right there and could have looked it up but I was on roll.  I think he is a cutie and probably needs a name. Clyde.  I don't know why, but he looks like a Clyde to me!

Play Ball

I was watching a baseball game a couple of nights ago and had my Pitt pen and so index cards in my lap with the intention of doing some drawing.  I didn't actually draw anything but I started doodling by drawing curvy lines on the index card and then making baseball stitching marks along the line.  I figured it might become a pretty good card.  They next morning I colored each segment either blue, green, red-brown or yellow.  Why those colors?  Green for the grass, blue for the sky, red-brown for the infield dirt and yellow for the sun shining down on the beautiful scene that baseball presents.  It really is a beautiful game to me.

After I colored it, it wasn't anything special so I thought I would try a collage.  I didn't have much in the way of baseball stuff but I did have some sporting and vintage paperwork scrapbook paper . I also lettered and distressed the Play Ball! element.  I'd like to point out that I don't cringe when I look at the lettering on this!  Once I glued everything down I just started distressing and outlining until I had something I like.  I learned some great outlining ideas from this video from Tracy Scott. She is an ICAD participant who does amazing cards with vibrant colors and lots of little details.

I am very happy with the outcome of this card.  It is much fun to see something develop when you have no idea where you are going with the card!

Doodling

I was starting to loss my mojo again.  I just could think what I wanted to create on an index card.  And I was supposed to be used ICAD to practice my drawing skills but I've been getting lax in that department. To get me going again I figured I would just doodle, or more specifically, Zentangle.  There are some amazing zentanglers out there who can draw minute detail or create illusions of 3-d.  I'm just a basic Zentangler, but I find it fun and indeed a bit zenful.  For this one I went with "linear" designs.  I drew the snakey looking things first to divide up the page and filled in the spaces with viney looking things.  

Sunday Morning

Nothing too exciting with this card.  I was watching the CBS's Sunday Morning and throughout their broadcast each week they show artistic depictions of the sun between segments.  I remember the Sun wall hanging we have in backyard and drew a quick sketch of it.  Here is the wallhanging:

I had good intentions of adding color but we decided to go visit the Musical Instrument Museum so I called it done when finished the sketch.

Palmer Method

I was still intrigued with the Palmer Method of handwriting so I turned it into ICAD card.  It was a fun card to create and one of my favorites.  I mix blue and green acrylic paint together to get the right color for a school chalkboard and gave the index card a good coating of paint.  I used my white quite marking pencil to write the letters..  And the cool part was...my letters actually look half way decent. Except for that upper case "F".  That one doesn't look quite write.  for the rest of the card I just printed some images from the internet and voila!

I did realize that I learned the Palmer method in school. I just don't remember it being called that.  I remember making those exact shapes while practicing in class.  I still use most of those letter forms, but I write a few, like the upper case "F" and "Q".  This week I've been trying to slow down when I'm writing at home and work and see if I can get some improvement.

The Bad Handwriting is on the Wall!

After my one week exercise in Handlettering I came to a simple conclusion.  My handwriting is really bad.  I just don't see to have any control over what my hand is doing.  I started to do some research on the internet to find ways to improve handwriting and I discovered some interesting things. Like there is a international society for master penmen, engrossers and teachers of handwriting. Who knew?  And apparently everyone who went to catholic school learned something called the Palmer method of writing from the nuns. I found the original instruction book for the Palmer method and it required quite of bit of discipline. No wonder the nuns loved it. 

Anyway, after a week of pretty awful handlettering I decided to make a collage that involved no handwriting. But since the past week's cards were still on my mind handwriting became my theme.  I actually cut the tag and flowers a couple of months ago when I was making a bunch of greeting cards at one time to have on hand.  I assembled the flowers and stamps onto the card but didn't know what else to add.  I went through some of my boxes of stuff, but nothing was speaking to me. And then I just started surfing the net looking for handwriting information and soon I had my card!  Not my favorite, but it's done!

