[i] LoveLife

Old and new and new again.

Oh my GOODNESS! She lives and breathes and here is another Pencil Crayon TIplet. You didn't think I'd run out of ideas did ya? Never. I just got side tracked by the many, many different kinds of media out there. But, here you go - Pencil Crayon Tiplet #9.

Everything old is new again. WHY is this one called that? Well, this is a little throw-back to hand tinted photographs and all things in that warm-fuzzy direction. Step up, step up - let's play a little and get the creative juice flowing. START BY: first, saying 'I AM A GOOD ARTIST AND PENCIL CRAYON WIZARD' and second, find a photo that needs a little old-timer treatment and some kind of delicious papers. Let's GO.

Step 1 - Find a great shot to work with. This is NOT entirely that important because seriously THIS kind of technique BREEDS beautiful things. My inspiration was triggered by this beautiful picture of Carmen. Meet the effervescent Carmen -in a RARE moment of slow when she looked at me and I swear I could hear some scratchy, old-time record playing lady jazz in the background.

Step 2 - Convert said GREAT SHOT to black & white. Again, you don't HAVE to - but, starting from a desaturated image helps the pencil crayons perform to their BEST potential. You can START with a Black & White shot if you're so inclined or you can convert it digitally and go from there.

Step 3 - Soften, soften, soften. I realize that those of you who do not have a digital photo editor are CURSING ME right now. But, wait! This is not a necessary step and the results are AS BEAUTIFUL without this softening as they are with it. I like to do this because I am a spoiled-brat and I want to. I felt like the background in this particular image was a little heavy and too distracting. You might not. It's all good - just keep on keepin' on. PRINT IT on regular paper when you're done happy. Why? BECAUSE PENCIL CRAYONS WILL NOT COLOUR OVER PHOTO PAPER. PENCIL CRAYONS WILL NOT COLOUR OVER PHOTO PAPER. PENCIL CRAYONS WILL NOT COLOUR OVER PHOTO PAPER. Please do not email me saying this technique is piss because your pencil crayons will not colour on your photo paper. I know this. Your complaint will be swiftly forwarded to my customer service agent (aka CRASH) and he doesn't give a rip about what you say unless it's accompanied by a trip to the park and a T-bone.

Step 4 - pick some GREAT paper. Scrapbook papers are magic with this technique. The stuff I'm working with today is from Basic Grey and it's called Sari. It's pretty dreamy. LOVE THOSE PAPERS. I also really liked that this sheet was full of pinks and retro-feeling goodness. You can pick whatever paper you want - the sky's the limit so go for it.

Step 5 - Stick it to the Man. Yes, do that. Cut out your printed (on regular paper) photo to WHATEVER THE HECK SIZE YOU WANT and stick it to your paper. I cut this out with garden scissors, but you can be classier than that and use an Xacto knife or a fancy scrapbook trimmer thing. If you've got a layout in mind - plan for that. If you're just guerilla-creating today like I am - then throw caution to the wind and JUST PASTE AWAY. I use Golden Matte Gel Medium and it's delightful. I put the medium on the BACK of the photo print AND THEN I put Gel Medium all over the front and the scrapbook paper, too. WHY? It leaves a funky texture that I feel really adds to the pencil crayon application. Again, YOU DON'T HAVE TO if you're not into that messy-mussy looking stuff. Do what feels good.

Step 6 - find your weapons pencil crayons. Remember three important pencil crayon tips: 1. Pencil Crayons = coloured pencils. 2. I use and LOVE Prismacolor Premiers which are softer than most other cheapies and should be sharpened and treated with SOME CARE. 3. DO NOT use pencil crayons to harm others - eventhough it is very tempting sometimes.

Step 7 - TAKE THE PLUNGE! When your gel medium (or whatever glue you used) is completely dry - just pick up your socks and GO FOR IT. I am normally a pretty rough applicator, BUT in this case I'm moving slowly and lightly over the print to TINT it like an old fashioned photograph. I hold my pencilon an angle to maximize the colour tip and I work very, very gently. If you blur your eyes - you can see where you have left inconsistencies in your coverage. You might go blind after a while, but I cannot be help responsible for this. Add as much or as little colour as your comfortable with. Feel it out. Go lightly and add lots of layers so you can maintain your feather-weight touch.

