Oct and Nov mandalas

Mandalas for October and November using the same general format.

Oh oops, the sizes are different, but you get the idea! October was only ballpoint pen and November was watercolor as the background and ink pens for the black.

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.

Nov Mandala and sketchbook

November can be so beautiful. I delight in the fall colors. I used watercolors and pens on watercolor paper for this month's mandala.

I have been doing a fair amount of drawing, but decided to post this piece done in the style of Rebecca Blair at rebeccablairart.tumblr.com. There is so much to learn by using pens only. The balance between light and dark is helpful in many of my art pursuits.

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.

Improved?

OK, I added outline to the September mandala. I like to think that it makes the piece stronger. Well, I can't go back:), so I love it!

Catching up

The August mandala was completed and my dear friend, Sunshine, suggested that I try it in different colors. So the September mandala is also shown. I had decided not to add the outline, but seeing the piece on the computer is making me second guess that decision. Sometimes it's scary to make the final addition!

Figure drawing has begun again and I am encouraged that this piece actually looks somewhat like the model.

May mandala

Yes, I continue to push myself to create another design within the 7" circle. 

One can only learn from such challenges.

There was a fundraiser for a biker friend who is fighting cancer in his arm. He is teaching all of us so much about how to push the body and mind. This is the 18th of May and he has ridden about 1,100 miles this month!

My contribution to the fundraiser was this quilt.

               The black was fused applique and a pattern, the background is a solid piece of fabric.

March mandala

The mandala for March has been nicknamed "Discovery". I used watercolor, markers, and colored pencils. I do not plan out the design except for the fact that it is 7" on a 10" sq piece of paper. I continue to learn and there is joy in the making.

Pumpkin sketches

Yesterday I went to a fruit/vegetable stand with two friends and we had a delightful time sketching. Here are my two pieces from our outing. It's nice to really get out instead of just thinking about it.

Zentangle on Watercolor

During the World Cup games, I've been doing zentangles on a piece of watercolor that I had in my "someday I'll doing something with this" drawer. But, I didn't get much done during the USA vs Portugal games. Up and down emotions with sports.

One rule that zentangles seem to be teaching me is to balance a drawing. 

A technique that I can use in all my compositions.

Snowflake zentangle

There was a need to do a powerful zentangle with strong color. So, I created this piece that is done with watercolors in the background and black ink. The layout was a snowflake cut from tracing paper and used as a guideline. Inner connections were added in my freehand style. I plan to enter it in December for a show that begins January 2. 

We'll see if it is even accepted.

A new grand baby is due this month. Of course, the child will need a quilt! This dragon quilt is a panel (a design already printed) surrounded by 1 1/4 inch squares that I pieced.

Below you can see close ups which show how zentangle designs can be used in quilting.

Sketch outing

Today was another lovely autumn day with plenty of sunshine.

 A friend and I went to a local outdoor market to sketch. It was so nice of them to have

 hay bales, pumpkins and a scarecrow set up.

There were some interesting shapes and colors with the pumpkins on the bench. 

Yes, the second from the right was light green (almost blue) and pink.

Most important was the opportunity to settle down and be in the moment. 

No pressure and no time limit. 

Zentangle mandala

A New Year's Resolution was to do a mandala each month. Oops! I missed April. However, one was finished by May 31. Sharpie pens were the tool of choice.



Now, the above mandala is just fine, but I decided to push the envelope just a bit. So, I took a light blue watercolor and filled in the circle. Well, as you can see below, the red ink smeared (the sample piece stayed true).



OK, I could hand the pink glow. Then I decided to do the area outside of the circle in a darker blue. Now I know how to do an even wash, but it just wasn't happening. So, I cut out the mandala and glued it to this gorgeous paper.

Is there a right or wrong? Does it matter?

EDM in May continues

Another five days of this challenge has passed and somehow I've managed to keep up!



There is this lovely perfume bottle that is still pretty full even after owning it for years. It is the thought that counts when given a gift:) The feather was from a friend. I find it so stunning that nature can provide such detailed and colorful surprises.



As silly as it is to decorate a tea kettle, I had so much fun. Part of this challenge is to open me up to see things differently. It's working!



A rattlesnake that was 9'6" long certainly fits my bill for creepy. Glad that was not found in my part of the world. A lock on lips seems like a good idea, not only for secrets, but for reminding me to only be kind in what I say.

Travel to Utah

St. George, Utah, was our destination for a week of golf and a tour of Zion National Park adventure. I only managed to squeeze in spurts of time for drawing. The back side of this building (I believe an old opera house) was seen from the second floor of our accommodations. This was a big challenge for me as architectural angles can be really tough to capture.



One evening I skipped the lecture and wandered the town until I happen to find this old fire truck. I was having a grand old time until I realized that it was so dark that I couldn't see the detail. Besides, people coming out of the nearby restaurant were giving me funny looks.



