Flowers and Butterfly stamp

Got a little more use out of the art stamp and I love how this came out.  Would never have thought a repetitive pattern would do this well but I'm still totally taken by the joy of hand made stamps working so well.  Perhaps I should practice with less perishable goods.

All that is Gold

I love stamps but it's hard to get the in the middle of Nairobi.  In frustration I decided to revert to an old childhood idea of using potato stamps.  I love how this worked out and although I had forgotten to do that background before stamping away, I was able to add a layer of yellow paint mixed with glazing medium.  

Oddly enough this print reminds me of 60's curtain fabric.  I wondered if I could do it on a piece of cloth to see if I would get the same effect but the downside of potato stamps is how quickly they deteriorate.  It's a lesson in creativity with speed.

The vellum was a gift from a friend and I have a whole roll of it.  Didn't know what to do with it until I saw some scrapbook ideas that used it to cover pictures or write text.  I printed this on my home printer and cut it out then fastened it with eyelets.  I love the quote by Tolkien and got really lucky when I found the Free Font Aniron too.  I'd say this was a happy convergence but I prefer SERENDIPITY.

Watercolour Flowers

Yeah, so the whole watercolour thing isn't going as easy as I thought.  I think the key to working with it is really patience.  At least that's what I'm learning.  I can do things in a hurry and they will turn out okay but if I take my time they turn out wonderfully.  It's a great way to learn but there are times I wish I could do this without the angst.

So that's another one for AEDM and I need to up my game.

Poppies

I bought a watercolour set from Cotman: 12 half pans and a nice brush to add to all the others I have.  I've always been drawn to watercolour technique in acrylic but it never has the same translucence I like.  This was the solution to that problem.  This is one of the tutorials from the set that comes with several sheets of watercolour paper as well.  This is phase one and...

I Am Really Trying

I'm doing my best to keep up with the two challenges I've entered for this month.  NaNoWriMo is kicking my ass the way it normally does but Art Every Day Month is doing a little worse.  It isn't that I'm not being able to do the art.  I'm just not being able to keep up with the posts.  I'm hoping this blog has a function where I can backdate stuff but until I figure that out...the backgrounds and ideas I've had for my art will remain with me and nobody else. 

Obviously if my novel writing endeavour kills me before I can do that, there will be no evidence of my prowess.  I'll be sad to lose the opportunity but with the way I feel about my novel...that might just be the reprieve I need.  Sometimes I wonder why I do this.  It can be such a pain.

UPDATE:

So it is possible to add an entry late.  As you can see, I've put in all the necessary pages as they should be and moving on to new things.  AEDM might not be going as well as I'd hoped but it's great anyway because it keeps me trying.  As for NaNoWriMo...I'm finally at my daily point rating and heading into the stratosphere. 

Butterflies

So I've already admitted to loving butterflies and the love isn't fading so that's always great.  I couldn't seem to get the dimensions right so I found a few outlines online and copied them a few times.  Once I knew what I was doing wrong, I tried this out and I love how it came out.  The splatter was  done in excess watercolour paint I had left off from another picture and the butterflies were done in black ink over the  whole.  They looked too plain so I added my second love - swirls.  It looks more complete but it isn't much of a background for art journalling. I guess I'll just have to take it as it as. And that's another one for AEDM.

NaNo Update Week 1

NaNoWriMo 2010 and I’m participating one more time.  The creative challenge is always really wonderful and I have used it for years to write out some of the stories I have held in my heart.  I like pitching myself against what are poor odds and coming out on top.  I do this by choice although it might be hard to figure that part out from what I say about the entire writing process.

It doesn’t matter when it happens.  At some point during NaNoWriMo, I feel like I have made a mistake and I should be using my time to do something easier.  But creativity isn’t easy.  Putting the words on the page is a skill anyone who knows how to write can do.  But the art of digging deep and finding within yourself something you want to say – that you ultimately want other people to see is a lot harder to accomplish.

This process requires a strong constitution and every once in a while it will slip.  Something you thought you had figured out will fall through while something else you didn’t want to even think about will rear its ugly head.  Creativity evolves in the process of creating it and yet everything you create is still exactly what it’s supposed to be.  It doesn’t go according to plan during NaNoWriMo and that’s fine because that is also what makes it so exciting.

So I might rant and rave about hating my novel because it isn’t doing what I want it to do but that just means the creative process is truly using me as the conduit and while I might not be in full control of the process I am letting go of my controlling self to allow what will happen to happen.  I might occasionally say my characters are doing things I would prefer them not to do but I like to think they are coming into their own and are no longer a construct of my predominant archetypes.

