Easter Week #ledartsupply #zebrapenus #schmincke

Easter week.

The week leading up to the remembrance

that is the most special one for every Christian.

Easter Sunday - the day we remember

not the death, but the

resurrection of a living Christ.

 Since I started making art a few years ago,

each Easter I make a special piece to celebrate.

While I am here, I'd like to walk you through

the making of this page.

This is my medium size Leda Sketchbook.

I love the book - it works so well with 

everything I throw at it!

(By the time my page was complete,

some areas had as much as 10+ layers

of wet media. The page held up great.

No buckling or dimpling, I did hold it in place

with a couple small clips till it was dry.)

I started with a base layer of Golden Fluid Acrylics.

 My hope was to create a page showing that the

tomb of Jesus Christ is empty.

Where better to start than in the scripture that

tells us about that time.

Luke 24:1-12, describes the women taking spices

to prepare the body of Jesus for His eternal resting place.

When they arrived, 

the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty.

I printed the New International Version of that

scripture, hand tore the edges and attached

it to my page with Dina Wakley's clear gesso.

A layer underneath and a layer across the top

both adhered the piece and sealed the edges.

I used standard (cheap) computer paper which is

why it looks translucent. I knew when I painted

over it that would all be covered up

and the words of the Bible would remain.

No problemo.

 I lightly sketched the main elements in pencil, 

then used my Schmincke Watercolors

to start placing the color blocks.

My thought was to make it look like as if

you are peering through the empty tomb

to the crosses beyond where the 

crucifixion happened.

When the page was completely dry, I used a 

paper towel to lightly buff the entire page.

This is important to remove any dust or

loose color particles so they won't clog up

your pens.

 My technical drawing pens from Zebra Pen

worked perfectly over these colors. 

I outlined the various areas, and started

tangling that tree.

If you are a tangle artist, you will recognize 

that tree to be the tangle pattern Finery.

 I continued with those same technical pens

and a white UniBall Signo Gel Pen and did the

remainder of the pen work. 

I darkened the edges to the tomb opening

to make it stand out a bit more.

I felt like the rocks were too dark so . . . 

 . . . I used an opaque white watercolor and

brushed some over the top of the rocks to

lighten them a bit.

A pencil and a tortillon brought a little shade

to the words in the scripture I wanted to

emphasize. 

And a parting thought to . . .

Rejoice in His mercy.

Were it not for that mercy we would not

have a hope for tomorrow. 

I hope you are encouraged as we go

into Easter Week, to remember the real reason 

for Easter is not the bunny and the candy -

although those things are fun and tasty -

but to remember the risen Savior! 

Have a great week!

Supplies used: Leda Medium Sketchbook, Schmincke Watercolor Pans,
Dina Wakley Clear Gesso, Zebra Zensations Technical Drawing Pens,
UniBall Signo Gel Pen. 

Gelli Pulls at Jump and a Surprise

 Last month I attended an art class in Massachusetts - 

Jump Into January!

The above image came about while we were playing

with gelli plates, making various pulls with several color layers.

On my plate I had several layers of greens, blues, and yellows.

I placed a stencil of the face (Stencil Girl product) on top of the rolled colors, placed a sheet of paper on top of the stencil, and brayered back and forth several times. 

I lifted the page and had this great print of the girl's face.

Once that was dry, I rolled out a layer of magenta right on top of the remaining color on the plate.

I placed a starburst stencil near the top of the plate, 

then placed the paper with the girl's face - 

face down so the starburst would be near the top of her head. 

I brayered over just the top section.

When I lifted the paper from the gelli plate,

the image you see above is what I got. 

I have no idea what I will do with it.

Other than admire it.

Hahaha!

I thought that was pretty cool!

But I needed to clean up the stencils in case someone else in the class wanted to use them.

I used a baby wipe to clean the girl's face stencil on top of a paper towel. 

I didn't expect this to happen -

but -

when I removed the nice clean stencil,

I had this face on the paper towel.

Never one to waste an opportunity, I repeated the

cleaning process with the starburst stencil. 

I really like the paper towel art I got!

So much that I brought it home,

trimmed the edges and put it in a journal.

Love it!

Now I just need to make some more.

Hahaha!

I must have stencils to clean somewhere!

How Many is Too Many?

 OK, I may a have a problem.

Are there interventions for washi tape-aholics?

Hahahaha!

A few nights ago I decided I needed more washi tape.

(I guess around 100 rolls is not enough.)

I soon found out that there are 118 pages of 

Japanese washi tape on Amazon.com.

I was amazed and impressed!

So I ordered a couple.

What you can not tell from the photo above is

that all of those boxes are at least two deep.

What a great deal I got!

And they arrived in two days!

 Yes, I already had bunches of washi tape.

