Jun30Art

My mind on a single track today, Romans 12:2… Renew your mind… I found some twisty crayons, and thought I'd try using them as a resist.  Worked sort of, but not that great.

#ICAD30 Bye bye June… on to July, that blob in the middle is supposed to be a brain.

Jun29Art

Got another email… detailing the walking distances for the workshops… time for me to seriously lighten my load of stuff… no way I can carry a bunch of stuff all over Chicago.  I don't walk very well, I have M/S so I'm proud I'm not in a wheelchair but walking 4 blocks… well that is a challenge for me.

#ICAD29 I found this 6 pen set of Pitt pens that I'd forgotten I had, they spent several years in a drawer… but are working fine now… I'm thinking of adding them to my pack for Chicago.

Jun28Art

I don't usually draw in the morning, and I rarely draw cups because… well you can see you yourself.  This is my favorite cup, it is supposed to be a tea cup, but I use it for my coffee.

#ICAD28 Today I was practicing my lettering so I figured I'd do some letters on my index card today too.

Jun27Art

Maya Angelo and John Wooden are both attributed with this quote, but based on timing I think John Wooden probably said it first.  Surely sounds like something a basketball coach would say, not so much what a poet would say.  Maya Angelo was way more than a poet however, she was an amazing woman in many ways and someone I admire greatly.

#ICAD27 More Distress Ink and my Pilot Parallel Calligraphy pen for the 'big' words, my Lamy 1.5 Calligraphy pen for the rest.  I used a Signo Uni-ball while gel pen on the word 'Long'… didn't show up as well as I'd hoped it would.

Jun26Art

I'm a big fan of Scott Adams, Dilbert cartoons, and have a 'Dogbert' doll on my desk.  Dogbert is a consultant (in case you didn't know that) and so am I, so I identify with Dogbert's attitude.

#ICAD26 I was looking thru some drawers in my den/studio and found some crayons I had forgotten I had (along with some markers and other stuff).  So today's card is made with crayola crayons… the smell reminds me of fun days coloring as a child.

Jun25Art

Just 6 months till Christmas, and two weekends, before I leave for Chicago.  I've ordered a stool to carry with me, but now I'm concerned it won't get here in time.  I may have to call them and opt for the two day shipping after all.  I wasn't going to carry a stool, but got an email yesterday that my afternoon workshop won't have anywhere to sit… no way I can stand for 3 hours, it suxs being old sometimes.

#ICAD25 Just some doodles with my gel pens, one of which has already quit working… this is not the first gel pen that has been a disappointment… on the one hand I like them, on the other hand… I don't.  

Jun24Art

Our pepper plants are producing peppers at a rapid rate these days, I see making batches of pepper sauce soon.  The surprise this year is the tiny Dragon peppers, most of them less than 1 inch long, and yet they pack a punch that will take your breath away.

#ICAD24 Used a new stamp I got today, to stamp this keyboard on a card.  Then I used some of my Zig Clean Color markers to color them.

Jun23Art

Where did the day go….  off to feed the cat and dogs and hit the rack.

#ICAD23 Just fooling around with stencils, and washi tape and markers...

Jun22Art

Ever since I bought the pencil for Paper53 and discovered it wouldn't work on my old iPad I've been thinking about getting a new one…. well today I took the plunge and got a new iPad Mini3 … and now my pencil works… yippee.  I only got the 16 gig one, the fellow at the store said don't you have much music or videos… and I said, well my old iPad is a 32 gig and I've had it for about 8 years and I've only used 12 gig… the biggest hogs on it are my art magazines on Vimeo and a painting video I loaded on there… I'm not throwing the old iPad away, in fact I'm thinking I'll use it to store those magazines and videos.  New toys… I have a crick in my neck from playing with it.

#ICAD22 Used some of the new 'Colorbox' ink and a butterfly stencil to create this card, purely fun.

Jun21Art

Happy father's day… I miss my dad every day, but father's day is always bitter sweet because it was the last time I talked to me dad… at least I got to say 'I love you'

#ICAD21 Just testing to see if matte gel medium will buck up an index card enough to accept watercolor…. looks like the answer is yes :-)

Jun20Art

Gracie is wearing the cone of shame, she has licked her poor feet raw, so to give them a break and time to heal… she's in the cone for now.  She's not happy with me, as I'm the one that put her in the cone.

#ICAD20 Color wheels.  I used my colored pencils to make these 2 color wheels, the one on the left the secondary colors (green, orange, purple) were made by blending the primary colors.  The color wheel on the right, I used the pencils of the secondary colors and didn't blend anything.  Interesting how close they are to each other.

Jun19Art

Our SC Senator Tim Scott is a man of God, who knows his bible, he mentioned this scripture during a news conference today and I had to look it up.  It perfectly fits what is going on in Charleston today.  I am so inspired by the families of the victims, their faith and love triumphs over hate.  I feel the need to examine my heart after witnessing their deep and abiding faith in God after such an incredible loss. 

#ICAD19 I used Kiriagami to cut a snowflake.  I had to cut the Origami paper down to a 4" square a 3" square was just too small to fold.  So my snowflake is a bit too tall for the index card, fits in my card box though so I'm ok with it.

Jun18Art

Senseless loss of life last night, during a prayer service at the Emanuel AME church, 9 people killed.  Prayers for the families that lost loved ones, the pastor a young 46 year old father of two girls aged 6 and 11 was a respected much loved man of God.  The entire community grieves the loss. 

#ICAD18 to express the sorrow of the people of Charleston at the senseless loss of 9 people gunned down during a prayer meeting last night.  They are in the arms of their savior now.  

Jun17Art

Charleston SC is in the heart of the South, and so we're used to hot weather here,  but this is very unusually hot for June, we don't get this kind of heat until late August. Hopeful this will not last for long.  

