Illustration Friday - Worry

This was a good week to think about the word worry. What came to mind was Jesus' lesson about worry that can be found in Matthew 6: 24 - 34.
I love these words: "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them." "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" You can read the entire passage that inspired my watercolor sketch by going to the link above.

I journaled about this verse and did several quick sketches of lilies with a bird. I'd like to follow this up with a more detailed painting. By the way, the text was added in photoshop after scanning my painting.

We have a lot on our plate, and it's easy to be overcome with worry. The reminder to not worry has been very timely. Here's another verse that reminds me not to worry, but instead turn to God in prayer. Philippians 4: 6-7.

Blessings to you, Dear Readers.

Illustration Friday - Wide

It's been a very busy month with not enough energy left to keep up with blogging. But a bit of serendipity has worked to give me art to submit for IF this week. I've been working on a couple paintings. I audition some of my color schemes on ATC's. That's what you see in this post. This acrylic on paper.
Now just how does this fit the theme "wide"?
After I added the calligraphic marks on these cards, I realized they resembled the form of a woman's torso. Then I had to smile at a memory. Years ago hubby & I were visiting his sister & her hubby. We played Pictionary, women vs. men. During one round, both teams had to draw and guess. The word was "wide". Oh boy, what to draw. I drew lines similar to those on my ATC's. I drew a horizontal line with arrows across the area that would represent the hips. My sister-in-law quickly understood and shouted out, "Wide!" The men were stupefied. How did we get that so fast? My hubby was attempting to draw something that would represent a truck with a wide load. It was much too complicated for the competition.

I got a bit of good news today. One of my colored pencil drawings has been accepted in the Octagon Art Center's Community of Artists Show. You can see it here.

Other good news from this month is that I've been accepted as an exhibitor at the Central Iowa Art Association's Art Fair on July 20th. I'll share more details later.

Illustration Friday - Seed

I put this ATC together quickly so I could make the IF deadline. I've actually had sketches and ideas jotted down since January with this quote.
I used an HB pencil to write the quote on 185# paper. Glazes of green gold, cobalt turquoise and turquoise deep were added as well as the clip art of the mustard plant. Mustard seeds were pressed into a layer of soft gel medium. More layers of glaze were added.

In January I heard a sermon called "God's Quiet Kingdom" by Kip Hamby. He based the message on Matthew 13:31-35 . The Kingdom of God is compared to a tiny mustard seed that grows into a large plant. I found inspiration in this statement: "It is God's good and mysterious way to use that which is small and hidden and quiet." There is much to contemplate in that statement.

So, prompted by the Illustration Friday topic Seed, this is my first version - quickly rendered as an ATC. I'd like to do a more developed painting in the future.

Illustration Friday - Primitive

Today while reading Fannie's fabulous blog, Imagine Create Inspire, I was reminded of this ACEO I created that fits the IF theme Primitive. The first thought that came to mind for the word Primitive was of naive art created by untrained artists. Then I remembered the art created by The Quiltmakers of Ghee's Bend. In 2003, they were featured on PBS, which is where I first learned of these artists.

Last year I was introduced to ATC's. (Artist Trading Cards) They are 2.5 x 3.5 inches, which is the same as any regular trading card. When they are made for sale, they are called ACEO's. (Art Cards, Editions and Originals)

This card was made using gesso, Liquitex paints, and colored pencil on paper. When I realized my abstract marks looked like a primitive house, I added the canceled postage stamp using acrylic matte medium. It was a nice bit of serendipity to have painted with the same pink as one of the fabrics in the quilt.

You may contact me for purchasing information.

Illustration Friday - Save

Jesus said, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." Mark 9:37

Last Sunday at church I was inspired by a group of college students who had spent Spring break working on a mission project near Juarez, Mexico. A slide presentation rolled behind the speakers and one photo especially tugged at my heart. (I was given permission to use Connie's photo as reference for this week's IF.)

The students worked at a center that provides meals and shelter for children who are neglected and would otherwise be playing in the streets while their parents work long hours for little pay in American run factories (maquiladora). The need for everyday necessities is high, but there is another need that is being met when children come to the center. LOVE.

Many have never received hugs, tenderness and care like that which is given by the volunteers!

As for this drawing... one of my goals is to develop my drawing skills, including portraiture. I have very little experience, which is evident. I still need to finish developing this drawing, but I wanted to get it posted for the IF topic Save. (It's amazing what shows up when you scan a drawing.) I welcome constructive critique - please be gentle. :)

Illustration Friday - Homage

This pair of tulips is an homage to my husband who is the love of my life. He supports me in so many ways. I have been able to grow as an artist because of his encouragement.

A few years ago we had a pair of white tulips that grew in a similar arrangement to the way I composed this piece. I used bright colors, because Hubby likes them. When we were students, we met at Iowa State University whose colors are cardinal red and gold.

