SWEET SQUARE #15

Original image oil pastels/watercolors

 In this 3"x3" sample I used oil pastels to draw the chameleon, then used watercolor inside the main shape. In the background I applied a thick layer of oil pastel and etched through with a sharpened wood stick to create a patterns. I like the scale of the larger image, but would prefer even more detail with a larger image.

Image digitally intensified

Sweet Square #14

Sweet Squares 14a and 14b: Oil Pastel Scratchboard 

In this example, I applied a thick layer of oil pastel to tag board and scratched through with a pointed wooden tool to create texture. After I scanned the colored version (the original), I played with my iphoto tweaking tools to eliminate the color and emphasize the texture. I liked the colorless version best. What do you think?

Sweet Square #13

Paste Paper Collage with Stamped detail

Lucky for me, my granddaughters and I had created a stack of paste papers in the studio last month. (With the help of Jackie, the studio cat.) 

Cut paper isn't the best choice for a 3" x 3" square but I gave it a whirl. It's hard for me to work in this media without feeling I'm stealing from the paste paper king, Eric Carle. Paste papers are beautiful.

SWEET SQUARES 9 - 12

Cut Paper and Dimensional paint

Print from yesterday w. paste paper leaves

Craft felt and Foam w. marker details

Ink Wash C

Sweet Squares 9 - 12:
An attempt to step outside my comfort zone, try new media and have fun experimenting.





 Guess what? I'm not uncomfortable doing images in diverse media. It's fun and has jolted me into planning to update some of my  portfolio images.

Sweet Squares 5 - 8

Ink Wash & Watercolor Witch

Fun Foam Rooster Print

Ink Wash and Watercolor 3" x 3"

Craft Foam Print/Colored Markers

I've decided that my first four attempts (below) were mainly style variations, not media, so I went back to the studio and pulled out a few different supplies from the cupboard: ink, pens, brushes and water, sticky back fun foam & watercolor markers. These are the squares I came up with for my next four experiments. I'd forgotten how much fun printmaking is...even on this most basic level. And ink washes, WOW...so spontaneous. (This challenge has already been good for me!) I may try to keep it up beyond 30 days.

My Sweet Squares 1-4

Thin point sharpie and Watercolor #1

Thin point sharpie and blended watercolor marker #2.

Sharpie/watercolor pencil: folk art inspired #3

Thin point sharpie markers a la Zentangle. #4

OK, I'm a few days short of hopping on the bandwagon, but here are my first attempts doing a month of 3" x 3" media experiments inspired by the "Month of Experiments" sponsored by Diandra Mae's blog. Check it out here: http://diandramae.blogspot.com  Diandra attend Melissa Sweet's amazing session for Illustrators at the SCBWI Conference in LA. (Aug 2012). I was there too!

In case you don't know Melissa's work, her latest book, Balloons Over Broadway (http://www.amazon.com/Balloons-over-Broadway-Puppeteer-Education/dp/0547199457) 

won the Golden Kite Award this year for Illustration. It is an amazing book, full of media surprises.  Melissa encouraged us to EXPERIMENT and be more playful with media.  So that's what we're doing. BTW: Do you know how small 3" x 3" is?

Granddaughter Paper Dolls

Spent a few hours with my granddaughters this week teaching them how to make paper dolls like I did when I was little. My sister and I used dolls from the Sears catalog but I gave the project a modern twist by using digital photography. We had a great time. Thought you might want to see how we did it.  Illustrators often combine photos and drawn images in their illustrations. Take a look at Knuffle Bunny. Wouldn’t it be fun to use these images the girls to create a book all about them? If you decide to do it, let me know how it turns out.  (BTW: The dolls make great fridge magnets too!