Doodle Birthday Card

Today's card was created from one of my doodles that I did.   I scanned my doodle, imported into Craft Artist and created a frame for it.   When it was printed I water coloured it.

Clarity have created some stamps to recreate the design, but although I ordered them, they haven't arrived in time for me to use them for the card.   If they had I would have stamped the designs, perhaps with a different frame on watercolour paper and then painted it.  I had to make do with copy paper, but I played it safe and kept the colouring fairly light!

Doodling with stencils

Inspired by a demo I saw on Facebook - I played in one of my art journals with somem mandala stencils.    The idea was to draw some random shapes and turn them into flowers.   I decided to use the stencils and parts of the stencils.   Yes a bit random even for me - but it was a bit of fun.

I have also realised that it has been a week since I posted something on the blog - life overtakes you sometimes, but I have some bits in the pipeline to share, and yesterday I mad 5 cards - so there will be posts for the next few days!

Experimenting with a stencil

 

I feel in love with this eye stencil (well this is only part of it) the other day when it was being demonstrated by Jo Channon on Hochanda.    So inspired by Jo's demo I decided to have a play.

Jo used black stencil paste, but I didn't have any so I created my own using Cosmic Shimmer Gold Pearl Texture Paste and black gesso,

When it was dry, I then played with some new coloured pencils I bought for my colouring/doodling sessions, which I will be backed to next week, and then did a bit of doodling over the top.

Yes I know the word isn't quite straight - thought it was ok until I looked at the photo!   lol!

Doodling - a Postcard fro Hawaii continued..

Well we stayed longer in Hawaii than originally planned and we finished the drawing, and then spent most of the second week colouring.   Barbara provided us with a template for the Hula girls, which I basically used but did my own tweeks, and turned one the other way around and added a guitar! I am obviously getting a bit of confidence in drawing now, however slight!

and then it was the fun part ...... colouring in pencils  !  Really pleased with this and it was fun!

Doodling - Hawaii - work in progress

Last week we spent the week in Hawaii so to speak and by the weekend we had got to this stage,  the penning with just the last postcard to complete.   This week starts off with learning to draw hula girls and cheese plant leaves in the blank space.    This should be fun - a challenge to draw realistic figures.   Fortunately Barbara has created a template to download of her finished piece, so if the worst comes to the worst we can copy her girls.     We will then have the option to colour our piece of hers.

I'll share the result at the end of the week.

A variation on the Windmill Doodle

Following on from yesterday post ....... 

...... When I first knew we were going to draw windmills, I was tempted to do it in blue, inspired by my piece of Delftware.    However, my blue micron pen was much thicker than the ones we were using, and I chickened out and carried on with the black ones.   However, I had done a rough sketch of the windmill when we first started that I didn't like, and where I messed up when I was practising the rope border - thankfully I hadn't chucked it in the bin, so I decided to play with that and outline in blue and add the shading with blue pencil.

I think at some point I will do another windmill picture and this time do the whole thing in blue properly.

my inspiration

Doodling - Amsterdam continued

Where does the time go?   ..........

..... I suddenly realised I hadn't posted my finished doodle from Amsterdam week.  As you can see we added a street scene and some figures.   (Little carrot figures).   As I struggle to draw small enough to do more buttons, I found an image of a dutch girl that I adapted to fit in the corner.  (Of course I had finished the rope border and the house in pencil for that area - so there was a bit of rubbing out to do to accommodate her.  I also couldn't face doing another rope border between the images, so I opted for a vine of leaves.

The colouring of the houses looks a bit iffy in the photo - but in real life is much smoother!

This week's doodle - Amsterdam - Day 1

We are off to Holland with our new doodle this week.    I struggled a bit with this one - this was my second pencilled attempt.  I really am not good with drawing the fine details with my dodgy eyesight.   The windmill was slightly larger than the original one, because of this so the sails have protruded over the rope border - but no matter it makes it a bit different.    Tomorrow we will "pen" it.   I may leave this bit for a while as I want to see what else we will be drawing, as I fancy searching out my blue fine liner, and doing it in "Delft" style.   Hope the pen doesn't run out if I opt for this choice.

Doodling - Africa - a few more stages + completed

Having drawn the pencil sketch, we then set about inking in and starting on the patterns:

The next stage was to make a start on the frame.   I found this a tad difficult. as I couldn't see it very well,  and went wrong on the top frame, and did my own thing on the side frame.

Finally on Friday we learnt how to draw an acacia tree with a man sitting under it.  and elephants.   My pencil elephants weren't too bad, but it went a bit pear-shaped with the baby one when it came to inking it - turned out more like a dog!  lol!

I then spent the afternoon colouring in the image.   Quite pleased with my efforts from week 9.

Back to Doodling - Africa

By the time you read today's blog, I will have done a lot more to this.  In fact we will probably have finished it   This was the first stage of our doodle on Monday this week and is my pencil drawing.  Gosh - who knew I could draw!  I certainly didn't!

More to follow as we progress with this week's lesson.

Doodled Birthday Card

Having learned all the doodling and colouring techniques over the past few weeks, I thought I would put them into practise on a birthday card for a granddaughter.   I haven't add her age, as I thought she might want to frame the card into a picture at some point.

I also knocked up a quick cake for her to try and make this isolation birthday a little bit special.    Nothing fancy as she was only at her Dad's for the morning of her birthday.   She wanted a brownie mix cake, and just a small one. with water icing on it as they don't like sugarpaste.  So it was an experiment to try and cook brownie in a small round tin instead of an 8" square tin  (In hindsight probably should have gone for a 6" square - it might have made it easier to trim!).

