Heather D's Book of Whimsy

This month I was lucky enough to be able to draw in Heather's book, on the subject of whimsy. It struck me that there are fewer things more whimsical than unicorns and rainbows, and so I set about creating a drawing encompassing both. It came out much better than I thought it would, and was happy that I took the opportunity to use color in my drawing, which I rarely do.

Following are some of the pre-sketches I made before laying down my final thoughts, as well as a timelapse video of the drawing.

Whimsy in the Park

I'm learning from my colleague, Patrick Green, to #steallikeanartist. So for my first sketch on the theme whimsy, I did a google search for inspiration. There are beautiful graphic designs with whimsical trees and birds. Following the tree idea, I also saw a poster at the SG Botanic Gardens recently with trees made out of simple shapes. I'm always trying to learn something new when I create something for a sketchbook, so this was my lesson in Adobe Illustrator. YouTube helped me figure out how to make the tear drops and how to draw shapes you can color in. It was fun! I hope you enjoy my whimsical adventure.

An Invitation to Explore

Thanks to Heather's book and her invitation to explore, I finally got around to trying out something I've been meaning to do for a while.  I used the Paper 53 app to create different versions of the letter "e."  Originally, I was going to stop at one, but I couldn't help it.  The further I went, the more surprised I was at what I discovered.  I just wish I took more time to explore in my regular life.  Thanks, Heather!

Exploring Colors on ColourLovers

Heather's book is about "exploration", and her previous entry depicts her exploration of shapes and colors within a grid on the page.  Keeping with my own goal of learning something new with each sketch, and being inspired by her own exploration I decided to explore color palettes in ColourLovers.  I know there are reasons why some colors go together and some don't - but the problem is that I don't know what those reasons are. So instead of learning about colors, I just headed over to ColourLovers and browsed for palates that were put together by other people.  I then applied them to my YouTube channel avatar to see what I liked best.  Pages on my mac allowed me to import the palate then quickly swap out colors using the color inspector.  I think I like the muted grey one the best.  Thanks, Heather for the inspiration.

Watercolor Quilt

My theme is exploration. Doing a sketch book is not something I normally do. I've typically not been someone who draws or paints, so I chose the theme exploration to inspire me to get out of my comfort zone and make some art. My sketches this week are watercolor quilts. There are two because I owe Heidi a sketch from last year. Her theme last year included textiles which reminded me of quilts which led to this. Each square was a kind of exploration. I did the top sketch first and I learned a few things and I made Heidi's sketch even better.

Looking forward to exploring with all of you.

The Art of the Orchid

When thinking about how to capture orchids for Heather's book, I decided to go back to my roots (yes, pun intended).  A few months back, we went to the Art of the Brick exhibit at the ArtScience Museum, and we were amazed at what we saw.   So, I followed Nathan Sawaya's lead and started building an orchid from scratch.  Luckily I had photos I took from the National Orchid Garden to refer to, but I was limited to the colors my girls had in their lego box.  I also had to dismantle some of their structures to find all the pinks.  Shhh, don't tell.  Thanks, Heather, for letting me dig through the Lego box once again.  It felt so natural and peaceful.  Just like an orchid.

To Explore Is To Be Human

For Heather's book on Exploration, I decided to go to the best source I know related to this theme, National Geographic.  While flipping through the pages looking for images for my collage, I couldn't help but notice that not only do we explore ideas and concepts in the physical world, we do the same in the spiritual world.  In this collage, I chose a number of those images, and laid them out on top of a series of maps where places have been negatively impacted by human exploration.  In the end, I realized that to explore is to be human.  It's what sets us apart and makes us unique.  It's what compels us to take our wonderings and put them into action.  It's what motivates us to take risks and make the impossible possible.  And that's exactly what Heather's book drove me to do with this collage.  Thanks, Heather!

Heidi exploring in Heather's book

I was so happy for Heather's theme of "Exploration". I'm really into trying to do something of my own design in quilting. Quilting usually has lots of formula and instructions, but I just love freestyle, texture, design. Anyway, I used muslin as a base to explore going crazy with my stitching. Then I topstitched with black. I wasn't sure when I should stop, and maybe I shouldn't have.... As I was sewing the black topstitching, I felt a little bit like I was playing "pong", that very first video game we played on our TV! Are you all old enough to remember that?

Exploration

I chose the theme of exploration because I am a novice explorer in the world of art. I never considered myself artistic or creative, but more recently, my definition of those words is expanding. I also thought that I couldn't learn how to draw, but after taking an art class through Groupon last year, I've changed my mind on that too! (This also reaffirms my belief that all kids can learn.)

For these reasons, and because I like to learn new things, I said yes to Becky's sketchbook fun. So off I went to Art Friend to look for supplies. Knowing nothing about art supplies, I just explored the aisles and ended up with a basic graphite pencil set and a set of watercolour pencils that intrigued me. Using Gustav Klimt's Tree of Life as inspiration, I created the above. I played with the pencils and water and saw the results. If I did it again, I could do it better...and that's the point, right? Happy exploring everyone!

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