Step 8 - KEEP GOING. It's usually at this point when whatever I'm doing - just isn't looking like I thought it would. DON'T GIVE UP. Seriously. This is the testing point to see if you're committed to the piece or not. Keep going. Keep adding colour. Keep in mind that there's NO SUCH THING AS WRONG and it's all good. I started working in the background to try to match into the scrapbook paper... you can see the vertical lines starting to appear in my pink sections.

Step 9 - STILL KEEP GOING. Just keep adding light layers of colour. Try different colours. I'm using three different pinks and a dark purple here to create some depth and texture. You can see the texture and weirdness that the gel medium has contributed to. Don't let it scare you. Keep going. Don't forget YOU'RE GOOD AT THIS - you're a wizard!

Step 10 - Finishing Touches AHOY! Okay. Work with me on this one... I forgot to take a step picture (I was so excited!). I pulled out my Permapaque WHITE PAINT PEN (from Pencil Crayon Tiplet #5) and blended the background a bit (this won't work with a Sharpie - go figure!).  You don't have to - I just like the liquid + pencil look. Then I grabbed a Fineliner (any black marker will due... Sharpie is great for this par, too!) and inked in some lines, a border that echoed the scrapbook paper, and the WORDS. WORD hint: I think in scrapbooking they call this Journaling. I just call it Words. Close your eyes, block out the noise around you and just write what comes to you... It doens't have to be pretty or even make sense. What would you say if you were this piece?

Step 11 - Add what makes it YOURS. Add your signature pieces. I like the date stamp. I also like signing things, but you can add whatever you like. What makes your stuff YOURS? Embellishments? WHATEVER - just take this moment at the end of a piece to OWN IT. You made it and it's beautiful.

Voila & bravo! This works GREAT in the corner of a layout, as the FOCAL POINT OF A LAYOUT, as a greeting card, as a gift that you through in a cheap frame, as a masterpiece. It's all good. Now go get creating!

Ready, Set, Transfer!

So it seems to be a bit of an epidemic lately... the blahs. Man, I hate feeling blah. So - let's shake 'em - I propose a WORLD WIDE BLAH EMBARGO. I fought all day with this Pencil Crayon Tiplet. I tried a couple of different things and after a few total BOMBS they lead me to THIS. I'm cool with the direction BUT I feel like it's not the destination... just a step closer. Like all things... right?

Come on - play with me...

This is called Twist and Shout because it's a bit of a twist on a few elements and ideas you're already familiar with... plus, maybe a new option to think about. A modern day 'shake up' so to speak.

Step 1 - Find your muse. I love this photo. I down right love it. It's blurry and it's got poor Dan's head cut off... but, it was SUCH A GREAT DAY and I took the picture while riding beside him one handed and swerving into traffic on a downtown adventure. It called to me like it needed something WORTHY of the moment. Ooooh, I like that idea... I like that idea SO MUCH!! Life should be worthy of the moment...

Step 2 - Black & white is nice. I like to switch a lot of my photos to black & white in Photoshop. I feel like the simplicity of a single colour really helps me to see what's happening in the image - design wise. IT'S NOT IMPERATIVE THAT YOU DO THIS FOR THIS TIPLET... I like to because I'm related to a BUNCH of accountants and number crunchers and their cheapness cost effectiveness rubs off on you just by breathing in the same air... and black & white saves my colour toners on my HP laser printer. Fine then.

Step SUPER IMPORTANTÉ - Print & Pick. Print out your image on regular cheap-ass paper (you could also photocopy the picture you want to use and size it that way instead - all good.) CHOOSE SOME CORRESPONDING PATTERNED PAPER. AKA scrapbook paper. (I used We R Memory Keepers Comstock Collection called COTTON CANDY. What a mouthfull) Okay - patterned paper - that's just a suggestion... you can choose any old paper you want. I wanted to use patterned paper to see what happened if I did. You can use toilet paper if you're feeling it - I don't care. Just grab something.

