Winter birds watching the end of 2011 pass by

This is my last moleskine page for 2011. Printed papers with pen and ink drawing over top.  Have a safe & happy New Years eve.

Scribble Doodles : Snowman

I am having a lot of fun with my Doodle books!   When I flip through them, I am filled with so many ideas.

This is another page from my Scribble Doodles Christmas book.

The thought bubble was blank with the prompt "What is this person thinking right now?"

PS. It may be to small to see here, but I drew the carrot with a bite taken out. (oh no!)

Scribble Doodles : Christmas Candy Cane

This is a page from my Christmas Scribble Doodles book.

Doodled with Staedtler Triplus fineliner pens ...
I gotta say, this took FOREVER!

Anyhow, I like how it turned out. Kinda' busy and crazy. Just like this holiday season has been so far.

Hope you have a happy, busy, crazy kind of Christmas!

Quick Blick Deal!

Today only at DickBlick.com you can get free shipping when you spend $16 or more - use code CCXN in the coupon box at checkout.  They have great deals on drawing pens - pads - sketchbooks & more! (Faber Castell PITT pens are $1.58!)  There is still time to receive items before Christmas & art supplies make terrific stocking stuffers.

Affiliate of Blick Art Materials:

Something Old

Below is a page from my big hardcover sketchbook. The page has dates on it from 2005-2006.  Mainly hand carved stamped images, stickers, and random doodling. 

This little face is my favorite thing on the page.  Pen and ink doodled over colored pencils.  (I ruined more pens that way - clogging the tips with pencil wax)

I will be wrapping up my holiday sales season soon & should be posting more frequently.

Autumn Leaves Doodle

I have been crazy busy lately ... too busy to spend much time doodling.


I  just finished creating my 6th pixel puzzle book & my Etsy shop has been cranking through the orders for hand stitched goodies. 


I know that soon enough things will slow down and I can spend more time getting my doodle on. 



For now ... I am happy to have had a little time this weekend to doodle this page in my moleskine notebook.

Doodled with Faber Castell PITT pens over top of scrapbook papers.

Hoo's There

I love to doodle on printed paper ... whether it's scrapbook papers, book pages or random found bits of paper.

This owl was doodled on scrapbook papers - the eyes and beak were cut from one printed design paper and glued to a blue printed paper.  I then doodled with a black sharpie pen and a superfine Indian ink PITT artist pen.

This owl will most likely be glued into one of my sketchbooks. 

Scribble Doodles : Halloween

I am a bit obsessed with the Scribble Doodles books.  I stumbled onto the Christmas edition last year on clearance at my local bookstore, and was immediately filled with ideas as I flipped through the pages.

I have located 6 different editions of Scribble Doodles.  Each book is 8-1/4" x 11" and about 256 pages.  (.. and yes, they are children's books.)

Each page has a prompt or a partially drawn image for you to complete.  (Some of which can be rather hilarious when given the right twist.)

I am working in the Scribble Doodles Halloween book right now and have finally finished a page:

Here is the BEFORE image:

I think I will have lots of fun filling up these books!

Stay tuned for more pages from my Scribble Doodles books.

Vampire Girl

Another page from my moleskine notebook.
 
A sweet vampire girl holding a tiny bat. She dreams of flying, but has scrawny little wings and cannot yet fly.

The page features printed scrapbook papers - which I cut into a little frame shape, a book page with some russian text on it, acrylic paint, Indian ink, and gel pen - coated with polyurethane varnish.

FTB : Operation Warm-Up

A page from my copy of "Finish This Book".

This was a warm up exercise with fairly open guidelines. (I don't want to spoil the book for anyone, so I am trying to be vague.)

I chose to cover the page with onion skins.

I added the little "secret onion" drawing to complete the page.



To see more of my finished pages from this book, simply click "Finish This Book" in the tags below.

WTJ : Punch and Gluey

Another page from my Wreck This Journal.

This is the back side of my "stain log" page (which was stained BTW).

I call this page "punch and gluey".   I simply punched flower shapes out of colored papers and glued them all over the page.