This one's for you, Hubby!

Illustration Friday - Pet Peeves

After considering many peeves (and seeing excellent illo's by other IF participants who covered those ideas), I settled on this piece I started last week.
I grabbed a piece of watercolor paper, taped it to my board, and proceeded to wet the paper. Then the hills began to appear. OOOOOO - a pet peeve was there before my eyes. Rippling paper.
NOW - as an experienced painter, I should have paid attention to which paper I selected. This is 90# paper that I usually use for crafty projects. But I wanted to work more traditionally. This paper just isn't cut out for it. Even if I had taken the time to stretch it, it fails in other ways. It doesn't lift well. After a little abuse, the surface starts to deteriorate (I've cropped that out of the image.)
In my last post I told some of the virtues of working with a limited palette. I used a triad of colors suggested by Dory Kanter in her book Art Escapes.
These are Winsor & Newton Permanent Rose, Winsor Lemon & Winsor Blue (Red Shade).
Thanks for stopping by.

Illustration Friday - Garden

Oh my! When I saw this week's topic is Garden, I was so happy. I have SO many garden pictures. I have a fairly large garden that is nearly full of perennials. We also have several smaller flower beds around our property. They are all buried under snow, but that should be gone very soon. A lot of ideas came to mind for IF, but nothing that I could do justice to this week. Yesterday I played with watercolors on Ampersand textured clay board, but I'm not sure it will see the light of this blog. I REALLY like the clay board. I'll have to watch for good sales on it so I can stock up.
I'm posting a painting I completed about a year ago. I used Liquitex heavy body acrylics on Crescent illustration board that I prepared with clear gesso. Clear gesso gives a tooth to the surface that I really like (ever get licked by cat?). It does cause brushes to wear more than if you painted on a smooth surface.
I used a reference photo I took at Reiman Gardens in Ames, Iowa. Cannas excite me, especially when they are planted in mass like they are done at Reiman Gardens. The rich colors, the textures..... While I was working on this, I would get so caught up with painting that I would get breathless.

This was my most ambitious acrylic painting at that point and I was very happy with the results.
I considered offering this painting for sale, but I can't part with it. I would like to get prints made and need to work out the details to accomplish that. Convo me if you are interested. Thanks for stopping by.

Illustration Friday - LEAP

Because it's a LEAP year, this week's topic for IF is LEAP. I've been thinking about trying a portrait of an inspiring woman I met last weekend at my church's women's retreat. Her name is Marilyn Laszlo. One thing she shared is how we demonstrate our faith by taking that first step toward where we are led. Marilyn followed her calling to be a missionary which led her to Papau New Guinea where she lived with a primitive, Stone Age tribe for 24 years. In my opinion, her step of faith was more like a LEAP of faith. Go to her web site for fascinating accounts of her inspiring stories. Her book is wonderful! I was on the committee for the retreat. In a future post I will share how I made colorful name tags for the attendees using alcohol based ink, and solvent based ink.

Well, my time is limited this week, so I put the portrait on hold & decided to take a LEAP that is more familiar.... experimenting with media. I purchased a package of Ampersand textured clayboard which has been renamed "Aquabord". I used my Caran D'Ache Neocolor II watercolor crayons exclusively for the image of a sunflower that I interpretted in a loose manor. Last summer I tried the crayons on smooth clayboard. The results were interesting, but I prefer the texture of this board. I built up layers of color. The initial layers were blended by brushing them with a damp brush. I prefer to use a Sakura water reservoir brush for its convenience. I love the brilliance of color using this method & plan to explore more in the future.
Here are 2 generous artists, Catherine & Fannie, who have shared much info about watercolor crayons on their blogs. Take a LEAP and try this wonderful product.

It's always a LEAP to invest in new product and hope for the best. If any of you have ever used this process, let me know. I'm thinking I should seal this to protect it from smearing. Any advice?

Illustration Friday - Theory

Another week, another challenging topic for Illustration Friday. Theory. First thing that came to mind was a line from the song "Speed of Light" by Bruce Carroll that goes:

"When I add up Mr. Einstein's calculation, The theory of relativity say E=MC squared..."

I know next to nothing about physics. Scientific theories that I've heard of didn't inspire me. So I stuck with with a topic that interests me very much. Color theory.

If you google that term, you'll get plenty of hits and find lots of info.

The relationship of complementary colors interests me, so I came up with a project where I would layer complements in a way they could not blend.

After reading some blogs last week where artists were using Caran D'Ache Neocolor II watersoluble pastels for underpaintings for colored pencil work, I came up with an idea for adding texture to the paper so I could build up plenty of color.

Neocolor II pastels were used on Crescent Illustration Board for the underpainting. I started with a loose sketch of an imaginary sunflower that I colored in with scarlet red on the flower and vermillion orange for the background. Just a touch of olive green was used on areas of the center of the flower. I used a wet fan brush to blend the pastel.

