digital art

Funky Fungi Lettering Practice

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Carrying on with the mushroom theme … I’m taking a course on hand lettering and it just seemed a good idea to have some fun and combine mushrooms and letters!

I actually did this originally in pen in my sketchbook and I was quite happy with the result. However, I wanted to see how I could rework it digitally. So I did. And here it is!

I’m so much happier adding colour digitally. Though I do need to play around with different kinds of brushes to get different textures in the colours.

Onwards and upwards with the lettering, a little at a time!

Sneak Peek of this week’s Coloring Page

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Click on this link to view today’s video on YouTube.

This week’s colouring page (or template) is drawn and I’ve added a little colour to it. I decided to feature some of the tangle patterns I’ve been exploring in the last couple of days. These are Ginili, Gingo and Fragment D3.

It’s really unusual of me to stick to a fairly limited number of patterns/motifs in my drawings. It was a really good experience!

I was so tempted to use the space between the stems of the Gingo leaves to add various blues, making it a bit like stained glass. I didn’t this time. Maybe for tomorrow. I’m not too keen on my colour choices today. Perhaps I really do need to get to grips with the idea that a limited colour palette is best for me and to stick to it!

That’s if I can drag myself away from the hand lettering course and practice that I’m so enthused about. I quickly show the pages completed so far in my lettering sketchbook in today’s video.

Template Thursday

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This week, a little more than usual, my thoughts have been on peace.

Mother Theresa said, “I will never attend an anti-war rally. If you have a peace rally, invite me.” The essence of this is that if we want peace, our thoughts, words and actions need to be on peace. That resonates with me a great deal, and I did before I’d heard of this particular quote!

So, with peace on my mind, I’ve drawn not one but two colouring pages/colouring templates this week. They are available to Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans Facebook group members.

However, if anyone wishes to send me an email to Artwyrd at AOL dot com, I can send them to you.

I was born in the early 1960s and have a sister who is ten years older than me. I was, from my birth, surrounded by music and imagery of the hippy era. So, it’s natural that some of the symbols of that time can be seen in my drawings.

Art is my way of not just expressing my creativity but is a way to take my mind off worries and troubles and to focus on more positive thoughts. Any creative activity that you can lose yourself in, not being aware of your thoughts, brings a sense of peace and calm, relaxation and pleasure. Colouring has the same effect on the mind as mediation, something else that I do.

Both templates were drawn with fineliner pens on paper. Colours and coloured backgrounds have been added digitally using ClipStudio Paint.

Give Peace A Chance

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Hand-drawn typography. Stylised botanicals. Some of my favourite things to draw along with one of my core beliefs!

I’m not at all sure about my colour choices. I think I could’ve done the gradient rainbow first, then taken my palette from that to use with the outer border of botanica. It’ll be easy to sort out though. I added colour digitally, but drew the design with pen on paper.

If you’d like to see my process of drawing, then take a look at today’s video by clicking on this link.

Template Thursyay!

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It’s that time of the week again! Template Thursyay is here once more! Yay indeed!

This week it’s a mandala design. I love mandalas and like to put my own twist and style on them. This one is no exception. Typically ‘Angela’ or ‘Entangled’ in feel.

The template is available to members of Angela Porter’s Colouring Book Fans Facebook group.

Sneak Peek Wednesday and my first attempt at stop motion animation.

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Sneak Peek Wednesday

This is part of a mandala design for a colouring page. And it is just part, though this would stand nicely as a design all in itself. Thursday, tomorrow, is the day I’ll release the template for the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group.

Stop Motion Animation

Do you ever wake in the morning with an idea you just have to try out straight away? Yes? I often do, usually for a drawing. Today, however, it involved stop motion animation.

First job was to download Stop Motion Studio and check it would work with the document camera I use for filming. And it does! Well enough for now that’s for sure.

Then I played with the software and decided to do a stop motion drawing. Then I thought I’d animate the paper and pen too. It took me the time it took to drink my morning mug of tea to create a simple little video lasting about 23 s (without intro and outro)

I have some things to think about – lighting, background, keeping my hands out of the way, holding the paper down in a different way, and sound effects perhaps. I’m going to try my best not to run before I can crawl with this. I have no idea what I can do with it, or what to make. But, I’m sure ideas will come to me.