Step 3 - Graphic Transfer Time!! Whoooo! Maybe you've heard of this - maybe you haven't. Either way - this is a FANTASTICALLY ORGASMIC GREAT technique to use. Typically - for important pencil crayon, chalk pastel or pencil work I will draw the image on sketchbook paper and when I'm happy with the sketch - I will transfer it over to beautiful paper and then apply colour. WHY? The more you draw on a surface the more you break the paper fibres and make little indentations that are hard to fill. It's frustrating and easy to wreck an expensive sheet of paper. PLUS, erasers contain an acid that eats a little of the paper and changes the surface... I DIGRESS - this technique (GRAPHIC TRANSFER is what I know it to be called) is used by many, many artists, big and small, famous and unheard of, because it's handy. Try it! YOU NEED A 2B or 4B pencil to get started... (don't give up, don't give up, don't give up on me yet!)

Step 4 - Apply the graphite. (Okay - if you think that pencils are made with lead - you are just plain super wrong. The 'lead' of a pencil is actually a graphite mixture.) Apply a thick layer of graphite to the BACK of your printed (or photocopied) photo. THIS WILL NOT WORK ON PHOTO PAPER (hence the print or photocopy). THIS WILL NOT WORK ON PHOTOS. THIS WILL NOT WORK ON PHOTOS. OH MY GOODNESS THIS WILL NOT WORK ON PHOTOS... It has to be paper thin enough that the pressure of the pencil will take effect. Make sure you have good, thick coverage.

Step 5 - Stick it. Secure your photo ONTO THE PATTERNED PAPER where you want it and secure it with tape. TRICK: stick the tape to your pants or your arm first to remove the SUPER STICK. This will reduce the risk of ripping your paper when you REMOVE THE TAPE.

Step 6 - READY, SET, TRANSFER. Alright - grab either a ball point pen or a pencil crayon and trace the photo print out. Yes. TRACE. NO DRAWING SKILLS REQUIRED. NO EXCUSE NOT TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS. Cool, eh?? Make sure you don't miss anything that you don't want to miss AND MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING A MEDIUM to STRONG PRESSURE.

Step 7 - Remove the photo print CAREFULLY and CHECK THAT OUT! Your photo has been transferred to the paper AND magically turned into an illustration. Neat! Super Neat!

Step 8 - Get Inked. I wanted the line to be permanent and smooth so I used a Fineliner black marker to ink in the pencil lines that I wanted to keep. You can use some kind of beautiful acid-free pen contraption that you already have... it's ALL GOOD. After you do this - you can lightly erase any stray graphite lines or marks. G - E - N - T - L - Y. REALLY - how cool is that?

Step 9 - Throwdown some colour.  This is the going-downhill-fast fun part. I am going to colour it like a colouring book. Nothing fancy because I want the juxtaposition of the patterned paper and the line drawing to make nice with each other. The quality of your pencil crayons mixed with the type of paper you choose mixed with the alignment of the moon mixed with the date of your birth - will all have a different effect. This tiplet might do some crazy things. NO FEAR. It's all good and whatever is happening is whatever that was supposed to happen. Totally remember to stay in a completely zen-like chill.

Step 10 - Keep at it. Just keep on applying your colours and using the colours in the papers to help you out. Change things! You will notice that in REAL LIFE Dan (the hot dude in this photo and also my husband) was wearing a brown shirt and green shorts... SO WHAT!? Change it up for the sake of art.

Step 11 - DOODLEBUGGERY. This is my favourite part - ADD STUFF. Draw lines - add words - EMBELLISH any way you like to embellish things. Add stickers! Rub ons! Paint! Be crazy - you made it past the new and scary stuff. CONGRATULATIONS! (You totally deserve a treat because this was a LONG post and you did it.)