Way Behind

Wow...amazing how days can suddenly slip away when your routine is disrupted.  Just a week ago I took my dad to hospital and suddenly my blog is way behind.  Fortunately, I was able to somewhat keep up on ICAD.  I should have 53 cards right now, but only have finished 50.  Not too bad actually and I do have at least one card that I made, but didn't love.  If I need an extra card to make it to 61 I'll throw that one in.

Well, let's see...what have I done since last Tuesday:

I was having trouble getting myself settled and focused. I knew I needed to get something down on an index card to get me going again, but was blocked creatively.  So I made myself think of one word to get me going.  That word turned out to be home.  I was glad my dad was home from the hospital and I was glad I had the day off from work and didn't have to run to the hospital.  It was a well needed day at home for me.

The one thing I haven't really tackled during this ICAD challenge is handwriting, so I decided to write the word Home in a creative font and then I decided to write a different word in a different font for the whole week.  In order to keep myself from getting blocked I decided that every word would start with "H" and that every word would be a happy or positive word.  

That got me focused and in fact on Sunday I wrote 5 of the words immediately. I do wish I had done the backgrounds first.since I was limited to using watercolors once the words were already written.  I used watercolors for the backgrounds but decided to experiment with a couple of techniques, like sprinkling salt on the paper after doing a wash (hope) and spritzing with alcohol (hugs).  I did get some effect but I think the effect would be better on watercolor paper. Index cards absorb too much water too quickly. 

For today's card, Humor, I was able to do the background first, but I still stuck to watercolors. I brushed the watercolor onto a acrylic block first and then smushed it onto the card.  I like that effect will try it with inks and acrylics, too. 

One more "H" word and then I'll move on to a new subject.  I think I'll work on drawing whimsical people and animals next week.  

Brightness

I couldn't figure out how some people are able to mix such nice bright colors.  When I mix colors they get darker and sometimes muddy.  I did figure out the muddy thing...turns out that's caused by mixing complimentary colors.  But I couldn't figure out the brightness thing until I realized....they are buying bright paint!  Duh!  So I ran to Joann's and bought 5 bottles of cheap acrylic paint in bright, bright colors.  Aha!  Bright!

I just needed to throw a quick card together today because I have a long to do list (and I'm already behind!) so finally broke open the bright paints and just threw them randomly on the card and then hit it with the Pitt pen.  Awesome for something that wasn't intended to be anything at all.  

Off to tackle my list now...but proud I got in my 15 minutes of creativity today.

Chopsticks

I thought the paper towel that I wipe my watercolor brush on was starting to look very pretty in its own way so I cut it to fit an index cards.  Then I noticed the scrap from last years card that had the layers of paper on it and though that would make a pretty bowl base and suddenly I had a rice bowl complete with chopsticks created.  Fun card and I love when I find a creative way to use scraps.

Another Day, Another D

I was only going to do one week of "D" but I had one more idea.  I combined my D with the landscape technique I tried out earlier in ICAD.  This landscape wasn't as good (don't like the brown on the top and bottom, plus my watercolors bled) but I don't have time to play today.  Done with D!

A New Day

This is the second time during the ICAD project that I got completely discouraged only to wake the next morning and feel a creative burst.  I needed to make one more "D" and I right away imagined cats making up the letter.  The shapes can fast and easy and even the coloring came out well. I'm happy with the result.

And while I was working on that I had another vision of a D inserted into the simple landscape that I tried out last week so I quickly sketched that out and will finish that for tomorrow's card.  A bonus D!

D is for Doodle

Almost couldn't create anything this morning.  I took a look at the latest ICAD posts from other participants and was just blown away by the talent I saw today.  Gorgeous drawings, collages, painting.  And that feeling that I could never be that good.

But, I made myself pick up a Pitt pen and just start doodling.  I drew out the outline of the D and then grabbed my Zentangle book and just started filling in.  The art of Zentangling is supposed to be meditative and contemplative and I found it to be just that.  As I drew the lines and shapes I gave myself a pep talk and soon I had the D finished.  The shape of the D is far from perfect but I know there are many artists I admire who don't create perfection.

