Fun How-To Project #2: Doodle Universe!

Previously, I shared a fun "how to loosen up" project using Sharpies to doodle on an apron (HERE).

Well, this time we take The Sharpie to new heights!! We. draw. right. on. the. wall!!!

Yep, onto the walls. In Sharpie. Really. :-O

I have a dinky bathroom that has been plain white for almost 4 years. MyGuy has been too busy to apply the promised paint, so one day I was hit with a "great" idea: doodle on the walls with a Sharpie! 

Thus was born the Doodle Universe. 

Eventually, I will add color. But for several reasons it's taken me 6 months to get this far, so I'm learning patience and perseverance. :-) 

Drawing directly onto the walls has several advantages:

• You let go of perfectionist tendencies
• It's fun and daring at the same time
• It's a way to let your imagination loose, and just allow the design to surprise you as you go
• It actually increases your confidence as you just "do it"

My method was to relax and just gaze at it, and "see" it first in my imagination. If I liked it, on to the wall it went.

My only rule: no pencil and eraser.

That was just my choice, since I wanted loosen up. There are no mistakes with this method, only accidental adventures! If I slip (which I occasionally did), then the design takes a turn in a different direction. It's all good!

Here is the Doodle Universe thus far. First, here is the view as you walk into the tiny half/bath; this is the right wall, and then it goes on around to the left (can click on any pics to enlarge):

Before I started:

Took a big breath, and started on Wall 1:

Wall 1 day later:

Here are Walls 1 and 2 finished:

On to Wall 3, to the left of the sink:

This shows the design progressing around to Wall 4:

Wall 4:

Now Wall 5, over the Throne:

Close up of Wall 5:

Continuing over to the last Wall 6:

And a shot of just the last Wall 6, all done:

My next plan is to add subtle shading, and eventually color. The acrylic color will be in two parts: a pale sponged on background with hints of color; and some brighter color notes right on the main design elements.

And the symbolism?

-Within my Doodle Universe are separate Doodle Galaxies.

-Each main Galaxy has similiar components attached to it, such as the giant wings,  showing movement and change, albeit slow). 

-There are similarities, yet no two Galaxies are identical, they are unique, like people.

-There are cloud-like connectors between the Galaxies; they are separate, yet connected; autonomous, yet needing each other.

-Each Galaxy has tails hanging down, kind of like tails on a kite; they symbolize anchors, a source of stability.

-They also each have a Vine design, representing growth, change, new life.

-There are stylized stars and moons, symbols of reaching for hopes and dreams.

I may eventually add angels, little space ships, quotes... who knows how it will turn out in the end! 

I hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into my Doodle Universe!

Happy doodling,

Retta

Art as Therapy... A Fun How-To Project

At times, we all have emotions we need to process. Some of us are very visual, and find it helpful to just relax and doodle. There's not a lot of planning to it. It's stress free, and it can allow our mind to relax and just feel. We're not out to impress anybody with our oh-so-serious art. It's just casual fun.

That's the approach I took after my Dad died in March of 2011. I wanted to contribute a personalized photo to a collection being put together in his memory. 

I picked out a favorite of photo of me and Dad from when I was about 3 years old... and doodled on it! Mine was done digitally. I found an old black and white photograph, scanned it in, cropped it, changed it to sepia tone, and then did my doodling in Photoshop Elements.

But you could use Sharpies or whatever you like on a printed photo (can click photo to enlarge).

Loretta and Dad, 1954

As I doodled, I let the good memories bubble to the surface... and yes, shed a few tears. There was symbolism for me in the design, with the hearts, thorns, stars, spirals, etc. It was all so therapeutic, and I felt like Dad would have liked the finished personalized photo.

Naturally, it doesn't have to be for such a serious event! It can be for anything... a wedding photo, a birthday, anniversary, a loved one, a favorite memory, or just because! 

There is something about doing this to a photo that makes it feel special. It made me feel connected to my Dad, and to good memories.

If you try this, I would love to hear about it. :-)

Happy doodling,

Retta

How to Loosen Up... Fun How-To Project #1

Do you find yourself getting a little "tight" in your drawing or painting at times?? (I do)

Would you enjoy a short project aimed at having fun and loosening up? (I did)

I thought it would be fun to share a great way I found to loosen up in my drawing and painting. There are tons of free resources on the interwebs of course, and much more "scholarly" than mine. Mine is simply meant to be casual and fun, yet useful!

