Illustration Friday and Paint Party Friday Challenges

Thank Goodness it is Friday,

This one is going to be a new venture. This sketch is my first participation in the Illustration Friday Challenge. The background was sealed first as to prevent the watercolors from seeping through the page. Then I washed over with a light blue, the next layer was with a mask laid over the dry paint and a darker color of blue, then I continued to go over the bottom until it was darker for the road I wanted. The Challenge was the word "Tension". As we all know our economy isn't the best, weather causes food to go up, gas is ridiculous and wages aren't rising at the same pace. If this doesn't cause tension you are a stronger person than I am. will leave a link, so you can check out the other participants work. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Well I guess I should have checked out the information , I did not know you could not post the previous weeks topic on Friday. Jokes on me. I will still use this for Paint Party Friday.

Creative Tuesday Challenge

Good Afternoon,

Hope you all had a great weekend, the weather was decent here but cooler than usual for this time of year. Well I took a little different direction this time. I was on my Facebook page and noticed I was getting request for this candy game, so I checked it out. I thought that is a sweet game, and since our theme is "Candy", or something sweet I decided to use this game.
The background of the page is magenta ink pigment from a stamp pad gently slid across the paper till desired result. The game and lettering is both markers, colored pencils. Then of course it is sealed. I think it turned out a little cute. I will be using this for a couple other challenges: Diana Evans Sweet Saturday, link here, A piece a week, link is here. The link back to look at more Creative Tuesday postings is this link.

Diana Evans 10 min warm ups

 

 

Good Afternoon,
I hope you all had splendid weekend. I can honestly say I am a tad behind on all my challenges, may not be able to post to all the ones I usually do. But I will do the best I can. The pages above are 10 minute warm-ups I do for the Diana Evans 10-min warm up sketches. As I said I doodle more of the warm ups than I get posted. For some reason posting takes me a sometime to get completed. Well I am off to post a few more challenges and to finish two I have started so I can get them posted before the dead lines. Have a wonderful evening.

Sketchbook Challenge

Good Afternoon,

I don't think bowls are my forte, but I tried and will practice to get better. The top piece are Southwestern style clay bowls. The bowl standing up needed more shading to show the rim, as this is a shallow bowl, not a plate. The second one is my favorite bowls I own. The top small bowl needed the sides to be straighter. The bowl it is sitting on is a pitcher style bowl turned upside down. The bowl standing up is a ring dish. This was done in watercolors and alcohol ink. I am going to try to link these back to the Sketchbook Challenge site, I have never done this. Sketchbook Challenge
I believe it worked yeah. Have a great weekend.

Diane Evans 10 min warm ups

Good Morning,

I just wanted to take a quick moment and post a couple of my 10 minute warm-up sketches. I do far more of these than I ever get posted, so I told myself this morning I was going to take the time to show a few. Thanks for looking, have a great weekend.

A Piece a Week

This is an acrylic piece I did yesterday. I go to one of the paint venues in our city to do canvas painting. I try to replicate some of the paintings they teach on my own as I can't afford to always go to classes. This is one from the venue Paint_Cellar in Indianapolis. I painted the background in lilac and blende with white while still wet. The flowers are a mixture of violet, berry and white.
I hope you enjoy this springy canvas. Have a great weekend.

Inspiration Ave Retro 50's and 60's/Paint Party Friday

Good morning,
I have felt really lousy lately, I am on disability for degenerative joint disease. My arthritis is really painful, I am getting numb in my shoulder which I am assuming is from the bad places in my neck. But time goes on and I don't want to give up my art works.
The one I have posted here is for Inspiration Ave and Paint Party Friday. The page was fun to do. I started by gluing a whimsical flower scrap book page into my journal, then I white-washed over that page to tone down the colors. After that I used distressed ink pad to stamp paisley designs over the page. I also stenciled a wallpaper design from the 60's. I let everything dry before beginning to glue my collage cut out of items from those eras. I also added some retro buttons. The lettering are varieties of sticker lettering. Then to finish off as typical I sprayed with glossy Mod-Podge. Well that is all for now I am working on other challenges to post shortly. Have a great weekend.

