Kokopelli Dancers

Used a couple stencils here and had some fun coloring them in. These are the Kokopelli Dancers, don’t you just want to hear their music? To start dancing along with them? I’ve done a little research about these guys, and found various stories. Some about fertility, others about agriculture and a belief that he’s thought to represent the season change from winter to spring. So, we can take our pick on what we want to believe. The following definition was found HERE.

Who Was Kokopelli?

Known as a fertility god, prankster, healer and story teller, Kokopelli has been a source of wonder throughout the country for centuries. Kokopelli embodies the true American Southwest, and dates back over 3,000 years ago, when the first petroglyphs were carved. Although his true origins are unknown, this traveling, flute-playing Casanova is a sacred figure to many Southwestern Native Americans. Carvings of this hunch-backed flute-playing figure have been found painted and carved into rock walls and boulders throughout the Southwest.

To journal or not to journal? That is the question. I tend to struggle with this question when I’m drawing for the fun of it. Should I journal something in all that white space, or let it be? Well, the journaling won out on this one. I like it when a piece says something to me then, I get to write out my thoughts, otherwise it’s a no-go.

Journaling:

Kokopelli Dancers- I think of these guys as Life! As Spirit! They come dancing in and dare me to get up and dance, to express myself! I used to be like the Black & White one with a bit of Attitude (the RED). But lately I’m embracing the more colorful sides of my personality. I’m realizing just how opinionated I am. After all, I think people are much more interesting when they can express themselves freely. Not in a whiney or mean way. Just being real, this sure gets the dialogue started. Don’t you think?

Summer Kicks Off….

Regina - the Racer……She loves to swim, needs to swim, in fact, just to clear her little bird brain! Sure she’s not as fast as she used to be when she was younger, but she still likes a good race!

Yahoo! Happy Memorial Day Weekend! It’s finally here…summer, that is. When I was a kid, summer officially began when the outdoor pools opened. My friends and I were on the swim team. We practiced every single day, except Sundays, and sometimes twice a day. After morning practice, we’d head to someone’s house for breakfast. Then we’d proceed to ransack the chosen kitchen. While the rest of the house slept, We’d be making pancakes, eggs, waffles or if we had a “sympathizing” parent, we’d get to demolish Dunkin’ Donuts.

Then, kitchen emptied, we’d head back up to the pool, meet up with more friends and pester our favorite lifeguards. We virtually lived at the pool. We’d ride our bikes everywhere and they got us anywhere we wanted to go. We’d finally go home at the end of the day to the whistle of our moms, only to get up the next day and do it all over again.

Ahhh, the life… No Responsibilities… other than simply showing up. The freedom we had! I made my all-time best girlfriends during this time of my life.

And whatever you do….don’t forget the towels. This would actually be a fun thing to draw with all those amazing colors.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend! What kicks off summer for you?

Thursday’s Child

No one has it all figured out!!! What a relief, huh? Or are you disappointed? For me, it depends.
I totally want my elders to have it all figured out! Really I do. I’m in the trenches, I’ve got so much to learn, yet, I know I’ve come so far already. The road is still opening up ahead for all of us.

Mondays child is fair of face,
Tuesdays child is full of grace,
Wednesdays child is full of woe,
Thursdays child has far to go,
Fridays child is loving and giving,
Saturdays child works hard for his living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay

That’s me, I’m Thursday’s child!

Psychodelic page

I got the idea to do this page from Janet from this post. I hadn’t done a page like this in markers yet, so off I went to color it up. I was able to use some of the doodles from my doodle directory pages, which helped. I’ve been thinking a lot about positive space and negative space (white space). If I’m doodling I have a hard time letting the white space be. I want to squeeze color into every little spot, if I can. But i don’t have the Teesha Moore flair for this. I’m much more standardized! Lines should be straight and colors should be complementary. How will I ever get onto the next level this way? So, that’s why I did this psycho page! To loosen up my creative hand. To practice.

Some old journaling was added to the white space to help me work on my letters! Wanted to do it the slow-journaling way, but had way too much to write.

Design theories probably have a lot to say about this, the how’s, the why’s, the when’s. I think white space helps to rest the eye, to draw us to the main object.

Interesting Articles:

Power of Negative Thinking

Negative space

Whitespace

A Negative view of White space

Interesting Pictures:

White Space drawing

Negative Space Pic

How do you like to work? Is your natural tendency to have more white (negative) space or more positive space?

