Monthly Challenge Group- Word of the Year 2015- HAPPINESS

Monthly Challenge Group

For the firs time I have signed for this months challenge as I thought that the start of 2015 would be a good time to start.

The challenge is to design and make a postcard which features a word that means something for you during the year of 2015.

I have decided to pick the word

HAPPINESS

Due to various things over the past 4 years this is not a state/position/feeling that I always find myself with.

However, I have found this a little harder than I thought and I have ended up with two entries and I need to narrow it down to just one.

Firstly 

Option 1

 This postcard has been created using Aquacolour crayons and water.  Plus cutouts and water colour pencils with fineliner pen.  The word is added with a marker pen but I hit a lumpy section and the second "S" I think looks like a number 5?  Blast!  Does it notice too much?  I suppose it does now that I have mentioned it.

I added blue mulberry paper to the top third and pastel to show up the water colour paper.

Option B

This is also on water colour paper with paints and highlighted with a black finer liner.

The word has been created using a stamp on to painted water colour paper and then attached to the surface of the postcard.

They are both completely different and both have an organic theme to them.  I like being outside but not if it is too cold!

Brightly coloured flowers in gardens, flower shops etc always put a smile on my face then of they are scented even better.  I love Dahlias, but so do the slugs where I live, but big displays of these flowers at National Trust venues are a must for my camera.  As are roses and just about any kind of plant.  

Sissinghurst Castle is a must to visit near Cranbrook in Kent UK.

So....... which one do you think?

I need to upload my chosen entry or flip a coin by the end of the week, so any opinions would be gratefully received.

I need to get in the swing of this a bit more I think, but I do like a theme or a goal to work to.

The current Le Challenge theme is DOTS.  Still thinking about that one...................

xx

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas......

We are going away for Christmas, but caved in and got our tree and decorated it this week. We hope to have friends round when we get back so it seemed odd to find one.  We buy ours from a local farm who I presume has a Christmas tree field.  I am sure it is not quite like that but Sophie loves the ideas of a field filled with Christmas trees?

We have been getting all Christmasy at work too and my tutor group had great fun making these during a tutor session.

We used white card templates which most students then painted either red or green.

From then on it was like some kind of glitter fest............tinsel, glitter, star stickers.........

Pompoms, more glitter, felt tip pen, drawings,  even more glitter

Silver and gold paint, tissue paper.......

and finally...yes, you guessed it..........yet more glitter.

In less than an hour my classroom looked like a million fairies had flown through.  Even the cleaner had to laugh at the end of the day!  They look really impressive hanging along the windows.  Will have to think what we could do next year.

Many thanks for all of your kind words concerning my hip situation.  No more to say on that until after my referral appointment in the New Year. 

xx

 



Sketch Book - Truro - Part 2

Well, I was that tired from my second day of canoeing and Kayaking  I fell asleep in my chair and I am afraid that blog posting went out of the window. 

So back to the current sketchbook pages.  Above is a hint of what the next stage looked like.  

This is where we left the drawing in a previous post.

Once having drawn the main areas in charcoal (a messy media to be honest)  some of the charcoal was blended and smudged the lines.  I really like oil pastels at the moment so then added some colour and blended the tow colours together.

I used some textured paper for soft pastels which I have had for years!  I like the way the grain of the paper is picked up by the charcoal and oil pastels.

I then added more sharper lines to certain areas to make them stand out.

So to recap.  Sections of the building have been taken to produce a montage or abstract designs based on Truro Cathedral.  The picture above shows in close-up the texture that can be gained with textured paper and blending with your finger, cotton wool or cotton wool bud.

So here is the final outcome.  Now, at this point I am supposed to go over the top lightly with some drawing ink!!! Can I bring myself to do this????   NO! So I am going to do another version and add the ink to that.  The other groups have done this so I do want to show this technique but I shall be very upset if a ruin it.  I have not tried this before so I do not have the confidence of knowledge as to what I will end up with.  It will also give me another chance to try different colours as well.  The colours that I have chosen here do go with the colours featured in the photos.  I am trying to move away from blues and greens which has tended to be my choice of colour with Art projects this year.  Did not really notice until I grouped it all together to store over the summer!

I shall be back with another make tomorrow too.  Plus an idea for a swap.

xx

Sketchbook Pages - Observational Drawing

I have a few pages from my school sketchbook.  We have been doing some work to develop observational and secondary drawing skills.

So we have been drawing something that I actually dislike doing.....buildings!

There was a trip to Truro which I did not go on as it clashed with another class but where there is a will there is a way....photos were used instead for me.

Please bear with me but I am prepared to bear all (from my sketchbook that is...)

I hope that you can see this but I decided to add photos and blend them in with my drawings.  I have done this with other projects and it is a little thing that I like to do.  It gets me into the flow of what I am doing.  Sections were drawn first with lines and tone in pencil.  I have been using a graphite stick.

Moved on to larger sections of the building.

Line and tone on the same drawing to show the differences.  These pages are part of my lesson planning so that the students can see what they should be aiming for.

Sections were then taken and re-arranged to form a more abstract appearance.  Sections that the drawer likes.  Some basic colour added again taking line and tone into account.

Developed those ideas with more shading, line and tone.