Hmm, I wonder if Saturday’s will be Stop Motion Saturday from now on. Maybe, eventually, I dunno.

It was a lot of fun for an hour or so this morning.

Anyhoo, I like to share the fun, so here’s the video for you to enjoy! I’d appreciate it if you could click on the “Watch on YouTube” button in the video 🙂

Time for the creative soul – A Zentangle Inspired Bookmark WIP

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Slowly, I’m learning about using colour digitally, and I love it! I’m beginning to understand how I can use layers effectively. Bringing dimension to my ‘flat’ pen drawings is so fascinating!

I realise now that I need to spend more time working with colour digitally. I’m finding getting that feeling of volume in my artwork is relatively easy. But, choosing colours isn’t my best skill for sure! So, once the process of layers is incorporated into my mental “muscle memory”, I need to learn more about how to choose colours.

I’ll get there. It may be that monochrome is the way to go for me. But only time will tell.

For now, I need a bit of a break from the computer as well as another mug of tea!

Doodleworlds Critters – Part 2, partly coloured

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Have you ever lost hours engrossed in an activity? It happens often, doesn’t it? This afternoon, I’ve lost seven or eight hours adding colour to this Doodleworlds drawing. Yet, contentment oozed out of every pore of me.

I think I’ve finally found the perfect digital brushes during this time. That made adding colour such an enjoyable and engrossing activity today. So much so, that I kept saying to myself, “Just one more,” or, This one will be the last.”

I think I’ve only come to a stop for now as I need some food and drink. Also, I really need to get my Welsh Lesson done on Duolingo.

I had planned to pop out this afternoon, but I got so lost in art the afternoon has flown by!

The bonus is that not only have I enjoyed this time, but I’m pretty pleased with what has been produced. I’m even considering that it may be time to find a good cause to gift a lot of my traditional media to. I’ve not quite decided on that step yet.

I tried adding colour to this drawing yesterday, using traditional media. Unfortunately, I was so disappointed with what I produced that I re-drew the picture. Yup, I forgot to scan the partly drawn version in. Ho-hum.

I feel I’m OK adding shadow to my drawings with chalk pastel pencils. But adding colour with traditional media…

So, I’ll sit with this decision, focus on drawing with pen and adding colour digitally. In most cases that is.

Happy New Year!

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May each day of this year have many moments of peace and contentment, happiness and love, and fond memories too. May you also have all that you need. Wishing each of you the very best for the next 365 days, and beyond.

Template Thursday!

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Today, I have two wintery mandalas for the members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Books Fans facebook group.

Number 1 has some really intricate details in the inner rings of the mandala. Number 2, not quite so many.

They may be tiny, but I managed to add colour with the bullet tip of Arteza Everblend markers. So it’s not impossible to do, just a tad challenging. But I do know some people like that challenge.

One way is to colour the whole section in one colour, or a gradation of colours, and let the drawing just be like it’s etched into the colour, a texture if you will.

Another way is to take a larger section of pattern, and just colour it all in, like the small squares in template 1.

Whatever you feel comfortable doing is fine!

There’s no video today. I’ve tried a couple of times, but have spilled ink on the paper, made a total pig’s ear of colour, and so I need to focus on getting as many of the templates for Adorable Dogs inked in as I can. I only have a few left to do, and I haven’t done any over the last two days due to the stress of appointments. When I’m totally stressed/anxiety-ed out, I become incredibly tired and lacking any kind of focus for anything. The priority then is self care. Naps, quiet time, nothing that will get me stressed again as it will be all to easy to get stressed once again.

I’m not saying I’ve totally destressed, but the frustration with videoing today shows there’s still a fair amount there. Self care. Do what I can. If I get frustrated, take a break, even if it’s a break until tomorrow. When I’m not stressed, work flows and gets done more quickly than pushing myself and I end up redoing it all when I’m calm again.

Sometimes, you have to go slow to go fast. Not an easy lesson to learn, given the way that being productive is in your face everywhere, from adverts to social media influencers.

I’ve learned, the hard way, that taking care of myself has to be a priority. Taking those breaks knowing that by nurturing my mental and emotional wellbeing and getting that into a good shape I’ll soon get all the work done that I need to do.

Slow and steady …slow…and steady.