Another iPad Drawing

Several years ago, I became involved with a project of Jaye's over at the Artquiltmaker blog. Jaye called it the Creative Prompt Project with the idea that each week she would provide a word prompt. Those of us who wanted to participate could interpret the word in any creative manner we chose and then post it.  This really was what got me posting my doodles, the early ones were done as quickly as possible and posted before I lost my nerve.  I have to credit Jaye and this initiative with getting me to actually "show" my work
Unfortunately, at some point, I sort of drifted away from doing the prompts, Recently, Jaye announced that she is going to be bringing the project to a close when she hits 365 of them.......currently, the CPP is at #364

Well.......when I saw what she posted for #364, I knew I had to respond....after-all, what better word to have for someone like myself who is most comfortable working in greyscale

#364 is Zebra.......this fella was drawn on my iPad.....you may notice that these days I tend to obsess over every line...the beauty of my iPad is that I can erase and redraw as much as I like and not run out of ink or put a hole in my work  :-)

Evolution of my Drawing Style

It was a little more than 10 years ago when a repetitive strain injury to my left arm drastically limited many of my activities. It was right around then that I took an introduction to drawing class and bought a couple of books.
I really am a "greyscale" monochromatic type gal and was quickly drawn to graphite work.
I learned to work from a photograph using a "grid" method.  I would place a small grid over the photo and create a larger grid on my drawing paper....one area at a time......observing....drawing.....slowly trying to duplicate the image.

The photo

drawing in progress with grid

Finished pencil drawing

I could do it with a certain degree of success, but it took me hours and hours, I would work on each drawing over the course of several days. I rarely showed anyone the finished drawings  ( I do what a lot of us do.....let that negative self-talk creep in.....you know the one....that says it is not good enough)
Drawing in this manner required time  (lots of time), patience and was not very "portable" for me

At some point after starting my blog, I joined a creative prompt group. The idea was to do something creative in response to a single word posted each week. I began doing quick doodles and posting them to the group (posting them quick before I lost my nerve) early ones were pretty rough, but the idea was to be creative...and by posting whatever I drew no matter what, I learned to let go of that negative talk (well mostly)
I could draw these anywhere, anytime.....always took a sketchbook with me and would draw where ever and whenever I found myself with a few minutes  What a fabulous way to bring about inspiration and while I have not posted to the group in quite some time Jaye is still posting those "prompt" words....last week she posted word number 324 .....Wow!

Those silly drawings continue to evolve. When Janome showed interest in turning some of those doodles into machine embroidery, I quickly learned to refine the doodle.
just take a look at the difference between the bee that they first saw and the bee I refined to work better in a stitched version.

and how it looks in machined stitches

Another example would be this early flower doodle

This is how I draw them today

Unlike those early graphite drawings, drawing this way allows me to NOT become obsessed over the details, always trying to get it "right" and it is great fun drawing things with quirky details instead of trying to achieve complete realism. 

Thirsty?

CPP # 218   "Milkshake"

Stitching, Colouring, Doodling & Cutting

Last week I showed you the start of a little piece inspired by an article I read in Quilting Arts Magazine. Some colour had been added at that point........then after lots and lots of stitching, even more colour was applied.

I decided it might be fun to incorporate this week's CPP word, #217 "Pen".........so I took out a black Micron pen and doodled on the piece.

I have been discussing the idea of a collaborative effort, using crows as subject matter with a friend and fellow quilter, she challenged me to do a "Crow"Flake.....I do love a challenge!

this is what it looked like before it was unfolded

Linking to Nina-Maries  Off the Wall Fridays

Another prompt response

What sparks your creativity?  When does inspiration strike for you? The Creative Prompt project strives to help you along, one word at a time. This week's word, #215, is "Plate"
I most often do a doodle, but as I passed by one of my vintage sewing machines, a different idea came to me.
This is the face Plate on one of my vintage Singer machines.

observing the elements in the design, I folded paper, drew the shapes, and began cutting

and this is what I got

On my Toes

I actually managed to do this week's Creative Prompt project response while it is still current.
 Jaye's word for us this week.......... #214 on the list,  is "Dance"

Raffle ticket winners

I have drawn 3 names from the comments left on my last post. Congratulations to Sherri D, Cathy H, and Glenda. I will send you a private email for your personal info so that I can fill out the ticket stubs.