To add texture and seal the underpainting, I applied Liquitex clear gesso using the fan brush and horizontal strokes. Clear gesso is very gritty compared to regular gesso. It reminds me of a cat's tongue. Once dry, I was ready to apply colored pencil.

The background was filled in with Prismacolor Ultramarine Blue. You can see the underpainting coming through because of the textured gesso. The complementary colors (blue & orange) play off each other and make the background exciting compared to a monochrome or analagous color scheme. I love Van Gogh and this reminds me of effects seen in his paintings.

The petals were worked in shades of yellow and red with white accent. The center was done in olive, red, yellow & white.

One undesirable outcome of this method is color smudging. I tried working the color in with a stencil brush and rubbing some excess off with a tissue. Due to the nasty cold weather, I didn't take this piece outside to apply workable fixative. I want to explore this technique more and will try the fixative in the future.

Illustration Friday - Choose

"Choose" - what a challenging theme for IF this week. My first thought was that I wouldn't be posting for this topic, but it wouldn't leave me alone. I kept thinking of all the choices we make every day. As artists, we make millions of choices with the accumulation of the marks we make. What subject? What medium? What support? What color? etc. etc. etc.

As a jewelry designer, it gets even harder to choose. If you don't believe me, just attend a bead show sometime where there are thousands of items to choose.

It occurred to me to take a more literal interpretation of the concept "choose" for an artist. Maybe paint/draw a palette of paint, a box of pastels... Another thought was more abstract - a door, a place you choose to go through or not.

But I decided to use one of my favorite subjects, the bird of paradise. I chose to work with Col-erase pencils, a fairly new choice for me (I got a set for a bargain $1.39 because the packaging was ruined!). Inspired by an artist I found last week, I chose to work on black paper. That was a new experience for me, too. While working on my sketch, I remembered another time I chose to paint a bird of paradise. It was a couple weeks after Dad died and I was feeling so very sad. In a moment of inspiration, I chose to paint instead of sink into that sadness. I wasn't sure what I would do as I headed for my art area, but it just came together for me. I painted that one in bright colors. In fact, the painting isn't done, or maybe it is. Maybe it's as far as it was meant to go. I don't know. But somehow it makes me remember Dad's sense of humor. He was known for his goofy puns. I don't have a photograph now, but I am posting a digitally altered photo that inspired that painting.

So as much as possible, I try to remember to choose to do something uplifting.

Illustration Friday - Blanket

I didn't think I'd get an entry done for this week's IF topic, blanket. But I've spent plenty of time wrapped up in one this week. I'm not feeling well & it settled in my throat, so I can barely talk and can't go to work.

So.... I was thinking that I haven't drawn or painted any flowers recently & they are one of my fav subjects. It occurred to me there is a beautiful flower whose common name is "Blanketflower." Gaillardia aristata is the Latin name.

I used the "Artist's Photo Reference Flowers" by Gary Greene since I didn't have any Blanketflower photos in my collection.

The flowers were drawn with Col Erase pencils. The background is mostly Derwent watercolor pencils that I blended with a water brush. The postcard sized piece was done on 90# cold pressed watercolor paper.

Illustration Friday - Tales & Legends

My subject for this week's IF topic, Tales & Legends, is Esther. She was a real person, a heroine whose actions saved the Jews living in exile. Her inspiring story is found in the Old Testament of the Bible in the book of Esther.

One of my goals is to learn how to draw & paint people. This is only my second people painting and I purposely did not labor over it too much. So PLEASE be kind. I used a 5x7 clayboard that I prepared with a mixture of gesso & aqua acrylic. Most of the painting is done with Liquitex heavy body acrylics, but I did use some watercolor pencil for a little detail work.

I worked from my imagination and a collection of photos. Her eyes were inspired by a 60's photo of Sophia Loren.

Esther ended up looking older than I planned. I also hoped to make her more beautiful. I was thinking of her as an innocent young woman who went through a year of preparations before she was presented to the king for his approval. Esther was so favored that she was chosen to be queen.

I enjoyed this topic. I also considered Joan of Arc for my subject and researched her story, too. Now I have material to work from later when I have more time.

Thanks for looking as I learn.

Illustration Friday - Plain Butterfly 1

I've been checking out Illustration Friday for a few months and finally I'm submitting something for the weekly topic.

This week is "Plain". I have the perfect piece. In my last post, I showed one of many versions of a Blue Morph Butterfly's wing.

This submission is acrylic painted on 12x12 masonite. I prepared the board with heavy gel medium to give some texture to the painting. I covered it with black Liquitex heavy body paint. The next step was done with watered down Liquitex gesso. Originally I had planned to add colors, but I liked this piece just like this.