Too cool. This is my finished piece. I think I might frame it and send it to work with Dan. Thank you so much. You made it to the end of the post and you learned a true to life ART TECHNIQUE  (YOU ARE AN ARTIST NOW FOR SURE) and you combined it with scrapbooking stuff. I think it's so cool when different genres collide.

So cool and so grateful that you took the time out of your busy day to read this. You rock.

Colours in context.

Here we go. THIS is a Tiplet that features my beloved Pencil Crayons  - and a few of their pals. Seems - that I keep encouraging you guys to make ART. My friend Chrissy - keeps encouraging me to make SCRAP. To Scrapbook! Fair is fair, I guess. I'm not much of a scrapbooker - I think there's lots of GREAT ones out there. I'm more of a scatter-brain artist... BUT, as a compromise here's a scrap-meets-art-meets-Kal application for pencil crayons...

One of the things I love about scrapbooking IS THE PATTERNED PAPER. Oh, how delicious. One of the things I hate about scrapbooking IS THE PATTERNED PAPER. Oh, rats that pattern that I love DOESN'T JIVE PERFECTLY with the colours in the photo I want to use. Because I work a LOT in Photoshop and paint and media where I can create my own custom colours - I am a SPOILED ROTTEN SNOOTY BRAT when it comes to colour. My eyes actually hurt (okay - it's not my eyes it's my heart) when colours are off. Seriously - there's a good colour - and then there's the PERFECT colour. (Sigh.)

Right now, I am attempting to participate in a Circle Journal with a stash of REALLY TALENTED scrapbookers. I feel a LOT OF pressure with that. They have cool tools. They probably have Cropodiles and embellishment trays and all kinds of ribbons. They've got the mindset. They're like wild memory-creating animals. I've got pencil crayons and pair of dirty scissors. The journal in my hands today - is from Chrissy and the theme is wedding day (or something like that). The way it works is: Chrissy creates a journal does a few pages - and them mails it to the next person on the list and they do a few pages and mail it to the next person on the list... and so on. And it goes all the way around in the circle until you get your own journal back - with a collection of other people's takes on your theme. Kinda cool.

So, let's check this out.

Step 1 - Name the game. This journal is about 8 inches wide by 5 inches tall give or take. These are the pages I need to work my design into. I like them. I like working in horizontal formats just like I like laying down when I sleep. It's a nice format.

Step 2 - Pick and size. Our wedding photos were all done digitally so I opened up the shots I wanted to use and made them black and white. I love black and white and I have an idea brewing. I sized up the shots laying them out within an 8 x 5 inch file and farting around with some design ideas and how the layout will work as a two page spread (hey, it's the designer in me).

Step 3 - print and go. I printed these pictures on REGULAR paper through my HP laser printer. Easy.

Step 4 - Throwdown. I have a plan to cover the entire page with the colours that remind me of the day. I start a basic colour THROWDOWN. My plan is going to include COLOUR-FREE subjects in kind of an 80's inspiration I saw yesterday. I have an ocean and teal idea in my mind that is exactly what I want to portray in the background. I want OCEAN. I don't want sort-of-ocean. I don't want blue. I want a helter-skelter mist-blowing ocean feel. I want exactly what I want. And I get it.

Step 5 - MORE! Just keep on throwing down the colours. The magic of the pencil crayon is really in the saturation and blending. I like to apply and apply and layer and layer and layer until there is NO PAPER showing at all. 100% colour and recolour and RICH.

Step 6 - Date stamp. Quite possibly my favourite stamp is the date stamp. I like to use it as a medium IN AND OF ITSELF to create a texture - I like the smushed around look and the imperfect stamps. The date of our wedding was October 9, 2006 - so that's the date I'm using.

Step 7 - more stamps? Sure. I have some cool Ali Edwards stamps that I wanted to use. I like Ali and I like her stamps. This one says TODAY.

Step 8 - GLUE and cut to fit. Hey - I lost my glue picture - but, I adhered the REGULAR PRINTER PAPER to the pages from the journal with MATTE GEL MEDIUM and then I trimmed them cleanly with an Xacto knife.

Step 9 - TO DA! It's amazing how professional it starts to look when you get it all trimmed up and fit. These pages are taking shape and looking up.