They aren't expensive so it's easy to gather a lot.

But

Japanese washi tape is soooooo cute!

I couldn't decide what to do with it all,

so I pulled out a journal and started putting

samples on the pages.

Page one above. 

I love, love, love the donut tape!

And the Hello Kitty tape!

And the rhinos in pink sweaters tape!

 Some of these rolls were wider. 

Top, middle and bottom are my favorites here. 

Wish the colors had photographed better.

 Just look at those fairy tale castles on the bottom!

Love it!!!

I am having a bit of a problem with the tape adhering

on the ends. I don't know if it is because they were

subjected to freezing cold on the way here or not.

So I took a longer piece of tape and ran it down the binding of the book.

The ones on the long side edge - if I could I wrapped

the tape around to the back of the page.

Couldn't do that on every page.

And I had exactly three pages of tape <3 .

My plan is to use these tapes in my 

Tangle Starts Planner.

Once I start over.

I took my planner to the local print shop earlier today

to have the spine cut off and a spiral binding added.

They texted me photos of a completely messed up

planner that is unusable. 

I will have to start all over again.

I am hoping the watercolor pages I did can be

glued into a new book.

Not happy.

At all. 

See all those little boxes?

That is how the washi tape came to me.

I spent part of this afternoon cutting pieces of each

box to keep and use on art journal pages in the future.

I don't waste a thing!

Hahaha!

Can you see Zen in the back partially buried

under washi tape boxes?

Good thing he has a good sense of humor!

Washi tape.

It's where it's at. 

Today at least. 

And my post title?

One can never have too many.

That is how many is too many.

It isn't.

Jump Into January Workshop Part 1

 I have been out of town for the past several days to 

attend a workshop called 

Jump Into January!

The workshop is hosted and taught by Elaine Huffman. 

Our first class was taught by Tracy Lake - 

that's her above showing us what to do.

(That is Elaine to my left with the white apron.) 

 My first attempt was with circles.

I really love the contrast you get by placing the round 

white sections against the black backdrop.

Really fun project and I love how it turned out!

 Not really feeling the diamonds, which is why

I included part of a star in a couple places.

Hahaha!

 These hearts I really love!

We used various mark making techniques,

I bet you can recognize one for sure!

Not really going to explain these steps

since they were part of a paid workshop.

And I was happy with the way the stars worked!

In fact, this project was enjoyable enough that I made a two page spread in the art journal I took with me. I will probably add more to these when I have time, but for now I am calling them done. 

Great workshop held in Massachusetts!

More photos of art tomorrow. 

I'd love to hear your comments and ideas. 

Birds of a Feather and INKtober #zensations #inktober #hahnemuhle #schmincke

 Our art journal prompt in 

Zentangle All Around

this week is birds of a feather.

With any interpretation we want to put on it.

I immediately thought about the art of

Lori Vliegen, someone I have been watching

for many years now.

And I thought about those cute little 

birds, and pigs, and bunnies she makes

and I wanted to give it a go.

 I started with this pre-made background in my journal.

When I play with my gelli plates

I keep a journal page opened close by so I

can brayer the leftover paint onto a useable surface

and not waste it.

That is how this page came about.

And due to its shimmer I know that I used

Pebeo Iridescent Acrylic Paint.

 I knew I wanted to keep the words

birds of a feather 

from the prompt, so I wrote them as a border

with my black Sarasa fineliner pen from 

Zebra Pens. 

The letters 'zaa' are a salute to my group

Zentangle All Around.

Kind of scary to actually do this writing,

I have never been a big fan of my handwriting.

Something just about every art journalist who

ever lived has said at one time or another. 

Hahaha!

Next came my Schmincke watercolor pans.

Gosh, I just love those vibrant, bright colors!

Little blobs are the beginning of cute little birds.

Trust me on this. 

And a little dirty, dusty ground is required for

those little birdie legs to stand on.

(Thank you, Lori.)

 I used the same Sarasa fineliner to draw around

each little blob, add some legs, some tail feathers 

(shake your tail feathers, hehehehe!),

beaks, eyes, and wings.

It's all good. And as simple as that I have some

Birds of a Feather.

Thanks for the super idea, Lori!

And.

It's INKtober all month.

This is the time of year we try to encourage each

other to put pen to paper each day.

Even if it's only 5 minutes.

It doesn't matter. 

I used a Hahnemuhle You Tangle Art tile

and my Sarasa fineliner to tangle up some

CO2 by Antonine Megger

and some O by Adele Bruno.

You just really can't beat that combo of

Sarasa on Hahnemuhle tile!

In my group

Zentangle All Around

I have provided a prompt list for the entire month

of a different tangle pattern each day and where

to find the instructions online. 

If you aren't already INKtobering somewhere -

and even if you are -

you are welcome to come join us!

