Floral designs, an entangled garden was my fancy this morning and this is the result, not fully coloured though.
Coloring is a great way to find some calm and peace during troubled times, such as the times we find ourselves in. Scientific studies have shown it has a similar effect on the brain as meditation.
I have a number of templates available for free in the facebook group, including this one.
Background – Distress Oxide inks and water spray on Daler-Rowney mixed media paper.
Flowers and background foliage – digital art using Autodesk Sketchbook Pro.
I had a lovely time creating this artwork. Flowers are something I love and find in my art an awful lot. It took a few iterations to get the drawing of the flowers and leaves as I wanted them. A lot more iterations were needed to get the colour and texture of the flowers and leaves so that I was happy with them.
I wanted a bit more interest in the background, so I drew a leafy, simple mandala that was coloured with shades of green. I then replicated it, resized it, and applied different layer effects to each copy of the mandala.
As I was doing this, it was reminding me of the mixed media work I did a few years ago, particularly using stencils to add interest to a background.
Digital mixed-media … without the mess! I’ve said it before – I’m averse to creating a mess!
Anyway, this has been an interesting experiment in the realms of digital art and my brain is now ticking over with ideas for the future. All I have to do is make a note of them!
Gosh, Thursdays seem to come around so quickly these days! Thursday is the day I post a new colouring template for the members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group, and above is this weeks offering.
I drew the line art on mixed media paper from Claire Fontaine with Tombow Fudenosuke flexible nib brush pens. I like to use variable line widths in my art from time to time. They give instant depth to the drawing and increase the graphic nature of the design.
I’ve used some really weird colours, for me, in my sample coloration. They’re really quite muted. That’s a hint to me that something is awry with my emotions/mood. I feel quite subdued and ‘meh’ at the moment, which is reflected in my colour choices.
Anyway, if you’d like to colour this, or any of many others in the archives, please pop along and join the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group. I create these exclusive templates as a way of saying thank you to those who like my coloring books.
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.
-Aristotle
Today is World Art Day. It is meant to be an international celebration of the fine arts which was declared by the International Association of Art (IAA) in order to promote awareness of creative activity worldwide.
Each year, on 15 April (Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday), World Art Day celebrations help reinforce the links between artistic creations and society, encourage greater awareness of the diversity of artistic expressions and highlight the contribution of artists to sustainable development. (UNESCO)
“Our Organization would thus like to pay tribute to the solidarity shown by artists and institutions at a time when art is suffering the full force of the effects of a global health, economic and social crisis.”
— Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO
About today’s art
I started by choosing one of my Distress Oxide backgrounds to use for today’s art.
I woke knowing I wanted to do an arrangement of stylised poppies with a mandala for a background, and this is the result.
Poppies symbolise, among other things, a lively imagination, messages delivered in dreams, beauty and success, as well as remembrance. They, along with their seed heads, often appear in my art.
It took me many iterations of colour, shadow and highlight to get the mandala appearing as I wanted it to – lacy, light, in the background but still standing out. I think I’ve managed to achieve that fairly well.
Overall, I’m pleased with the finished artwork. I do think the poppies and mandala could be moved towards the top of the background, something that is easy enough to do as I have the layers saved. However, the artwork is good enough for now.
I suspect I’ll be creating more art using a couple of the backgrounds I’ve created through the day. It’s a satisfying process to use backgrounds I’ve created myself rather than using ones that I have purchased.
I like to use a word in my artwork from time to time. Truth was the word I knew I had to use as the central point for some artwork, and that’s where I started, along with one of the Distress Oxide backgrounds I made yesterday (in the middle of the image).
After I’d decided on the typography and placed it centrally, I then started to draw digitally. I made use of the symmetry tools in Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, along with a flexible nib and fineliner brushes.
I had no idea what kind of design would result, I just went with the flow and intuition and thoroughly enjoyed doing so and losing myself in the art.
I added shadows and highlights once the drawing was finished for that sense of dimension and ‘life’.
I am really pleased with the finished artwork. There’s something about symmetry, spirals, repeating patterns, and intricate, abstract designs like this that just makes my arty heart smile and sing. I always return to this style, it seems to be at the core of my being.
I also love to draw on coloured and textured backgrounds. I also think I’ve found a way to combine more traditional media (making the backgrounds) with digital art (drawing and adding shadows and highlights) in a way that really works for me.
My only problem is that I do tend to try to branch out into other kinds of art and never seem quite so satisfied with them. This doesn’t mean I’m going to abandon them; they need a lot more work and thought and maybe structure.
Perhaps that’s why I like this particular piece of art so much – it has clearly defined structure. The colour palette is defined by the background and so I’m not struggling with what colours to use. Having the black line structure defines clearly where shadows and highlights need to go.
