Illustration Friday - Gesture

Gesture

"Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence. " ~Henri Matisse

I had fun with the new prompt from IllustrationFriday.com - Gesture. Click on the pic for larger view.

Many thanks to these fantastic free-use stock providers:

LetzteSchatten-stockfor use of image Stock4

Mjranum-stock for image That's the spot -2

Do you feel inspired by this week's challenge? If so, make something cool, post it online and add a link on the I.F. site. If not, skip over there anyway & check out what everyone else is up to.

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By the way, I am holding a random drawing on 7/28. Winner gets their favorite ACEO from the new prints I've ordered. To enter, leave a comment on my blog before June 28. For details & to see a few of the new art cards, click here

Enter to win an ACEO of your choice - ends 7/28

Red's Walk ACEO

Hey there! How have you been? 

If you are looking for the winner of Myke Amend's Coloring Book For Grown Up Kids, click here.

Passing storm ACEO

If you are looking for the newest Thursday Giveaway, then you are in the right place!

Fever Dream #1 ACEO

I've just ordered a few dozen new ACEOs for my Artsnark Etsy shop. They should arrive late next week. 

Trevi Letters ACEO

Some are little prints of drawings I've sold. Others are pieces of digital art that I am printing for the first time.

Hush ACEO

To celebrate my jump into prints, on 7/28 one random winner will get the ACEO of their choice from ArtSnark.etsy.com. I will have the new pieces in my shop by then. The winner can pick their fave from those, as well as the ACEOs in my shop right now.

Poppet Holiday ACEO

Are you wondering - What is an ACEO? It stands for Art Card Editions & Originals, sometimes known as ATCs or Art Trading Cards. Basically, it is a really affordable way to own a piece of small art. ACEOs can be in any style, topic or medium. The only requirement is that they measure 2.5" x 3.5". Toss the term into your favorite search engine & all sorts of sites will pop up. If you like doodling or collecting, I recommend you give them a whirl. But be warned they are highly addictive, both to make and to collect!

Steampunk Navigator ACEO

Here is a sampling of the prints I have coming in next week. Can you tell I'm excited? Until now I have only sold originals in my shop. But traffic is sloooow, so it is time to try something new.

So, how do you enter the 7/28 random drawing? Easy peasy - leave a comment on my blog before 1 a.m. (EST) on July 28 and your name is tossed into the hat. Just make sure your contact info is in your profile (or leave an email) in case you are the lucky winner. (Giveaway is open worldwide with free shipping.)

Thanks for stopping by.... and good luck!!

We have a winner....

of Myke Amend's Coloring Book for Grown Up Kids!

Myke Amend's Coloring Book for Grown Up Kids

Randomly selected from the last 2 weeks of visitors....... the winner is........

AHAviews

Congratulations, AHAviews! I will contact you for your shipping info later today.

Many thanks to the always fantastic Myke for sponsoring this fun giveaway! See what this creative fellow is up to next by visiting him online - lots 'o links to choose from:

http://www.mykeamend.com

http://www.ettadiem.etsy.com

https://www.facebook.com/mykeamend

https://www.facebook.com/steampunkart

http://infernaldevice.net/Artprize/

http://twitter.com/#!/infernal_device

https://www.facebook.com/InfernalDevice

And thank you to all who take the time to comment. It is your interest that keeps the giveaways flowing! In fact pop back later today to sign up for a new one!

 

Random Tuesday - What'cha doin?

Bubble Boy experiment

Yep, summer vacation- woo hoo! Sadly most of Little Dude's friends are in assorted camps so we have to keep ourselves busy during the week.  One day we stuck him in a giant soap bubble. This fun idea came from one of our go-to books for tackling the doldrums, Sean Connelly's The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science Experiments

We've also been painting:

This is one of those cool cheapo art supplies boxes from Michaels. Highly recommend if you know anyone who likes to doodle. The watercolor paints are of a much better quality than the standard kid's sets, less watery & richer colors.

In the background is a cracker box/ paper towel tube castle & a wooden birdhouse awaiting their turn under the brush. The birdhouse (also from Michaels) is actually a Lego Star Wars hideout in the Dude's world.

Working hard on this acrobat toy.

Here's the work-in-progress toy gymnast - L.D. is still debating whether to go zendangle with a sharpie or add a gloss finish.

But....in the meantime it is fun to play with. Boy I sound doofy - mix of allergies, not enough coffee, and vid cutting out early. Next time I'll let the kiddo handle the electronics while I turn the crank. He is much better at it & my tech-aptitude is from the 1800s at the latest.

So...what'cha doin this summer? Any suggestions for keeping the kids busy?? I need them if you have them

Any random thoughts rattling around in your nut? Well, jot em down online & link up over at Stacey Uncorked for Random Tuesday

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By the way, the drawing for Myke Amend's Coloring Book For Grown Up Kids is in 2 days. Leave a comment before 1 am (EST) on 7/14 & your name goes into the hat. For more info & a peek at the book click here.

