Too Much Rain

9" x 12"

There was just too much rain in Vancouver during October.  This isn't a great sketch, but give me 5 minutes and some watercolors and a trip downtown in the rain, and this is what you get.

Abstract Fungus

6" x 6"

Gelato on Gessoed Scrapbook Paper

Inspired by this photo:

Permission to Play

Coincident with my desire to get messy with paint, I found Carolyn Dube's free mixed media workshop, "A Permission to Play".  The premise seemed to answer my desire - I was looking simply for permission to play!  I'm still in the middle of it, and look forward every three days to the release of the next video.

One of her recurring themes is to free your creativity by using art materials which aren't precious.  At the beginning of the series, she leads you through making an art journal out of an old cardboard box.  I didn't follow the instructions (I think that's allowed if we're giving ourselves permission to play), but instead starting using pages of scrapbook paper.  Why was that?

Towards the end of October, I was noodling around on StampingMathilda's blog and found a post about using up her scrapbook paper.  I'm not sure where she got with this plan, but I gessoed a few pages of scrapbook paper with the plan to make a new journal.  The binding of the journal never happened, and Carolyn Dube works on unbound pages in her workshop.  So, eager to play, rather than make another journal, I grabbed what was closest - gessoed scrapbook paper.  Will it ever get bound?  Who cares - I've given myself permission to just play!

The Mushrooms (and the Gelatos) are Back!

After all the Inktober drawing, I'm ready for some sloppy fun!  So, out came the gelatos.  

6" x 6"

Gelatos and Stabilo Pencil on Gessoed Scrapbook Paper

For a description of the process, see this post.

Silly Scraps Saturday

Reflections on Inktober - Part 2

Elegant Writer and Inktense Blocks

By the last few days of Inktober, I was feeling small and tight, from all the drawing and calligraphy.  I began throwing paint and gesso around, and joined an on-line class called "Permission to Play".  

One of the last prompts was "surprise", and I was ready to be surprised, so I got out the Elegant Writer for some flowers.

Reflections on Inktober - Part 1

I don't usually follow prompts, but one of the things I liked best about Inktober was the creative challenge to make something interesting out of a prompt:

Big

Slow

Box