Playing with color

I have spent the past couple of days experimenting with color. Every once in a while I feel the need to step back to basics and  play with different color combinations.  I am in the mood to explore right now! I want to walk on the wilder side of analogous color combinations!

Why does that strike a note of fear in me?

I am definitely an analogous kind of girl.  This is not entirely by choice, but more often than not it is driven by fear. Fear of using too many colors!  Color scares me just a little bit.

Unfortunately, it does not come easy to me. I know what colors I want to use, but I find that when I combine them together they don’t always look as fantastic as my mind makes them out to be.

I love my work in black and white, but the moment I add color I start to feel frustrated and insecure with the outcome. In my painterly world, this leads to the demise of many a painting. I have many a canvas patiently waiting to be finished.

In my digital world,my art has a better chance of survival as I can play with color. Thank goodness for the command Z key. Adding color and playing with color has never been so easy.

Playing with new color combinations.

 Don’t get me wrong, I am head over heels in love with color. I get tingly, butterfly sensations when I see certain color combinations.My heart starts beating a little faster, I swoon and get all emotional. I want to whip out the paints and try to create the feeling right away.

….But, I am also fickle. One day I will be passionate about red, the next I am all over blue. I don’t even try to understand my fickle nature anymore.

Playing with photos, paint chips and a moodboard

My favorite color combination as of this week- watery blues,green and teal.

I think it might have something to do with my desire for all things summer as the weather here changes and is getting cool.

How do you keep color fresh? Do you have a secret way of collecting your favorite colors? If so, please share!

Here are a few of my favorite places for color.

Adobe Kuler app – take a pic of your favorite colors with your smartphone and let this app do the rest

Pinterest -Start your very own Color board on Pinterest and pin your fav colors to it for reference.

Design Seeds – An awesome site for color palettes.

Photocard Boutique

Paint chips from your local paint store. I love going through Benjamin Moores color magazines and seeing how they approach color for interiors.

Magazines (interior decorating home) See how other designers approach a room set up with different colors

Have fun with your art!

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Inspired by…a color challenge

It’s another winterland morning here in Whistler. December is here and with it mounds of beautiful, white fluffy snow.It brings me a bit of joy knowing that I am meant to be here – I still get excited when the snow starts flying.

I am already playing a bit of catch up here as we head into December. I had a very productive and fun month participating in Creative Everyday. I met some new creatives in the community and also had a chance to explore and create with different mediums. I had been meaning to spend some time in my studio exploring new ideas, but I think I just needed a little extra shove in the right direction. It has resulted in a small arsenal of new ideas for my surface pattern design.A small pat on the back if I may.

Next up ~ Louise Gales monthly color challenge. I managed to create this in the final hours of November,but I am just a day or two late posting. I have spoken often about Louise’s color challenge and encourage you to participate. It has helped stretch my color imagination and encouraged me to play with new motifs.

Here is my work for this month ~ inspired by autumn and a scattering of leaves.

A special thank you also goes out to Louise for including my work in her “Color Stories” feature in the brand new issue of Moyo.I am always thrilled to be included. Thank you!

Issue #2 of Moyo is out and it is jammed packed with color,inspiring interviews, and,of course, lots of pattern. For those who missed it the first time around, Moyo is Japanese for “pattern” and is the first online magazine dedicated to surface pattern design. You can find it here on Issuu. A must see!

Inspired by…the making of a rose.

The sun is shining,the temperature is rising and I don’t have to make school lunches this fine Monday morning. Ah..sweet summer.

It takes its sweet time getting here every year, but when it finally does arrive it is ,oh, so good. I am excited to get out on the water, do a bit of camping, spend time on the trails and sit on my patio and sketch.

It’s the end of June and time for Louise Gales color challenge. I found this months challenge to be a wee bit… challenging. Colors suggested were not my favorites…nor was the theme. Red and roses. Exactly why it is called a challenge…

I still loved the process! It is always important to stretch ourselves creatively and work to put our own spin on something we may not necessarily be drawn to. I sketch a lot of flowers, but have to be honest when I say ~ a rose has never made an appearance in my sketchbook.

I quite like them now!

A bit of sketching and some sewing…

Add a little digital goodness and ta-da…a collection (of sorts) is in the making.

Module 2 of The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design has started. I am still loving it!

We just completed a two week break which was definitely needed. A chance to soak in all that I have experienced so far.A chance to brush up on my digital skills and most importantly, get all of my sketching organized, labelled and scanned. I am very impressed, and overwhelmed.. with all the information and creative exercises provided. We are back at it strong, working on our signature style and developing collections. This weeks brief was a stationary collection for a sophisticated 40 something woman. Roses are sophisticated..right? So I thought I would try to incorporate them here too… slightly different color scheme though.

I am quite pleased with it. Unfortunately, the picture doesn’t do it justice. There is a lot of close up detail (handwriting and sewing) that is a bit difficult to see.

I am looking forward to seeing how everyone else approached red and roses.I just know I am going to be amazed at the creativity of some people!

If you are interested in joining in, please pop over to Louises site and join in!

I hope to be back here again this week, but it’s summer and if the sun is shining I will be out and about enjoying every minute of it!