Thanks to everyone who entered .....I will do this again in a few weeks so be sure to check back

Did you know that Jaye over at Artquiltmaker posts a different word each week and invites everyone to be inspired by it in the way of a drawing, a photo, a short story...whatever you like.........it has been quite a while since I have participated, so I was definitely due, and since I needed an image for this post.... here is my response to #212 of The Creative Prompt Project.  "Ribbon"

a little behind

it seems that I have fallen a little (well, quite a lot actually) behind in keeping up with the Creative Prompt Project. Jaye over at artquiltmaker is still enthusiastically offering up prompt words each week as a way to boost our creative thinking. I thought perhaps I was due to post one

Word #175 is Needle. Check out this huge needle I have.......no idea what it is used for (sails maybe) it is marked England and is incredibly sharp.

 

looking at it beside some normal sized tools made me think that it might require a larger needle threader.

and where do we tend to store our sewing needles?.......... how about this pin cushion?

Prompt #162

The current Creative Prompt Project word is Grass .........I think my age is showing......I don't need to say more.......... do I?

Sharing the fun

As you may remember, I was participating in an ATC swap with the Quilting Gallery, I sent mine off to Sheila Craigie aka....  aubirdwoman This is what she would find in her mailbox. (I also sent a small piece of hand painted fabric but I apparently neglected to take a photo of it)
Last week's CPP Prompt word was Bird, so when I saw the name of my swap partner's blog I thought this was perfect.

But, since I know that many of you enjoy seeing my doodles, I thought I would show you this one. It was done as a semi-secret project for a wonderful Internet friend. After completing this drawing, I printed it on cotton, did lots of quilting and entrusted it to the post office. I have learned that it has indeed reached it's destination.

 

In many ways, I am sure that the electronic age has lessened the amount of mail the post office sees, but at the same time, I think bloggers likely fill some of the void with all of the little packages that make their way around the world.

A Block, a Ribbon and a Prompt

Those of you who have been long time visitors here know that I like to enter challenges. For the past 5 years, I have entered the quilt block contest held annually at Joseph Schneider haus in Kitchener On. This years theme was "What's in a Name" The rules stated that the title must have a "proper"name and that there be some use of gold in the fabric or embellishment. My entry is called Sarah's Garden. It is hand appliqued and embroidered......birds, vines, blossom, melons and garden tools

 I generally find that the most difficult part is composing the statement that must accompany any entry. Since this week's CPP word #157, is Write .........I thought I'd share what I wrote for this block

Welcome to Sarah's garden, where perched on lacy vines, 

birds sing among the blossoms while watching over the days work. 

Delight in the beauty and feast on the harvest.

of course, for the prompt response, I also had to toss in a doodle.

as you can see, these birds are very small

a 1st place reward

Mediums, Gels and Extenders .....oh my!

If you stop by here occasionally, then you know that I very much enjoy experimenting with paints as well as inks. Most of the time the paints/inks are not used straight from the bottle, they have to be mixed with something to help them flow across the fabric easier. I decided to make myself a little sample piece as reference to see what happens to the fabric when each of these products are added to paint and then applied to fabric. Here is what I did. I took 2 pallets, one for SetaColor transparent paint and the other for FW acrylic inks.(also transparent) I have a number of gels, mediums,and extenders....each with its own viscosity.

On each pallet, I mixed my colour (paint or ink) with roughly equal amounts of each of the products you see in the photo.
On fabric, I drew decent sized circles and labeled them. One row is the SetaColor paint mixture and the other is the inks. The first circle in each row is the paint or ink straight from the bottle, so you can see the true colour. I used colours that looked  fairly close to each other......Vermillon in the paint and Scarlet in the ink. The colour intensity will depend on the ratio you use when mixing the paints or inks with the mediums.

The hand of the fabric changes very little with any of these products, you may notice a different "feel" if you pass your hand across the painted surface, but the fabric itself is still very pliable and easily stitched.
In case you can not read the labels in the photo.....I used....Clear Aloe Vera gel (find it at the drugstore....has to be the clear stuff) there is an acrylic glazing liquid by Golden, a Floating Medium by Folk Art, Colourless Extender by Jacquard and Lightening Medium by Pebeo.