I’ve spent a very enjoyable few hours this morning creating a plethora of gloriously coloured and distressed backgrounds for use with my drawings and art. I will be scanning them in to create digital backgrounds too, but only when I’m going to draw on one. I’d get overwhelmed if I tried to do that task all in one go!
How I created the backgrounds.
The papers I used are all mixed media – either ClaireFontine or Daler-Rowney. They were cut to sizes that would be suitable for mounting on cards. They’re a mixture of the following approximate sizes: 9″ x 3″; 8″ x 2″; 4″ x 4″; 3″ x 5″; 2.5″ x 4.5″; 4.5″ x 2″; 3″ x 4″; 4.5″ x 1.5″ just in case you’re curious.
They are all coloured with Distress Oxide Inks. I only have the first two collections released by Ranger; I do intend to complete the collection in the future.
For some, I used a soft Brayer roller to add the Distress Oxide to a gel printing plate. I then either sprayed water on the plate in a fine spray, or I splattered drops of water colour on to it before pulling the print with a piece of paper.
I tried brayer-ing the Ink directly to paper, but wasn’t all that happy with the results until I sprayed them with water.
My favourite way of adding colour, however, was to use a piece of Cut and Dry foam to add the ink. I tapped the black, denser foam side onto the ink pad and used that to spread the colour around the paper. I then sprayed with water.
Sometimes I’d go back and add another layer of colour, and then spray with water.
I used a heat gun to dry the paper after spraying with water or colour, which helps the distress oxide inks to ‘bleach’.
I’d add some more colour if I thought the background needed it, and then spray again, until I was happy with the end product.
My final task was to frame the backgrounds by adding a black edging. I used a foam finger dauber and black soot Distress Ink to do this, spraying the papers once more to let the edging ‘bleed’ a little.
I’m really happy with most of the backgrounds I’ve made and I’m looking forward to using them to create little pieces of art, and adding to my library of digital backgrounds I can use for my digital art. These are a little small, maybe. However, Now I’ve found out how I like to create a background with the cut and dry foam I’ll be making some A4 sized backgrounds.
Update on my back and other things.
My back is feeling a lot better today. However, I still get stiff all too easily and I still have pain down the sides of my thighs.
My mosaic crochet wrap is coming along – it’s all I’ve been focusing on while my back has been too painful to sit and draw.
The world is greening quickly. I’ve not spent much time at my studio area while my back has been sore, so I’m surprised to see the trees that were bare just a couple of days ago are now clothed in spring hues. That cheers my heart!
I’m coping quite well with the ‘lock-down’. I am trying not to get sucked into the whirling maelstrom of news and views about Coronavirus and other events going on in the world.
The virus crisis is happening, even though it’s not touched me personally. It will occur whether I pay attention to it or not. I know being stressed, anxious, fearful will have a negative impact on my immune system, so the calmer I can stay, the better. That doesn’t mean I don’t care. I do. Deeply. The only thing I can do is to stay home and not be a vehicle for transmission of the virus from person to person.
I now need a fresh mug of tea, so that’s all the words I have…for now.
Another week in lock-down and quarrantine has passed us by. How long this will last, who knows. But with another week gone, it has to be one week closer to the end of it.
Fancy bringing this template to life with colour? Just pop over to the facebook group and join! It’s free, as is the template!
I drew the template with pen on paper (Pentel ‘Fountain’ pen and Frisk Bristol Board), scanned it in, cleaned it up, and then added some colour digitally.
This is a very typical ‘Angela’ kind of design – abstract with stylised motifs and geometric patterns. The arches are often used as a way of providing little windows into other world.
I do love to see how people use different color palettes to bring my templates to life. If you choose to join in, then I’d love to see, as would the members of the group too!
I’ve spent a few more hours working on this design. I’m not entirely sure where it’s heading, but I am listening to the inner voice, my intuition, and just going with the flow.
I’ve spent this morning, around four or five hours, creating art to go with a quote by Rumi :
“There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.” Rumi
Art is one such voice, and the voice belongs to the artist that creates the art.
My style of art flows from my heart, my soul. I work intuitively, often with very little plan, and I just let it happen as it needs to.
Abstract and stylised are two other features of my art, along with line and pattern. I draw inspiration for these from all kinds of places – nature, architecture, jewellery, pottery to name but a few. Whatever pleases my soul inspires me.
And I recognise that I need to stand by my style, my art-voice as it a true expression of me, of how I absorb influences from around me and then find a way to combine them into a response that is uniquely mine – one rich in detail and colour.
My artistic voice tells you a lot about me, if you but listen to it. It tells a story about me, what fascinates and inspires me, what I’m curious about, what catches my attention, and what makes my heart sing with joy. Creativity gives me a way to share these things with others, with you. It allows me to speak one of my truths, a truth that doesn’t have words.
Art is the Adventure 