Introducing Lauren…..

Lauren- the Littlest Doll……she is one who will roll with the punches. Not too much upsets her unless you take her food. She’s learned to get attention by being adorable and engaging. She feels like she’s always a step behind her older sisters. Most of the time, one of them will slow down and let her catch up. It’s a good thing too, since she was made without hands!

Yahoo! I’m DONE (for now)!!! This was a fun little self-assignment! I would encourage any of you to do a series of something you like as well! Because it forced me to draw different faces, to draw “very simple” hands in assorted poses, to try out a variety of hair scarves or hoods, to sketch different hair and different eyes! I still have so much to learn! My favorite part of all of this was I was able to play with color and pattern! Ahhhh!!!!! Heaven!!!

Lastly, I’ve got to show you some real Matryoshka’s nesting dolls that my DH (Dear Husband) just brought home. He’s had them sitting in some desk drawer for 2 years. These were given to him by a friend that bought them in the Ukraine, for a whopping 80 cents! Can you believe it? Aren’t they cute? Cool too, that they are dressed in my all-time favorite colors of red and green, huh? Since we know someone who frequents the Ukraine, this may be my only way to get that set with a dozen or so nesting dolls I was talking about Here, Hmmmm…….

Doodle Directory continued….

I thought I’d show you my marker stash! As you can see it contains numerous, Sharpie poster water-based markers, Sharpie ultra-fine, Bic Mark-its ultra-fine, Faber-Castell pitt pens, Gelly Rolls, Sakura Microns, and some Marvy LePlume’s. I think the good thing about having all these different brands of pens is that the colors vary ever so slightly. If I want to draw something in a bunch of green’s for example, I can pull out about 8-10 different greens from my stash and each one will vary slightly in color or tone!

I prefer the nibs of the Sharpie ultra-fines and the Bic Ultra-fines to the Faber-Castell Brush nibs, because once you’ve used the FC brush pen a few times, the brush gets a little sloppy. I’m all for precision and control! Unless I have to color in a big space then the Brush nibs are great (Faber-Castell, Sakura, LePlume). The gelly rolls have such vibrant colors but make sure you let them dry before you close your notebook or lay your hand on top of them! Ugh! Only takes a few minutes to dry though…..However, they will retain a certain shine afterwards



I really liked the Collide, Circle Suns and Rainbow boxes here! Not much of a swirl-girl, the Branch swirls are hard for me!! Probably my wrist isn’t very flexible! Nothing like another zig-zag to keep boredom at bay!



Loved the Tiny Circles that I’ve seen so often on flickr. I probably should’ve varied the size more, would’ve made it more interesting. The Numerical and Alpha Huddles were the result of having a little fun with my stencils!



The wood grain, spider web and straw spindles would be a good reminder for me when I do a total black/white zentangle.



Pulled out my good dSLR for these shots. I wanted to play with my aperture settings and composition!
I think my guardian angel’s wondering what color she’ll use next!

My Blue Babushka

I know she’s not really a Babushka, she’s a Matryoshka, but it didn’t rhyme!

She started out like this….just a bunch of lines and squares.  I thought she’d be so cute in a little gingham smock-type dress.  Simple enough, since I can do lines and I can do squares, so I was happy! 
Had to consult the little color generator, once again to help with the decision making. 
See below….

Had to change a few things on her compared to the other dolls!  Since I was happy with the previous faces, had to try my hand at a new face style, I gave her a side part instead of the down-the-middle, and eyelashes.   What pretty Danish girl doesn’t have long beautiful eyelashes?  Possibly enhanced by maybelline, but that’s no big deal.  Drew the hair strands in as if she were a comic book figure.  Not very happy with the eyes, either too big, or too blue, not sure which.

Danielle- the Danish Doll……she likes clothes, and flowers, and dressing up.  She so Dutch!  She’s still in school and is quite the student.  She’s social enough, but tends to be more reserved than most of her friends.  That’s ok, she’ll open up when she’s ready.

Ahhh, now just one more to go!! 
I wish I was Sam on bewitched, I could just twinkle my nose and have these drawings be 3D…..

Interview with “Tammy of Daisy Yellow”

I am so excited that Tammy from Daisy Yellow, agreed to be interviewed here! I found Tammy almost a year ago via iHanna and then I kept stumbling upon her work at Flickr. Before I knew it, I had my first Blog Crush!!