Step 10 - STAMP it up AGAIN. I found some cool letter stamps from the Martha Stewart collection and they are fun. I don't really like Martha - but, I like her stamps.

Step 11 - keep stamping.

Step 12 - Cool. I added a bit of an explanation of our wedding day with a fat ass HB pencil (any HB will do) and I also added some white paint pen details where I thought they were needed. Hey - over there on the far right I accidentally ripped the paper by CUTTING IT BEFORE THE GLUE WAS DRY. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Don't rush! I found a cool circle sticker from Ali's kit and it wasn't the right COLOUR to exactly balance out the hues I'd been using SO I COLOURED IT WITH PENCIL CRAYON LIKE A RENEGADE CREATIVE would. Seriously. THAT's what I love about pencil crayons.

And there you go! This is my attempt at scrapbooking FOR REAL. AND - if you can imagine my delight -  Pencil Crayon in practical application. (click to enlarge)

It's a party of scrapbook and non-scrapbook elements. Good enough and on to something else.

Thanks for checking this out. Go.

In case you weren't sure.

What you might know as coloured pencils... I know as pencil crayons. They are the same in every way and to tell you the truth - I think that they are supposed to be called COLOURED PENCILS... but, I don't care. I think we can all call them whatever we want. They don't mind.

Just to be clear.

Please keep reading because there is a GOOD and LONG Pencil Crayon Tiplet following this silly post.

Creamsicle delicious.

As promised!! I'm a little late - but, there were a few cool things that I stumbled onto on the way to Pencil Crayon Tiplet #5.

This is a pure and absolutely beautiful accident... THAT IS WHAT I LOVE MOST ABOUT ART. Over time and spoiled projects, I have learned to be flexible and just go with what happens - in art and in life - because what ever that happens is what was supposed to happen today.

Step 1 - get your sh*t. That's right - it's MUCH easier to start once you have all of the things you'll need. I find that if I sit down - and I'm missing the pieces I set out to play with - I GET DISTRACTED enroute to finding them and I end up reading magazines or checking email. Once I'm lost - I can forget about creating something worthwhile. Find the pieces you need to get started. Let's go over what we need...

Step 2 - get base. GET THE LAYER YOU PLAN TO draw/paint/create on. I'm using canvas paper today. Why? Because it's textured and I like that AND BECAUSE IT WAS SITTING NEXT TO MY DESK. Why make it harder than you have to? Grab a paper bag. Grab a cardboard box. Scrapbook paper with texture. Whatever you have. Use those pretty sketchbooks you buy, but haven't opened (I do that!). On a serious note: if you have not tried this canvas paper stuff - it's magic. It comes in pads of about 20 pages and it's thick, thick, thick. It's got a texture the same as canvas without the bulk and weight. You can paint on it. Oil pastel. Chalk pastel. Pencil. Marker. Whatever you've got - it can take. This also works well for a scrapbook page, too. Just saying...

Step 3 - pure joy! Get your pencil crayons. I am from Canada and where I grew up - we called these buggers Pencil Crayons. YOU MIGHT KNOW THEM AS COLOURED PENCILS. Coloured pencils = pencil crayons. Same dif! It's all good. I use Prismacolor Premiers because they are SOFT and luxurious. Coloured pencils = pencil crayons. Coloured pencils = pencil crayons. Coloured pencils = pencil crayons. Coloured pencils = pencil crayons. There.

Step 4 - introducing a brush marker. This is a marker that has a soft rubber tip that is shaped like a brush. Cool. So cool. You can do great things with this - and it gives you the freedom to write script words with continuous line that you wouldn't get from a real brush and water because you would have to reload. THIS BRUSH IS INDIGO INK and water soluble (*which means - if you spill/splash/spray water on it the ink will run... see step 6). Here is an example of the type of line and letter you can achieve with this very, very cool tool that costs a couple of bucks at the art store. Here is another example of a great line. And here.

