More Playing with Pencils - Mauve Tulip

A great thing about sketching is that one can do it just about anywhere with just a few supplies.  And this week in the evenings my location of choice has been a recliner in the living room under a warm afghan.  We've had some bitterly low temperatures this week, including a record breaking 20 degrees below zero Friday morning!

Tulips have been my signature flower for years.  Back in the 1990s, you would have found a lot of mauve-colored tulip decorative items in my house.  Although I've moved on from the mauve and the tulips in my decorating, there's still something about that combination that I find soothing.  I created this tulip on a postcard made from 140 lb hot press watercolor paper, using only Derwent watercolor pencils.

I hope the weather in your neck of the woods is a bit more pleasant.  Have a great day!

Supplies:
Strathmore 140 lb hot press 5x7 watercolor postcard; Derwent watercolor pencils; Niji water brush.

Playing with Pencils - Chubby Bird

I've been playing with my new black Stabilo All Pencil this week.  A lot of mixed media art journalers use it because it writes on a variety of surfaces.  My favorite thing about it is that it's water-soluble; it gives a wonderful watercolor/charcoal effect when wet.

Rendering #1 (above):  Chubby bird modeled after the image on this card by my friend Stephanie.  I used the Stabilo All Pencil and a regular watercolor paint brush to create this bird in my sketch journal.

Rendering #2:  Chubby bird using the Stabilo All Pencil and  Derwent watercolor pencils.  I switched to 140 lb hot press watercolor paper and a Niji water brush for this one.  The birdie is the palest blue on his head and lower tummy, which is not showing up well in the scan.

Rendering #3:  Chubby bird using a little heavier watercolor pencil and the Stabilo.  This one is on bristol paper using a Niji water brush, and I decided he was good enough to put on a card in spite of not liking the twig that I put under his feet.  I fixed that by adhering a scrap of vintage sheet music left over from another project.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous Friday.

Saguaro Sunset Painted Box - Mail Art

To shake things up this month, the Envie Addicts had the option of sending "weirdy mail" rather than just a standard altered envelope or postcard.  And if the weirdy mail is mailed "naked" (without wrapping or packaging), even better!  At first I wasn't sure how weird I wanted to go, but after some thought I decided to try something completely different from my usual.

I started with a small, sturdy box that used to hold a home decor item.  It's about 6 x 3.5 x 3.25 inches.  After gluing the box shut, I gave it a coat of gesso and covered it with tissue paper, which I also coated with gesso.  I then went in search of inspiration and found it in the form of a poem in a 1940s school book (more on that below).  The poem set my subject matter: a saguaro cactus at sunset.

After finding a sunset photo on the internet to use as a color reference, I measured the three sides of the box that I planned to paint and created a template.  I loosely sketched my design on the template and used transfer paper to trace it onto the box.  Next came the moment of bravery:  actually painting the box!  I haven't used acrylics much in this way so it took me a while to get the sky the way I wanted it, but eventually I was happy with it.

I also painted and decorated the front (address side) and ends of the box.  The final step was to add the poem using a Pitt artist pen.

Based on the size and final weight of the box, I adhered sufficient postage and sent it on its way.  It actually reached its destination fairly quickly (quicker than some altered envies I've sent) and I am told it arrived mostly unscathed.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous day.

The poem I used was found in Choice Poems for Elementary Grades, compiled by Matilda Mahaffey Elsea and published in 1943.  I bought the book at an antique store and it includes works by both well-known poets as well as relative unknowns.  This poem is allegedly a Pima Indian medicine song, translated by Natalie Curtis.

Wind Song

Far on the desert ridges

Stands the cactus;

Lo, the blossoms swaying

To and fro,

The blossoms swaying,

Swaying. 

Supplies:
Used, small heavy cardboard box; Golden gesso; Golden matte gel medium; Tim Holtz tissue paper; Saral Transfer tracing paper; Liquitex Basics acrylic paints; Golden Retarder; Faber Castell black Pitt artist pen; Sharpie black marker.

Arab Scarab - ATC

An artist trading card group that I've participated in occasionally is having a swap with the theme Spring in Egypt.  At first I wasn't too keen on the theme.  However, I did a little research and discovered that scarabs (otherwise known as dung beetles) have been sacred symbols in Egypt since hieroglyphic days.  Now I'm not a big fan of insects, but it just so happens that I've been holding onto a very nice image of a beetle that I clipped from a magazine, just waiting for the right time to use it.

