Improved mandala

It was bugging me to see the mandala from afar. It was just to washed out. So, I went over the colored areas with a red colored pencil. This is it-the final. I am pleased.

 Now on to Septembers piece. Think that it might be ballpoint pen.

March mandala

Yes, I've used pen and colored pencils, BUT the outside border is a fuzzy cord that has been stitched! The technique was inspired by work by Izziyana Suhaimi  at www.Izziyana Suhaimi.com. Stitching on paper is definitely a new element for me.

 

Staying cool

The temperatures are in the 100's this week, so I am staying inside and doing quiet projects!

Here are some more sketchbook pieces influence by Rebecca Blair. There is so much much to learn in these exercises, balance, design, techniques and color.

The mandala for this month was done with markers and colored pencil.

New mandala challenge

Yes, I've decided to continue doing a mandala each month for the year 2017. However, I have decided to use the same basic layout for each of the 12 months. January was done in watercolor and set the tone for the this idea.

For February I decided to use colored pencils. Actually, this is the second one for this month as I was not pleased with the first one.

 Since I am constantly learning, this project continues to push me. So, I am going to take a colored pencil class to improve my understanding and technique. Now it is officially March which means that the next piece will soon be in the making.

October Mandala

October is now also called Inktober. The idea is to sketch everyday using ink. This mandala is mostly ink with a watercolor background and a little bit of colored pencil. It seems to have taken a long time as I would do one part and leave it for a few days before I would add the next element. But, I am satisfied and the amount of time is really isn't the point.

Ballpoint pens

As a birthday treat to myself, I ordered The Art of Ball Point by Matt Rota which can be found at Amazon for under $20. What a gift! The work is amazing. Who knew that should works of art could be created with the lowly ballpoint pen? Obviously I recommend it to all.

So, taking inspiration from that book, I decided to use ballpoint pens for my July mandala. I did add some colored pencil as background. I continue to learn.

April drawings

My mandala for April continued to teach me about calmness, design and color. 

I have been attending figure drawing session and maybe someday I'll be right on! Max is the first model.

                                                          Zach is another great model.

Golly, I just got his right arm to short. Oh well, I'll have to try again.

New resolution

Golly, I see that I started my mandala series in 2005! The goal was to do one a month. There were to be 7" on a 10" square of paper. The last one that was specifically that size was done in May of 2013. Well, the call has come again to follow that path.   

Markers were used for the black, colored pencils for the color (obviously) and the two rings were cut from paste paper made by my friend Barbara Parke-Wolff. 

After Ron Barrett

Following the advice of Tommy Kane in one of his Sketch Skool lectures, I copied the work of an artist whose work I admire. Ron Barrett is a cartoonist who has published several books. These figures came from one of his children's books, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

The idea expressed by Tommy is that you continue to learn and will eventually pull out your own style of drawing. I certainly admire Ron Barrett's style!

In the previous post I presented a zentangle done in my moleskin. Well, I decided to add more. I am just more comfortable with the added lines. Basically, I continue to learn.

Zentangles

I was roaming the internet and came upon See Jane Run by Jane Eileen. Her biography says that she Nona of 2 A+mazing grandwonderfuls. She won my heart even before I attempted the zentangle. This design is quite a challenge, as you can see below.

Confusion, a little idea, better understanding and then more practice to get a better grasp of the design. Yet, I think that it's worth the effort.

Today I mailed a card to my dear 99 year old friend, Esther, using this zentangle.

This type of drawing has helped me to settle down today. I seemed to have to much energy to settle on any one project.There is just so much to do!!!

Zentangle ladies

These ladies present the next pages of my zentangle moleskin book. 

They are done with Micron pens and colored pencils. Such elegant gowns!

By the way, I'm having trouble locating more of these accordion fold moleskin journals. 

Think that they are also called Japanese fold. The size is 5 1/2" by 3 3/4". 

If you have a clue where to find them, please let me know.

Last week, my husband and I went to Jamestown and Sonora, CA. 