Step 5 - Permapaque the great. Ooooh, this you will love. It's a marker that writes over EVERYTHING. A lot like a Sharpie, but with truer colours. AND WHITE. And lots of colours at that. Like WHITE. It writes over PHOTOS. So cool. Get one. Art stores will have this in a variety of widths. Where I come from - we call them paint pens because they are the tool of choice by graffiti artists.

Step 6 - YOU ARE ART. Draw something. It can be as simple as a circle. A pear! I sketched out a quick response to my inspiration from the other day. It's not perfect, but neither am I so we're all good. THROW AWAY YOUR NEGATIVE THOUGHTS. This is easy and it's gonna be just fine. Throw down some lines. ** I drew this with the brush marker and then the dog came in from the rain and SHOOK ALL OVER MY WORKSPACE - note the droplets courtesy of Crash the boxer. NO worries - I think it just adds to the piece and it's an indication of what was happening while I was making art. ART is about this moment.

Step 7 - throw down some colour. Come on. Do it. Colour it like a colouring book should. Remember - just chill - it'll all work itself out in the wash. If you're not usually that brave - BE CRAZY today.

Step 8 - keep going. You might be looking at your drawing thinking you want to give up. DON'T. My tip: use enough pressure that you start to layer on the colour and fill the texture of the canvas paper (or whatever papers you are using!). Of all of the beautiful pics people send me of their work - I just wish you guys would use MORE PRESSURE. Sink your teeth into it. See what happens. It's glorious!

Step 9 - MAGIC!! This is the part where I learned something new. WHITE PAINT PENS DO NOT WRITE OVER PENCIL CRAYON WITHOUT CREATING MUCK. Pure muck.When I drew over the pencil crayon - the paint pen pulled the pigment around and made almost a creamsicle-effect that I fell in love with immediately. TOO beautiful! It's smooth and fluid and expressive AND IT'S PENCIL CRAYON. Wow. I literally played with this like a kid with new beach toys. LOVE this. My initial reaction was - EEEEEP! And then - Oooooooh nooooo. And then - Yesssssss! Triple Arm Pump to this.

Step 10 - Details. I wanted to add some details where I thought that clarity would help the piece. You might not like heavy details... that's cool, too. I used a fine tip paint pen in BLACK.

Step 11 - WORDS. I like words. I like art. I like the moment. I like the art and the moment to become one and to totally represent what's in my mind. I'll get over it soon - but, for now - I'm still dreaming of TWO.

La Tee Da. Another cool AND EASY TO DO piece... the beauty here is that THIS IS NOT WHAT I SET OUT TO DO TODAY. Not at all. It's about 360 degrees different. I had a picture of a trip to St. Lucia ready to create and then this happened by accident and it's SO MUCH MORE APPROPRIATE because it's today's moment and that, my friends, is art.

Thanks for making it to the end of this Tiplet. It was long and I can't wait to see what you do with it.

You rock.

Pear-o-polis calling.

It's Tuesday and I can tell already that today is going to be busy and very, very hot. It's sunny and there's already a buzz about the place. Bonnie and I did the walking Loop (Wolseley & Wellington) this morning at 6:45am to equal a brisk 5 mile walk - and a pretty sweet way to start the day. Thanks Bonnie!

Okay. So yesterday was not one ounce of what I intended it to be. I got a CRAP load done - just not what I thought I'd be doing. I FORGOT THAT I have a painting to start finish for a fancy and important charity auction on Saturday. They called and needed a description for their auction program which was being printed. SO. I wrote up a pretty description about a painting that does not yet exist. NOT THE BEST WAY TO DO IT. BUT. I'm looking at it as a pretty sweet challenge. I titled the non-existent painting Artichoke At Midnight from the series Hearts. So - I will keep you posted on how it turns out (once I start it). It's due on Friday at 7am. (!!!!!) Who doesn't love a little bit of HOLY-SH*T to get them going? I do. I certainly do.

