Just Doodling Around

As always something old is making a come back. Just recently while looking through Pinterest pins I found a link to a women whose whole uTube channel are her doodling. Now of course I see references to doodling everywhere. I've even seen Etsy shops with doodle art for sale.

Once upon a time I was a big time doodler. While in high school in the 70's the doodler's tool of choice were multicolored Bic Flair felt tip pens. My school notebooks, notes, temporary text book covers, my blue jeans all feel victim to my doodlings.

After working on an acrylic painting (it's been a week now) that I needed to put aside I still felt "arty" and didn't want leave the art room. So I dug in the art closet which houses my and the children's art supplies to find a Crayola sketch pad and found a black Sharpie. After a half an hour I couldn't stand the pen's smell any longer but was able to finish the first doodle I'd done in oh, so many years.

Mr. Sun

The air is so heavy today. This is typical of summers in New England. We call it "muggy" but really what it is is rain without clouds. You feel wet before reaching the car and the biting bugs love this weather. I do love the sun though and I was hoping to get some drawing time in on my Wacom tablet to get an idea down. At first I found it a bit awkward to use, mainly because the pens thickness, but also just for the simple fact of using a computer program for the medium. It's a learning curve for me to be able to manipulate the colors to be just right. I find mixing paint easier though it wasn't always so.

The finished product is Mr. Sun you see below. But unfortunately, you can't see my shading work on the sun's rays and lips (you can see some work on his eyes). But perhaps that is my small 19" screens fault. I thought he'd be fun to add to shirts and other merchandise in my store Lasgalen Arts because he has such a nice personality. I don't mind sharing.

The beginnings of Beorn

For the past several days I've been wrestling with several ideas for the next blocks. Some drawings were just to intricate for me to carve. I still feel unsure about my drawing abilities and scratched several more designs because they just didn't meet my high expectations.

Today I came up with a very rough drafts for another Hobbit story block. The character Beorn is a fascinating one and I had a few ideas how to pursue this idea. I've drawn on the block to see how it will come out but will inevitably change the look and tweak the drawing before cutting. Here is a sneak peak at the design.

For those the story in the Hobbit, Beorn is a "skin-changer". By day he is a big burly man with black hair and beard. By night he is a fierce black bear. Hence the two faces on the block. I'll be working on the block for the next few days. Tomorrow I have folks coming for dinner...Super Bowl you know?

I've added the last two days of Daily Shots tonight.

Not much inspiration

For the past two days I've been experimenting with different mediums to color fill the lotus design. My intention yesterday was to use oil pastels I had in my art closet. The pastels actually belong to my son who acquired them as part of a huge art kit. The pastels however are past their prime. Whether it was the cold pressed watercolor paper I used for the print or the drying out of the pastels the combination just didn't suit the project. The pastels would not blend for anything and shading was almost non existent.

So today feeling little inspiration I started to doodle. What can I say...somedays it just feels like a gnome has taken up residence in my brain.

Starting process

The day before yesterday I ventured out to the local box chain art store to purchase what I need to proceed with creating new block prints. It's been over 30 year since I carved a woodblock into something worth inking. I owned a few inks (miraculously three survived and are usable), two woodblocks already cut, knives and a roller. What I really needed was more woodblocks and inspiration.

The big box store had one sized woodblock approx. 7x5 inches. I like to work with a smaller size but you've got to work with what you have I suppose. And I've started to investigate arts suppliers on-line for further purchasing. It seems to me I ought to find a 7x5 block for under $5. One such supplier, Daniel Smith.com sells 4x6's for $1.60 and smaller still the a 3x4 for .95. I can live with those prices though I need to check on shipping costs as well.

Yesterday during the snow storm I had the luxury of working on the new block. I decided to with a lotus flower design. I had a dream (no not so grand as his dream) of a simple black and white print tinted with watercolors to make the design pop. Hence, that is why I've left the leaf and petals with little detail.

One factor in my planning had a hole in it. How was I going to clamp the block down to carve out the unnecessary bits. When I did this 30 years ago my father's wood working shop was the place to do anything manual such as using knives. Sadly, that shop is gone like my father and I'll need to have my husband rig up something doable.

More to come of course and tomorrow is another day. This day was shot except to do my Daily Shot photo which I've added to the link above.