I think it looks kinda cool.   I think something like this would make a great background for a black and white ink drawing.

to be continued ...

Make A Decision

This is a collage I made in my copy of "Finish This Book".

You come to a point in the book where you are asked to make a decision.   This reminded me very much of the quote from the movie The Matrix:

"You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe."

"You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."

Keri Smith is at it again!

 

This is how the cover of my copy of "Wreck this Journal" currently looks.  I am still not finished with this book and do enjoy wrecking it from time to time.  I also have copies of most of Keri's other books and enjoy the creative prompts and ideas found within.

And now Keri Smith is at it again, with her latest edition "Finish This Book".

I hope to have my hands on a copy very soon. 

*update*  My sweetie picked up a copy of "Finish This Book"for me, today.  Yay!  It is larger than Keri's other books (7-1/4" wide by 9" high), which was a nice surprise.  I won't spill any beans about it ... it's up to you to discover for yourself.  It does look like fun, though!

PSST: I spotted a giveaway for 3 copies of this book.  Go to the link below and leave a comment there to enter.  Hurry, contest ends September 12th! 
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/09/geekdad-giveaway-finish-this-book-by-keri-smith/

Drawing Lab 16 : Faces

 While working on my 100 faces for the Drawing Lab prompt in Lab 16, I came up with these "continuous line" faces.

These face measure about 3" x 4", and are drawn with Faber Castell Indian ink pens.

I love to follow the line around and around with my eyes.  It has sort of a "zen" feel to me.

I will continue making faces in different styles and media, but I may make a few more of these.

Artistamp Zine

I finished this Artistamps zine for a mailart swap at Swap-Bot.  I spent several weeks working on this 8 page mini zine (I am sloooow).  Which is why I probably won't attempt the 24 page 24-hour zine thing. 

Anyhow ... included is a little glassine envelope filled with a small collection of my artistamps, attached in the back of the zine.  I did make a few extra copies, so am up for a trade (just holler!).

I do have lots of journal, sketchbook & doodle stuff to post ... it's just a matter of getting it scanned and posted.  (as I said ... I am sloooow).  ha-ha

International Zine Month

July is International Zine Month.    If you don't know what a "Zine" is ... check out this Wikipedia article.  Zines can be created on any topic -or- no topic at all.   Fill them with your art, photos, poetry, recipes, plans for world domination or just ramble on about whatever strikes your fancy.  I've seen them filled with mini-comics, how-to info, collections of oddities, and more.  No matter the subject - they are always fun to read.

I do plan to celebrate by making at least 1 new zine this month.   (Pictured above are my three latest zines.)

There are plenty of places to trade your zines -or- join group projects.  Try a swap-bot zine swap if you are new to zines.  It is a good way to start to build your collection and learn as you go.   We Make Zines is a great group, where you can locate sub-groups themed to whatever type of zine holds your interest.  There are group swaps & collaborations taking place all the time as well.

If you are particularly ambitious, you can sign up for the 24 Hour Zine Thing - and create a 24 page zine in a 24 hour period.  Whew!  Click the link to get all of the details.




There are Zine Fests taking place this month in several cities, so keep a lookout for one near you!

More Moleskine Pages

I finished this 2-page spread in my moleskine today.  It is based on a prompt found in one of my art groups. 

Acrylic paint background with cut paper scrap flowers and finished with a black Indian ink pen.

No Stone Left Unturned

I doodled this over the weekend.   The piece is slightly larger than 6" x 4".  Colorful scrapbook papers cut and pasted onto card stock, then doodled heavily with Indian ink pens.

I am considering a series of these to combine into one large piece. 

More Moleskine Doodles

I'm still working to fill my little moleskine notebook. It has 192 pages ... so I still have a long way to go.

My little notebook has become a bit bulgy.

The inside covers are filled with stamps and stickers, and the pages contain my doodles, drawings, collages, poetry, random thoughts, and occasional paintings.

Happy Birthday Zine

I just finished another mini zine. This one is themed "Happy Birthday" and features 8 pages of jokes, quotes, factoids, and doodles.

