This quote by Buddha has kept popping up in my life over the past couple of days. So, this morning I really thought I could use it in some artwork.
The typography I created in Affinity Publisher.
The rest of the artwork was completed in Autodesk Sketchbook Pro.
I like the raggedy edge of the quote banner, as well as the subtle, patterning of the mandala.
A nice way to spend a morning when I’m feeling headachy, fuzzy-headed and tired.
Today’s arty offering is this little bit of entangled art. It measures 4″ x 3″, so is small in size, but big in detail, I think.
Distress Oxide inks were used to colour a 4″ x 3″ piece of Claire Fontaine mixed media paper, with water to add extra texture to it.
I drew the design using 08 and 02 Unipin pens. To bring the design out of the background, I used Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Brush pens. Dots of gold and white finished the embellishment.
My final step was to apply some Distress Microglaze to add a subtle sheen that brings out the colours and layers of texture, not just to the Distress Oxide ink, but to the Pitt Artist Pens too.
I thought I’d try the Pitt Artist pens with this background as it seemed more dull and dusty, and that’s how I find the colours in the Pitt Artist Pens. Initially, I was going to keep it monochrome. However, I liked the nature of the colours in the pens, so experimented with them.
I enjoyed creating this little work of art. Now, it’ll find its way into my sketchbook-journal, with reflective notes for future reference.
As I’m pretty much an introvert, I’m usually happy in my own company and happy at home. There are times when even I get and a huge desire to visit somewhere else, where the feeling of wanderlust becomes so strong I have to act on it, even if it’s just a drive in my car.
I, like us all, have no idea when I’ll be able to do this again, just like us all. The Covid19 crisis has changed everything and liberties I took for granted are not not available now and shows how much I enjoyed them even if I didn’t use them all the time. I had the choice.
Yesterday was one of those days where wanderlust overwhelmed me. With it came a huge dose of frustration and sadness, as well as a loneliness I rarely feel.
Also, I was over-tired. I know that when I’m over-tired, my emotional resilience is low. So, all of these things bubbled up and I ended up in bed in the afternoon. I felt a bit better on waking, and my attention went to creating some art.
As I couldn’t indulge my wanderlust physically, I thought I’d try to find a way to express it artistically, and the above is the result.
Words always interest me, and their meanings and origins too. So, I wanted to include the definition of wanderlust in my art. I wanted to make it look like torn paper, or a rip in the background, so I created a messy edge for the typography panel. I actually like how this turned out; I felt like I was being torn apart, emotionally, by the feeling of wanderlust, and a darkness was welling up from that tear.
I used one of my Distress Oxide background textures and drew an entangled art design on a layer above it.
Once I was happy with the design, I coloured the line art, created a copy of it, and applied various effects to these two layers.
I’m really happy with this artwork. It made me smile inwardly and helped to lift my mood some more.
I’m still tired today, over-tired, exhausted. I woke up, however, with the idea of creating some ATC card backgrounds using Distress Oxide inks, and these are the results.
Except for the middle and right cards in the bottom row. I wanted to try out using Distress Microglaze to see if it brings out the colours and layers of colour and texture. It does, though it’s not easy to see on the scan. I do need to do before and after scans. I also need to see if I can draw on the panels treated this way too.
So, ATC cards are 2½” x 3½” in size and were started as a collaborative art project where artists and crafters could swap the cards with others, sharing inspiration and creativity in the process.
I just think they could be a lovely size to work on and mount on greeting cards.
All of these cards were cut from 300gsm watercolour paper, which is very thick and sturdy.
I’m still playing around with Distress Oxide Inks to get a feel of how I can get them to work for me as well as creating backgrounds for my traditional and digital art.
My mind is ticking over various things I’d like to do with these, both traditionally and digitally.
If you have any suggestions what I could do, leave a comment!
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!
I’ve been creating a lot of little bits of art that I just don’t know what to do with. They’re often little experiments. Sometimes I mount them as greeting cards, other times they end up in a drawer.
This morning, I woke with an idea to start a sketchbook-come-journal as a place to keep safely and annotate some of these artworks. The annotation is important; it’s lots of notes to myself about the techniques and materials I used to create a specific type of effect, thoughts, ideas for the future, inspirations.
I dug out an A4 Goldline sketchbook to use for this. The white pages just looked uninteresting and stark to me. So, I added some colour using a piece of Cut and Dry foam and Distress Inks followed by a quick spritz of water. A blast from a heat gun, and the pages were ready.
I did prepare a couple more spreads with colour. I realised that if I did this after I’d attached my art to the pages I’d get all kinds of lines and marks that I wouldn’t want. So, I need to make sure I add coloured pages each time I add work to the journal.
I adhered the artwork to the pages using Tombow Mono liquid glue, outlines them with either a metallic or plain black pen, and then set to annotations and notes.
It also gives me a chance to practice my hand-lettering and to use design elements used in bullet journals or planners. I have to say that my handwriting appeared far more than hand-lettering. I used the hand-lettering for headings though.
I also let some of the design elements from the artworks to spill onto the page. I have a problem with leaving white space! This gave me a chance to remember media I have in my stash, such as the Chameleon fineliner pens, which I haven’t used much.
Some dangle designs appeared in one of the drawings, so I redrew them above it. And, of course, metallic gold gel pens add a touch of sparkle.
One thing I ‘discovered’ (maybe rediscovered) is how fab Copic Markers work to add colour and shadow to the Distress backgrounds. White gel pen adds bright highlights.
One thing I wanted to do was add notes about my digital art. I’d like to add prints of my art, but I only have a black and white laser printer. So, I’m going to see if I can have sheets of images printed via the web and posted to me so I can then use them in my journal too.
Part of me knows I could do this via One Note or similar, but there’s something lovely about having a physical record of the art completed and with notes to reflect on or get inspiration from in the future.
I am sure this is something I did in the past, but it’s time to do this again. It’ll be fun to add journal elements to the pages, like envelopes or pouches for notes.
I’ll have to be less of a perfectionist, something I still struggle with. I’m hoping it will help me me to recognise the value of work I’ve done that I may not be happy with, but can learn from and make notes about this, and ideas that arise, for future reference.
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
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!
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.
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.
I started this yesterday before I hurt my back. I started with a Distress Ink background. Next, I used water and a brush with Tombow Dual Brush pen ink to create the circles and splashes. Finally, I added some line and pattern to the ‘blobs’. As I was finishing it up this morning, they reminded me of microbes, so that’s why I’ve named it ‘Microbial’. A classic bit of abstract, intuitive Angela art, and a bit of a blast to the past as well, but fun.
My back is a bit better today, but as well as painful I’m now stiff and with pain down my thighs. Hot gel pads really work with the pain/stiffness and I’ll be sorting that out very soon, as soon as I’ve finished posting this in fact!
Art is the Adventure 