#ICAD17 Wabi-Sabi… I must admit I had to look this up, I had no idea what it meant.  Can't think of anything more humble than a lowly Index Card.

Jun16Art

Hazy, Hot and Humid… today, and tomorrow.. no rain in sight for my poor parched garden. The heat wave is supposed to continue the rest of the week.  With all this heat it seems appropriate that hockey season ended last night with the Chicago Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup, congratulations Chicago… I know my family in Chicago was celebrating last night.

#ICAD16 Used my new Distress Ink on this card… I love the way the colors make the quote pop. 

Jun15Art

So hot today my impatiens curled up their leaves and flowers during the hot part of the day, but this evening they opened back up and displayed their beauty for me.  I just have two colors this year, red and white all mixed together,  I do love these little flowers.

#ICAD15 Today's challenge a collage of route 66, for a busy day for me, this was a nice break and easy to do.  I looked up route 66 on the internet and picked a couple of images.  I just happened to have some washi tape that looks like tire treads… perfect for this don't you think?

Jun14Art

The Kuretake Zig Clean Color markers, are in the bag for the trip to Chicago, I love these markers.  This is my second set of them, the ink is water based and the colors will blend together, with or without adding water… fun colors and easy to use.  The Ranger Distress Ink came today in a box from Amazon, I will not be taking them on the trip, too messy, but fun for backgrounds and art journaling projects at home.

#ICAD14 the suggestion for today was Salt and Pepper, I think everyone did the salt and pepper shaker thing, but I decided on using some little stamps I got on sale ages ago… just black ink and white paper.. fun.

Jun13Art

My little fishing tackle box palette, is definitely going in the bag to make the trip to Chicago.  It is a double sided box, on one side I loaded paint, on the other side I have 5 travel brushes, a sponge and 3 towels that activate when wet.  I have a bigger hockey puck sized towel that is also in my bag.  I usually carry a few terry towels, I like using them instead of paper towels, no trash that way.

#ICAD13 Just fooling around with my Gelli roll pens, and silly faces, birds and dogs.  The pink fellow didn't show up so I tried to adjust the color with photoshop so the card is actually white not grey.

Jun12Art

Starting to think about what I'm going to take to Chicago for the Urban Sketchers Workshops next month.  After I did the initial drawing of these watercolor pencils, I decided I didn't like the Emerald Green, and could leave that home, so I added the Cobalt Green (which reminds me of Cobalt Teal a favorite color of mine).  So these 16 are in the bag along with my pocket knife sharpener.  

#ICAD012  Pressing on, keeping with it, day after day… a little bit at a time.  It's how any difficult skill is learned, one day at a time, one baby step after another.

Jun11Art

My hibiscus are in full bloom, the hummingbirds and butterflies love them even more than I do.  I have this pink one, and a peach colored variety that has very curly petals.

#ICAD011 well this card didn't work out, and it is too late to start over, so this one will have to do.  I painted the colors with my Sharpie paint pens, then I tried to use my white ink and dip pen to letter a quote I found… but neither nib would work, and the white ink just pooled up.  I used an old nylon brush to type the card fail letters… I'm calling this one done.

Jun10Art

The SC Stingrays are playing in the Kelly Cup Finals, tonight was game six, they had to win to send it to game 7 in Allen, Texas.  A very exciting game for our last home game of the season, and lucky game 13 for season ticket playoff tickets. Game 7 on Sunday, I'll be watching with friends at Southside 17.

#ICAD010 today I glued another Origami paper to a card, and wrote some of my favorite things about oceans on it.  Far left is the President JFK quote that I just love.

Jun09Art

Had to draw my favorite chocolate snack, M&Ms.  I buy the big bags and keep them in the refrigerator, then dole out a few in these little red snack cups, otherwise I'd eat the whole bag.

#ICAD009 This index card may look simple but it was quite the project today.  The 3 little palmetto trees are actually made using a paper punch, I then colored with colored pencil on another card, so it would show thru the punched out hole.  I then glued the two cards together. Later in the day when the cards were completely dry and flat, I drew the big Palmetto with an ink pen and colored it with colored pencils.  Finally used a 1.5 Calligraphy nib for the lettering… which I tried to scan before the ink dried… which smeared the 's' and got ink all over my scanner.  Cleaned the glass and scanned again… whew.. what a production this simple card turned out to be.

Jun08Art

Colored pencil have an interesting texture on watercolor paper like this.  My little elephant has elephant looking skin thanks to those bumps and lumps.

#ICAD08 I used my new Orange Lamy pen, filled with Orange Lamy ink, and then spritzed it with water and swirled the ink around, after it dried I went over it again to restore some of the lines and lettering.  The pen came in a gift set with an orange Fil-o-fax notebook from http://gouletpens.com , I'm thinking I'll be cutting some mixed media paper for this little notebook.

Jun07Art

The Stingrays lost to the Allen Texas team 3 to 2 in double overtime… it was an exciting game and a disappointing loss. The series is tied 2 games to 2 now, they play again here Tuesday night.

#ICAD07 Just doodled with my Gelli roll pens today.  I smeared some of them by dragging my hand thru the ink before it was dry.  It was fun none the less.

Jun06Art

We bought a new refrigerator and tried to get it in the house ourselves… we just couldn't do it so called in a couple of people to help and finally at 11pm tonight, it is plugged in and cooling down. Today in 1944 my father was on the beaches in Normandy for "D" day… thanks to him and thousands like him, we are free and not under totalitarian rule.

#ICAD2015 I found these cool gridded cards at the office supply store, so I used my Gelli roll pens to color in some squares.  It's been a hectic Saturday for us, so this was all I was able to do today art wise.