Altered Art
Experiments in Colour: Chameleon pens and mandalas

Posted on by
Reply

A while ago, I created several line drawn mandalas. I always intended to colour them in, and did so digitally for some. My favourites were saved for real hand colouring and I had the opportunity last night to do so. I used [amazon_textlink asin=’B01N5PLCQ3′ text=’Chameleon alcohol pens’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’themanicstamp-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’526e71dd-e29e-11e8-99e3-31a942bc75e3′] to do my colouring and played about with a couple of ideas, some of which worked and some that didn’t. Here are the four…

Mandala 4
I’m not sure I like this one, though it’s better than Mandala 3. I started with a bisque colour that I hoped was lighter than it turned out to be… a salutary reminder to test before you apply.
Mandala 3
Ever started something, pleased with the way it was going, and then made a duff choice and spoilt the whole thing? That’s what I think of this one. The purple border is too heavy and lacking contrast. Conversely, the yellow is too harsh a contrast against the pink and the gradients too lined. Apart from that……
Mandala 2
This Aztec style mandala directed the colour choices, and I rather like the bold image that resulted.
Mandala 1

Continue reading →

Art Journal
Bible Journaling: Old & New

Posted on by
1

I’ve been busy Bible journaling, trying to get back into the habit of reading and reflecting on what it is I am drawing. I’ve found my own style now, and my process still begins with choosing the words or phrases I’d like the emphasis to rest on in my illustration. Next is playing with typography, something I now prefer to do on screen – the undo function creases the page less than trying to rub out pencil lines! Then follows adding illustrations where appropriate, before tracing and colouring into my Bible.

One benefit of working in this way is that there is a FREE downloadable version containing all five outlines for you to print out and do your own thing with… just click the button:

Continue reading →

Art Journal
Art Journal Page: Whizz Bang Pop Fireworks

Posted on by
Reply

It’s time for my monthly art journal session on Monday evening, and it coincidently happens on 5th November – fireworks night. It seemed fitting, therefore, to have a suitably explosive theme ‘whizz, bang, pop’. There are spaces available, just let me know if you’d like to come.

Here’s my take on the theme:

fireworksUsed in this layout

  • [amazon_textlink asin=’B0027IPO9K’ text=’Daler Rowney A5 Graduate Sketchbook’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’themanicstamp-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’7a4aab6a-deb9-11e8-a7db-5beea6900017′]
  • [amazon_textlink asin=’B005IW0V5E’ text=’Pebeo India Ink’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’themanicstamp-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’53a18e8d-deba-11e8-b0cb-df05dd28237d’]
  • Ranger / Tim Holtz Distress Stains: Picket Fence/Candied Apple/Mermaid Lagoon/Mowed Grass/Mustard Seed
  • Ranger Stickles: Xmas Red/Tickled Pink, Yellow/Gold, Blue Bayou/True Blue, Green/Firefly

Altered Art
Altered Art: Signs & woodblocks

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve been in full production mode getting stock ready for a Christmas Fayre at the end of November. All being well, there will be good footfall and matching sales. If not, anticipate a lot of listings in my Facebook and Etsy stores!

This week I’ve been concentrating on signs. The wood plaques were bought in, and then undercoated with gesso and a cream chalky finish acrylic paint. I designed all the typography in Adobe Illustrator and then etched the outlines on to the signs using my brand spanking new replacement laser cutter. After that, it was a matter of using Posca pens to fill in the gaps before doing a dirty wash with diluted acrylic paint to age them. Some had crackle medium added to the corners, but it doesn’t show up overly well. Each sign is approx. 30cm x 10cm, £5 each.

I’ve also been playing with some 10x10cm paulownia wood blocks, etching into them using the laser cutter. The laser has burnt away the soft wood more easily than the grain leaving a beautiful texture in the background. A set of four is available for £6.

Used in these projects:

  • Signs and wood blocks: Creativ Company
  • Laser cutter: Glowforge
  • [amazon_textlink asin=’B00MWSQKTS’ text=’Posca pens’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’themanicstamp-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’f5c4e647-dd3f-11e8-b81b-73098a4b58d8′]
  • [amazon_textlink asin=’B00HO038BM’ text=’DecoArt Americana Chalky Finish: Lace’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’themanicstamp-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’26127792-dd40-11e8-a16a-8f3936c4d211′]

Quilting
Quilt No. 23: Christmas Swirl

Posted on by
Reply

Christmas Swirl QuiltI’m on a roll… or should that be a bolt (of fabric)? This table runner was surprisingly quick to make and quilt. I took a couple of gratuitous shortcuts, such as daring not to baste the quilt sandwich together and merely relying on a firm press with a hot iron to keep everything together. I got away with it.

The quilt itself is made up of numerous 60° triangles with intervening diamonds, all cut from strips of stripes. The finished runner is quite long at 84″ and is 13″ wide. It traverses the length of our dining table with a small overhang at each end. Quilting was quick and simple stitch-in-the-ditch along the diagonals emphasising the diamond shapes.

The fabric is by Northcott and was obtained in Canmore, Canda whilst we were on hols. The pattern was called Triangle Frenzy Swirl and purchased on our previous USA trip two years ago.

Quilting
Quilt No. 22 ‘Stanley Park’

Posted on by
Reply

It’s not just photographs that can prompt reminiscences of a wonderful holiday… Following the success of my USA quilt, I decided on our recent holiday to visit any quilt shop within driving/walking distance of our location at the time, with the intention of buying a kit illustrating an aspect of the holiday. This is the first that I have finished of the two kits I bought. It prompts memories of a horse-drawn carriage tour of Stanley Park in Vancouver. We had a stop off at a collection of totem poles as part of the tour.

The kit is from Quilts with a Twist bought in the Rushin’ Tailor quilt shop in Skagway, Alaska and featured a laser-cut fusible applique totem of an eagle and a bear. It included all the fabric required for the 18″x 40″ wall hanging to be completed. It took just over a day to finish.

I found the laser cut applique easy to use. If it wasn’t for my laser cutter recently dying I’d be having a go with my own designs…

Totem pole quilt design

Tangle Patterns
Tangle Pattern: Kamloops

Posted on by
Reply

Kamloops tangle patternThe third and final instalment of patterns gleaned from a recent holiday in Canada. I believe this was a carpet in our overnight hotel in Kamloops. It’s a bit tricky to draw… make sure there is a gap between curls in step one, this is where the opposing curls fit in step 2. To get to a repeating pattern, draw the ‘hearts’ in rows first, and then offset the fill-ins. Anyone else reminded of TripAdvisor logo?

Altered Art
Sparkler Art – fact or fiction?

Posted on by
2

So… you may have seen the Facebook video doing the rounds showing a white panel, six lit sparklers revealing a beautiful forest scene with silhouetted deer. “Fantastic”, I thought, “I’ll have a go at that!” There were no instructions, but a quick internet search suggested that the panel was painted birch ply, that the water mist was a lemon juice/water mix, and that the branches were not, in fact, the sparkler traces, but painted neat lemon juice. Beautiful and ethereal isn’t it:

Continue reading →

Tangle Patterns
Tangle Pattern: Banff

Posted on by
Reply

It’s always good to go on holidays, have new experiences and enjoy different views. It’s less usual for the inevitable slew of photographs to include grilles, wallpaper and carpet… but that’s what happens when you keep your eye out for potential tangle patterns. This is the first of three new tangle patterns gleaned from images from a recent holiday in Canada.