Happy, Little, Time Waster

 I love Lewis Black's  irreverent wit. If offensive language makes you clutch your pearls, you might want to skip my post for today.

Paint Names Are Silly - A Lewis Black Rant

When Your Muse Takes A Powder

 

From June 22, 2009

An author friend posed some answers to the question what do you do when your creative well runs dry?

Creating something with my hands is such a rush. Though I sometimes refer to my work as play, it's still work. (Though some don't view it as such). It's hard to be creative every single day. Sometimes the demands of work and family just sap my energy. When I feel that happen, it's best just to step back and leave the drawing board. I find if I'm not in a good mood, not happy, my mood comes through my hands. But there's also the need to get that creative energy back. Some things I do:

1. Being a couch potato and watching movies.

2. Cleaning and organizing the studio. Though this can also be a procrastination technique, touching the art supplies sometimes cause my fingers to itch. Sometimes I just have to get my hands in the paint. Afterall, art is a contact sport.

3. Reading blogs by creative friends and colleagues. Looking at what they are doing can be very energizing.

4. Flipping through my calligraphy books, art books, and color swatch book, makes me want to get back in the saddle.

5. Making ATCs just for me and not a trade. Too many times things made are given away or sold (a blessing). I can try a new technique and have fun without the pressure someone is waiting for a piece to be completed.

What are some of the things you do when your muse takes a powder?

Three Different Ways to Print With Bubbles

Bubble printing is messing fun. You can use colored inks, tempera paints, acrylic paints, or food coloring. If you are doing this activity with children, I suggest you use food coloring. Just in case they inhale instead of exhale, the solution will taste nasty, but won't kill them.

For all three methods you will need: shallow containers (I used yogurt containers. One for each color), water, dish soap, and your colorant (paint, ink, food coloring) and plastic drinking straws. One for each color. If more than one person is playing, each person gets their own set of straws. Watercolor or Mixed Media paper. You may also want to cover your work surface with newspaper or plastic trash bag.

If you are doing this activity with children, use a pin to punch a hole or two halfway up the straw. Hopefully, this will prevent any liquid getting to the mouth end of the straw if inhaled instead of exhaled. Again, food coloring would work best for the kidlets.

In each cup mix a tablespoon of soap with a couple of tablespoons of color. I didn't measure anything just eyeballed.

Add a half cup of water to each cup. You may need more water, soap, and colors depending how big your containers are.

Method 1: Printing with the Foam

Gently blow bubbles into the cup. Try not to blow the bubbles too far over the rim. Gently press your paper onto the bubbles. The bubbles will leave an imprint.

Your mileage may vary, but I used acrylic paint and found the color didn't really come up into the foam.

 I had to add a lot more color. I suspect the paint was too heavy for the solution.

Many years ago, I had better luck using colored ink or food coloring.

Method 2: Printing with a Single Bubble

If you hold the straw upright in the bubble/paint solution and then put your finger over the top of the straw, capillary action will draw a bit of the solution into the straw. Move your straw over the paper and release you finger. A drop of liquid will fall on the paper. You can also use a cleaned out eye or medicine dropper or pipette. You just need a little drop.

Insert the straw into the drop and blow gently. You should get a bubble.

When the bubble pops, it will leave an impression behind.

Method 3: Star Burst Effect

If you hold the straw upright in the bubble/paint solution and then put your finger over the top of the straw, capillary action will draw a bit of the solution into the straw. Move your straw over the paper and release you finger. A drop of liquid will fall on the paper. You can also use a cleaned out eye or medicine dropper or pipette. You just need a little drop.

This time instead of blowing across the drop, place your straw over the drop. You may need to stand up. Then give a quick puff. The color should scatter in a star burst or fireworks effect.

You can use your creations as collage fodder or as a background.

I Wish

I had a green thumb. Saw these gorgeous, blue orchids at the grocery store.

Tombow Markers

A couple of weeks ago, Tombow ran a Lightning Deal on Amazon. 96 brush markers with a holder. Chatting with A, she asked if I had seen the deal. She's been using the markers and told me how it's helped loosen her death grip. There are lots of ways of using and blending the markers. I was a little hesitant about the price, but A said it was a really good price. So...

I'm enjoying the brush markers. All the fun of juicy water colors without all the mixing. They don't work quite like watercolors though and heavier weight paper is needed to blend the colors without leaving sharp edges.

Have you used these markers? What do you think of them?

Colouring Book Project.

The Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford is running a coloring, pardon me, colouring project for the first 5 days of February. Go here to download the free coloring book full of illustrations from their collection.

Print the book and have fun. The Library asks you share your drawings on Twitter from February 1 to February 5. Use the hashtag #ColorOurCollections and @bodleianlibs in your Tweet.

If the coloring book illustrations don't float your boat, the Library suggests you search their collection and print out illustrations that are more appealing to you.

