Days 1 - 7 of Index Card A Day (ICAD)

June 1st, such an exciting day.  The 2019 Index Card a Day challenge begins.  From June 1 to July 31, 61 days of creating everyday.  There is a theme for the week and a prompt for each day.  If the prompt does not float your boat, you can just create whatever makes you feel good.  The main goal is to create everyday.  I started participating in this project in 2015 and it is something I look forward to.

This year I am going to blog and show the cards 7 days at a time.  This is the first post because I had to decide if I really wanted to blog about this experience.  After wrestling with this for a few days,  I decided to give it a go.

The cards I am using are 4x6 index card dividers a little heavier than the white index cards.  I love the way they accept watercolor and gouache.

Below are the cards for the first 7 days.

Giant Peppermint

Mail Art

Reflection

Magenta

Map

Stencil 

Petals and leaves

The first seven days have been a hoot.  Until next week.

Pilgrim...

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my readers and fellow Pilgrims on the journey of life.  I so appreciate you reading this blog.  Sharing my art with you has been a joy.  

Thankful for each of you

Christmas Ornament I painted

Enjoy this special day.  Blessings to from  pilgrim

#Inkttober Week 4 Oct. 22 to October 28 - Georgia O'Keeffe

This past week I chose to study one of my favorite artists Georgia O'Keeffe.  She is most known for her flowers and I was intrigued to find out that her scope was very wide.  She used pastels and watercolor in the beginning of her career.  She loved photo's and used techniques related to photography such as cropping photo's of flowers to show a segmented portion of a petal and use it to develop her painting.  She rarely painted portraits.  She in later years oil became her go to medium.

Georgia painted landscapes, scenes from her beloved New Mexico, skulls of dead animals, abstracts and of course flowers.  This is one painter that I would with whom I would have loved to discuss life and art.

There are three days left in October and inktober will be done for another year.  See you in three days.......pilgrim

#Inktober 2018 Week 3 - Study of Paul Klee 10-15 to 10-21

I have been told that my artistic style is reminiscent to Paul Klee.  Well I had never heard of him and decided to look him up.  Over the course of a few years I have read a little about him here and there; but, decided to add him to my study list for Inktober 2018.

I found this information regarding his method of teaching art at the Bauhaus:

1.  Take a line for a walk:  get comfortable with the process.  Use letters, line drawing and symbols to define your artistic language.

2.  Observe a fish tank:  Observing movement in composition of art, even abstract art. The movement of fish in a tank or nature will inspire movement in your work.

3.  Draw the circulatory system:  Klee found drawing the branching of plants, organ systems and water flow added to the depth and composition of works of art.

4.  Weigh the colors:  choosing colors should be simplistic and bold, filled with adventure.  Create your own color wheels; experiment and find harmony even in dissonant pairings of colors.  Embrace color with childlike abandon.

5.  Study the Masters:  compare/contrast/learn techniques from the great artists; not to copy but to help you in starting your artistic journey.

I really enjoyed studying Paul Klee, although it was a real challenge translating his work to pen and ink.  Who will I study next?  Wait and see, until next week.  pilgrim

#Inktober 2018 Week 2 Oct. 8-14 a study of Gustav Klimt

I am not a professional artist by any stretch of the imagination.  I am still learning how to use various media and getting comfortable finding my artistic voice.  I like to participate in challenges like Inktober because it encourages me to art everyday at least for 31 days.  I decided this year to try and study the work of masters and translate it to pen and ink along with color.  This week I studies Gustav Klimt.  I am not so much intrigued with his portraits as I am with his use of gold and doodle like marks.  I found a couple of key points about his work.  

Key Ideas

Klimt first achieved acclaim as a decorative painter of historical scenes and figures through his many commissions to embellish public buildings.

Klimt was one of the most important founders of the Vienna Secession in 1897, and served as its initial president, though he was chosen less for his completed oeuvre - relatively small at that point - than his youthful personality and willingness to challenge authority. His forcefulness and international fame as the most famous Art Nouveau painter contributed much to the Secession's early success - but also the movement's swift fall from prominence when he left it in 1905.

Two key points I found on an analysis of the artwork of Gustav Klimt.  

Below are photo's of my paintings for this week.

This week required a lot of thought and imagination as again, I did not want to just copy work, rather put my own spin on it.  It was a fun week and can I say, I love the gold.  There are only 6 photo's this week because the last painting took me two days to complete.  Until next week
pilgrim.

#Inktober Week 1: October 1 to October 7 - A study of Kandinsky

I tried for weeks to think about what I wanted to do for 31 days in the month of October for Inktober. I looked at previous years and just wanted to do something out of my comfort zone.  In fact, I got a fortune from a fortune cookie two weeks ago that said it was time to step outside of my comfort zone, hmmm.

I have always been intrigued by the style of Kandinsky and thought I would do some inspired by sketches.  It morphed into a study of the artist and it was really fun.

What I learned:

• Painting was spiritual for him
• non-objective abstract art conveyed universal human emotions and ideas
• he viewed music as the most transcendent form of non-objective art - musicians could evoke images in listeners' minds merely with sounds. He strove to produce similarly object-free, spiritually rich paintings that alluded to sounds and emotions through a unity of sensation.
• He drew houses, nature, birds in abstract methods
• I actually think like Kandinsky (who knew)

Sketches for the week:

So who will I study next?  I am making a list of artists to study over the course of the rest of the month.  It is really interesting to see which artists sketched as well as painted.  