See below for Tammy’s well thought out answers about her site, her style and her kid-focused Art. Also, some very good links!

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1. How long have you been blogging? Was Daisy Yellow your first blog?

Tammy: This is my first and only blog (Daisy Yellow) and I launched it Summer 2008.

2. It seems you have a theme with your blogging; with your challenges and quotes… Has this helped organize your site? I’m sure any tips here will be appreciated by new & old bloggers!

Tammy: I like having a bit of a framework. For example, the Creative Experiment Challenge and Art Journal Prompts are posted the first week of the month. All my posts have a quote and a photograph. I worked for many years in process redesign, so having a process, a structure, is natural. I usually have about 20-25 posts in various stages of completion, so there’s never a mad rush to post.

I would suggest that bloggers focus on content. Each one of you are a unique person in this world, so write about what interests you. Get a decent point-and-shoot camera so that you can post decent quality photos.

3. You mention rapidograph pens a lot. Please explain them to me and why are they so expensive?

Tammy: Rapidograph technical pens can be filled with India or fountain pen ink. You can switch out different sized nibs and inks. Quality fountain and technical pens are indeed expensive; they are of incredible technical precision. The ink flows consistently and smoothly, which you won’t find in the lesser quality pens.

4. I like how you get your kids involved in your projects. Love your “no rules” approach to creating with your kids. How have you seen this benefit your kids and your relationship with them?

Tammy: My approach was influenced by my kids’ Reggio Emilia inspired pre-school, where art experiences are central to the learning process. For example, the children’s art is documented with photographs and notes; hallways are lined with individual artwork (often different interpretations of a concept) rather than the cookie cutter art that you see in so many schools.

We spend time together doing art. For example, my 8 yr old is immersed in her 5th comic-book illustration. My 10 yr old is refining her fairy drawings and I’m drawing doodle-cityscapes. Even though we are all working on different things, the important thing is we are together. This has benefited my kids because they are very confident in their creativity and we talk about a lot of different creative ideas. It’s more fun and interactive than sitting at a soccer game, for sure.

5. I often go to Flickr for inspiration. Where do you go to get inspired?

Tammy: Inspiration is everywhere. Flickr is fabulous, for both photography and art. Carrying a camera engages me in a search for things to photograph. Like patterns, colors, lines, gardens, flowers, which has helped me become more mindful. Photography, design + art blogs are inspiring. And fabric!

Plus I listen to a few creative podcasts, such as The Creative Mom Podcast. I’ve written thoughts on developing creative ideas in Step #290 Creative Ideas.

6. Can you recommend any good books for people that want to get over a block or be inspired?

Tammy: Danny Gregory’s “The Creative License” is a wonderful place to start. For writers, definitely Anne Lamott’s “Bird by Bird”.

7. Have you taken any art classes? (on-line or real-time?)

Tammy: Just an evening watercolor course 20+ years ago!

8. Your mandala’s are always so beautiful, colorful, detailed and original. What is your favorite feature about them? Do you have an idea of where you want to take them?

Tammy: Thank you! I really enjoy the process drawing the entire mandala…..drawing lines, focusing on patterns as they come to life on paper.

9. Tell us about the camera you use. Do you take pictures everyday?

Tammy: My camera is a Nikon D90. My favorite lens is a 50mm f/1.8 prime lens. I take (too many) photographs every day, often in our garden.

10. Do you sell your art?

Tammy: I’ve considered it, but I don’t know what direction that will take.

11. How has your education influenced your art?

Tammy: My education is in Quantitative Analysis, which may have been a roadblock at first when I started drawing a few years ago. I wanted to be so precise. Gradually, I let that go.

12. If you could be an art supply, what would you be and why?

Tammy: What a fun question!!! I might be a set of watercolors in vivid colors!! What about you?

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Ahhhh, I would be pack of colorful markers like the ones your daughter is using!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all my questions. I’m sure others may have other questions for you and let me tell you, Tammy is very good about answering them!

You can find Tammy at the following places:

Daisy Yellow Site: Here

Flickr: gypsy999 Here

Twitter: gypsy999 Here

Out of my COMFORT ZONE!!

