Illustration Friday: Scattered

Scattered leaves like confetti on the shallow pond.

The Koi feel celebrated by Autumn.  

For Illustration Friday

acrylic paint, colored pencils and patterned paper, 10 minutes

Illustration Friday : Acrobat

~He flew through the air with the greatest of ease~

I'm always thrilled when I find scrumptious scrapbooking paper to paint on like this wonderful piece from K&Company.

All I did was add my harlequin friend, the flying wonder.

Enjoy the weekend my friends!

xoxo

Lolo♥

acrylic paint and prismacolor pencil on sturdy patterned paper

Illustration Friday : Proverb

The word over at Illustration Friday this week is proverb.

 Native American proverbs resonate deeply with me so I looked a few up and chose this one.

"Do not judge your neighbor until you walk two moons in his moccasins."  (Cheyenne)

I have been (gratefully) busy painting commissions and working on items for shows and galleries but today, just today I had to pull back and do something that called to me, like this word. 

Some of you wanted to know my process when I paint on patterned paper. It's pretty simple, really. I draw the image and then lay the flat colors on with acrylic paint.

But then MAGIC happens (I swear) when you add Prismacolor pencils on top of the paint. It becomes so rich, almost pastel-like and I have never been able to do anything with pastels. After adding the colors I use a blending pencil to smooth it all together. I usually go back several times adding highlights and lowlights, crisping up my edges, etc.

Here's a scan of one moon and one moccasin done while the other is still flat paint waiting for details.

Okay, I started adding colored pencil inside the moccasin before I realized I hadn't scanned it! And trust me, I see so much wrong with this illustration now that it's posted. But I'm not going there. Today is a day I needed emotionally and creatively.

So I'll leave you with this gem that I saw on my doctor's office bulletin board.

""Do not judge me until you've walked a mile on my medication." 

Hahahaha!! Happy weekend my friends.

Blooming Tuesday: Fabrication

Some of you may remember when I tried my hand at making a mandala a couple of years back.

I did this one mostly with rubber stamps, embellished and circled with colored pencils. I really like how it turned out, so I started offering it as cards on Etsy.

Enter Spoonflower, a place where you can upload your designs to see how they'd look on fabric! I think Margaret told us about this before. :)

If you like how it came out and would like to offer it for sale on their site, you have to order this size piece first so you can approve how it looks. It's around $12.00

(This is terrible lighting, sorry.)

Here's a picture of it in better lighting. Now I see I really should have ironed it! hah! It's been in the package for a few weeks because I kept forgetting to post about it.

You can click to enlarge all of these which will also enlarge the holes in my wall!

Anyway, if you love playing around with pattern, do check out Spoonflower. At the very least it's a blast to play on their site with your designs.

Happy Blooming Tuesday!

Six Word Saturday # 11

Weathered and aged

yet

beauty remains.

For more six word saturday posts, click here to visit!

Cactus Monday: Kaleidoscope

Often times I have a picture in my head of what I'd like to draw or paint.

And often times it comes out nothing at all like the image in my head.

I guess at the very least I could call today's attempt 'a day of coloring!'

I just couldn't for the life of me get this one right.

Happy Cactus Monday anyhoodle!

Illustration Friday: Pattern

For those of you who know my art you know that pattern is ever-present in nearly everything I draw or paint. I was going to show all of the past images that I did on patterned paper, but I chose instead to show two paintings I did with cloud patterns. One is in the west and one is here on the east coast.

I loved the rolling golden hills of California with the clouds and trees casting shadow patterns in subtle shades of blue and violet.

Now that I'm back in Rhode Island I get to see the change of seasons again. I love the marshes here, each with their own signifcant pattern. As the temperatures fall the grasses change color just as the leaves on the trees would.

The gold and amber striations make yet another pattern where there used to be lush green. Everywhere we look we see patterns in nature. To me, that's a perfect world and I try to savor every moment of it.

Illustration Friday: Intricate Decision

I think most of us make our lives out to be more complex than they really are.

I know I do.

We get overwhelmed by situations that present themselves to us without warning or invitation. What if we stood on the edge and saw intricate beauty in life's challenges and shouted "Thank you Universe!! Message received."

Then we could tend the rice fields in baby steps, one paddy at a time.

For Illustration Friday's promt: intricate

acrylic and colored pencil on card stock

IF : Garden Patterns

One of my addictions is patterns. I love painting them, buying them on linens and paper supplies and decorating with them. I mix and match the most unlikely ones together. As long as there's some color harmony going on, it works for me. I find patterns to be cheery. I've recovered my dining room chairs in vibrant garden motifs with linen napkins from import stores. This is a painting I did of one of my favorite tablecloths that I bought at a flea market, only in real life it's in reds and oranges. I wanted the contrast of the blues with these vibrant nectarines, which by the way, were delicious and juicy! Many artists are often inspired by gardens. Botanical illustration has been around forever, and just look at how many nature journals are out there.

Gardens are magical, healing places whether it's a small one on your kitchen windowsill, a plot of grass on your rooftop, or vast acreage filled with wildflowers and fruit trees. It's all good! So do yourself a favor and spend more time in the garden.

acrylic on canvas 24" x 30" Illustration Friday prompt: Garden

IF : Multiple Posts

Such an appropriate word for me this week because this entry makes my 100th post!

This blog has served me well in multiple ways this past year. I've found an art community I'm comfortable in and I've made multiple friends. I've shared multiple images and stories. I've used some subjects many times ( Ravens, for example) and I've been given multiple awards by some pretty special blogging friends. The joy in my life has multiplied by being a part of this experience.

Today I've chosen to post "The Spirit Of Raven" because of the multiple times his image appears in the sketch. Also, for those of you who recall my dream series, this represents after the pears were harvested, yet Raven's presence is still known.

Thanks for being with me for the first one hundred posts! I'm looking forward to many, many more.

acrylic and Prismacolor pencils on bristol paper

for Illustration Friday's prompt: multiple

IF : Poem...Drink Your Tea

Drink your tea slowly and reverently,

as if it is the axis

on which the world earth revolves-

slowly, evenly, without

rushing toward the future.

Live the actual moment.

Only this moment is life.

~Thich Nhat Hahn~

I searched a million (or so it seemed) poems on the internet to come up with something that sparked a painting. Here it is, a painting I did today just for Illustration Friday. I've titled it "Tea and Ginkos." The cup and saucer are very Wabi-Sabi. Who needs a perfect elipse?

inspiration and acrylic on canvas