Rescue

- Rescue for Illustration Friday.  Trying out a couple of ideas along with the IF theme.

Power for IF

Just a quick little sketch to keep my hands busy while watching TV with my daughter.  I've not posted anything all month and feel a little guilty about it.  Sure, I made a couple of doodles here and there, but nothing I want to share.  Getting a homeschool back into gear, and finding new baby birds has kept me away from my artwork, but Creative Every Day still happens.  Just in different ways.

Travel for Illustration Friday

Another one of those topics where I came up with the rough sketch quickly, but then, distracted by preparations for a camping trip, didn't paint it until a week later.  I am now realizing that "travel" was the thing that pulled my focus from finishing "Travel".  Maybe I should add a picture of a tent in the rain.

Found this photo from the camping trip, after I already made the drawing. Look familiar?  I guess my mind was working on it and didn't even know it.

Pathtag and Letterbox stamp

If you are a geocacher, you might find one of these pathtags in a cache. Pathtags are personal trading items, used most often in geocaching.  They are about the size and weight of a US quarter or a one Euro coin. People create a design, have it made and start trading.

This is the pathtag I created for our family with animals that represent us, using our dog's face again, as I did in creating our stamp for letterboxing.  We haven't yet found an actual letterbox, but this is a picture of the log from a geocache/letterbox hybrid we found in Massachusetts.  Each letterbox has its own stamp image that you collect in your own book.  At the same time you create your own stamp and leave that image at the letterbox book.

Candiazoo pathtag












If you're looking for a new hobby, might I recommend Geocaching.com, Pathtags.com, and letterboxing.org.  Just a few more ways to be creative!

IF: Children

Someone got a new fish...

Sweet for IF, CED check-in

I was inspired by some artwork I saw last week at Illustration Friday.  It reminded me that art shouldn't be stiff and serious but playful.  I wanted to remember what it felt like to play so my daughter and I took watercolors to the pool and created splashes of color while standing in the water.  It's actually something I've been wanting to do for awhile and she thought it was great!  I let the background sit for a couple days until I saw the image I wanted to pull out.  It feels a bit like dreaming to me and I really enjoyed creating it!

Be still

Herons.  I catch glimpses of them everywhere I go and they've become sort of a mystical bird for me.  I love their patient stillness and awkward gracefulness in flight, the soothing colors and decorative feathers.  It's been a long time since I've painted one and this watercolor became a peaceful meditation for me as I deal with the loss of my beloved grey parrot, Niko.

Flowers for May, Creative Every Day

                                         Geocaching in Payson, AZ

Mule train

"Train" was an IF topic not too long ago that I did a sketch for but never colored.  I liked the little guys too much not to share.

Future for Illustration Friday

My son walked in, looked at the painting and asked, "What's the topic?"
"Future," I replied.
"Huh, doesn't look like the future.  Are there birds clocks in the future?"
I don't usually have to explain my work, but I actually put some thought into this one, so I pointed out  clockwise, half past and time moving forward, chicks and chickens, what we can see and what we can't see.  I was feeling pretty good about it.
"Oh, there should be cuckoo clocks with real cuckoos."  Maybe I tried too hard and should have stuck with a space train.