I created this dually (is that a word?) for a mini-zine swap over at swap-bot & also to send out to some of my art buddies for their birthdays.

I had fun putting it together and am happy with the results! I made a couple extra copies for trading, so if you have zines for swapping - give me a holler.

Doodles & Daydreams

Doodles and Daydreams: Your Passport for Becoming an Escape Artist tries to focus you on your hopes and dreams with a bit of fantasy and whimsy - to give you an escape from the everyday drudgery that tends to suck you in.

I picked this book up awhile back and have been completing little bits here and there. I haven't run across any other artist's postings from this book, so I thought I would share a bit of mine:

The table of contents page starts you off with a quick dot-to-dot. I was compelled to fill mine in with doodles (of course).

Here is a tiny snippet from one page...
The prompt reads: "Design a new flower bulb. What is it called? Draw here."

I will continue to post pages from this book time to time. *Feel free to share if you are also working through this book.

Bubble Toes

I hope I'm never too old to do silly things ... such as dip my feet in paint.  ha-ha.

Another page from my Wreck This Journal.

There were no instructions for this page. It is the page facing my "Trace Your Hand" page.

Acrylic paint footprint & tiny bubbles doodled all around with an Indian ink pen.

To see more of my completed pages - click "wreck this journal" in the labels below.

Picking up where I left off ...

Here's a scan of the progress on the doodle from my last post.  I am thinking about adding some color to it.

Drawn with Faber Castell PITT pen - F tip, and shaded with a brush tip Faber Castell PITT pen in grey.

In Progress ...

I've been down with the flu all week (yuk!), so not much of anything has been accomplished.

Here is a page in my sketchbook that I started doodling last night.  I think I will add a bit of shading around the vines when I finish filling the page.

Drawn with Faber Castell PITT pen - F tip.

Trampoline

This drawing started with a random loopy scribble in my sketchbook.  Drawn with black Indian ink Faber Castell PITT pens in F, S and B tips.

It makes me think of aspirations of flight and the first jump on a trampoline.

Flower Girl

This drawing in my little moleskine notebook features the same pattern used in the last page I posted.

Drawn with Faber Castell PITT pens, and colored with Triplus fineliners.

Colorful Hearts

A page of quick and color filled hearts doodled in my little moleskine notebook last night.

I've seen this simple pattern used in lots of other peoples' art, but had never used it myself ... so I thought I would give it a whirl.

Quick and easy.  Fun to color.

This is a Random Occurrence

Another page from This Is Not a Book.

This is a Random Occurence.

Instructions:
1. Drop a string onto this page.
2. Trace the string.
3. Repeat.

Done with Triplus fineliner pens.

To see more of my completed pages from This Is Not a Book,click "this is not a book" in the labels below.

What Goes Around

Happy Tuesday.

Here is another page of doodles from my little moleskine notebook. 

Doodled with an "F" Faber Castell Pitt Pen.

Sketchbook Challenge

This is my sketchbook page for the Sketchbook Challenge. 

The January theme is "Highly Prized", for which I opted to base my page on "The First Morning Walk of the New Year.

Mixed media : collage, paint, Indian ink pens, and gel pens.

Mysterious Creatures

These are a couple of the mysterious creatures found in the red pool in the endless basement.

The endless basement runs underneath our world with access points in many locations around the globe.

I stumbled into the endless basement through a dream and have explored many of its rooms and corridors.

In one corridor, I saw what appeared to be a red "puddle" with a faint glow to it.  Upon closer examination, I found it to be a deep pool with red water and green fibrous algae.

I gazed down into the pool and was amazed to see a large variety of tiny incredible creatures.

I don't know how far the pool extends, however I did notice that the faint glow was coming from deep down.

One day I shall return to the pool and investigate more.

Lab 24 : Scribbly Drawings

Inspired by Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists: Lab 24

Scribble drawings made quickly with a blue ballpoint pen.

Just an exercise to loosen up. It has been a long time since I just picked up a pen and scribbled.

*To see all of my work inspired by Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists just click the label "Drawing Lab" below.