Illustration Friday - Stay

Stay - mixed media on cut paper - click image to enlarge

Stay, the new IllustrationFriday prompt, hits close to home this week. I don't tend to get too personal on this blog & have debated sharing TMI this week. I don't do emotional very well in the real world (let alone the virtual one) so that is why I have been scarce around here. (who knows, I may come back & delete this later).

About 10 years ago my Dad was diagnosed with a nasty case of cancer. It did not look good.  Luckily he was accepted into an experimental study with some new heavy-duty treatments, and he beat it.  Now he has another kind & has surgery today. Needless to say, we are all hopeful & worried.

I wasn't worth a damn today so  drifted over to DA and trolled through my stock photo faves for some inspiration. Then played in PE9 for a while. Since I have no time to paint anymore, I've been mocking up some digi-sketches in case the calendar clears someday. 

Stay - digital sketch - again, just click to enlarge

I've still got a way to go on this one but it includes my thoughts on "Stay", crossing over, and of course a version of Little Red. I went too faded,need to tone down the white light & give the wolf a bit more ooomf. But as a sketch it is a decent start, I think....

Many thanks to these talented DeviantArt folks for sharing their fabulous stock images:

xCrystals: Arctic Wolf 17

MyBluelight-stock: Cold Winter

AshenSorrow: Premade Background 1277

But I still felt a need to wrap my hand (& mind) around a pencil. On impulse I challenged myself to make something using only a handful of items from the pigsty on my desk. So, there is a scrap of torn patterned paper (it has typewriter-style text with words like -  "sudden", "alone" & "I remember", which seemed apt). Then 2 Pitt Pens, red & blue; a pigma micron brown 05; Plus a handful of Derwent Pencils - metallic Red#7; my go-to Lemon Cadmium watercolor pencil; & a Chinese White Drawing pencil.

Plugged in a Monoral Mix I haven't listened to in a while - it includes this great tune that anime fans will recognize - seemed to fit my mood....

Then I shut out the world and doodled away. Lucky for me, my wonderful husband covered for me in the kitchen and with the kiddo for a couple of hours. Little Dude came in about 3/4 of the way through & declared the illo "meh" - I had to agree. But plodded on & then had a go with some scissors. The cuts seem to let some of the fun texty paper show through without being too dull a background. 

The final is at the top of this post - I had to scan it on black , sorry if the background is distracting. It measures about 5.5" x 12". I was going to just add it to the never ending stack of dusty drawings but am thinking about matting & framing for the ArtSnark etsy shop. What do you think?

Are you inspired by Stay today? Pop on over to I.F. & see some other fun takes on the topic. Please add your own too - come out & play!

A Flood Of Love

A Flood Of Love digital collage

A Flood of Love

I lay supine,

your grace washing through me

like a flood of love divine

knowing only the moment of surrender

as the gates open to a light reborn,

soft, and tender.

Awash in a flood of love

that fills even the darkest spaces,

banishing the harsh word

the truculent grime,

so that for a time

not even pain can enter here.

A release of each anxiety

every darkness washed from the core of me,

as we swim into this dazzling sea,

I in thou, thou in me;

And in that place,

where the light surges through the gates

flowing into every memory I have known

soothing each space into which I've grown

I find myself dissolving into a unity of you

that spreads through out my universe

my subtle inner view

until all that is left of me,

left of this vestige of you,

is a splash of luminescence,

painted upon a canvas of dazzling hue.

You do not come from without

you do not echo in some doubt

you do not flood me through my eyes

or ears, or nose,

but through the deepest sighs.

An eruptive eminence of delight

streaming from within

born to some second sight,

a flood of love

caressing me with light.

And there in that place,

I open my eyes

and see the world once more

turn upon its tide

a remnant of the vision

of the radiance inside.

       - RPM

I snuck away from family stuff, glanced at facebook & found this lovely poem from Richard at CreativeSoulsPublishing. It made me want to draw like mad, but with relatives orbiting my time is limited today. I tossed together this digital sketch. Not thrilled but hope to come back to it someday, so decided to save for later.

Woman is PurpleStock6 from Chamberstock on DeviantArt

The house, tiny figure & man are from my 3-D house: Where ever you are I am home

I wish I had more time to play with this digital doodle but the festivities are calling ( I will confess that I am far more tempted by my studio than fireworks & bar-b-que... and feel quite guilty about it...)

Best wishes to all & hope you enjoy the week ahead.

Happy Birthday, America!

Lowry Park Zoo Eagle

I took this photo last week. Feel free to use it in your artwork. If you need a higher resolution, just drop me a note & I will email it over.


Festive 4th of July wishes to all who are celebrating today.... and a fabulous Monday to everyone!

It is also Musical Monday once again - if you want to share your favorite tunes or listen to some others, click on over to Xmas Dolly & Run DMTand join the party!

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By the way, have you entered the new random drawing? This one is scheduled to blast off on 7/14.  Leave a comment on my blog to enter. Giveaway is sponsored by fantasy artist Myke Amend. 1 lucky winner gets a copy of his Coloring Book For Grown Up Kids. Click here for details