I wasn't too sure what kind of Tiplet to create for the next step in pencil crayons. I've seen some really cool pencil crayon works that you guys have been sending me and posting. Very cool. You will see that there are all kinds of styles and applications. Kasie has one kind of style. Chrissy has been throwing down some pencil crayons in her scrapbook layouts (Triple Arm Pump). Maria's been doing some of that, too! There have been many, many more and that is just about the COOLEST THING EVER. I feel like the International Goodwill Ambassador of Pencil Crayons - a position/title I cheerfully accept.

Today, I figured I'd push you a little further to find out what's inside yourself. This Tiplet is about Making SOMETHING UP. You can work from a photo or a muse of somekind... but, if you're up for it - MAKE SOMETHING UP. Go!

That's right. Art is art is art. It's all unique and personal and good for the soul. Right now - take your ideas of what is good and what is yours and all that crap and throw it out the window. Give yourself a big old break, take a deep breath, and put on your LOOSEN UP attitude.

Step 1 - Draw something. Any old thing. I picked pears because I like pears and pears are pretty easy.  (This is my ode to Donna's pear that was an ode to my pear.) They. Are. Blobs. They are all different and they are very, very forgiving. Try it. I drew a random box and threw in some pears and I'm pretending that they are my closest friends - and we are pears. I did not have a plan - I just WINGED it (WUNG IT). You can do that.

Step 2 - Block in some colours. That's it. I figure out where I want to put my basic colours and I hold the pencil crayon on the side (to get the most lead coverage) and I just muck around and put stuff where I think it should go. I work fast. You can work fast or slow or medium fast. It's okay. There's no right. No wrong. I chose two colours - green and cream. Highlights and medium tone of the pears.

Step 3 - Be complientary. I mean this in two ways... first - back up a bit, take a look at your drawing and say, "Man, those are beautiful pears! Good work. I am on my way to becoming a world famous artist!" Being a little gentler with yourself makes for better art. I compliment the shit out of my own work while I'm working on it so that I KEEP working on it - instead of giving up. I say: "Wow! This will someday be in a museum it is so cool!" or "You are a colour-extraordinaire!" or "I could see this in the Louvre!" or simply "I love it - it looks so good!" I say it in my head. I scream it out loud. It may be shameful or ridiculous... I don't care. I find if I get down on a piece - I lose my momentum and my inspiration and I just want to stop what I'm doing and eat OREOs. Second part to Step 3: Add some complimentary colouring. Pink is pretty complimentary to lime green. It will make the colours pop and add a little bit of depth to the piece. It will look less like a colour-by-number and more like ART.

Step 4 - Be loose. I'm so serious about this step. Be loose - it's all good. This is just a playground and we are having fun. I find that most people tighten up and talk themselves out of having a good time with colour and just letting what happens - HAPPEN. I coloured in the background in some difference blues and the doodle bit on the left side because a balancing block for some of those pinks. Please note: I like bright and bold... you might not. You might like light and tight. That's okay, too. If the pencil crayons are being used - then it's ALL GOOD. Keep going.

Step 5 - Be Jammin'. Have fun with it. I added a few more colours and a couple of bits of text. BECAUSE I LIKE TEXT. I just write any old thing that comes to me and USUALLY something always comes to me. I don't care if it makes sense or not - it is what came to me. Don't over think. Just play. This is a photo and it looks like POOP compared to the real thing. I will grab a high res scan this afternoon and post this pear piece tomorrow. It's 10 inches wide and 5 inches tall. As far as a small scale pieces goes - I really, really like it. In fact, I was going to use it for the draw on Friday... but, I think it might be too nice! ;) Well, I still might. Next Tiplet is about Watercolour pencils and pencil crayons TOGETHER.

There you have it. Go and play with your pencil crayons now. Draw something. Hang it up. Give it away. Frame it. Use it to see what's inside yourself. Include hand drawn pictures in your scrapbooks... just to shake it up a bit. Try it.

Today: I have three things to do and then I'm heading to the outdoor site to work on the wolf. I'm missing some colours and I'm WORRIED about that. There is a specific type of paint used for painting on concrete and nothing else works* (I will explain tomorrow with pics!). I'm packing a picnic lunch. I'm taking the DOG so he can hang out outside with me. I will not be back until supper time... I'm going on an ADVENTURE!