Patty- the Pink Matryoshka……she makes everything look so easy! She cooks, she cleans, she’s always there for her family. She’s put her life on hold. But what can you expect she’s just a doll! Being a good wife, mother, and person takes a lot of work. Some days she’s better at one than the other. She’s a Work-In-Progress! aren’t we all?

I’m so out of my comfort zone with these pinks and purples! So nice of the color generator to throw in an orange for me, I’m much obliged. I like orange! Oh, let me show you…..while doing my google search I came across THIS set of nesting dolls which really cracked me up. The first one is having a hard day, I’d say. I‘ve had a few of those…yep, sure have!

One of these is not like the others………

I think I’ll do a set of 5 of these dolls total. Just two more to go. I’ll try staying out of my comfort zone a little longer and do a doll in the blue series. Blue’s really not so bad, it’s just such a cool color. I’m more drawn to the warms! That’s the reds, oranges, yellows, and greens.

Have you been out of your comfort zone lately??

Going Graphic

Had to take a little break from birdie & babushka drawing!! Needed a no-brainer and a chance to use some of the elements from my doodle directory and doodle stimulus pages. The inspiration for this was found at flickr. I was drawn to the repetitive nature of this piece, and yet the details make it so interesting.

I limited myself to black/grays in alternating squares, with reds/oranges in the opposing lines. Actually, I really wanted to alternate the line of black/grays with reds/orange, then BLUES, then GREENS, etc…but I messed up and then I had to go with the original plan! Ahhhh well, the downside of manual art. If done in photoshop it would be as simple as a Ctrl-Z (undo) to fix!!!

(Hey, Tammy do you recognize your doodle on my monitor? )

I like the black white look, I do! But, I find if I only do a piece in b/w that I’m missing something! It’s like it’s calling me to color it in! Yep, my inner pre-school teacher is wanting to get in and fill the white space!! I’ve learned that I might as well let her color if that’s what she wants! I’m happier that way!! LOL!

Ta-Da…..the finished piece! Good thing I have lots of fabric, sure helps set the tone for these pictures!

Matryoshka nesting doll 2

Ok, this is bad….now I have a new obsession!! These little Russian nesting dolls! I adore them!! I had a lot of fun doodling this doll up! I gave her a little fluffy shawl, and pockets. The face was a challenge. I didn’t want to have her have the same face as Rachel. It's a good thing I picked up another eraser while I was out cuz I did some erasing! Nothing seemed to look right. Finally settled on a google image search and spotted some features I thought I could pull off.

Mary- the matryoshka doll……She likes to make things with her hands, so she rarely wears gloves. She’d like to be able to brag that not only did she make her dress from hand-dyed fabric but she knitted her shawl too! But…..that’s only what she’d like to say. The truth is, it’s so much easier to just go out and buy what she likes wear!

And I’d like to put a Thanks out to Lori, for giving me the green light to just use my favorite colors on this. I really don’t have to take on my pink/purple challenge just yet, do I?

idk…..i don’t know

What am I going to do with these all these letters?

idk....I don’t know!! That’s text talk! Speaking of which , the more I keep texting family and friends the harder it is for me to write NORMAL emails to ppl people (especially at work). I have to stop myself from using a “u” for “you” and a “ur” for "your"! But don’t you just love the simplicity? Less key strokes! I’m always up for less keystrokes!

I digress…..The question is: What am I going to do with all these letters? idk…Sure don’t….and does it really matter? The little entrepreneur in me says, sell them, make money, push them. But I figure things will come together as they should. I enjoy doodling, coloring and just playing with these shapes. So, really that’s enough for now.

I could also be asking myself….. What am I going to do with all these moleskines? Ha!!

I’ve just started a fifth, Moleskine that is!! They are the BEST!! But let me clarify that, I only buy the watercolor moleskines. If you’re a sketcher you wouldn’t need the watercolor version. But us marker ppl people we’ve got to have some weight to the paper, or else! Or else, it gets pretty ugly, pretty fast with the bleed thru, ruining 1-2 pages underneath. Ugh!

This project should really be done by now!! I feel kinda bad for neglecting it! If you can remember from this post, that I need to put something on the wall above the couch. So, this was my decision! I haven’t touched it since I finished stitching the tulip! Must get it in gear here! Really!

Is anyone else wondering what your gonna do with your projects/ art?

