sketchbook

Motif Monday

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Click on this link to see today’s video.

I love playing around with motifs, letting variations appear on my paper. So, having a day dedicated to exploring in such a way is, I think, a good idea for me!

Today, I chose two templates. One ‘seedling-y’, the other ‘coral-ish’. I ended up with this page (A5) full of possibilities and potential.

I worked in an A5 Arteza plain paper notebook rather than a sketchbook. I’m getting papers all over the place again. As much as I like the discbound sketchbooks I have, I just felt the time was right to dedicate a casebound book to my motif, tangle and fragment pursuits.

The paper reminds me of dot-grid notebook paper, without the dots. I didn’t expect it to work well with the washes of colour. However, as a sketchbook, it’ll be fine for me. The smooth surface of the paper is a pleasure to draw on. Also, I won’t wreck the nibs of my fineliner pens so quickly!

Oh, I also used a matt graphite pencil to add shadows – no tortillon or paper stump, just using pressure and/or layering to increase the depth of the shadow. I also worked with texture in the shadow in the blue seed-pod/sea anemone/round thing. That is something I want to look at a bit more going forward too.

Something Different Sunday – Bots invade my sketchbook…pesky things!

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Click on this link to see today’s video!

A rainy, windy, grey morning here in the Valleys of South Wales. The perfect day to cwtch up in the warm and dry and work on some art.

I’ve been drawing robots, or bots, in my sketchbook lately. I blame Bill Making Stuff on YouTube. I stumbled across his channel a lil while ago, and it seems his insidious bots and makes have found a corner in my creative mind to lurk. It’s inevitable, I suppose, that they should creep out.

But my drawing style has exerted its muscle …and these are typical ‘Angela’ style drawings! Actually, I had started to work on some new bots and characters for my Doodleworlds style of cute and whimsical art. But Bill gave me, unknowingly by him, the push to have a go at drawing these creations.

Fun. Whimsical. Cute. Different. Just what I needed to do on a rainy, windy, grey morning.

Gingajava by Donald Wilka CZT | Day 29 of #FYIC2022

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Day 29 of Fragments of Your Imagination 2022

Gingajava, a tangle pattern by Donald Wilka CZT, is not a pattern I’m familiar with, though I think I tackled a fragment similar to this when I did a few fragments in one go a few days ago.

It’s an interesting fragment, and does lend it’s self to variations fairly well. However, to keep the essence of the tangle, not as many as I’d thought.

Having said that, my creative mind isn’t firing on all four cylinders this morning; one at best I think. So, this fragment does deserve another look at at another time.

Beyond the fragments of your imagination challenge…

Just two more fragments to do in this year’s #FYIC2022 challenge. So, my mind is turning towards what next.

These challenges are fun. They give me a defined task to do each day. I find that really helpful as I’m not very good at motivating myself at the best of times.

So, I’m not sure what to do next … not just in terms of projects for my business, but videos and social media posts.

It’s always a funny feeling I have at the end of a challenge, project, commission, contract – there’s a sense of accomplishment, but there’s also a kind of sadness, emptiness, that it has come to an end.

I’ll figure it out; I usually do. But for today, I really do need to put my head down and have a sleep. I didn’t get a good night’s sleep last night and my attention is straying way too much. That also means it’s not a good time to come to decisions about what to do next, other than give my mind a chance to rest.

“Doodah” | Day 26 #FYIC2022

Angela PorterLeave a comment

DooDah is a tangle pattern I use fairly regularly in my entangled drawings. It has an elegance of simplicity.

Having said that, when I saw it in a fragment form I thought, “What on earth…”. I had very little idea of what would transpire. I felt it’s simplicity of construction would result in limitations. And to an extent, that is true. However, I do think I came up with some variations that were true to the way Doodah is constructed, others are deviations from that to a degree.

Adding shadow helped to bring life to the fragments, and sparked off further ideas. So at the last knockings of today’s video, I had a flurry of ideas to add to this page. These were more like aide memoire rather than polished fragments, or indeed borders. But they’re now noted down for possible future use.

