Tag: #ilovetodoodle

It’s a Digital Age!

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Digital Art, Sketchbook, Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA)

I’ve been throwing around the idea of trying my hand at some digital art. I’ve never really dabbled with it much more than when I was in high school. That was fifteen years ago so a lot has changed in the technological department.Hard as it is to believe, I had never drawn on a device with a stylus and I wanted to try it. I’ve also been wanting to start creating some mandalas so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to tackle both!

With each one, I do a little better and learn something new about the drawing app I am using. I settled for Autodesk Sketchbook until my art can pay for Adobe Illustrator, which would be my preferred program. I just finished the mandala picture below and have added it to my online shop! I call it “Bluedana” and I had a lot of fun creating it!

I’m learning so much, rapidly. I can’t wait to see where my work will be in even a few weeks! Digital art is so much fun I know I haven’t even scratched the surface yet. I use to swear against it for the longest time. That was before I knew what I could do with it! I use to think it was “cheating” but it really isn’t. It just streamlines the entire process. This makes everything so much faster so you can get even more art done. Plus, you aren’t using any materials so you don’t have to dish out money for supplies. As long as you have a good device and a decent stylus, you’re all set! By the way, I drew all of these from my phone. I found an app that works for my laptop and my phone so I can draw no matter where I am!

I hope you enjoyed my work. There is a lot more where that came from. What are your thoughts on digital art and illustration? Leave your story in the comments below! Thanks for stopping by this week.

Happy Autumn, free spirits!

“You never know what you can do until you try, and very few try unless they have to.” –C.S. Lewis

Inktober 2017 #2

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Sketchbook

I did it! I completed the entire month, no slip ups. I have 31 sketches completed for the month of October and what a challenge it was! Some days I couldn’t start my sketch until late at night and I would end up falling asleep while sketching! I got it done though. I am very happy I succeeded this year. Something new I discovered, I did not know there is an official inktober list with word prompts you can use. Next year I will have to try it out.

This year, I did whatever inspired me at the very moment. I did go on a horror movie kick for a little bit and of course some animal sketches! A little of this… a little of that…and what do you get? My Inktober 2017 collection!

“We all have our demons” inspired by two of my favorite movies “It”, the original and the remake!
Scarecrows have always freaked me out.
The majestic tiger. They have always fascinated me and I’ve been wanted to draw another one for a long time. I think another fine art tiger piece is in order!
My son loves King Julien from Madagascar. I was inspired to draw a lemur as we watched “All Hail King Julien”.
I came up with this in my head. I’m pretty proud of it. Trippy!
…Be a simple man. I didn’t have a lot of time to draw that day so I drew “a line” from a favorite song.
Our lovely lady Chloe. She’s a queen.
The snails are everywhere! They are very interesting in the way they move and can contort their gelatinous bodies.
I have always admired elephants. They are wisdom keepers. The whales look after the sea and the elephants look after the lands.
Decided to try out some doodles and see what I came up with.
“I am a free spirit. Either admire me from the ground or fly with me but don’t ever try to cage me.”
My absolute favorite painting from Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night. I am in love! I thought it would be fun to replicate it in black and white and see how it turned out. Pretty cool!
So bittersweet to have Oct. 13th be a Friday! Muahahaha! All the masks of Jason Voorhees.
Eye have always loved drawing eyes. (See what I did there) Ever since I was a kid and has been a popular subject of mine. These are all human except one. Can you find it?
This is Halloween inspired by “The Nightmare Before Christmas” Is it a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie? It’s an on-going family debate!
I don’t know why but I really enjoy drawing bones, especially skulls.
Most spiders I encounter don’t bother me at all. I let them crawl on me and everything. Thank Frank I don’t live where these guys do! Whole ‘nother story!
Bats totally freak me out. As long as they are not flying I can admire them. Once they start diving for bugs by your head fluttering about like a baby bird on crack, then I’m scared.
Blade from the movie “Puppet Master”. Puppets creep me out! Pupaphobia, the fear of puppets.
Stripe from the movie “Gremlins” Definitely another one of my favorites!
Chucky from the movie “Child’s Play”. Just like puppets, I hate dolls! Pediophobia, the fear of dolls.
“The Invisible Man” Can you imagine how terrible it would to have see-through eyelids! I’d go mad, I say!
“The Babadook” How do people come up with this sh!t! Creepy!
Slenderman. What a creepily interesting concept.
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!!!!! I mean, I hate tomatoes as much as the next person but really?
October 26 was the day we brought home our Little Exmoor! He was one of the greatest cats I’ve ever known!
Samara from the movie “The Ring”. She’s going to walk right off the paper and grab you!
“Scream” A classic horror milestone for any kid in the 90’s.
Hannibal Lecter from “Silence of the Lambs”.
If a tree were to hand you an apple, what would it look like?
I was doing the landscaping at a place with beautiful stone stairs draped in Juniper. I took a photo and used it to create this scene. I added the iron fence at the top which was not truly there.

