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Can of Worms
Can of Worms
This is a fitting card for April Fool's Day! Sometimes, I enjoy a simple, crafty card.
Gina
Gina
I named the card "Gina" and posted it on Facebook.
Fun!
PDF
PDF
I also offered the template as a PDF.
I saw an ad for Grabie Acrylic Paint Markers and decided to give them a try. I bought black and white and now I WANT MORE!
TRADED
Monster
Monster
There are Facebook groups in which people post pictures of paintings that were found in a thrift shop and were altered. This is pretty silly, but I gave it a try. Instead of a thrift shop, it was my unfinished box...
Test, Test, Test
Test, Test, Test
The background for this card is painted fabric. Much rougher than the primed canvas I usually use. The acrylic marker is much harder to use on this surface. Learning about new tools is SO satisfying.
Demon Rabbit... before
Demon Rabbit... before
More playing with acrylic markers.
I frequently use up leftover acrylic paint by painting on pieces of gessoed canvas ("Canvas pad") The smoother the surface, the better the acrylic markers work. I wanted a simple little rabbit sketch, in honor of the upcoming holiday... but I forget how odd the eyes look when I sketch white over a darker color.
Demon Rabbit... after
Demon Rabbit... after
Since the rabbit eyes looked so odd, I decided to go with it. Hence, this demonic rabbit. the red eyes were added two days later, on Easter....
My new pens are going to be SO much fun!
TRADED!?!?
It reminds Barbara of Monty Python! (I never thought of that... I just thought the original looked evil...)
Inspired by Laura
Inspired by Laura
Laura D. posted some wonderful Lava Lamp ATCs in/on the Facebook board. I LOVED the idea of using acrylic paint marker dots on black paper, and allowed myself yet another art purchase. Grabie markers arrived yesterday.
I asked Laura for permission to make a copy of her artwork (Hers cards are MUCH better). She answered, "Please feel free to give it a try." So I did.
NFT, of course. It is not original....
Doodle Cats - Grabie BGY
Doodle Cats - Grabie BGY
I have been drawing "doodle cats" for over five years now. This ATC is an AKC, because I always keep the first successful card with a new medium.
NFT
Doodle Cats - YOG
Doodle Cats - YOG
More doodle cats. This time with stripes.
TRADED
(my first reddit trade!)
If you are interested in trading for a Doodle Cat card, I have put all available cards on one page:
Doodle Cats, Blue
Doodle Cats, Blue
Doodle Cats, again...
Playing around with the various options:
Outlined or filled or both....
Multi-color or single-color....
TRADED
Doodle Cats, Purples 'n Blues
Doodle Cats, Purples 'n Blues
This doodle cat card was an experiment to see how well acrylic markers work on glossy pre-cut blank playing cards. The slight texture makes it tricky: if you press too hard the pen gives off tiny droplets. I probably willnot make many of these.
Doodle Cats, with "Fixed" Pen...
Doodle Cats, with "Fixed" Pen...
On Instagram, I saw a hint for fixing gel pens. I tried it on a gel pen that I haven't used in a while. At first, it makes the pen VERY drippy. But then the pen works better than it did before. NFT, since there is an obvious mistake at the upper left of the card... but it is a fun memory of my experiment! (So it is an AKC.)
Linear Doodle Cats
Linear Doodle Cats
Some of the cats in the previous card had straight lines, which is something I usually do not do in a doodle cat design. I decided to try making completely linear doodle cats. It was fun!
Pink Pony Card
Pink Pony Card
More playing with the new acrylic markers. I can't say that I am wild about the PINK....
I thought that it would be good to try another animal besides my traditional cats, but it just isn't FUN. Cats are somewhat "liquid." Horses (or ponies) are not.
Rita
Rita
How funny! I turned the first white rabbit into a "Demon Rabbit," and included both the "before" and "after" picture. Somone wanted the "before," so I made another. I think the frame adds a lot to the simple drawing.
Clarice
Clarice
I was NOT supposed to make any more cards with my new acrylic markers... but I was just too lazy to do any serious art today. We had SIXTY kids, divided into two groups, at the Art Lab yesterday. It was lots of fun... but this seventy-one year old lady gets tired when she's standing on concrete floors for hours.
My new acrylic markers arrived on April 2. April ATCs #2-#12 were all completed by April 7. My goal for the year is make one ATC for each day... but I do not limit myself to making only one card at a time. I also allow myself to skip days. So I am five cards ahead this month... but my first dozen cards are not exactly diverse.
As I write this on April 8, I have decided to stop making doodle cards for a few days. This page needs a little more variety!
HOWEVER, I must admit that it is fun and relaxing and a doodle card is better than no card at all!
How Do We Cope....
How Do We Cope....
The "basic sketch" was done on my iPad, by tracing over a screenshot taken from a Facebook "reel." After printing the card, I drew over the base with Prismacolor pencils and a black pen.
I wish it was possible to get a URL to share, but sometimes I can't find one. There is a Facebook page called "Optimistic Soap." I love the woman who posts here. She has marvelous energy and is very involved in ... resistance.
This particular video showed us How to Cope with What's Going On Right Now.
Altered Photo #1
Altered Photo #1
Inspired by: Kelly Marie's recent altered photos and the GOAT Shirley Clute, I give you:
"After hours of unsuccessful hunting, things were looking up for Gordon."
I will be keeping the original, but I plan to make some photo colláge "copies" if anyone is interested in this weird sort of thing. Fortunately for me, I had a nice chat with Kellie before I threw away these old family photos.....
P.S. I am thinking of mounting it with a little frame and the title below.... when I do the photo colláge version.....