Just another Bird……

Susie- The Surfer Chic…..She just thinks she’s a surfer. A decent surf really doesn’t come up unless there’s a hurricane pending. Where she really wants to try to stay on the board is in Hawaii or California!! Now they have surf!

Just another bird…..for my fix!! Ha! I must be missing the water, or it could be because it’s starting to feel like Summer here, with our 2 days in a row of 80+ weather!! My kind of season!! So, to celebrate the wonderful weather. I give you, Susie!

A couple things I like in this…..the sandcastle turned out better than anticipated. The watercolor pencils helped here. There’s no way this would’ve looked decent with markers (or at least the markers in my stash).

I am ok with the hair…..not super pleased! I thought a wet look would be good….What I got was that dried-out wet-look that’ll you’ll get when you’ve been out of the water for 20 minutes and the sun dries your hair in those crunchy strands!

The surfboard inspiration came from this image. Love all the surfboards in a row there….may have to revisit with my own little surfboard series. Ha!

Now…this is why Photoshop is so cool! I was able to put some decent clouds in this picture in a minute! So, truthfully, which image do you like more? The one with the clouds or the one without? Be honest….

IMHO…….Art + Photoshop…….The best of both worlds! But….Since, I’m still learning to draw, I refuse to Photoshop unless I’m “enhancing”!

Babushka…….

Rachel- the Russian……She’s always cold, always!! She really wants to get away to a warm place for a vacation. The winters are hard for her, but she has all the warmest, colorful clothes and good, sturdy, styling boots. So, the weather only holds her back in blizzard conditions.

I prefer to call these dolls Babushka’s but…..did you know that Babushka is the Russian female name for Grandmother? Who knew? Well, obviously this little gal isn’t a grandmother…she’s more like a granddaughter. Isn’t she cute? I, of course, stayed in my comfort zone colors of Green & Red, since this was a new draw for me! I will be challenging myself shortly to do a doll in Pinks or even Purples. Why don’t I get these colors? I have the worst time making them work. I think I’ll check out that color generator site and see what combo’s they can give me before I lay pen to paper for this challenge!

Then, after I take on my self-inflicted color dare. I just may draw a whole set of these Matryoshka nesting dolls.

Didn’t care for this face, so after much erasing, I opted for Simple…..once again!

DEFINITION: A set of matryoshkas consists of a wooden figure which separates, top from bottom, to reveal another figure of the same sort inside, which has, in turn, another figure inside of it, and so on. The number of nested figures is traditionally at least five, but can be much more, up to several dozen with sufficiently fine craftsmanship.

Did you read that?????? There can be up to several dozen dolls in a nest with sufficiently fine craftsmanship!! Ok, now I’m on a mission!! I’ve got to find a set that has that many? Can you imagine? Will hopefully have camera in purse when I stumble upon this!! Albeit, I have to go to Russia though!

How are you challenging yourself these days?

Print and Pattern……Book Review

This book just came out last month, and I just received it this week! I’ve finally found some time to look thru all the wonderful pages! Talk about inspiration! Talk about color! Design! Art! Since, I’m a wannabee textile artist, I’m fascinated by this kind of stuff! I gear up and think, “Wow, I may be able to draw that” and “Look at how cool this looks, and it’s just one element being repeated and repeated. It’s all about color here!”. So, now I have a GoTo book when I’m fresh out of ideas. The book is 750 pages of design beauty!! Before I forget, this is the Print and Pattern Blog of the lady that put this book together. Yes, I have it in my following list!

Here are a few of my favorite pages.

This bird is right up my alley!! Love the crisp lines. The white outline border inside, then the tapering blue shades toward the center.

The pink-butterfly page really appeals to me. Surprisingly too, since I’m not that into pink. But it works as a background, since it’s got my all-time favorite colors of red and green within. It’s also got a bit of a paisley flair! I’m a big Paisley enthusiast, as well!

I’ve always loved these babushka dolls! Talk about all the clothes I could dress them up in with my markers! Oh, My!! That would be fun!

See what I mean, just simple triangles drawn again and again and again! And to be able to sit down undisturbed and color these guys in, while listening to music!! Ahhh, Heaven!! My only worry would be I’d run out of marker shades. But hey, I could just set a constraint and only do a certain color family or whatevah!!

This is for you Zentangle fans!!! Wouldn’t this be fun to give each little owl/ bird/ cat/ or dog their very own black and white pattern? I also like the way that some of these guys are spreading their wings!