I learned a lot with this exersize and enhanced my skill furthermore in such a short time. I practiced different techniques and figured out the best way to execute them. I would definitely recommend this challenge to anyone looking to improve their drawing skills.

Thanks for stopping by this week. Which sketch did you like best? Which sketch was your least favorite? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Until next time,

“I could be sitting on the beach thinking man, I wish I was drawing.”

Check out my previous blog post Inktober #1

Also, The Official Inktober Website by Jake Parker

Inktober 2017 #1 

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Sketchbook

I’ve been obsessed with “IT” since the new movie came out. The original was always one of my favorites so I was ecstatic when I heard they were doing a remake. It was fantastic! I bought the book and started reading it yesterday. Wow…just wow. It just keeps getting creepier! 

“You’ll float too.”

I’m excited to finally begin this year’s “Inktober” challenge of drawing a sketch-a-day in ink. For my first sketch, I decided to do a clown inspired by “IT”. 

Inktober Sketch #1

It also has another meaning that ties in personally. “We all have our demons” is written on the mask. It’s true. We all have it burrowing inside us. The what-if’s and worries. The do’s and dont’s. The heartaches and hauntings of our past. Sometimes it takes all our energy to keep the demons at bay. Other times, it is still not enough and they break free. We can no longer put that fake smile on and the monster comes creeping out, ready to attack. It seems like a horror novel but it is all too real. 

Keep yourself balanced and don’t let your fear feed the demons for they will only grow stronger.

Until next time,

“I’m every nightmare you’ve ever had. I am your worst dream come true! I am everything you ever were afraid of!”

Giraffes & Waffles?

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Sketchbook

Time keeps on tickin’, tickin’, tickin’ into the future! It sure is flying by and I can’t seem to find the time to get everything done! I started a new job doing landscaping so I’ve been spending a lot of time in the sunshine! …..I wasn’t able to draw much this week but I did manage to get a sketch done.

My husband inspired me to do this sketch. He will blurt out random phrases for absolutely no reason. I don’t know how he comes up with some of the the things he says. One that has stuck for a while is “giraffes and waffles”. It is completely random and it makes me smile everytime I think about it. I was trying out a new calligraphy set I have and did the entire drawing with it. I figured a calligraphy pen could produce some pretty neat designs for a zentangle related piece so I wanted to mess around with it.

And there you have….Giraffes and Waffles!

Thanks for stopping by this week! I hope you enjoy some randomness this weekend! 

Until next time,

“How long is forever?…Sometimes just one second.” 

Tanglepedia

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Sketchbook, Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA)

I was able to take a trip to the art shop yesterday and picked up a little sketch book and a pen cloth to keep my zentangles supplies in. 

In my newest bible, The Joy of Zentangle, there is a lot of tangles to learn. The authors of the book suggest to have a key ring of cards with all your tangles. This way you can easily flip through them and find the patterns you want. 

I thought it was a great idea and it would be better than having to lug my book around with me when I draw. I’m approaching it a bit differently and making a “tanglepedia”. The beautiful colors of the hand-sized sketchbooks caught my eye, at the art shop. I decided to go with the blue, one of my favorite colors. 

I have a few pages done so far and will continue to add to it until it’s completely filled with tangles. Each page has a tangle, the name, and the person who created it. That’s how you make a tanglepedia! 

Every Now and Zen

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Sketchbook

I am having so much fun with zentangle inspired artwork! I want to do it all the time now. I have no worries when I’m sketching…no expectations…no strife! This is a fantastic style to play around with. I have been studying official tangles online and incorporating them in my sketchbook. I can only find about 20 for free but when you purchase the zentangle package, it will teach you the rest. There is about 120 official tangles and the list keeps growing. I’ve also been trying to come up with some of my own tangles. It’s harder than it looks! Especially if your actually trying to get your lines to “tangle” with each other.

I’ve also been playing with colors, whereas traditional zentangle is with black ink.

The sketchbook I use for this style has 3.5 x 5 inch pages.This keeps things simple and I don’t get overwhelmed with how long it may take to finish a drawing. I can finish one a night and I feel accomplished for getting so many ideas out and completed! I still would like to incorporate this style into a fine art piece but all in due time. This is a great way to practice my pen and ink skills. I have done a few pointilism pieces in the past and would love to get back onto it. 

For now, I’m going to keep practicing my zentangle inspired art and see where it leads me. 

What activities do you do to reach inner peace? Leave a comment below. Thanks for reading!

Until next time,

“Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance.” 

Want to try the star tangle yourself? Click here for instructions.

Inktober Challenge

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Sketchbook

As some of you may know I have an obsession with instagram! I check my account daily and surf the photos on there of other artists and friends. I had noticed that many of the artists I follow were posting ink drawings with a related hashtag, Inktober. I became curious…What does Inktober mean?

