Yee Haw

This little cowgirl is a project I started one or 2 years ago and never finished. It is gouache  (pronounced: g'WASH) and micron pen on wood. My daughter, who was probably 5 at the time, adored Jessie from Toy Story. I loved that she identified with such a fun and confident character.

Since I knew nothing about gouache I wanted to keep it relatively simple.

I have a love/hate relationship with gouache, and watercolor in general. I love the flat color, and i've learned to love the dry texture of it. I love that I can make it opaque by mixing it with white. 

But it also drives me crazy for the simple fact that it behaves like it's supposed to: since it's water soluble glazing multiple layers can result in "mud". Consistency when color mixing is another challenge, and quick drying time means one must work quickly and carefully.

Like anything it's just a matter of practice... not being afraid of mistakes and discovering what works and what doesn't. I hope to play around a lot more with gouache.

Shopping Lady

My 40 hour job is retail. I've worked in retail for over 30 years. It can be a grind... crazy hours, a roller-coaster work schedule, nearly 8 continuous hours on your feet, working with the public. I deal with some real "characters" day in and day out. So I drew this lady (her name is Phyllis):

and then I added some color and a background:

I used Photoshop to color her in and added a "texture" on top of her using a "clipping mask". 

Drawing cartoon characters is one of my favorite things to do.

I would like to work at it more, practice drawing hands, improve my characters gestures and develop a consistent style. It's simply a matter of spending more time in the sketchbook I suppose. But no time for it today, as I have to get ready for an exciting 11:30am-8:30pm shift. 

Til next time,

:)

Carolyn

Begin... again.

I've begun drawing again. Manually I guess you could say. Cheap sketchbook, Sharpies, Gellyroll pens. Simply making marks on paper. I've also purchased some ink and watercolor paper.

Simply making marks on paper.

I've posted a few of these marks... doodles actually, to Facebook, and it seems that people like my drawings. I mean to make them just as a sort of play, my art therapy, and it makes me happy that people like them, but too me they are only stepping stones as far as what's inside me to what I want to actually come out.

I constantly struggle with "finding my style", my "niche", etc. At nearly 50 years old I thought I would have found it by now.
And much like my love-affair with photography it seems that life gets in the way and I'm unable to build a body of work that feels progressive rather than random. There is also the thought that just because I do something well, or have the potential to do it well, doesn't mean that I should do it for a living. Maybe for now I just need to continue making my "marks", experiment, play, and eventually start to give myself little challenges and deadlines.

Until next time,

Carolyn

Playing around digital style

Playing around and digital doodling. These prints are a hybrid of hand-drawn lettering in Illustrator and layers in Photoshop.

Timeline Covers

Facebook timeline banners are re-listed in my Etsy Shop. :) Working on some new designs too, check back as I will be sharing new uploads soon!

Navy and Green Table Runner

I finally finished the little table-runner I've been working on this week. It's small, only 34" in length, but it fits crosswise on my dining table perfectly. The fabrics are all from Joann's. As soon as I finished the simple straight-lined quilting I wanted to face-palm myself: I should have done wavy lines-- they would have been perfect, kind of mimicking the shapes of the center fabric, but at that point it was too late! That's what I get for just jumping into it without a plan!

I enjoy sewing/quilting table runners, pillows, and other small projects. I usually only have small bits of time for projects, so these satisfy the need to create, and I have a better chance of finishing what I start! As much as I'd love to complete a small quilt (lap or twin size) I just haven't had a nice block of un-interrupted time to actually do it.

Anyway, back to the little table-runner: I surprised myself by hand stitching the binding. It was easy and actually quite a relaxing thing to do as I watched Property Brothers. :) My outcome isn't perfect... parts of the binding on the back seem a little wider than others, but my tiny stitches are nice and neat and virtually invisible. All-in-all it's a nice little runner, and I'm already planning my next one!

Drawstring bag: "meow-meow".

This morning I made up this little drawstring bag using the now famous "Lined Drawstring Bag" tutorial from Jeni B @ In Color Order It's a wonderful and simple little tutorial, with easy step-by-step instructions and the all important pictures.

I've always had a soft-spot for 30's reproduction prints, and my little girl LOVES kitty-cats so when I saw this fabric from Wyndam at my LQS I knew it would be perfect. The adorable little ditzy blue flower print is Robert Kaufman, and the drawstrings are made from a fabric I picked up some time ago at Joann's. I'm only mildly bothered by the fact that the drawstring-pink is more saturated than the kitty cat print, but I don't think my daughter will mind a bit. This little bag will be the perfect place to store her little treasures. I'll probably whip up a few more, because they are quick and simple and cute. I can use them for little gift bags for birthdays or other occasions. The perfect little sewing project for when I need a little quality time with my sewing machine.

Give Jeni's tutorial a try! As I said it's easy and fun and in no time at all you'll have your own cute little bag for yourself or someone special! :)