Friday, September 28, 2012

Little bird's message

This was a very busy week. I'm behind my email, reading blogs, painting and pretty much anything fun. This little bird is the only thing I have to show.
Luckily - today is Friday!!! Let the fun begin!
Happy weekend!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

I wanted to see

I wanted to see if I can paint a tiny face...
...so I cut a 1" square piece of pretty rough watercolor paper. I wish I chose hot press instead so the texture wouldn't be so noticeable.
It kinda worked. I wish her eyes were not so open, but I couldn't make the tiny brush do exactly what I wanted. Who am I kidding, I can't make a big brush do exactly what I want, so I guess this is good.
My smallest painting ever :-) Made me happy.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

for Bird Lovers

For me, this is the best way to relax. I created this kit in a way that everything looks good together, no matter how combined, so there is no pressure - just fun. I cut out all 77 collage bits and then combined them. Maybe there are 78 pieces... I keep getting a different number when I count them :-)
Here is a journal spread, with many places left for writing.
I've been using junk mail for bookmarks... I think these are prettier than that.
I can never tire of ACEOs. It was my first art love, and I still love their small format.
So, that's it. My first bird lovers collage kit. It's in my etsy shop, with some other new collage sheets that I recently added.
I'm about to sit in the car with my daughter - a very new driver. I'll try to be a good and patient teacher.... and then I'll probably relax with more birds, because even after making all these things, I still have plenty collage material left.
Happy weekend!
xo

Friday, September 14, 2012

It happened slowly...

It happened slowly... I wanted to see how elements of my paintings would work as repeated designs.
ACEO ATC Bird Lovers Card
So I played with Illustrator and Photoshop and created papers with exactly the colors
and shapes I wanted.
ACEO ATC Bird Lovers Card
And then I cut them apart and put together again... FUN!
ACEO ATC Bird Lovers Card
I made many more things from them. As soon as I finish the little video I made,
I'll have a little show and tell :-)
Happy weekend!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Staying with marine life...

Remember when long time ago (in April) I made fake washi tape? I did it again.
watercolor fish colorful painting
I was incredibly lucky this summer to have a chance to snorkel in the warm ocean, surrounded by colorful fish. It was so beautiful that thought I was dreaming... but at the same time was very aware that it is real. I wanted to remember every second and every fish. One of the best experiences in my life.
digital washi tape colorful fish
As you can imagine - I had to put all those colors on paper, so I painted fish in my journal. And today I played with my little paintings - I scanned them, put them in groups, made long lines of fish... I filled a full page of fake fish washi tape.
The above picture shows how the page looked before I added a ton of words, some doodles and pieces of my newly made tape.
art journal watercolor fish
Happy colors... happy fish... happy journal page... Have a very happy weekend!
watercolor fish colorful painting

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Inspired by iPhone art

What do you do when you watch TV and it's really not interesting but you watch it anyway?
I play with my phone. 
iPhoneography, jellyfish, art
I've been working with Photoshop for many years, but was never drawn into manipulating images with it as I am with phone apps. Probably because they are so easy... push of a button and magic happens. I am constantly amazed by the unlimited possibilities to change an image. 
jellyfish
 I started with a blurry, dark, not specially interesting photo of a jelly fish and changed it to this:
 Layered the new image under the original.
 Cropped and changed colors.
Added more punch to it.
And finally, distressed.
iPhoneography, jellyfish, art
And then I was so in love with the colors that I had to see them come alive under the brush. 
It didn't turn out the same (of course), but it was good exercise and a lot of fun.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Celery as an art tool

As I was cutting different vegetables to make fresh juice, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful the celery looked. Perfect chance to play with my food!
I quickly brayered some color on my Gelli plate, pressed the celery end onto it and pulled a print.
After that I used it as a stamp, adding different colors and stamping it in my journal. I must admit that the results were really nothing special. If I had more time I would have used bolder colors and played with the placement more... maybe that would have looked less than a color splat.
Still, I had fun. It is always nice to do something creative, even when the result isn't spectacular.
Did you know that you can grow a new celery from it's end? I read about it today - here.
 Next time when I have a pretty celery end, I will try it.