So doodled D is done and I'm ready to be creative again tomorrow!

D is for discouraged

D is for discouraged today.  I was watching Cake Boss while I was having my coffee yesterday and they were making a beautiful Moroccan theme cake this morning: jewel tones, gold line work and quilted fondant.  It was incredibly beautiful so I thought I would try to make jewelled "D".  The pencil work looked pretty good so I grabbed my coloring tools (gold sharpie, gold prismacolor pencil, Pitt artist pen and watercolors) started working on completing it.  I like the effect of the gold sharpie, but it quickly fell apart for me after that.  My gold line work inside the shapes looks like a first grader did it and when I tried to create the illusion of quilting I ended up with a soggy mess (from trying to add color over color) in the same color of blue that I swear every one of my cards has.  Why can't I get away from that blue!  

Anyway, this is ICAD and the point to do something creative every day.  So I did that, but I don't love it.  But in the spirit of ICAD I posted it the the Flickr group anyway.  This morning I'm in Flagstaff and I brought my creative tools with me, but I am having trouble getting motivated to pick them up. It didn't help when I looked at the Flickr group this morning and it seemed like every new card posted since yesterday was a beautiful detailed drawing, obviously done by people with real talent.

I know, I know....the whole point of Discovering Doreen is to develop that talent through practice. And I even made a comment of agreement on someone else's card whose card read "Comparison is the Thief of Joy".  I wasn't going to judge myself by other people's work during this ICAD project. But I guess it's human nature to do that.  So I'm going to push past that right now, pick up my Pitt artist pen and doodle a D right now.  Here I go...getting back on the horse that threw me!

D day 4

Today's post is brought to you by the metallic letter "D".  Working with letters reminds me of watching Sesame Street with my younger sister and then later with my son.  Anyway, for last year's ICAD I made this card for which I used used aluminum tape laid over letters and other elements and then burnished to create the look of weathered metal:

That inpsired me to try to make my D look metallic today.  Because my skills are still basic I didn't try to get too fancy.  I mostly wanted to just included a few metal details and get the shading right. I'm happy with how it turned out.  It's not a photo-realistic drawing at all (as if I could do that!) but it captures what I was after.  I'm still struggling with getting the shading right.  I like how I shaded the rivets and seams but didn't quite get it right to create the curved surface of the D.  Especially in the upper left corner.

That's 4 days of "D's" so far...three more to go. What to do, what to do.....

D day 3

For today's D I revisited the idea I learned from Kristin Dudish although when I went back to look at her blog I realized I didn't interpret what I was seeing right.  I thought she was randomly painting on paper (she was!) and then cutting up it up into pieces (she was!) and then gluing those onto other pieces and turning the abstract pieces into actual items by drawing on them (she wasn't). What she actually was doing was cutting the random painting into squares and then finding abstract shapes in the square and drawing around those to create objects or scenes.  Also very cool and I'll have to try that soon. 

Sooooo, anyways, I randomly watercolored on paper and then used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the "D" (I forget which font) and glued the D to another index card that I had painted with acrylic paint.  I added a drop shadow with watercolor to give it a more dimensional look. I'm happy with the overall impact.  It would be fun to also use this D as a jumping off point for more embellishment, too.

D day 2

For today's "D" I got more adventurous. I wanted to make it more of an illuminated D.  I drew the basic D share and then added doodling to it.  I wanted to incorporate flowers and ribbons, too, and I enjoyed both drawing and coloring it.  If I could change one thing it would probably be to color the background something more contrasty.  The background blends too much with the rest.  But, overall I'm very happy with it.

d is for doreen

One of my intentions during ICAD is to work on my handlettering skills.  Uh, I think I have hand lettered on exactly one index card so far.  So for the next week I will hand letter, although t idea of handlettering an entire phrase or quote is too scary so I think will just do a letter.  D for Doreen.  