I seem to have fallen behind in The Creative Prompt Project once again.....the current  word was Present, my response is this quick paper cut.

Quatrefoil

Yes! I said Quatrefoil.....that was this week's Creative Prompt word.......do you think Jaye is really trying to challenge us?
A short time ago, I was admiring some pretty pincushions that Mary over at Quilt Hollow had been making and I was quite tempted to make one of my own.....so when I saw the prompt word, I knew I had to make this.perhaps, even the button could be considered a Quatrefoil

Doodling

Every week, Jaye at Artquiltmaker.com gives us a new "prompt"word and every so often there is one that gives me instant inspiration. As soon as I saw this week's word, I knew I would draw this.Word #148 is TEA

I began to participate in the "prompt words" nearly 3 years ago, you can see my first post about them here.
I have often been asked about these doodles, many liken them to Zentangles and quite often they are referred to as such, but when I began, I had never even heard of Zentangles. My understanding is that Zentangles have some shading effects, there are specific patterns used, and I believe I read that you have to be "certified"to teach the art. I am fairly certain the Zentangling was originally done on small square tiles (paper) but now you see it being done on everything from clothing, to automobiles,

What I do, really, is just doodling and because I have had many questions about these, I thought I'd show you the progression of one.
I begin every one just like this......I draw a shape....could be a moth, a pair of eyeglasses, or like today, a teapot. Once I draw that general shape, I include a few lines to break it up. Now, of course, I don't actually have a teapot that looks like this.......I am just doodling so I can make it as strange as I feel like......there are no rules to this!........then I just go to town filling in the different areas with pattern.
I don't plan any of the drawing. I just concentrate on one isolated area at a time, until the whole shape is filled with pattern, like the finished teapot at the top of this post.

A New Papercut

#143 in the line up of word prompts for The Creative Prompt Project was Melody.
I thought it was time for another papercut (well 2 actually), the first one is made up of just 8 Treble Clefs and in the second I have added a few more sheet music symbols.

Gift exchange

This week's CPP word #142, is Gift, so I thought I would tell you about a "gift"exchange I made with Debbie at Stitchin Therapy
Recently I did a post talking about some materials I have begun collecting for a project I have in mind. In answer to that post, Debbie mentioned that she had a variety of threads languishing in a drawer and asked if I might like to have them. Of course, I was happy to accept these threads but wanted to send her something in exchange, and this is what we decided on.
Debbie sent me this terrific collection of mostly silk floss along with a few pearl cottons (the camera really did not catch the luscious colours in this grouping)
I drew this, and sent it on to her.
Why a Cardinal? to find out, pop on over and read Deb's post here

and take look at this photo that I took while standing near the shore of Lake Huron on Saturday.....yup, a gorgeous, sunny day at the beach in....FEBRUARY!!!!
Not exactly a typical Canadian Winter scene...... A GIFT from Mother Nature :-)

They're Back!!!!

Jaye over at Artquiltmaker, is still posting weekly prompt words, I think this might be close to three full years already (now that is dedication!!!) Thanks Jaye!
At first, I kept up my responses in the form of doodles with fair regularity, but have to admit, I have not given the Creative Prompt Project my attention for a very long time. I thought it was time to pick up my pen and get back to a bit of doodling.
So this is my response to #122 Dress........The dress form was an important tool during my time as a Dressmaker/Designerand for #140 Birthday.....(which was actually the prompt word given within a couple of days of my own Birthday) I drew these Balloons.While I have no plans to try to "catch-up"on all the prompts I have missed, I will try to get back to playing along.

Cards and snow?

I thought I'd post some of the cards I have made recently.
These were made using aluminum cans (beer and soda) as my metal for embossing. I showed how I do this hereFor this one I punched holes through the metal so that the red from underneath could show through
This card, is a photo from last years poinsettia which had been tweaked in Photoshop, printed onto fabric and stitched.
And since many people are looking for snow this time of the year (I am not one of them) I thought it was time for another "snowflake"
Last weeks CPP word was Cloud. What I immediately thought of, was Cloud 9 ......... I kept this one real simple and just drew various sizes of the number 9. Here is what the cut paper looked like before it was unfolded.

..........and after