I enjoy colored pencils, pens, drawing, doodling, painting, etc etc. But over time I can tend to tighten up, trying to control the outcome too much. Then I get that tense feeling that says "Uh oh, what if I make a mistake?"

Here's a project to shake off the Tighties

 and get more of the Loosies:

The "Doodle" apron!

(can click any pics to enlarge)

Wanna try it? Here we go:

1. Get you a light colored apron, or pillowcase or hat or cotton shirt or white tennies, or whatever you like, to use as your "canvas".

Here was mine:

2. Get you a black permanent marker. Since this is for fun and "Loosen Up Therapy", I just used a good ol' Sharpie. I used the Gesso to cover up the advertising that was on the apron, so I could paint the motto on instead.

3. Now doodle!! No, don't plan it with pencil on paper first. And no fair drawing it with pencil first onto the item then tracing that with the Sharpie. The idea is to loosen up, and just draw. Use whatever style of drawing you enjoy. Or, be adventurous and try a new direction!

Remember, there are no mistakes here, only accidental adventures!!

4. Now have fun and color it! You can use plain old acrylics, or fabric paints, or permanent paint markers. Whatever floats your boat. I used DecoArt SoSoft Fabric Paint, since I wanted to set the paint in order to be able to wash my apron. I bought a set of little bottles from Dharma Trading Co. online, but they also have little "sampler" type sets for small projects, HERE.  I like this paint because it's washable without the hassle of heat setting it first. 

Tip: If you'd like to try this project without buying new paints, but already have regular acrylics, do like I've done in the past: just get one bottle of Fabric Medium, like this, and add it to your acrylics. It keeps them from getting stiff on your fabric, and works great.

Another tip: I used older brushes, so I could scrub it in to the fabric when needed, and not worry about ruining my nice brushes.

 Color scheme tip: If you aren't sure what colors to choose, a simple plan is to choose 3 (or more) favorites, then include a lighter and darker version of each. Above, you see I chose pink, blue, orange and green. Then included lighter and darker versions of each. Instead of adding white to lighten, or black or a dark color to darken, you can get fabulous clean and bright colors by choosing from around the color wheel. Example: for the Orange, I chose a red for the darker version, and a yellowish orange for the lighter side. Ditto for the rest of my colors. 

5. Here's pics of the painting in progress:

 I usually applied one color first with the little brush, 
then blended it out with the old small flat brush. 
I always started with the middle color, applying it 
everywhere on the apron where I wanted that color. 
Then added the darker version, again everywhere, 
blending it for soft edges; then lastly the highlight 
color, again blending the edges. Doing it in stages 
that way was faster than going back and forth 
constantly into the different colors:

I was having so much fun, I forgot

to take pics of the orange and 

green layers. :-D

6. And Ta Daaa! My finished Loosey Goosey Doodle Apron! :-)

Detail of finished apron:

There were lots of places that were "accidental adventures" on this design. But see? You'd never know it by the time the paint was on. 

I hope you enjoy this little relaxing "therapy" project. If you like it, I'd appreciate you mentioning it on Facebook to share the idea with others. Just click on the Facebook button at the bottom of the post. Thanks bunches!

Happy loose painting,

Retta

PS: Even kids would love this; it's the sort of project you can do together. Here is a LINK to a tutorial at Dharma Trading Co for painting a darling pair of kids sneakers!

Doodling With A Message

I thought I would share some of the fun doodle stuff I posted on my other blog... this first one was from November of 2009.

I enjoy combining meaninful quotes with colorful designs. We all go through hard times... but there's no use in worrying about something that hasn't happened yet. Some good quotes about Worry:

"Worry is a misuse of imagination." --Dan Zadra

"Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere." --Glenn Turner

"I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened." --Mark Twain

"Worry is interest paid on trouble before it comes due." --William Ralph Inge

"Every evening I turn my worries over to God. He's going to be up all night anyway."  --Mary C Crowley

This doodle was created with good ol' Sharpies and colored pencils.

(can click to enlarge)

Happy worry-free doodling,

Retta

The Fire is Finished

It's done!

Last Wednesday I introduced Word Bubble #1 (HERE),  and shared the speed drawing video of me drawing it. Well, it's now finished and photographed. I didn't add the varnish yet, and am excited to see it after that, since varnish always makes the colors pop.