I started with a really simple one.  Just drew a lower case d and watercolored around it.  I wish I had added a little more interest...I stuck to one color and didn't even vary the shade.  When I went back and looked at my inspiration I realized how boring mine was.  I'll definitely do this again.  In fact the place where I got the inspiration made them as note cards and I may just do that. 

Skyline

I came across this cool technique in this blogpost by Kristen Dudish and loved the idea of randomly watercoloring on a piece of paper and then cutting that up to create embellished images.  I was very short on time this weekend so I did a much simpler version for my ICAD.  I watercolored stripes of

pink and teal and then went over half of each stripe with a darker tone of the same color.  I cut out the stripes and glued them to an index card that I watercolored in deepening shades of warm colors to simulate a sunset.  With a Pitt artist pen I drew lines to create high rise buildings (with antennas!). These must be Miami Beach highrises based on the color scheme.

It was a fun technique which I plan to revisit with a more complex subject matter.

Hooray for the Red, White and Blue!

Another quick card today because I have to work this morning.  Not too much more inspiring on the 4th of July than to see our beautiful flag waving in the breeze. 

It has been a trying experience to be an American lately, in terms of politics. But the good thing about patriotic holidays is that you have an opportunity to step back and appreciate how good our way of life and standard of living is.  It's not perfect...but we have so much and we have so many opportunities.  So thank you to our brave founding fathers who built this country and thank you to our brave service men and women, not just now but throughout our history who have protected our way of life.

Art in a Hurry!

 

I had to rush to work today but wanted to get my ICAD card done before I left the house so I walked into my craft room with the intent to grab the first materials I saw and DO SOMETHING QUICKLY. Well, that worked out really well because sitting right on top of my paper pile were the cards from last year that I had punched holes in for another card last week and a book page.  

I quickly glued the book page on the index card, then trimmed it to size.  Then I cut and glued the leftover cards at an angle and called it done! Well, serendipity ruled the day because the holes lined up with interesting passages from the book page.  So, all in all I would call today's card a success!

Tree Frog

Hey there lil fella!  I drew some free form leaves yesterday for ICAD and then I had an image of something peeking over the top of a leaf. Then I knew it had to be a tree frog.  I drew this just from my brain to begin and then looked at a reference photo to remember what their toes look like. One of my favorite cards so far!

Abstract Leaf

What a difference a day makes!  Woke up this morning chomping at the bit to get to my drawing and paint tools.  I had a couple of ideas I want to try out.  I wanted to take a simple shape like a leaf, make it more abstract and then color it brightly and not necessarily in realistic colors.  Love how it came out. At first I was going to make abstract shapes in the leaves...like zentangles, maybe...but then I just liked the idea of drawing veins on one side, but not the other. 

The other idea I had was from an art teacher. I followed a pin to this blog and saw a beautiful way to create simple abstract watercolor landscapes.  Here is an example of her work:

I quickly put together a little index card landscape using the same technique.  I didn't do all the textures and my landscape is very simplified but I created something with the same feeling.  I'm looking forward to spending more time to really create something good with this technique:

The second one is a direct copy of one of the originators samples.

Unmotivated!

I just couldn't get my creative juices or motivation flowing at all on Sunday or Monday.  Sunday I was just plain tired.  Spent a lot of time on the sofa reading and napping but couldn't get myself to pick up any drawing tools, even though they were sitting on the table next to me.  Yesterday I went to work at 6am and then met at friend for lunch at 11:30.  After lunch I did some grocery shopping, then came home.  I still couldn't get myself motivated to do an index card.  Finally, around 5:00 I FORCED myself to go to my crafting room, pick up a an index card and put something on it...anything!

I took my sofa pillow in there with me and tried to recreate the pattern of circles and lines from it.  It was horrible. So I grabbed the circle template and drew random circles on the card. Then I filled the spaces with triangles from another template.  Then I just simply colored with watercolor pencils, applied water and called it done.  Nothing fancy, nothing creative, but a card done.  I didn't want to get the feeling that I had missed so many cards, so why continue?

Anyway, done and on to tomorrow!