More labels

 I found a new hobby....creating labels.  I was busy watching TV, with those long commercials, I thought would be a great time to play with my Procreate app on my new mini ipad that I got for my birthday.  So here's a square label.  You want some???

Click on the small image below to make it larger and download from there.  Enjoy!!!!

I created my own ribbon labels

I've been working on a visual journal and didn't want to run to the store to get more labels.  So I got creative in Photoshop and created my own ribbon label.   You want some???

Click on the  image below to make it larger and download from there.  Enjoy!!!   

 

Click on the small image below to make it larger and download from there.  Enjoy!!!

Paper bag cover journal

I promised myself that I would be more consistent about updating my blog.  Life just gets in the way sometimes; I have good intentions of sharing my latest art project or work on my studio, but I must be honest  I get lazy sometimes.

This journal was made with  tan packaging paper and blue sheets for inside of  journal covers for the front and back. I have 4 signatures of 2 sheets per signature, which gives me 32 pages to create art.  To bind the journal, I used a long stitch binding. 

For the design on the front and back cover I used gouache paint. Using acrylic paint would probably be much better and heavier.  In the process of making this journal I pulled the binding thread to rough causing one of the holes on the bottom of the journal seam to tear.  As you can see I added some pink washi tape where I torn the hole so I could continue my binding of the book.

Happy New Year

What inspires you?  That's my theme for the year.  To look for things that inspire me and makes my heart happy.

My baby Maddie is all goodness and sweet.

Maze journal drawings

I've been working on completing  journals  with drawings before starting a new journal.  This is my completed  maze journal that I made back in September.  I just finally got around to scanning.

A maze journal can be created with one sheet of 18" x 24" watercolor paper folded, creating a accordion type of  book with 8 pages and a pocket to hold notes or reference photos.  

Google bookbinding maze journal "how to" for various takes on this really simple journal to make.


I loved the feeling of finishing my little book of drawings.

Fabric from Spoonflower

I finally got around to having two of my watercolors made into fabric over at Spoonflower.com.  I just ordered a fat quarter of each design.  I wanted to see how my images translated onto fabric.  I really like how my French Bull Dog painting looks on fabric.  The tulips I had made into a mirror image design.

I plan to make a pillow with the French Bull Dog and with the tulips,  I used a piece to create book cloth to use on the spine binding of my journals that I've been making.  I'm still learning the In's and outs of Spoonflower.com, hopefully with patience everything will start to make sense.

Linocut printmaking class

Today I took a linocut printmaking workshop @ the Red Brick Gallery in Ventura, California with Phyllis Gubins.  Phyllis gave us a lot of information about printmaking materials and introduced me to Blick wonder-cut linocut blocks.  The wonder-cut block is so easy to carve out designs and apply ink to the surface.

So this is my linocut design and printed on white card stock.  I used regular ink from a stamp pad, but tomorrow I'll pull out my printmaking ink and pull another image.  I can see the possibilities of creating my own design for cards and even creating larger pieces.  Now I just need to order some of this Blick wonder-cut linocut blocks.

Meadow

Today I was a busy girl.  I drove down to Pasadena so I could spend some money at Dick Blick.  I've been wanting to try Caran D'ache Neopastel  oil pastels.  So I treated myself to a set of 48 Caran D'ache

Neopastel.  Not that I needed another set of pastels.  I have a lovely 120 piece Sennelier Oil Pastel set that I got several years ago in Paris at the Sennelier Art store.  Before I use my Sennelier , I thought I'd practice with these.  

I've been trying to paint and draw more with an impressionistic feel, instead of  painting realistic with a lot of detail.    The colors of this set are rather vibrant.  I did this meadow scene in about 30 minutes on color pastel paper.

Tomorrow I'll experiment on watercolor paper.

IF -- Water

This weeks topic on Illustration Friday is Water.

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Pumpkin patch

You know it's that time of year when all those pumpkin patches appear out of no where.  When I lived up in the San Francisco Bay area it was a yearly tradition to drive over the hill to Half-Moon Bay for the yearly Pumpkin Festival.  

Cranky Birds my way...

I've been enjoying reading and working through Carla's new book "Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals".  Over on her blog http://carlasonheim.wordpress.com/  she's been having contributing artist show their take on the book.   The one artist I really enjoyed her tutorial was Dor Hosta on Cranky Birds. http://darhosta.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/monday-6-a-bird-a-book/

Needless-to-say, I've been drawing cranky birds all weekend.  Even taking it a step further and using the technique on other animals.  Here's my own cranky bird.

