Sketches and The Garage Wall

Last month I went to see the grand kids and was able to again enjoy one of the Shel Silverstein's books. Since it seems that he learned to draw by tracing Al Capp's cartoons, I'll assume that it is OK for me to copy free hand. He says so much with so few lines.

 

At the airport, I caught Mr. Sexy Time sleeping. His wife was watching the kids.

 

Below is the latest installment of the garage wall. I'm finding that doing about two sections at a time is my limit as I have to turn my head in awkward positions and their is a limit to that discomfort.

Have a nice day!

Snowflake Mandalas

The next lesson that I decided to follow in The Art of Zentangle included this pattern that was provided, a snowflake that had been cut and traced.

The next step was to connect any points that I wished and then fill in the spaces.

Well, apparently one did not satisfy my need to zentangle so I complete a second version and this time I added a bit of shading with a graphite pencil and colored pencils.

The difference surprised and pleased me!

The Art of Zentangle

Apparently I can't seem to get enough of doing zentangles. I found a workbook on Amazon, THE ART OF ZENTANGLE 50 inspiring drawings, designs & ideas for the meditative artist. Margaret Bremmer has a blog Enthusiastic Artist that is very inspirational. I thought that she was the author. Well, there are three other contributors, each with a different perspective. The first action, however, was to take the book and have it spiral bound. I need flat pages for drawing.

This silly page shows three examples with my creation in the box on the lower left.

Again, there is an example at the top of the page with my hummingbird in the lower section.

The hippo is reverse zentangle and I deliberately left if unfinished so that you could realize the need to fill the entire page. What a delight to see the image emerge.

There is a step by step description of how to complete the fairy.

The mandalas are actually part of Margaret's lessons. I've complete about 50 of the 140 pages, so there is much to practice!

Potpourri

There was a fiber arts show at the Sacramento Fine Arts Gallery. I submitted a small 17x18" piece titled Potpourri. It sold! This was very exciting as I believe that it was the only piece that did sell.

I used lots of trinkets, buttons, Angelina (polyester fibers that melt and sparkle when heated), purchased hand dyed fabric, feathers and whatever else grabbed my fancy.

This is a close-up from the piece.

Watercolor and more

No surprise for me, I've been going in many directions. Sometimes I wonder if I'm stalling from doing one project by becoming busy with something else. After a long delay, I decided to continue my projects from Dawn McLeod Heim's book, Painting Realistic Water Colors. This is lesson six. Because I don't know enough, I haven't really decided what type of watercolor I like to do.

Meanwhile, I found these quilt patterns at a bargain sale and couldn't resist making the blocks. They are the Kitty Cityseries, each about 10" x 13". I have realized that I like to do pieces that make me smile and these characters with names such as Mona (with the paint palate) and Carmen (with the fruit basket) are so cute. I have given them to our Community Service program which will make them into quilts (probably two quilts) and give them to children in the hospital. Don't ask why the background is so different, just one of those days.

Last week this huge mosaic was revealed on the side of a new building downtown. I love this gecko/lizard (the feet are different on the front and back, thus the double name).

Later I'll share the silk that I painted and am now quilting, plus lesson 7 in watercolors, and more on the garage zentangle project. Humm, I do seem to keep busy. Oh wait, on to Ohio to see the grandkids:)

Garage Zentangle

OK, this is one of the projects that I've been working on for some weeks. It will be many more weeks before I am finished, so I've decided to show you the progress. We had our garage sheet rocked and suddenly I had a blank canvas. So, I started painting two foot squares with left over house paints.





Trying to guess where I used all these colors in the house got to be quite a game.



This zentangle is my profile and it's located so that I know exactly where to park the car. I just pull in, look to my left and can tell the right spot. Of course, after many years in this house I finally hung a fluffy netting so that it touches the windshield when I park the car. Anyway, I have used Sharpie pens and have discovered that the markers do slide on the more glossy paints.



This pictures gives some perspective on how little I've done. However, there is no timetable and it's fun to spend a few minutes adding to this piece of art!



Giant flowers are going to grow on this part of the wall. I must admit that today the temperatures are to reach 106 so I may skip the outsides activities today.

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?