Brownies by their very nature are crispy and crumbly on the top and sides and gooey on the base.  I turned the cake upside down - that will give her a surprise when she cuts it and finds the goo under the water icing!   I didn't realise how much had crumbled off until I took the photo - If I had realise I would have turned into a heart shape.  Not one of my best efforts - but at least it will taste good as a favourite mix and it's the thought that counts and that she has cake!)

Finished Dreamcatcher Doodle

drawing arrows

Getting there slowly - I did make a bit of a booboo on the arrows - I wasn't paying attention properly when Barbara did the decoration on them ........ but then we learned how to finish off the composition .....

The finished picture

..... ok- a couple more booboos, but generally I am quite pleased with it, considering 8 weeks ago I wouldn't have been able to draw anything!

PS.  If you liked the hot air balloon and the bird table pictures, Clarity Stamp have now brought them out as stamps and Groovi plates.

This week's "Doodle" - work in proress

This week's doodling takes us to Albuquerque and learning how to draw a Dreamcatcher.   This has been fun.   A bit daunting at first - particularly when it came to the feathers.  (This is our drawing after three days).   I could have made the feathers more elaborate, and penned in the details, but knowing my dodgy eyes, I took the easy option and just shaded them, as I didn't want to mess up my efforts.

I have really enjoyed doing this and can't wait to learn what we are going to add during the rest of the week.

Doodling - learning to colour an image.

This week in the Clarity SHAC shack, we have been learning to colour a postcard sized image.  Using Perga Liners and colouring pencils (whatever we had).     You think you know how to colour, and probably like many of you, I have colouring books that I dip into every now an again, but had I been colouring correctly.   I think not.

Above is my the start of my attempt to colour the nuthatch - I had a lot to learn about blending.   I got slightly carried away and started on the tree.  Erm .........

then I learned to do it properly.

There was another stage doing the leaves, which I forgot to take a photo of !   ......   and finally we learned to do a night sky.   Not brilliant, but a good learning curve.   I need more practise on my blending.  I might have been better doing a lighter sky!

Onwards and upwards as they say, and count a day lost you don't learn something new!   Can't wait to see what next week brings!

Doodling - Geisha (A week of doodling in one go!)

Well it was week 5 of our Doodling Adventure with Clarity Stamps SHAC Shack.   On the first day we learned to draw the Geisha and stone stones in pencil and then inked them it.

Day 2:  We pencilled in the design on the kimono and then inked it in.   She is beginning to get a bit of character now.

Day 3:  We started the Zentangle patterns on the stones.  I got slightly ahead and pencilled in the circle, but you will see from day 4 that I moved it slightly.

 Day 4.   We drew the tree and learned to draw cherry blossom and added more stone (or fields) to the background.

Finally Day 5:   ...  and the end of the week and we put in the sea and the rising/setting sun and started to colour the image with polychromo pencils.  (I am a bit new to polychromos - although I have attempted to use them on parchment - but need more practise.)    

I shall probably do a bit more colouring on the picture, but will use my best colouring pencils, as am more used to shading with them.

It's been an exciting five weeks, and am pleased with what I have achieved so far, having never been able to draw before; but with the guidance of Barbara Gray I can now say I can draw.    I know need to stretch myself and try and draw something without guidance.

Here's to week 6 and Lockdown doodling ....... whatever that will bring.

doodling - a little practice scene

Yesterday, before we completed the kite doodle we learned how to draw a little scene in a circular frame.   This was my attempt of a rocky cove.

Doodling - The Kite continued ..

Hi there -yes it is more doodling today, and a bit more more added to the kite doodle.  Yesterday we worked on the frame.

and today we have finished the doodle, by adding a scene inside the frame.  I am really quite "Chuffed" with this -who knew I could draw!

Doodling - A Kite (2 days of doodling + to be continued)

Today's doodle was a kite, and the doodling will progress on this over the next few days.  I did this first one along with the live Facebook episode.   I was then killing time waiting to be picked up for an appointment at the surgery for an injection - (yes I went Out Out for the first time in weeks!) so I started adding some colour.

I didn't think I had quite got the shape of the kite right - so I drew it again later - and here are the two, side by side

but wait ......... we did more on the second day; adding a tail and doin some shading and I used my second attempt:

......... that looks a bit more like it!  Amazing what a bit of shading with a pencil does!  (and I did a bit more to the coloured one too).

Tomorrow we are going to create a frame and a landscape for the kite!    I am really enjoying my hour of doodling each day, particularly as I never thought I could draw.  OK so I have a little trouble seeing the end of the pen sometimes -you would have thought doing the tail bows was easy, even when you have done them first in pencil - no not for me - I manage to put some of the lines in the wrong place - I think I am doing it. but then realise where I thought the pen was it wasn't!  but hey ho who cares!  It's the overall impression that counts; and as my Dad would say: "A blind man would be pleased to see it" !

Doodling - Smile

It was a simple little doodle for the start of another week of Lockdown.   Mind you so simple - but even I could mess it up - the birds wee supposed to be on the Smile sign - but I obviously wasn't concentrating - either that or some of my birds were trying to escape - never mind it brought a smile to my face when I realised m mistake.   Who's to say it was a mistake - there are no mistakes when doodling.

Doodling: Flowers

When Barbara finished her demo of the doodled heart, she showed us how to do the flower on the right.  having finished my heart is spent the afternoon drawing the lower, and also decided to try and recreate one I did about 8 years ago, when my eyesight was a lot better!

As the flower I was trying to recreate was originally coloured in - I decided to colour both of them in using Promarkers, and even got out my Artistry inks to do the brushed background colour.