Here she be, with my motivational word Fire! My word was based on this quote:

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." --Albert Schweitzer

(can click to enlarge)

This was drawn on a small Aquabee Sketchpad... too small, as it turned out. Thanks to good ol' Dicky Blick I should be getting a nice new larger pad soon. :-)

Here's some WIP pics. 

Here's the original black and white:

I decided to go with my Caran d' Ache Neocolor II's (watersoluble artist crayons). Love those puppies! They are chunky, and force me to not fiddle around with minutiae. I started with the blue family:

Progress:

Got all caught up in the ArtNebulae, and forgot to take more pics. So this is when almost done:

And here, before varnish, finished:

In addition to the Neocolor II's, I used black medium and fine Pitt Artist pens, acrylic medium, and gloss acylic medium/varnish. 

Oh, and on the outer edges - though it doesn't show in the photo - I rubbed on a little interference blue Pearl Ex. They are powdered pigments by Jacquard, which gave the edging a pearlescent sheen that slightly changes color as you move the page. You can use them for almost anything, sealed by the acrylic medium. See them Here.  Too bad they don't show up in a photo... they are gorgeous. :-)

The texture around the outer edges was done with spattering from an old toothbrush. Just made the colors a little soupier and went at it. 

One tip: since the Neocolor II's are watersoluble, if you want it to stay put and not smudge or blend any more, just use a bit of medium instead of/or in addition to water when wetting them with a brush. Towards the end, when I was working on final details, I would scribble with the crayon onto my palette, then dip my brush into water and/or  acrylic medium, and use it that way. It was like using thin acrylic paint, and won't smear when dry, or be disturbed by subsequent layers.

A new video camera is on my wish list, so as soon as I get that, I'm hoping to do more Word Bubbles. It was a blast!

Happy painting,

Retta

Speed Doodling & A Freebie

This shiny new year of 2012 I've been stepping outside my comfort zone to learn new things, to have new adventures!

Thus... for the first time ever I had a video camera pointed at me while I drew! It was a small doodle, but it was in INK... no pencil, no eraser, no plan. Just "leave a blank word bubble in the middle" and let 'er rip! 

I am offering the finished Word Bubble as a free download to anyone who would like. You can choose your own inspiring word for the middle, and finish it however you want... color, paint, glitter, collage, cut up and re-form it... go for it! 

If you have a blog or somewhere you post photos, I'd love to see what you ended up with. Just come back and leave a link in the comments. 

The main thing:

 Just have fun with it!

(Be sure to click to enlarge, and then download the large version, not the thumbnail)

On my birthday recently my sister Karen (her Writers blog is HERE) gave me a birthday card with this quote:

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." --Albert Schweitzer

And that is why the word I have chosen for my Word Bubble is: Fire! 

Here is my Word Bubble after adding my word...

This coming week, I plan to play around and finish mine. I drew it with a black Pitt Artist Pen, size Medium, in a 5 x 8 Aquabee Sketchpad, and the paper is on the thin side. So I think I'll first seal the page (both sides) with a clear medium. Then I can play with my acrylics, or Neocolor II's (here)  which are watersoluble artist crayons (LOVE them) or whatever strikes my fancy. So by coating the paper I don't have to worry about it being messed up by the moisture. I might even rub in some Pearl-Ex powders if the mood strikes. :-) 

Here is my first art video in "speed drawing"  time-lapse mode. The original was 67 minutes long! This version is a mere 6 minutes and change. :-D

Speed Doodle Word Bubble #1 by Retta

(For a larger version that's easier to see, you 

can go to my YouTube page, Here)

By the way, next time I'll leave a larger blank in the middle... this one was on the dinky side. And I'm hoping to buy a better camera soon... no more fuzzies!

Edited to add: here is the link to the finished doodle, with my word Fire in it and colorized.

Happy doodling,

Retta

A Shiny New Year

It was fun transforming the design that I used for my Christmas card this year, into my "theme" badge for 2012. The original design was done with sharpies and colored pencil. Then in Photoshop I cropped out the card parts, increased the vertical size with more black, and added new text. I like this design a lot, so was tickled to find another use for it. :-D

Happy Painting,


Retta

Digital Doodle Play

I'm slowly learning to use my Wacom Bamboo tablet, and had fun making this poster. I used the cat design made in photoshop, altered the hue in layers, and added some motivational text. I kinda like the results. :-D

(can click to enlarge)

Happy Painting,


Retta