Craft Barn Challenge Letter K

Good Evening

This letter was a bit difficult for me to choose since there are so few words and I try not to use something already used by someone else. By using different words we get a vast array of themes. I started this with tearing out and gluing my dictionary pages in my journal. Then I took the page out of my travel Atlas for Kansas and glued it over the dictionary page on left side. I added some note stickers with some facts about Kansas such as motto and capital. The right side was painted with yellow watercolor. Kansas state flower is the sunflower, so I drew a sunflower with charcoal, added color with pencils. Sealed my page as usual. Well this is my last posting for tonight. I hope everyone has a good weekend and I will be sure to check out your postings.

Inspiration Ave Challenge

Good Evening,

Our theme for this week was a sad woman with flowers in her hair. I am the first to admit I can't draw a face at all, it is on my to do list to practice. But for this challenge I got a face out of "La Dee Da " fashion sketchbook and cut around the hairline. So to start my page I used a background scrapbook page glued, then I glued the face on. I colored her hair with charcoal blending when I was finished. I used stencils for the big flowers in her hair and stickers for the smaller ones. I redid her eyes to make her look sad and added the teardrop with colored pencil. I drew in a nose which didn't come out exactly the way I wanted it, but okay. The lips are done in colored pencil. The quote is done with stick ons and of course the page is sealed with glossy spray Mod-Podge. I was satisfied when I was done, but need to work on drawing faces. Have a great weekend.

Creative Everyday Challenge

Good Afternoon

I really was motivated on flowers I guess, I have two postings for Creative Everyday Challenge- the theme for May is flowers. The first page is done with stencils. I used Smooch spritz for the roses, some of the leaves are done with chalk, and some with markers. The other stencils are done with opaque markers and I finished it off with spray sealer. It is a very simplistic piece, but I like that about it.

The second page I am also posting in the Art Journal Journey challenge for May. The theme was to do a piece using a technique you don' typically use or uncomfortable using. I have never done masking before, so this piece I used a mask I received in a Scrapbook magazine along with the blender. So the first thing I did was place the mask, and tape in position, then I took chalk and blended over the mask in several colors. I have to admit I like the results. I used a light soft charcoal pencil to draw the flowers. Stamped a border at the bottom and used stick ons for the lettering. Sprayed with sealer and this page was complete. It is another simplistic piece but I like it. I can't wait to see everyone else's creations. Have a great day.

Journal Journey's Challenge for May

Good Morning,
I have gotten a little more inspired and motivated this week. I did two selections for Journal Journey's
challenge. I am also using the Peacock feather for Paint Friday the week of the 17th. The first piece "Birds of all Kind" , the background was started with a thin layer of sealer, I let it thoroughly dry, then using watercolor I went over the page. As you can see it does not cover evenly which is what I was going for. While still wet I used a couple of stamps of birds and bird cages for negative stamping. I can see them but they are not as distinct as I was hoping. Then I drew the big bird and painted with acrylic paint in cobalt blue and Prussian blue mixed. As you can see somehow I got the bird's belly out of whack, it is to large, better next time. I let the paint dry, then added some stamping of birds, used stickers for lettering and added some embellishments. Lastly I sealed with Mod-Podge sealer. I am content with the piece but want to keep practicing to do this process better. Have a blessed day.

The second piece is "the peacock feather". This page was started using a piece of scrapbook paper glued onto a page in my journal. The swirls were done using acrylic paint. I love the way the swirls worked, but am a little disappointed in the top circle is to heavy on the paint and is not as opaque as I was trying for, but overall I am pleased with the page. This is my second post for Journal Journey's and am also using for Paint Friday. I hope all of you are busily working on your challenges, and I want to check them out. I get a lot of inspiration looking at other artist works. Have a great day.