Bunny with floppy ears

Saw a cute bunny today that had these long floppy ears.  To irresistible to not sketch.    I've been painting all weekend.  Just dropping paint blobs and looking for a animal to paint.

Autumn in the air

It feels like autumn is in the air.  Saw these two birds fluttering in the trees in my back yard.

Ipad sketch warthog

Over the weekend my husband and I took a trip up north to Lee Vining and  ghost town Bodie so he could take more pictures in Bodie of Coco and Jolie.  It was definitely an adventure, one I could of stayed home for.  It was about a 5 hour drive to the hotel in Lee Vining.  We explored Lee Vining and drove up to Bridgeport another town that if you drive through main street, you've seen the whole town.

On this trip we only took Coco my border terrier and Jolie, my Chinese Crested Powder Puff.  Sophie and Maddie got to stay home, those lucky dogs.

Lately when I travel I've been carrying my art supplies.  I think I've finally got it down to the right art supplies that I need and will use.  After taking over the the round table in the motel room, I got down to work.  I had bought a small set of cheap oil pastels in Bishop, a town we drove through.  For some reason I thought they were water soluble, but they weren't.  After applying the oil pastels to my journal, I was not happy with my drawing.  So while the drawing was drying, I created this Warthog on my Ipad.  It was a quick sketch and was rather pleased with the result. 

One thing I did learn is to take two journals, so while one is drying, I can work on the other journal.  Also, take a small jar of gesso and neo crayons.

I was going through my clothes closet this morning and came across a straw summer hat and a colorful orange/red scarf which was my inspiration for this bird collage.

My latest bird collage and watercolor painting.  Getting lots of practice using Photoshop.

I'm back....

Well I'm back after a much needed break.  Even though I haven't posted in a while, I have been busy painting and doing lots of book binding.

My trip to Italy was interesting.  Took lots of photo's  and finally created my first travel journal.  I've traveled a lot in my life and usually have good intentions to create a travel journal; this time I put one together before I left and just added postcards, tickets, receipts, photo's and any other item that would bring back the memory of the trip.

The journey to Fabriano was rather long.  Had to change planes 3 times before I arrived in Rome.  From Rome took a train to Fabriano, which took another 3 hours.  

There were total of 7 of us in the workshop including the teacher.    For seven women together, we surprisingly all got along.  We  were all in the same age group which probably helped.  Each day we would do something different.  I learned how paper was made and had the opportunity to actually go through the process of making paper. Also learned how to bind books using the long stitch and dos-a-dos.  Went to a local art store which carried a lot of the products we can find in the states, but had brands that can only be found in Europe.  Spent the day at the beach sketching and painting. Went to the local caves and spent one lovely afternoon at Maggie's bed and breakfast, which over looked the town of Fabriano.  

From Fabriano I went to Florence for 2 days.  Lots of shops, outdoor vendors, and historical sites to see.

After two weeks of living out of a suitcase it was time to go home.  Getting home seemed to be a problem.  I was so tired by the time I got onto the plane that I put my head back and fell asleep, only to be woke up by some announcement. The plane had taxi down the runway only to stop.  Apparently the air condition for the plane engines was broke.  US Air attempted to repair the plane as we sat on the run way.  After 3 hours US Air canceled the flight.  That is when the night mere began.  US Air's ground crew was  disorganized that it was total chaos.  By the time we got to the hotel that  US Air put us up for the night, another 3 hours had gone by.  In all the years I've traveled I've never been with such a rowdy and rude group of travelers.  The next morning getting onto the bus to take us back to the airport was awful.  People pushing their way onto the bus was rather disturbing.  Once on the plane we had to wait another 2 hours for a flight plan.  Boy were people angry...shouting and screaming demanding to know what the delay was now.  We finally got our flight plan approved and we off.  I was never so happy when I finally went through customs in the US.

I can really relate to the old saying "there is no place like home".  I told my husband to remind me the next time I want to go to Europe.

I'm off to Italy

In a few hours I will start my journey to Italy.  I'm so excited and tired at the same time.  Packing for a two week vacation has had it's challenges.  I can't wait to speak Italian, eat lots of pasta, and just drink in all the beautiful sights that Italy has to offer.  I'm so looking forward to my workshop with Diana Trout.  Not sure if I'll blog well I'm gone, if not, until I return Ciao!

Always sunny in Southern California

I can't get enough of my sunflowers.  Just a quick study of dropping color.  Only 4 more days until Italy.

I'm dreaming of sunflowers

Only 7 more days until I leave for Italy.  I'm dreaming of lots of sunflowers.  This was a quick small painting of sunflowers on my table.  Can never get enough of those happy faces.