confetti

What can I say about confetti? I had several ways to approach this prompt and I felt like playing with patterns, so I went a little bonkers on the iPad. I find myself playing on the iPad the same way I play on paper.

My whole life was in sketchbooks until I installed Procreate on my iPad several years ago. Now, I find Procreate can be a digital sketchbook, a place to clean up something that came out of my sketchbook or a place to create fine art. Once I got past the idea of going digital and still being true to myself, I found myself leaning toward tools on Procreate that fit my technique and style.

My biggest inspiration for creating art for art’s sake on the iPad? David Hockney. I saw his exhibit in Manhattan, saw how he used the iPad as a tool, and was finally able to embrace it as an authentic artistic tool. Another artist I would recommend checking out for creating art on the iPad is Rob Sketcherman. I love his urban sketches done on the with Procreate and they look like they were done in a sketchbook! Rob plays with the tools on the iPad to take his sketches to a whole other dimension. Rob inspired me to take just my iPad out to sketch, using it as a sketchbook.

The iPad with Procreate has been a life changer for me, but I still love the traditional media. Especially when the battery dies on my iPad. (Bummer)

Looking at “Confetti” again, I wonder about doing this pattern play in my sketchbook so I may try it again with other media.

As with my Confetti Design, here is a simple stamp that I carved with no direction or sketch. I love this Carve December challenge. Today’s design almost looks primitive and it was only a few lines.

Polar bears

Giants of the ice

Almost as white as the snow

Roaming wild and free

I hope we have polar bears for a long long time.

Today’s stamp is a Christmas tree…

Cardinal

Cardinals are such perky birds. The nice thing is when I moved from the Northeast, the cardinals were here, too. I get to observe them in a different environment. They sing a lot down here and they tattle on predators and raptors. I am always amazed at their bravery.

I did a sketch of a Cardinal on a cold day perched on a snowman. Not an unusual sight when I lived on Long Island.

Today, I also tried my hand at lettering and carved Noel.

Ski Lift

I almost didn’t do this prompt but I am not one to avoid a challenge, especially when I really got into doing the background. I pulled up a few of my photos from a Colorado trip as a reference and I found that the Apple pencil was well suited for doing the trees. I had to fuss with the wires but I didn’t want them looking “artificial” so I had to redo them several times. I did use the Procreate perspective guide which was really helpful. I look at this and I like that I captured the cold, weak light of winter.

Today seemed a day of multiple challenges. I was playing with the cutter to do a Linocut wreath. It came out pretty decent, after I filled up four pages in my sketchbook of test runs. LOL. It was done free style so I didn’t draw out a sketch for transfer to the linocut material, I winged it. It was a little daring but I am happy with it.

Puffin

This prompt was easy because I made a pamphlet book for my grandkids a few years ago that was about Arctic animals, puffins being one of them. I have not shown this book outside the family so this is the first time that I can remember actually posting one of the illustrations on my blog and social media. The book has a wintery Arctic feel to it and I really enjoyed doing this book. I should probably pull the entire book into Procreate and update it submit it to publishers. I did it to create awareness of the animals that would be negatively impacted by a warming planet.

Today’s stamp is also included below. It’s a stylized poinsettia. New blades came from Amazon which made a significant improvement in my cutting skills, LOL.

Icicles

The toughest part about being an artist and promoting your work is the marketing part. I try to schedule my posts but sometimes I get behind and this is one of those times. The holidays add another list of chores to an already busy day. Taking 5 minutes to take a photo can be a challenge. These are the days when perseverance becomes an important part of my daily life.

I chose the prompt “Icicles” for today’s Art Challenge. I have been doing these on my iPad and I use the iPad the same way I would sketch it out on paper, but with a twist. I can use different layers to sketch out my subject and each layer has a different piece of the composite. The original gestural sketch doesn’t need to be erased, all I need to do is turn it off. I love creating art the traditional way but my iPad does make it a bit quicker.

This little reindeer character has been hanging out in my sketchbook and my iPad. Today he has a little bit of a frozen antler problem.

The next photo is my stamp carving for today.

It’s December….Again

December is such a busy month and I scratch my head when art challenges pop up for December. Especially when the list hits right before the start date so that you can’t prepare ahead of time. It almost seems sadistic.

Getting off my soapbox….Shannon McNab’s “Daily Sketch Challenge” prompts for December are very helpful and she encourages not spending a lot of time overthinking them but to use the daily prompt for inspiration to illustrate an idea. She is correct when she says if you were looking to create illustrations or art for the holiday season, there’s no better time to do it than during this season.

Christmas is the time of year when you feel the season in so many different ways…the festivities, the food, the visual celebrations of lights and decor, the music, TV specials and ironically, even the stress could be a source of inspiration. Watching Hallmark Christmas movies or listening to holiday music in July doesn’t really capture the moment or ambiance like the living in the season does for providing inspiration to create holiday art.

I discovered another prompt list called Carve December (that I need like a hole in the head) that I could probably incorporate with the Shannon McNab’s list. I am really excited about Carve December because carving stamps and having inspiration to do them is making me very happy. Stamp carving is fun and relaxing and I can do so much with my own stamps in my creations. I have already found that they make cute little gift tags.

Here is my Daily Sketch Challenge and my CarveDecember print.

On a side note, I need to pick up a red ink pad. This one leans toward pink.

Lili’s Christmas Parka

Absence

Absence 

You were the last thing

we wanted

You came to us

on a warm summer evening

Tiny and sick

dark as the night

We took you in

and you grew on us

You thought you were

a chihuahua

You ingratiated yourself

into our hearts

Soft and silky

svelte and lanky

A queen in your own right

Gardening with your company

Birds and mice brought

into the house 

There were those times

we pulled our hair out

You ate almost  

 a whole cake

But we loved you

You went to Florida 

with Erin

a companion and

a friend 

We enjoyed your company

during lockdown

Then one tragic day

you fell ill

No vet could save you

You were only five

We didn’t want you 

to go

But we had to let you

We feel your loss

every day.