Creative Tuesday

Good Morning,
First of all sorry for the lack of quality of the picture, my camera is having issues, may have to purchase a new one. Well as you can tell I really need a lot more practice in my sketches. But for this challenge I have attempted the Three Little Pigs The background is stamping chalk, then with a precise fine print pen I drew their house and then their heads sticking out the windows. I added some stamped on flowers and used markers for the grass and leaves. I then finished with a Mod-Podge sealer.
Not one of my better works and I may try to do another piece for this challenge, but this will be posted for now encase I don't have time to try again. The challenge was trio and was not one that I got inspired to creatively. I hope you all are having more inspiration and I can't wait to look at other postings. I will be posting other challenges throughout the day. Have a blessed day.

inspiration Ave Challenge

Our challenge for this week was Sunrise/Sunset which was a great theme. I have to say my creative juices were not flowing very well for this challenge. I found this picture in a magazine and loved the sunset, but never did find a sunrise that I liked. I thought I would try out my pastels which I have not used in awhile. It turned out okay, bur I don't feel the colors blended as well as I would have liked.
so my entry is pastels versus photo. Then I sealed the piece with decoupage sealer. I am going to have to work with my pastels more to get the techniques down the way I want them. Have a great Mother's Day to all of you mothers and a good weekend to everyone. I am working on several other challenges and will post them as I complete them.

Paint Party Friday

 

This week's is a little different then my usual type, this piece was also used for last weeks Inspiration Avenue challenge-high heels. Trying to match heels with your dress is always a dilemma for most women. The background is scrap book paper from the pearlescent collection. Then two strips from another scrapbook page is used to frame the sides. Stencils were used for the dresses, then I cut the same dresses out of cardstock and glued them on for designer dresses. Other side has your choices for heels to go with the outfits. Finally I sprayed with gloss Mod-Podge to seal the page. I am working on numerous monthly challenges so this will keep me busy this weekend. Have a blessed weekend.

Craft Barn Challenge

Good Afternoon,

I am trying to play catch up with pieces for the challenges I am involved with. This posting is the Craft Barn Challenge, letter A. I pondered over words and finally zoomed in on something a little different my normal type pieces. I used the word Atom.
First I gessoed the pages of the dictionary and glued them onto my page. Outlining the definition with marker. Once gesso was dry I ran chalk sideways up and down the page for some hues in the background. I drew an atom diagram on one side and a nuclear atom on the other. I added embellishments and lettering in Zigzag memory system pens. Finally I finished with spray Mod-Podge to seal the piece. It is different then most of my work, but it works for me in reference to this challenge. Hope to see your postings for this challenge. I like looking at what other artist come up with for these letters.  I will be posting for other challenges over the weekend. Have a blessed day.

I

Inspiration Avenue Challenge

The theme this week for Inspiration Avenue was High Heels. I used scrapbook pearlescent page for background. Then cut two strips from a different sheet to put on each side to add some color. This was a fun piece, it reminded me of when I was young in the paper doll era. I drew the dresses, then cut them out of cardstock and glue them on. One is colored with marker. Then there are the heels done in marker to match your outfits together. Writing is done with Zigzag Memory system pens. Lastly it was sprayed with gloss Mod-Podge to seal.
This was all great and good, I liked the results of this piece, but turned around and missed the posting deadline. Oh well I still enjoyed working on the page.
Off to work on some other challenges and hoping not to miss anymore posting deadlines. Have a blessed day.

Creative Tuesday

This is my presentation for Creative Tuesday- the theme was monograms. I had fun with this one. The initials are done in Urban Subway writing. The design has been done in pencil first then I went over them with different color markers. Then using a Medium white gel pen I added the lines and dots. Lastly I shaded chalk around the designs and sprayed with gloss Mod-Podge to seal. So now I will be posting this, and then taking a peak at the other presentations which I can spend hours looking at other works of art. Have a blessed and creative week. All comments are appreciated.

New Grandson

Good Morning,
I know I am a little behind in my posting, but we have a new addition to the family. I just watched my third great grandchild enter the world. Of course I think he is a real cutie. I will be posting some works the rest of the week as I complete them. I am way behind on my challenges, so I have a lot to get done this week end along with the soccer games and birthday parties. May is a very busy month so I am going to work at finding extra time to keep up with my journal pages, paintings and sketch challenges. I hope to have time to go through many of your blogs to see what you have been doing and gather some inspiration as I always do when I look through others creativities. So off I go to work on and post some challenges. I hope everyone has a blessed and creative weekend.
I am having trouble posting a picture of my new little gem, so will keep working on it later and post when I can.