I’m learning with these pattern, or fragment, explorations to expect the unexpected, especially when I think I have no more ideas!

Here’s today’s video:

“Gamusinos” by Oswaldo Burbanos CZT | Day 24 of #FYIC2022

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Every single fragment in this year’s Fragments of Your Imagination Challenge has been lovely, and Gamusinos by Oswaldo Burbanos CZT is no exception. I had a relaxing, enjoyable time coming up with a page of variations for this fragment.

Here’s the link to today’s YouTubeVideo showing the drawing of these fragments.

“Sharpenz” by Ilidica Boyd CZT | Day 23 of the Fragments of Your Imagination Challenge 2022 #FYIC2022

Angela PorterLeave a comment

An unusual fragment is Sharpenz by Ildica Boyd CZT. Unusual, but it led to some surprising variations.

Here’s today’s video that goes with this fragment

A Gracious Plenty of Fragments | Fragments of Your Imagination Challenge 2022, day 22

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Today, I chose to look at fourteen of the twenty-four extra fragments included in the 7F5RChallenge facebook group’s #FYIC2022 challenge information. The fragment for today – Dewdrop or Gem – really didn’t inspire me, as lovely as they are.

So, instead I looked at many fragments, sticking to the original shape for the variations.

Three pages later … I had a large number of variations, and a start for each of the fragments I took a look at using other shapes or further variations.

A lovely, lovely way to spend a dully, grey, chilly Saturday morning. Well, that’s what the weather is like with me here in the Valleys of South Wales, UK!

Today’s video on Youtube, is a look at these pages and the drawing of a just a few of the fragments.

Day 21 of #FYIC2022 – “Sai” by Miki Yamamoto

Angela PorterLeave a comment

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

A pretty floral fragment that was easy to create variations from. None of them are too far removed from the original, even if they may look that way!

Template Thursyay! and “Ivily” for day 20 of #IFYC2022

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Template Thursyay!

I added some more colour to my version of this week’s coloring template (or coloring page if you prefer) for the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group.

I stuck to a fairly limited palette of blues and teals, oranges and terracotas for this one.

I wasn’t aware until I added colour of the circular objects trapped beneath the triangles! It never ceases to amaze me now colour can bring out unexpected structures in a mandala or zentangle style design.

“Ivily” by Debbie New CZT – Day 20 #FYIC2022

Part of me wants to call this fragment ‘evilly’ because I was really, really vexed and frustrated by the original fragment. I just couldn’t get my head around it.

Don’t get me wrong, the fragment is lovely, but I just couldn’t work out how to draw it. It took me ages and ages of looking and working with it to even to be able to see the ivy leaves!

That’s all to do with how my mind works, nothing to do with Debbie’s beautiful fragment.

Eventually, I decided to cut my losses and just see how I could put ivy leaf motifs a la Angela into fragment shapes. That was a bit more of a fruitful journey with some unexpected results for sure.

Once my head is clear of my vexations, I may very well return to this fragment to see what I can do then.

Here’s the link to today’s video, all frustrations and vexations, trials and tribulations included!

Fragment “Birthday” by Jessica Davies CZT, #FYIC2022, #7F5RChallenge

Angela PorterLeave a comment

A fragment that I’m not familiar with today. It’s called ‘Birthday’ and is by Jessica Davies CZT. It’s a fusion of two other tangle patterns – cuboid and bales. The resutl is a rather interesting fragment.

I enjoyed my morning arty coddiwomple; this fragment took me down some unusual paths. Sometimes the fragment variation that resulted was pleasing, at others not so.

I think I learn far more than the not so pleasing variations (especially the downright ugly ones). Searching these fragments for that glimmer of an idea that can be worked with can be very satisfying, illuminating and lead to new variations.

However, this search often needs to be done after some time has been spent away from the variations. Fresh eyes, rested mind are needed to recognise those glimmers once time has allowed the the ‘what on earth was I thinking’ thoughts and emotions to fade away.

Today’s coddiwomple through variations of this fragment can be seen in the following video: