In a Swirling Tide

Lately I feel like my life is a swirling tide.

A lot of changes going on here in the house,

combining the content of two rooms into one,

making a bedroom for the Frankles.

Taking care of issues for my mother,

trying to figure out how to get out of town for a few days,

making plans for our big trip to Newfoundland

in two months,

just a lot needing to be done.

And I'm tired.

 At night, I sit on my chaise and draw.

Lately I've been re-watching the re-runs of M*A*S*H.

That whole team was so funny!

And even though I've seen the shows over and over

throughout the years,

I still laugh. Sometimes laugh really hard.

And chuckle.

 Then I recall that my dad fought in the 'Korean Conflict.'

Never understood why he called it that,

but they call it that in the show, too.

And I see the conditions he fought under,

and I thank God that he was never wounded.

(Although the patients at the 4077 have a 97.8%

chance of survival once they reach the M*A*S*H unit. 

Learned that last night.)

And since Hawkeye wasn't really in Korea,

I'm thankful Dad was safe.

 So with this piece, I used my Stillman & Birn Zeta Series sketchbook 

and just started by placing random black circles in a big wad - 

central of the paper.

Then I start connecting them with 4 swirling lines.

Next came the black and white contrasting fill-in sections.

Then the printemps and the flux . . .

 . . . then the Prismacolor pencils.

They give some really nice colors, go down smoothly,

and blend really well.

As for the swirling tide that is my life - I am starting to see some relief. The studio reorganization is coming along nicely. Mostly.
(I guess I should have taken some measurements before I got too far along in the process. But things will work out.)
Now, if my new Dylusions Paints get here tomorrow as planned, I will be ready to head to Orlando in a few days, to relax, draw, and paint in a Disney hotel for awhile. And eat ice cream and jelly bellies. Can't wait! I need a break from the swirling tide.

It's All About the Pink!

This week at Inspiration Avenue, Cindy of Cottage Remnant is hosting the challenge. (She's also been very busy revamping/re-constructing my blog :). For the challenge - Cindy chose Perfectly P!NK, and if you visit her blog you will see why.

This is my finished project. A little different from what I'm used to, but I like how it turned out :). Here is what I did.

Supplies included Studio G ink pads (Wal-Mart for 97 cents,) dabber duos (had these for years - I was surprised they still worked,) a stippling sponge, and a template for the cup. I placed the cup template onto my 5" x 7" white cardstock and lightly dabbed first the green ink, then the pink ink inside the cup opening. Then I used the dabber duos to pop some dots on the cup. (All that mess rinses right off the template - no worry.)

Next, I removed the template and made sure my inks were dried by blasting it for a couple seconds with my heat gun. I found the quote online - google searched for coffee quotes :). A simple black 01 micron pen was used to tangle some patterns - florz, some swirls, and maybe some weave.

Then I started adding in some color with copics:

• YG11 mignonette
• RV10 pale pink
• YG13 chartreuse
• RV14 begonia pink
• C3 cool gray
• W5 warm gray
• G00 jade green.

A shot of all the supplies I used - except for the black micron :).

Lastly, I outlined the coffee cup with the micron. And, popped a little logo in there under the handle. Easy to do and a lot of fun! You should check out Inspiration Avenue where everyone is posting about P!NK, you could even post some artwork of your own!

It's All About the Swirls! IA Challenge

This is the first week I've participated in the challenge at Inspiration Avenue. This week's theme is swirls, so I had fun tangling a bunch of swirly patterns - swirling! I drew this in my mini smash journal, then colored portions with my Pitt Artist Markers. Patterns include wavy border, portholes, swirls, printemps, river, and a variation of nipa. To check out all the swirls, visit Inspiration Avenue. Perhaps you 'd like to post a piece of your own artwork!