These towns are part of the gold country and now survive on tourist trade. The Rim fire had only been burning for about two days, but we could see smoke from the Yosemite area which was about 25 miles away. Each day the fire has exploded in size and is now among the top 12 big fires that have ever burned in California. 

We wish the best to all the fire fighters and residents of the area.

March Mandala

The mandala for this month was done using the "snowflake method". I cut a snowflake out of tracing paper and lightly traced it onto this grey Canson paper. Then I connected any points that I felt would enhance the design. At a recent meeting of my art quilt group we talked about color. For the next gathering we are to bring an item an explain the color according to a color wheel. Maybe that influenced my choice of using analogous colors from the blue to purple. That combination should be easy to explain:)



Funny, I made a special effort to buy just the "right" paper for colored pencil and ended up using a piece that I found in my drawer. This learning process continues and I know that I have a lot more practice to do. What fun!

One goal for this year is to create one mandala each month. Each time I do one, I try to push myself in technique and design. For February, I have done a colored pencil piece using the "Flower of Life" pattern. I'm a bit surprised at the secondary image and must decide if this is really finished.



Usually my pieces are 7" drawings on 10 by 10" paper. Canvas pieces are often bigger.

There just had to be a lady on the next pages in my moleskin zentangle. Here she is with her hair blowing. Color was added with colored pencils'



Have a nice day! All comments are appreciated.

Colored Pencil Project #2

The second lesson of three is a pair of little shoes. I'm presenting a few pictures to show the process.

The big lesson here was to realize how many variations of color can be gain from one pencil by using pressure.

Layering was achieved by using a second color, but trying to apply the same pressure as in the first stage.

This picture and the final are very close. I just wanted you to see the difference in the tiles as the ones on the left have the final layer. Certainly more punch than the ones on the left.

Ta-da, I'm done! OK, the top left tiles are "wrong". Hey, I can have a senior moment:)

Thanks for your informative comments. The next post will show you the last project and a color chart that I created. I learned that I had a lot of pencils, both Prismacolor and Lyra. The companies must love me:)

Zentangles and flowers

Sometimes you just let your thoughts wander and create meaningless pieces. There is no real reason for the flowers and zentangles. But, it's not a complete loss--I did learn more about using Inktense pencils and I settled a bit more after traveling.

Zentangle card

Among my various projects, I made time to do a zentangle card and envelope for a special friend. I'm wishing her good health and time to have some fun.

I also decided that the card needed a special envelope.

Permanent markers and colored pencils were used for this gift.

Zentangle moleskin

My moleskin is about two thirds full and it's just letting me know that there are many more designs that could be added. One neighbor described my book as lace. I thought that was a sweet observation as I'm still wondering about my "style".

The following pages are rather intense. I challenged myself to fill in the sections which created by randomly dividing the pages. I just wasn't in the mood to add any color. I think that there is enough happening using only black!

Bright Knights

OK, I decided to have some fun and chose to do a piece for the Bright Knights video. This is about one nanosecond of a claim to fame that I have contributed to a video. Now, back to the many other projects that I have going!

May Mandala

Before I continue with the challenges, I'd like to share my mandala for the month of May.

For this piece,  I decided to use colored pencils. I have been doing these for more than two years. I try to do one a month, but sometimes I skip a month. Is there a time keeper? Just me.

The circle is 7" and the paper size is 10". I chose this limitation because a friend gave me a portfolio and I wanted the mandalas to uniformly fit. No magical or mystical reason.

Journal page

For the moment is seems that I can best handle a page that is divided into small spaces. In fact, I was talking to a friend about shopping and how I get overwhelmed in a large department store. She suggested a small specialty shop might be my type of place. Hummmm, she may have a point.

Here I timidly tried some colored pencils and my favorite Micron pens. The top right is a continuous line design that I just used, in thread, on a quilt. I'm really pleased and will post a picture when it is done. So, my zentangles help with machine quilting patterns. Oh my, one art form is related to another. What a concept!