Still chuckling and off to show my husband how I ruined this old photo. 🙃 P.S. that's me in the red shirt. Holy Star Trek!
Inez
Inez
I saw a darling hedgehog print and wanted to trade.
So I copied the little logo, using Prismacolor pencil on my favorite paper: Legion's Stonehenge Black watercolor paper (in this case, cold press)
TRADED
Frankie
Frankie
Alcohol marker on Yupo used to be one of my "signature styles." I haven't done many ATCs with these media lately, so I am a bit out of practice.
TRADED
Doodle Hedgehogs
Doodle Hedgehogs
These were trickier than I thought they would be. I started to add a "#1" to the title, with the plan to make more... but I don't think I will....
Colorful Doodle Lizards
Colorful Doodle Lizards
Those Grabie acrylic markers are just too handy, sitting in a box next to my favorite chair.
DCH w. Grabie Acrylic Markers
DCH w. Grabie Acrylic Markers
I'm not sure why the green cats are uneven... but I probably won't fix it and I probably won't make any more acrylic marker cats because the acrylic covers the edges and I have to re-draw them!
Hurray!
Hurray!
I played with my new Charvin Water-Soluble Pastel Painting Sticks today.
I bought them on sale, from Jerry's Artarama.
This is the first little drawing that I did, on wet Legion watercolor paper.
It's a bit tricky to get any detail, but the colors are SO rich and the process is so satisfying.
I may need to make some bigger art....
Simple Scene - WSP1
Simple Scene - WSP1
I did a lot of experimenting here. There is a pink blotch on the border, at the top left. When I pulled the tape away from the still-very-wet watercolor paper, it removed a bit of the top layer (what is the right word to use to describe this!?!!?) So it is NFT, but I still like it enough to put it on this page.
Waterlilies a -
inspired by Monet
Waterlilies a -
inspired by Monet
Of course I will be making "mini Monets" with these new pastels. I need to figure out how to mask off some areas, so the pinks turn out brighter, but I still like the look of this ATC.
Waterlilies b -
inspired by Monet
Waterlilies b -
inspired by Monet
More experimenting with the water-soluble pastel painting sticks.
Although I LOVE the look of pastels, I am very uncomfortable creating ATCs with them. Smearing is such a problem. I put a layer of matt medium on the first card, so it does not smear at all. But the other two have not been sealed. Because the pastel sticks are water soluble, any of the chalk that has been dissolved into the wet paper seems to be relatively stable. I will do some smear tests later.
DCH: RoyGBiv
DCH: RoyGBiv
I found a few black and white prints of an earlier version of my signature "Doodle Cat" hybrid cards.
It was fun to color with my alcohol markers.
This is one of many, many doodle cat cards that I have made. Some are hybrids, others are hand drawn completely. For more doodle cat choices, see my Doodle Cat page.
Axolotl 4
Axolotl 4
I thought that it would be fun to make an axolotl coloring card. This one is a hybrid. I drew it on my iPad... and then when I tried to COLOR the first print, those gills drove me crazy!
So this is the only hybrid card with partial digital coloring: I colored all the tiny little gills via Procreate. So the print is black and white... with a tiny bit of bright pink.
The rest of the pink is hand colored.
TRADED... but more can be made....
Posted to FB 260428
Posted to FB 260428
I love the concept of this card, and I plan to draw many more versions of the "Pens on my Table" ATC.
But this one is on crescent board, and it is the WRONG SIZE...
So...
NFT.
Posted to FB 260428
Posted to FB 260428
I can't believe I did it again....
I wanted to draw on thick Crescent Board, and I used this pad of paper for a template before drawing and cutting.
How is it that I can remember that the pad is 2.5" x 3.75" when I tear out a page, but when tracing... I forget?
I'll be drawing this card again, but the next one will be the right size. And NOT on Crescent Board! NFT since it is NOT the right size and also probably too thick to guarantee it could be mailed.
P.S. the title of the card is "Pens that are on my table today."
So here is the Digital Version....
So here is the Digital Version....
On the left is the original, hand-drawn, wrong-size, wrong-thickness ATC.
On the right is a version of the card made with digital tools.
The digital version took MUCH longer to make, but I plan to print multiple copies so you would never have the "ONLY" one. Some people really care about HD. Personally, I will trade for a print if I love the concept and the artist lets me know it is a print.
There WILL be more versions of this ATC. Next will be a hybrid card.
Finishing off the month with some Pokémon
Finishing off the month with some Pokémon
April 29 is my grandson Malcolm's birthday. Today we spoke via Facetime, and discussed Pokémon for forty minutes! So in Malcolm's honor, I decided to try drawing my own version of a few of the Pokémon. It would have been MUCH easier to just find an image online and trace... but I tried doing my own version of each character. Good Procreate practice.
I realize I have a long way to go in creating cartoon-style characters. These digital drawings will come in handy for the Art Lab summer camp.
Camerupt
Camerupt
Malcolm explained this one to me: a combination of a camel and a VOLCANO! He likes it because it reminds him of a Highland Cow!
No-Label-Camerupt
No-Label-Camerupt
Procreate makes it SO easy to create different versions of an ATC.
Dedenne
Dedenne
For Rowan...
Dedenne with Shading
Dedenne with Shading
Because.... why not?
Final thoughts for the month of April
Final thoughts for the month of April
There are several new artists trading in the Facebook groups. I had hoped to do some more impressive drawings this month to see if I could request a trade, but I really need to be in the MOOD to draw a more detailed ATC. Maybe in May? We shall see.
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