I printed the coloring pages on Diploma Parchment, a lovely paper that takes ink and paint well.  I'm going to use this project as a personal challenge through the entire month.

Tower Hill

from the summit looking toward Wachusett Mountain

I'm glad my friend, Teague and I, took a trip to Tower Hill Botanic Garden yesterday. It's raining today.

We had beautiful weather to meander our way through the wooded paths and gardens enjoying the colors of the season. I don't know why people feel the need to travel north to view the foliage. I think colors in our own backyard are just as beautiful.

Pantone Color of the Year 2014

Pantone, the authority on color announced the color of the year for 2014. It's called Radiant Orchid.

Meh. Pretty, but not a color I would pick. Too bridesmaid-ish. What do you think of Radiant Orchid?

Wordless Wednesday

Chalk It Up

I've always wanted blue hair. No, not like your grandma's blue hair, but cobalt blue hair. It's hard to dye dark hair with bright colors, and I don't want to strip my hair. I don't really want bright blue hair that would make me look as if I'm having a huge mid-life crisis. A few years ago, I did have blue hightlights done to my hair. Spent hours sitting in the chair as the stylist pulled strands of hair through holes in a plastic cap. Waited while she spread blue goop over the strands and waited for the dye "to take". When all was said and done,  I had blue highlights, but only I could tell. The dye didn't last as long as I hoped, and I didn't want to keep up with the expense.

Last week on Good Morning America, I saw a segment on chalking hair. Using chalk on wet hair, you color strands whatever color your little heart desires. In the how to, the color was set with a curling iron, but short hair and a curling iron don't mix so I used a bit of hair gel and a blow dryer. Also, a more vibrant color is obtained using artist pastels, but ordinary sidewalk chalk would work, too. The chalk washes out easily though you may want to use a good conditioner as well since the chalk really dries out the hair.

Now I can have blue or any other color hair whenever I want without the expense.

Do you color your hair?

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Image from icanhascheezburger.com

The Friday Five

Five colors I don't care for.

1. Pink. It's not that pink is an ugly color. I rather object to the fact that the color is forced onto girls. As if this is the only color choice we can have. At least it was for me. My ma loved pink, and loved me her precious little tomboy in pink.

2. Orange and

3. Yellow are both too bright for my conservative nature.

4. Olive. Yellow-green looks sickly. Not to mention I don't like green olives with the pimento stuffed in it. Looks like a grotesque eye, and I hate the way they stare at you from the jar.

5. Puce. Like the color of dried blood.

What color can you do without?

The Friday Five

I was thinking about color, but coming up for a reason why I liked certain colors wasn't easy. Five colors I like and why.

1. It shouldn't come as a surprise to learn blue is my favorite color. I like pretty much all shades of blue though gravitate towards the darker shades like cobalt or royal blue.  I find blue a relaxing color. Blue starry skies is a recurring theme when I dream.  I also find blue empowering since I was told as a little girl blue was a boy's color. My way of being a rebel.

2. Red, my secret favorite. You can't be invisible wearing red.

3. Purple, deep shades like a jewel. Perfect for a Little Princess.

4. Green, again a dark shade. Like pine. I like that turpentine smell.

5. Black. The go with everything color. A color I associate with authority (must have been influenced by the nuns). Or maybe I just bought into the "it's slimming".

What's your favorite color and why?

When Your Muse Takes A Powder

Erica at On the Write Path posed some answers to the question what do you do when your creative well runs dry?

Creating something with my hands is such a rush. Though I sometimes refer to my work as play, it's still work. (Though some don't view it as such). It's hard to be creative every single day. Sometimes the demands of work and family just sap my energy. When I feel that happen, it's best just to step back and leave the drawing board. I find if I'm not in a good mood, not happy, my mood comes through my hands. But there's also the need to get that creative energy back. Some things I do:

1. Being a couch potato and watching movies.

2. Cleaning and organizing the studio. Though this can also be a procrastination technique, touching the art supplies sometimes cause my fingers to itch. Sometimes I just have to get my hands in the paint. Afterall, art is a contact sport.

3. Reading blogs by creative friends and colleagues. Looking at what they are doing can be very energizing.

4. Flipping through my calligraphy books, art books, and color swatch book, makes me want to get back in the saddle.

5. Making ATCs just for me and not a trade. Too many times things made are given away or sold (a blessing). I can try a new technique and have fun without the pressure someone is waiting for a piece to be completed.

What are some of the things you do when your muse takes a powder?

Color

Yesterday, I bought a wonderful little book. Color Index by Jim Krause. It's filled with over 1,000 color combinations. The best thing the formulas for RGB and CMYK are included next to each sample. No more hit or miss trying to get the perfect shade of ivory only to have it look like peach to the rest of the world.

I also love the feel of this book. It's small and chunky and reminds me of board books. It's a nice size to thumb through and won't take up much space on the desk.