The beauty of Zion National Park was amazing. Also, it was very humbling to be below such tall cliffs. This view is the Three Patriarchs. Our geologist explained the significance of each layer of color. The white is where one can find dinosaur tracks.



Red rock can be found in any direction in this area. This scene is from the 18th hole of Sky Mountain Golf Course (a public course) in the town of Hurricane (pronounced hurricun by the locals).



There is a joy to desert country in the spring. This white cactus was in full bloom and such a special treat to the eyes.



Certainly it's fun to travel, but always nice to be home. I've started the EDM May 2013 challenge, quilting and painting our garage wall which will be a giant zentangle when finished. Yes, I'll share that when I get further along. Joy!

Journey

Currently my journey through art has taken me to zentangle mandalas. For some years I did a mandala a month and then I seemed to fall away from that. This year I decided to challenge myself to do it again. Because I had been given a portfolio, I established that I would do a mandala that is 7" in diameter on 10" paper. Certainly, there were variations as some were done on painted canvases.

This pieces has been framed so that the finished size, including the mat, is 14" by 14". I let the watercolors flow and then I cut a snowflake out of tissue paper. With a light pencil I traced the snowflake and then drew lines to connect points. There was no set rule, I could connect any points-hey, it's my piece!

One technique that I have learned is to draw the same mark between two points in all the places it appears, then repeat the next line until all of those connections are made. Hope that this makes sense. Rotate your paper and do the same mark over and over. This is both meditative and art wise successful.

There is a show for aspiring artists at the Sacramento Fine Art Center that I plan to enter. I must submit my piece on Saturday. That was a good motivation to get it framed. One disappointment is that the plexiglass reflects light. I looked into a non glare acrylic and that would cost $44. Guess that I'll go with what I have. Well, I could leave the the plexiglass off. Any suggestions are welcome.

OK, now I'm working on a quilt and arranging my crafty projects so that I have just the right piece to do while the 49ers are playing American football or, for the Europeans, it will be a tape delayed of a Manchester United football game.

A sketch and a collage

A friend has a '56 Chevy so we went to a small gathering of classic car buffs at a local eating spot. I sat in front of this truck that was completely build by the owner. Such a labor of love! There was wood on the sides of the truck bed that had precise cut out letters. Very impressive.

My art quilt group issued a challenge for this month, to create a paper collage that is approximately 8 1/2 by 11". I had so much fun this this project.

There is a new website that I'd love to share. It's Wild Sage Art that Mabel Dean has started. Her work is soooo interesting and creative (which is the key word as you'll discover on her site). Hope that you can take a moment to check out her varied work.

Figures

I won't bore you with the house and computer demise problems that we've experienced over the last month. Let's move to a more pleasant subject of art! Figure drawing sessions have again started and this piece really has made me feel that I'm making progress. It's done with pastel pencils.

I dropped in for a watercolor class as I wanted to learn the instructors technique for painting and outline. First she takes a pencil and meanders down the page. Then she ponders and pulls out the image. This is what I produced.

It's a silly piece, but was so much fun to create. I see a future for this technique as it combines watercolor and zentangles.

Watercolor Lesson & a Challenge

Amazingly, I've hung in there to complete lesson four from the book, Guide to Painting Realistic Water Colors by Dawn McLeod Heim. As I move forward there are more colors and a bit more "looseness" on where to place the colors. A sometimes scary prospect for me. However, my husband could finally recognize the subject matter. Yes, one chick has his back to you.

My other project is a challenge for the Pins and Needles Art Quilters. They are a creative group that is helping to push me. There was an internet group that has published a book called Twelve by Twelve. Following the idea of doing a quilt 12"x12", we went with the following challenge. Three piles of suggestions were created. We each drew a Noun, a Color and a Theme. My three words were Bench, Turquoise and Ocean.

The following close up shows the bench which I created from a rubbing, a tiny clay snail which I added, the blanket from a knit scrap, and the sand which I added with glue. Oh yes, her hair is from cheese cloth which I had dyed.

Now, I have only a couple of days to prepare for my watercolor class. There is more freedom and I'm a tiny bit insecure working without detailed guidance.

Watercolor Lesson & Figure Drawing

Continuing with my lessons in Painting Realistic Water Colors by Dawn McLeod Heim, I finished project #4 which is the rose and wine glass. It was suggested that you prepare 15 different colors (I did 14). This was quite a stretch for me. Also, she does not tell you where each color is to be placed, but you are supposed to be advanced and can refer to the color photograph. Basically I'm moved out of my comfort zone. However, I did finish this piece and have started on the next lesson.

Today I went to my figure drawing session.This was a 25 minute drawing done with pastel pencil. As I sit down to draw, I wonder how "with it" I'll be each day. I was comfortable in my space and found that I was holding the pencil in a more relaxed way and I was observing negative spaces. Certainly room from improvement, but I only have 9,950 more drawings until I can accurately capture the image!!