Having fun, but I think I’ll do something a little different later on today.
Oh, I finally got round to figuring out a ‘doodle’ cuttlefish, which makes me quite happy! The badger also makes an appearance, along with a koala, pig, panda and monkey. A fairy cat just adds to the whimsy. My morning mug of tea is there too!
I spent several very pleasurable hours drawing the picture below. It’s got a lot more line work in it that I’d add for colouring templates. It reminds me more of art I did pre-colouring book work.
Now, all I have to do is to decide whether to colour or not!
I’ve just spent a few happy hours drawing a piece of ‘doodle art’ after having learned much yesterday from mimicking the style of piccandle. I’v managed, I think, to make it much more ‘Angela’. I may have done similar stuff in the past, but not quite like this.
This has a fair number of design elements that are firmly in the realms of ‘Angela’ art.
It’s now been printed on watercolour paper as well as some alcohol marker friendly paper ready for colouring – my next task.
I had a bit of a surprise package today. Inside were some more stamps and dies that I designed and have now been produced by Hampton Art. They’re perfect for card making, paper crafts, planners, journals and scrapbooks!
I’ve also coloured in the doodle art from yesterday. I used a mixture of Copic Ciao markers, Chameleon markers and some coloured pencils. I’m quite pleased with the colouring, learned some new tricks with the Chameleon markers, which means I’d do things a little differently if I coloured it again.
At the weekend, I finished all the illustrations for the upcoming colouring book ‘By the Sea‘, to be one of the titles in the Escapes series from Dover publications.
So, over the last couple of days I’ve been doing other things, some arty, some not. However, after watching some videos on YouTube by piccandle, I thought I’d have a go at their particular style of doodle art, and this is my homage to them.
I had a lot of fun drawing this I must admit. It’s full size is shy of A4 in size, and I drew it on squared paper, scanned it in, cleaned it up using GiMP, then printed it out ready to colour, most probably with Copics, Spectrum Noir Illustrator markers and Promarkers.
This is now finished! It’s taken a lot of time over the past few days, but I’m happy with it now.
It’s been completed on A3 mixed media paper using a variety of media. Details have been added using coloured pencils and iridescent/metallic paints, hence the shimmery, shiny spot to the left. These details are a nightmare to photograph, but hopefully you’ll get enough of an idea from what you can see in the image.
Adding the iridescent patterns was a bit like using ithildin; I had to have the light at the right angle so I could see what I was doing and that also involved me cricking my neck at awkward angles!
My only problem now is to put a price on my work to sell it; so any sensible help/advice would be greatly recieved! Oh, I also need to find a name for it too…
Another page for you to print and colour, if you wish.
All I ask is that you please respect my copyright to the image; it is for personal use only, not for any commercial projects either in it’s entirety or in part. If you share the image, please share the link to this page instead! Of course, I’d love to see how you colour it!
Happy New Year to you all, and may it be a year full of colouring and creativity, peace and love to all.
The design is drawn, the base colour added using Ranger’s Distress Inks. Now, I’m adding extra colour and shading using Derwent’s Inktense pencils and a damp brush. It’s going to take a goodly while.
I have to admit that I, like so very many others, spent the Christmas period alone (except for a couple of hours playing Trivial Pursuit at my little sisters on Christmas night). It’s not the first Christmas that this has happened, but it’s one in a very long succession of solitary Christmases.
I feel the pressure from society and the media greatly at this time of the year; the pressure to be in a happy family, showered with gifts and food and company and loving intimacy.
The image we’re sold that we can’t possibly be happy unless we’re part of a big, loving, happy family and in a meaningful, happy, loving relationship is a trigger point for my mood, for unlocking the kennel of the black dog that can nip at my heels all too often.
This year, though, I’m happy to say that the black dog didn’t visit as often or as long as it has in the past many, many years. Oh, I’ve had my moments, but I’ve survived better than I have for a very long time, most probably 20 years or so.
What helped is indulging myself in my coping strategies – creating art, making music, reading, cat cuddling and generally being creative (which currently means knitting baby blankets for my neice who is expecting twins in 3 to 4 months time). Also, avoiding social media – facebook especially – has helped too.
Reminding myself that I’m not at the point in my healing journey from the cptsd (complex post traumatic stress disorder) that I experience that I feel able to have healthy relationships has also helped. It’s a work in progress, the healing that is.
Another sign of my recovery from the trials and tribulations of the cptsd that I experience is that I made a little effort to add some ‘decorations’ for the Winter Solstice/Yule/Christmas season, which include a trio of small, knitted christmas trees, which kept me a little occupied in the days/weeks leading up to this time, as well as knitting and needle felting some bacteria and viruses for a pharmacist I met at an event I attended as a Time to Change Wales champion.
So, now the next event that can cause the black dog to find some strength is New Year’s Eve…
…which I can survive by using my super-power of being creative to help me cope.
The piece of art above has been done over the past 3 days. The black outlines were drawn first, followed by a base layer of Ranger’s Distress Inks applied with Clarity Stencil brushes.
I then used the Distress Inks as watercolours to intensify the colours in various places as well as to add the colour to the berries/seeds/buds.
Next, I used Cosmic Shimmer’s Iridescent Watercolour paints to add some shimmer in large areas, before adding detailed patterns using coloured pencils (I chose to use my Mitsubishi Uni Pencils for this).
Finally, I added metallic and ‘glittery’ sparkle using Sakura’s Gold Gelly Roll Metallic pen and a Clear Star Gelly Roll pen.
I was rather restrained for me by leaving areas just coloured, not embellished to high heaven and back! The areas I have added texture/pattern to stand out more and it’s not quite so overwhelming.
This could mean my artistic skills are maturing a little.
The most important thing, however, is that I enjoyed the process of creating this large (for me) piece of art. The paper I used is A3 in size, and the drawing is approx 9.5″ x 14.5″.
When I finally figure out how to price my art (any one wishing to offer help/advice/suggestions on this, then it will be gratefully recieved) I may put it up for sale on Etsy.
Art is the Adventure 