Put your feet up and enjoy…

Inspired by…pulling the plug

I am definitely on island time now… I know its Monday, but catch myself wondering if it’s not Tuesday and where did Sunday go? The days start early here and are very long and very full.

My goal during this trip was to disconnect ( from the computer that is…)…and as you can see that goal has now been changed to an attempt to try and disconnect. It is very hard indeed.

Call me a creature of habit, but my week “disconnecting” has been a mixture of relief …and anxiety. I catch myself thinking “oh I should blog about that…someone would find that interesting” I have had to stop myself many times.There is just so much to share though!

I am full of mixed emotions ~ good and bad.

The bad ~ I have a serious case of FOMO. For those not in the know…FOMO is a serious ailment known as Fear Of Missing Out..

I have had this all my life. I am familiar with it and have become quite good at handling it but I know there is lots going on in the online communities that I have become a part of. I know they are all up to good stuff ~ sharing, asking questions,offering tips..I want to be part of the action.I want to see everyones work, hear their comments, make my own comments and generally…be present.It causes me a wee bit of anxiety to think about all the fun I am missing out on.

The good ~ it really is true what they say about disconnecting and creating. I have had oodles of creative time. None of it has been a struggle. I am relaxed, focused and present.. here in the real world. It’s a very good feeling..the ideas are flowing freely.

No need to worry about me…I think I will be just fine:)

Back to reality…

Louise Gales creative color challenge for March was tranquil blues. It’s always fun to see how others use color…and the medium they choose to use.

Here is a piece I have been working on. This started out in my typical, intuitive painting kind of way….

Missing a few photos from above…to below, but I think you get the idea now..

This baby is now resting. I have lost all patience with it and when this feeling overcomes me ~it is time to face the canvas to the wall and  allow it to recuperate. Personally I would like to see this piece have a bit more softness, maybe a misty-like feel to it. It is not making me feel very tranquil. Funny, but when I think of the word tranquil I always imagine soft, misty pastels.

Anyhoo, I do like the top portion with the vertical lines and wondering if I should possibly make the reeds on the right hand bottom of the canvas similar? All suggestions welcome!

A great term I heard recently from Robert Genn  was that of strategic patience.

“Strategic patience” ~ It’s the strategy of letting time take care of at least part of the process. It precludes running off willy-nilly in a knee-jerk reaction–a reaction that often does more harm than good.

Half-finished paintings left deserted and grumbling in studio corners are often busy mending themselves. Pulled into the light, they re-boot the artist’s neural pathways. Solutions are often clearer, easier and less painful than originally thought. “All things come round to him who will but wait.” (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Robert puts out a twice weekly newsletter smack full of interesting artsy tidbits of info. Have a look… It is well worth subscribing to.

And just because I am very thrifty with my paint, I have been keeping journal pages beside me to wipe all of my leftover paint on. These are the result.

Well, my friends, there you have it~ March creative color challenge complete! My time with blue and green paint also done. Time to move on to some bright and sunny spring colors.

Towards the end of the week I will be back to share all of the beautiful flora and fauna found here on the Big Island. I have spent hours, camera in hand, admiring. Until then, I hope everyone is well and happily creating. Dont hesitate to email me directly if you have anything good and juicy to share…wouldn’t want to miss out!

Inspired by…the curious case of the ripped canvas

A work in progress...more seeds,flowers and ink work to come.

For months now this poor canvas has been staring out at me from  behind all of my other work. Sadly I put him to rest months ago when this happened..

RIP....rest in peace

One big rip.

I am still blaming my artistic affliction for this incidence…nothing is safe in this household when I am in one of my moods.

Well in honor of Louise Gales Color Challenge this month, and some New Years resolutions that have me concentrating on wrapping up loose ends, I have decided to resurrect this baby.

Thanks all for your comments (and support) on how to fix this problem. A special thanks to Serena who even sent me a video which helped to inspire this project.

So can one fix a rather largish rip in a canvas? I definitely know so!

You will need a scrap piece of canvas (purchased by the roll at most art stores), some gel medium and heavy books.
Cut off any loose threads hanging from the rip.
Cut out a piece of canvas a little larger than the rip. Place on back of canvas over rip and place gel medium between two layers. Make sure to wipe off excess on front and back of canvas.

Place some parchment paper on front and back of canvas and lay flat on ground. I used some good old elbow grease to rub it all down and make sure all air bubbles, creases etc were out.
Place very heavy books on top. Let it rest.
I removed books after a few hours (ok I peeked once or twice) and then gave it a bit of time to air dry.
 The final product. Not pretty, but mended.

I added a number of layers of gel medium on top of rip to help level out the surface and smooth it out. Use fingers for this step.

Then I sat and stared at it wondering how on earth I produced that orangey color……
I have to remember to always write down paint colors used on back of canvas so I can remember what to mix when I go back to a piece months (or even days) later.

I had a few difficulties figuring out the colors used for this piece. The new colors may be a little off, but whatever…at least it’s not ripped.

This is an awfully long post…

Off to continue work on this canvas…Part two and more info on the color challenge to come this weekend!

Thanks for popping by. If you have any suggestions or advice on how to fix a ripped canvas, please share!

Have a great weekend.