Watch Instagram for the reveal tomorrow of my next teacher.

Have an art filled friends,  pilgrim

Grumbacher Mystery Box review

Hello, I am so excited.....My Mystery Box arrived today.  Let me tell you, Jan did a wonderful job picking items for this box.

The box filled with goodies

Last week my name was selected as one of 5 winners of the Grumbacher/chartpak mystery box.  I have been entering for a couple of years and was really happy to be chosen.  The box arrived today (very quick turnaround) and I am in love.

AD Marker 12 color set - Professional

 These markers are tri-nib point.  Full disclosure, I opened the box and it had one slanted shaped nib.  hmm.....how do I get three shapes out of this?  Enter Youtube....The tri-nib is really easy to use, depending how how you hold the marker, you can get a broad stroke, medium stroke or thin line.  This marker will with on most surfaces and is waterproof.  It also comes with a blender pen.  I love this set.

Higgins India Ink in white

This ink will be perfect for using with a nib pen for doodling and outlining.  Living here in the desert,  white gel pens can dry out pretty quickly.  This gives me many options for drawing and painting.

Higgins India Ink Brush Nib Marker 

 This is really cool for letting, which I need to practice.  It should be great for mark making and writing over acrylic paint.

Pre-Superba white oil paint 

This may have me try oil painting.  White along with a couple of colors would be a great start.

Kohinoor Woodless pencil color pak -2 pencils gold and silver

These pencils are really sharp,. They have a nice look and will be great accessory for christmas cards, yes, it is time for me to start designing my cards for this year.  Time goes by really fast you know.

Molotow Paint Marker Basis Blue

 This 4MM nib paint pen is a great tool.  I love Molotow because they are long lasting and are good for painting and adding texture.  The acrylic paint is permanent and can be used to layer over acrylic paint.  Great for mark making.

Kohinoor drawing pencils

 These 4H graphite drawing pencils will go great with my stash of pencils.  I love them for drawing and making marks on the under layer of paintings.  They are also excellent for sketching.

Molotow 2mm Paint Pen in Hazelnut 

 Don't you just love the name of the color of the paint in this pen, Hazelnut???? Reminds me of Nutella.  Anyway, 2 mm nib is great for detailing.  I normally use the black and white Molotow paint pens, so I am really excited to use a colored  pen to add details and texture.  I think I am going to try and use this painting rocks.

Academy Hog Bristle paint brushes

 I am in Hog heaven,,,get it Hog....any way.  These brushes are so great.  They have a long handle so when painting at the easel, it is easy to step back and paint in a more relaxed manner.  Hog Bristles are stiff and make scrubbing the paint on the canvas really easy (there is probably a more accurate term, but I forgot it).  These are flat brushes and are perfect for oil or acrylic painting.

AD Chartpak Marker pad

The last item is too cool, not just for the paper, but also for the packaging.  The covering opens into three parts. The left side includes a chart listing the types of paper and the type of media that works best.  In the middle is a block of 24 pages.  The right side of the cover can be used to put between two sheets of the marker paper to prevent bleed through when using the Chartpak Markers,  This a brilliant idea.

The mystery box is a wonderful idea.  You can be introduced to art media that you may have never used before.  I am so happy that I won this box.  Thank you Jen from Grumbacher/Chartpak.

Friends/readers who are on Facebook, like the Grumbacher official page and be on the look out every Monday for a chance to win.  You too my friends, may be introduced to new products and a fun time.

Until next time.....pilgrim

#100dayproject#100daysofpurposefulwalking June 3 to June 16 Days 62 to 75

Day 62

Volleyball picnic in the park

Day 63

Deep red

Day 64

Man and child vignette in the mall

Day 65

Close up of my Fave

Day 66

Lovely arrangement

Day 67

This reminds me of desert living

Day 68

Closeup of Yellow Flower near the apartment pool

Day 69

Sitting at the bus stop

Day 70

Three photo's of mural at Starbucks at Green Valley Ranch

Day 71

Seed pods of blooming plant

Plant partner already blooming

Day 72

Photo of my condo complex

Day 73

So cute 

Day 74

Another blooming bush

Day 75

Vine hanging over a wall

This post covers two weeks.  Last week was really busy and by Saturday, I just did not feel like writing.  This week has been a little better.  It was still pretty busy and I just decided to stop today and stay home.  I worked on an art project, yesterday and today; painting the covers of two journals I am preparing for on line retreats.  It felt to good to do some art work.  For the past month I have been handing painting greeting cards. trying to get a supply prepared.  I am painting the cards with watercolor and I just love the process.  If I can walk everyday for 75 days, I can paint a good supply of greeting cards, just takes creativity and determination.

Observations from the past two weeks:

• Every step counts
• When life gets busy, you have to be inventive and determined to achieve your goal
• When this 100 day project is done, I am going to begin again.  I will not post everyday on facebook, but I think I will keep a journal to record my progress.

Well that is all for this post.  until next week, take care.....pilgrim