Photo of a scarab (dung beetle)

Well, I ended up not using the magazine image; I didn't think my usual vintage-mixed-media-collage style fit the theme of spring in Egypt.  So instead I found a photo of a scarab online to use as a reference.  I printed the photo on plain copy paper and used transfer paper to trace the outline of the scarab onto Bristol vellum paper.  And that's when the fun really began!

Using Derwent watercolor pencils and a water brush, I painted my scarab in lovely tones of purple and green. I then outlined him with a black Stabilo All Pencil and used the water brush to blend that into the watercolor pencils.  I'm so pleased with the final result!  If you have not tried a Stabilo All Pencil yet, you must.  It gives a wonderful charcoal/watercolor effect when you wet it (more on that in an upcoming post). 

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous day.

Supplies:
Strathmore Bristol vellum paper; Saral transfer paper; Derwent watercolor pencils; Niji watercolor brush; Stabilo black All Pencil; Tim Holtz Schoolhouse stencil; Faber Castell black Pitt artist pen; wild honey distress ink; Krylon gold leaf pen.

Sketch Practice - Marti

For a year or more I've been sketching (well, doodling, more like) on a stack of unused day planner calendar pages held together with binder rings.  I keep it in the living room and it's become a handy place to jot down notes, practice my writing or just doodle.  Since the calendar pages didn't cost me anything and are on cheap paper, I don't feel any guilt about "wasting" them on idle scribbles.  Here's a sample page where I drew a small coneflower and scribbled down a recipe I heard on television.

Unfortunately, I'm running out of the calendar pages.  And in some cases, my doodles were actually rather nice sketches that I wished were on better paper and not done in ink pen.  So I decided it was high time I committed to using a real sketch book.  Therefore the calendar pages have been replaced with an honest-to-goodness hardbound blank journal (purchased years ago and never used), a pencil and an eraser.

I drew this face while watching television and titled it Marti after the classic movie I was watching at the time.  Marty is a touching film from 1955 staring Ernest Borgnine as a 34-year old, single butcher who lives with his widowed mother.  He struggles with the desire to find love for himself versus pleasing his family and friends, who make it clear they would prefer he stay single.

Since I haven't sketched too many faces I'm pleased with how this one turned out, and I plan to use her in some enhanced form on an art journal page or perhaps a piece of mail art.  In the meantime, I'm glad I have a "real" sketch in a "real" sketchbook to refer to.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great Presidents' Day.

Sweet Photo Booth Valentines

I've been waiting for the right moment to use a trio of photo-booth photos that I bought while on vacation last year.  The photos weren't labeled but based on the woman's hat and hairstyle I would guess that they're from the 1940s.  There's a faux mountain snow scene in the background and her gorgeous brooch appears to be some kind of bird, perhaps a peacock.

I started by die-cutting the smallest heart on striped patterned paper.  It is 3.5 inches at its widest point.  On top of that I layered another patterned paper, music washi tape, part of a floral sticker, and a small piece of vintage lace.  I copied the photo booth images onto matte photo paper and trimmed them closely before adhering.

 

The overall dimension of each card is less than 4.5 inches square, so they'll fit in a standard A2 envelope (4.5 x 5.75 inches).  I'll "fill out" the rest of the envelope by including a separate piece of light cardstock.  This helps protect the card and gives me a place to write a short letter.

The cards can be displayed by laying them on their sides.

Don't they look cute together?

Have you ever taken photos in a photo booth?  When I was a kid, the Woolworth store downtown had a photo booth in the basement.  My friends and I got pretty silly, striking different poses and making goofy faces.  We had a lot of fun and made some great memories for a dollar or two.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day.

Supplies:
Red cardstock by Core'dinations; kraft cardstock by Stampin' Up; patterned papers by My Mind's Eye; washi tape unknown; floral sticker by Cavallini; vintage lace from my stash; sentiment by Stampin' Up; Ranger Archival black ink; paper flower by Prisma; flower center by My Mind's Eye; Adirondack gold acrylic paint dabber; Derwent natural charcoal pencil; antique linen distress ink; heart and scalloped heart die cuts by Spellbinders.