And that is what creativity really is.  When we look deeply in ourselves, we see the truth of what is there and from that truth we create.  But the product that comes out isn’t just a creation of our lives but also a creation of the universe.  It imbues it’s spirit into every line we write seeking to express itself fully through us – and isn’t that right too?  We are all part of the same universe and we are all standing on the edge of something new where we are charged with creating our own stepping stones before we embark on another step into the very well known unknown.

I take pride in what I am able to do every November.  It might be literary madness but I think it is also literary genius, literary talent, creative courage and utter and complete audacity.  That there are times I get frightened by how big the dream is or how much I feel like myself when I am caught up in the process of creating is enough to make me want to run in the opposite direction but I haven’t turned away from this in 5 years, I will not do it now.

I will write.  I will probably complain about the process and that’s alright.  When I win, because I know I will...I’ll be terribly glad my story didn’t go exactly how I wanted to or that my characters are bolder, broader and more wonderful than I could have imagined them inside my head.  So let me get back to my writing.

Current word count: 9,806

Mood: :-) Because I know I can do it.

Currently listening to...Eagle Eye Cherry.

Marble Background...Maybe

I was attempting a tile in marble effect like I have seen in several home decorating books in the hope of doing the same on a larger scale.  Do not be deceived.  It is nowhere near as easy as they make it out to be.  Alright so maybe doing it on such a small scale isn't the best way to attempt it, but I thought it will look at least a little bit like their final picture...something CLOSE would have been alright.  Instead, I have this thing that looks more like a blue zebra than anything else.  Ugh!

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this now but perhaps I'll stick with the blue zebra and find something that goes with it.  And as for the painting job I wanted to do...I'll leave that to the professionals.

Swirly Background and Usage 1

I can't seem to remember where I got this idea from but I do know it was from something online.  The original was actually a black piece of paper and the swirls on white were done with black pen and vice versa.  I adjusted it a bit and did the black with permanent Indian ink.  When that was dry, I did the swirls with normal ink and it came out alright.  Sadly, scanning it left a few strange discolourations (and if anyone knows how to fix that...I'm listening) which I had to fix with Illustrator.  That's where I got the idea of putting in some writing.

In the spirit of more swirlies and NaNoWriMo, I decided to use the font Angelica to write out a little encouragement.  I like how it looks and printing it and framing it makes for a nice focal point I can stare at when my word count starts flagging and making me wish I had opted for a less painful challenge.  This is AEDM number 2.

Happy Halloween

http://creativeeveryday.com/art-every-day-month

I was helping out at a Halloween Art Camp for children between the ages of 4 and 13 and this was one of the drawings the older kids had to do.  Originally a tutorial for Derwent's Inktense Colours, it works just as well with their Watercolour Pencil set or watercolour paints which we used with the kids.

It was actually a lot of fun for me to try the same image and although I was a little aggressive with the watercolour pencils, it came out pretty well.  Even though it is a little late for Halloween.  I really want this to by my first image for the Art Every Day Month challenge.  Here goes nothing.

NANOWRIMO 2010

I can't believe another year has gone by.  This year's start is also very shaky so I'm really going to have to rely on Chris Baty's guide to writing a novel in a month: No Plots, No Problem.  I should be excited but I think there is something wrong with me because I can't seem to find the usually zing that goes with such a crazy writing adventure.  Hopefully things will change soon.

Watch this space for updates, insanity and all the joys and horrors of a month of writing frenzy.

Nothing New?

I'd like to blame the lack of artistic endeavor on my computer problems.  No computer can be blamed for making me feel like I didn't have the right resources to get the job done.  Or with an untrustworthy computer there is no way I am putting my creative work into it when the greatest fear I have is that it will suddenly go burst and everything I have worked on will disappear.  (Okay maybe that last one is a little valid.)

But the truth is, I haven't done any creative work because I haven't done any creative work.  I have ideas but I never put them to use.  I have creative urgings but I tell myself they can wait.  What they are waiting for is obviously beyond me but if I knew the 'real' reason it would be to easy to just get on with it.  Lucky for me, I found this book - The Right Questions - at a local bookstore.  It was second hand so the price was just right for my thin pocket but it has been a priceless gem in a very uncertain time.

Letting go of some of the ideas I have about what I OUGHT to do and how I MUST do it has been great but I have also come to realize that I  still have issues - even with my depression in remission for over a year.  I'm learning - probably for the first time ever - that I have to pay attention to my current life as a lesson rather than as a fixed reality.  Knowing what I want and not finding it in how I live is the perfect way to understand what I have been investing in all along...and what I need to change.

I'm not sure how having a broken down PC fits into all this but I know what letting my creative work slip means: I am not doing my best to nurture myself because a small part of me is waiting on some knight in shining armor to come save me.  The urge isn't going to disappear.  But now that I'm aware of it, I think I might be able to short circuit that mode of thinking.  In the meantime, I wonder if there is something new I can do.