Experimental page.  Love doing these, just playing around to see what you end up with.

I then moved on to the final drawing....more on that tomorrow I need to take another picture of it.  Dull days are not great for pictures are they?

I really have enjoyed coming up with these pages, at the moment my sewing machine has quite a bit of competition from my sketchbooks!

xx

Sketchbook Pages - Oil Pastels

In my last sketchbook post I said that I was going to carry on and start using my old oil pastels that I have had since I was about 16.

Many are now broken but the colours are still as bright as ever.

Even the original box ix still hanging in there!

I went back to my rose drawing and this time I added lines of cream, pink and dark red and then using a cotton wool bud I smudge it all together a certain direction to show the curve of the petals.

I then became a little bold and decided to go straight in with a page using all of the flowers and oil pastels on their own!!  I started in the middle and worked my way out.

I do like the texture that can be achieved using the oil pastels.

I really do like completing pages and over the past few months I have gotten myself into the habit of trying to do just that.
I can see a few more cards in the pipeline.  With the oil pastel pages I think that I shall print off these pictures and mount them on to card.

This turned out to be contrast pages.
On the left as you look at the pages the roses are in oil pastels, the leaves are in watercolours with pen to highlight details.  The other page shows pen, paint and soft pastels.
A complete change in direction then comes by swapping to charcoal.

Charcoal has its place and I do not dislike this page but sorry.....the pastels have the vote.
I think that I shall use the pastels on some more pages.  The bright colours also remind me of the summer that we all hope will appear soon!!
Have a good week.
xx
PS. I have found two City & Guilds Sketchbook distant learning courses and I am tempted to use the money I will earn exam marking to sign up for it.   What do you think?...........

Sketchbook pages- Even more...

Hope I am not boring you with these pages and I have pretty much finished these lessons but I have not filled the sketchbook.  How do people manage to do that?

Anyway, the ones above use just about everything that has been covered over the weeks. I am completing these pages much faster than I used to and I am having to snatch time here and there.

 Felt tip pens.  Not so sure about this one.

Trying to put several elements all together on to a page.  Gone for a brighter colour scheme and added some notes around the outside.  Used all sorts of media for this one.

A completely different direction with flowers and using white to highlight areas  These are some camellias in my garden, I did have to use a photo due to them flowering and now gone.  I did go on to make a card with this idea for my Mum's birthday in August.  Very organised for a change.  This was part of a task set to do.  I then took this further.....

using the hydrangeas that we have coming into bloom in the garden.  I do have a lilac colour and blue tone flowers heads.  Which are going to be huge this year.

Very happy with this page.  I then got a bit carried away and did some more pages.

Took a picture of a flower that we bought for the Jubilee weekend and had a go drawing it.  I think that I let the page dictate too much here.....a bit square looking!!!

My little paintbox has been working over time in the year since I bought it from Amazon.  I needed to buy some replacement pans of paint last weekend.  The course does not cover pastels but that is where I headed next....

I wanted to try and achieve a rose design.  I used the paints and whitener but I do not think that it turned out right.  So I decided to try some soft pastels and a cotton bud to smudge it in.  Much better.

I have not finished this yet but this design has all pastel with some paint for the leaves and bits of the background.

Next I want to try these oil pastels.  Again they were not in the lessons but I want to branch out and do my own thing as well.

There is a little story behind this box of oil pastels.  I bought these, not really knowing what they were, when I was still at school, about 15/16 years old.  I was doing O'level Art and wanted to try something new.  Saved up for them too.

They have been with me through all of the house moves, my BTEC Fashion course, BA Fashion course, City and Guilds etc.  They are still going strong.  Worth the money. 

I shall be back with the pages that I do.

Hope you are still with me.  I am really enjoying my sketchbook and I am looking into trying a course which will give me a qualification too.  That will also make me find more time to do this , I have managed it in the past.  Especially if I have to pay for it as well.

I shall let you know what happens with that.

xx

Barcelona Masks

My in-laws have been to Barcelona for their 50th Wedding Anniversary.  They are due back today.

During their stay they found some great masks in some of the shop window displays.  The above one is my favourite.  This was taken using an I-phone and the colours can come out very well.

These examples cover much more of the head.

This style is very similar in shape to the one that I made.  Many more feathers.  I think that might be my father in laws foot you can see here!

This is one huge feather!  Not sure if you could wear this very easily.

This is my design.  I thought that I had enough gold on my mask, but having seen these pictures I think I could have added lots more and more feathers too.

I have really enjoyed making my mask and I have started to plan for an extension project for this idea with the new Art Textiles course that I am running next year.  So you have not heard the last of this topic.

I do have some pictures of my students work which I shall post once I have sorted them out and got them the right way up.

Sophie is away tonight on a Brownie sleepover with about 80 other Brownies and Guides!  So hubby and I have bought a dinner for two, a bit of lamb etc and a couple of DVDs from Asda for a quiet night in.

We had planned to go to a lovely hotel nearby  but when we went to book we were told that there was a wedding booked!  Typical, so we shall go another time, once my friend's daughter has finished her exams and can babysit Sophie.  I want to actually put a dress on and heels, it is that kind of place!

I also have some costumes to alter for a production at school and for Sophie's ballet group.

Have a good evening xx