I found out Inktober began in 2009 with Jake Parker. Jake Parker is a cartoonist, animator and illustrator from Utah. As a way to improve his drawing skill, he decided to do an ink drawing everyday through the month of October. Others took notice and soon it became a worldwide practice for artists to share.

Inktober 2016 #6

This year, I joined in and took part in the challenge. I discovered it half way through the month so I only have thirteen sketches for 2016. I will have to wait until next year to attempt the entire month. This challenge was a lot of fun. Besides the fact of practicing my skills, it was also a nice way to mix it up a bit. I was able to draw a lot of things that I have always wanted to and never did. In doing so, I am coming up with more questions on how to achieve better results. This is the next step in becoming a better artist! Also, I studied about many animals I normally wouldn’t have.

Thanks for reading this week and I hope you enjoyed the sketches!

Until next time,

“The train is nothing; the will is everything.”

Scribbles & Scores

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Sketchbook

It’s amazing to see how a few scribbles and scratches on paper can create an image. I’ve been using a pen lately to prevent erasing. All my lines are permanent so therefore I don’t have the option of a second attempt to get a line perfect. I’ve been practicing many different pen and ink techniques that include hatching, cross-hatching, contour hatching and scumbling.

Hatching is using parallel lines to create different shades and tones. More space between lines leaves room for highlights. Every line is straight but various in length and placement to create depth. The more lines on top of each other the darker it is for shading. Contour hatching also deals with parallel lines but instead of staying straight they curve.

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Hatching, demonstrated with the sea floor

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Contour-hatching

Cross-hatching is using straight lines that criss-cross to create shading.

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Cross-hatching

Scumbling, in my opinion, has always been the craziest technique. It is basically controlled scribbling.

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Scumbling

There are many more techniques to try and I intend to try them all. I also personally enjoy pointilism which is just a series of dots repeating. This takes patience and I love doing natural sceneries with pointilism. Perhaps a near future project?

All in good time. For now I’m focusing on some more dog portraits, an equine piece and a painting with seahorses! Stay tuned for that and more! Hope your having a great summer!

Until next time,

“Not all who wander are aimless. Especially not those who seek truth beyond tradition; beyond definition; beyond the image.”

 

 

 

Childish Chalk Talk

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Memoirs, Sketchbook

“All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”

-Pablo Picasso

I came across a video of an artist, Ruth Oosterman, painting a picture using her toddler’s doodle as her layout. You can check out the video at the bottom of this post. I thought it was a really cool idea. I have a son of my own and I love his drawings and watching him grow as an artist from the very beginning. He loves to draw and paint, so naturally I encourage it. When he was a toddler, and even now, I would give him my sketchbooks so he could doodle in them. While I was sketching the other day, I came to one of the pages he had gotten his crayons on when he was about three years old. IMG_2746

I had thought of the video I had watched and wanted to try the same thing that Ruth did. I studied my son’s artwork for a while and starting seeing a waterfall. I began drawing water and the more I added, the more my son’s sketch guided me to the next piece of the scenery. By the end, it became a place I would definitely like to take him. I showed my son the sketch and he gave it his approval.

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Art is one of our favorite things to share with each other. He likes to grab his “How-to-Draw” books and pick a drawing we can do together.

It really got me thinking about how I truly believe we are all born artists. In one way or another we were born to create and explore the depths of our art. Whether it’s drawing, painting, music or even dancing. Art cannot be limited and each of us begins life with a great desire to be creative and make something beautiful. But as Picasso said, the problem is remaining an artist as we grow up. Everyone is so overwhelmed and stressed out nowadays. People are depressed and they don’t know what to do about it. Yet, when we pay more attention to the inner child we all have, we get a little self-encouragement. When we feed our youthful selves and remember what we loved to do as children and incorporate that in our day-to-day, life seems a lot simpler. I read something online the other day and it said, “What would the child you once were think of the adult you have become?” Food for thought.

To make a long story short, stay young and fuel your art. Your insides will feel better.

How do you let your inner child express themselves? Share a comment or a picture below.

Until next time,

“Your never too old to be young.”

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 “Art is as natural as sunshine and as vital as nourishment.”

-Mary Anne F. Kohl

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“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

-Albert Einstein

“You can’t use up creativity, the more you use it the more you have.”

-Maya Angelou

Transsssformation

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Sketchbook

Just a sketch for today’s post. Snakes and other reptiles have always fascinated me. The great anaconda is an earthly wonder! I marvel at their size. The snake in Native American teachings represents transformation. In “shedding your skin” you can tie up loose ends and create room for new beginnings. If a snake slithers across your path, do not fear. New opportunities are near.

Do snakes give you the willies? Or do you find them fascinating? There are all kinds; from water snakes to tree snakes, poisonous to constrictors. Which ones do you enjoy or despise? Share a comment below!

Until next time,

“Why’d it have to be snakes?”