I would love to see what you are working on!

Come knock on the door

here

and I will let you in.

Pinky promise!

Collage Art, Step by Step

 This week - over on Facebook - in the group

Zentangle All Around

the Journal It! prompt was collage art!

It took me stealing moments here and there all week,

but I finally finished.

And I am really happy with it!

Let me walk you through how I made this page.

 Collage art can mean a lot of things.

Think mixed media on steroids.

For this particular prompt, I asked the members to

use paper sources.

Magazines are great for collaging!

I used a Coldwater Creek catalog, a TOMS catalog,

and a fashion magazine.

I flipped through and picked out elements 

I might like  to put together. 

I specifically looked for clothes

that could go together - but from different sources.

Feet and shoes came from another source.

The two arms came from different pages in the

same catalog. 

I shifted all my pages around and started cutting

out the pieces I wanted to keep.

 I took the shirt and placed it under several faces -

trying to find the right 'fit.'

I just wasn't finding anything that made me smile.

 I liked most of these pieces and really,

really liked those flowers!

 I kept looking for faces and heads that could

go with that shirt - then I saw this face on 

the bottom. You know - the one with her

head lopped off.

And I thought . . . . flowers!

 So I put them together for a look-see . . . 

 . . . and boom! I had my head!

I trimmed up the sides of the flowers, lined

the edges up with the sides of the head and

glued the pieces together with a tape runner.

I realized right away that my girl was going to be too tall for the page I intended to glue her to.

So, I pulled out a taller journal and made a watercolor

background with my Fireworks! ink sprays. 

Dried it right up with a heat gun and I was ready to

proceed with the glueing. 

 Here's a close up of that head.

Isn't it pretty?

 One of the elements I found that I really liked

is this little white goose. 

In collage work, the pieces don't have to be

true to life.

So I paired that huge head up with the little

shirt I picked out, stuck the pants legs

and feet and boots underneath

and glued that whole piece together.

What a pain! 

I didn't think about it before hand,

but it would have been a lot easier to tape run

if I had mounted the whole thing on a piece

of cardstock first.

(And why, oh why does autocorrect INSIST on

changing "cardstock" to yardstick every single time I type it????)

 I tucked the other little arm in under the

side of the shirt - this would have been easier

on cardstock also.

Then I stepped back and enjoyed my little girl.

But.

She didn't seem grounded. 

All she needed was a hot air balloon in her hand.

So I added some lines and started my tangle

All Boxed Up.

(Zentangle All Around requires some tangling

in everything we post in the group.)

 Here is All Boxed Up prior to shading.

 At this point, I totally got into the zone

and forgot all about photos. Sorry.

What I did was this:

* I added shading to All Boxed Up with 

Dina Wakley's Scribble Sticks. 

* I stamped some black circles onto the page using old medicine bottles and a black StayzOn ink pad.

* In a couple of those circles I added the tangle kuke.

* I used stencils to add some numbers and some insects.

(Please don't tell me butterflies and dragonflies aren't insects. 

They are, aren't they?)

* I added color to the insects with dabbers and stamping ink. 

* Decorated them with Spica pens from Sakura.

* I used Ranger Texture Paste and some stencils

to add bricks to the top and fish to the side of the page. 

* And I glued a cute little Bijou snail to the bottom.

(My tribute to the official Zentangle® mascot Bijou.)

 Here is a close up of the tangling I started on the face

and flowers. 

I used a Sharpie fine liner, a white gel pen, a gold gel pen and just had fun. 

 Next I looked for ways to enhance the page.

I used that same gold gel pen for details on the

shirt and pants.

I used Color Box Chalk ink pads and dabbers to add

color to the fish. 

 I got a great deal on Liquid Pearls on Joggles recently, so I pulled several colors out and made cute little dots of color here and there all over the page. 

 Can you see all the liquid pearl dots everywhere?

 And still I wanted to do more. 

So I outlined and tangled those fish!

Probably ruined a copic multiliner doing it

but that's alright. I used one that was old anyway.

 I pulled out a Graphic 1 micron and started adding dots to draw attention to certain areas.

A green Spica pen went on those lips and I did not like it, so I made the eyes green to balance it out.

Let's see, what have I missed?

I added some basic blox texture to those

bricks behind her head. 

I added water bubbles around the fish

and some Spica color to those kukes. 

And I used a stencil and stamp pad to add

some circle textures to three areas of the page. 

I felt this still needed a little finish work,

so I added black circles around those stenciled

circles areas. 

I really think I love it now!

But I reserve the right to change my mind -

at any given time -

to go back and add more!

Collage It!

So much fun!

If you are interested, why don't you join

us on Facebook at

Zentangle All Around ?

Knock on the door and I'll let you in!