And I have to say - I really, really like this part of my life. I really, really do.

ALL COMMENTS are entered into a draw on Friday morning at 8am for an original piece of my art. LEAVE comments. I read them all. I think about what you've said. I go check out your stuff if you leave me a link. I promise - I do that.

Go check out the dog photo contest at the Lucky Dog Blog. Check out Crash's pic! Do some online shopping at Tiber River (Lime Margerita moisturizer is my favourite summer-time scent). Go outside for lunch.

Go!

Waiting for the world...

Ok. Let's do this. It's Friday and I know you are waiting to see who won the draw and what the secret surprise was. I promise, I'll get to that soon.

I'm a little bit late for an appointment so I want to fly through the important stuff... John Mayer was awesome. Really. What a talent. His guitar riff just roll off your ears like water. Total treat to watch and listen. Yesterday was beautiful and everything you would want in a spring day. Pure wonderful.

Oh, HEY - awesome feedback on the idea of TIME. Seems like we all must MAKE more TIME for the important stuff and people and moments. I like the idea of OWNING my own time. It bums me out when people blame other things and/or people for their lack of time. MAKE more time. It's not as hard as you think.

Check out those cute toes. Baby Cash again. The Holtslags were over for a nice visit yesterday as they waited for their house to be shown by a real estate agent. Nice afternoon!

Pencil Crayon Playgound time!

This Playground is just a technique to think about if you've got a project laying around that's missing a little oooomph.

Find a project. I feel like I NEED/MUST/HAVE TO to use pencil crayons with scrapbook papers because the paper tones rarely work with the tones in coloured photos. I'm a colour junkie and my colours have GOT TO BE cohesive (one reason I love digital). IT's RADICAL when you can pick up a colour from a photograph and add that to the colours in a paper - to make the look come together.

This is a project that I was working on yesterday. The papers are beautiful. But, I wanted a little more red/magenta in the mix. I wanted a little more detail on my cover page. I wanted a little more WOW and a little more ME.

I love Cadmium Red. I used it a lot on this project - inside and out.

NOTE: this project is an address book with custom inside pages that I designed using InDesign, photocopied, punched, and assembled. It's cool.

My other favourite material to use is DUCT TAPE. Why? I don't know. PENCIL CRAYONS WILL NOT COLOUR ON DUCT TAPE. It's just a neat accent and I really, really dig the juxtaposition of the pretty scrapbook papers and duct tape. Pretty meets regular. I like using things that you wouldn't expect. (My kind of 'embellishment ' doodad...)

Voila! It's cute. It's also the PRIZE for one of the draws today - the winner is listed below.

I hope that gave you a little tidbit of an idea for a new more things you can do with these wonderous Pencil Crayons. They really are cool.

One more thing...

This is the pear drawing from this week and I mentioned that I was being NEAT and controlled. OR AT LEAST AS NEAT AND CONTROLLED AS I CAN BE. This is about as controlled as it gets over here.

THIS is the pear drawing from a few weeks ago. Much, much less control used here, but I think they both work and both have their strengths.

What the heck was that for? I just wanted to show that there's no set style or rules. Muck around get dirty. And remember: BE CAREFUL sharpening these beasts because they're tricky sometimes.

Whew. Alright, the DRAW WINNERS ARE:

For the custom address book shown in today's Pencil Crayon Playgound: MARGO. I wanted to get a few more people involved so I also drew 3 more names for the Shoe Greeting Card sets: CAMI. TINA. JUEL.

Whoo Hooo - Triple Arm Pump to you! Send me a note with your addresses so that I can get these things in the mail. Thanks, thank, thanks again for leaving comments. Thank you. THAT is the motivation moves me to keep posting. It's all you.

Today: I'm running out the door RIGHT NOW for breakfast with Jackie and her clan of little ones. Dan and I are also involved in a VERY BIG, VERY SERIOUS Cranium tournament and pizza chow down tonight with Nicole & Dan and Tammy & Jared. FUN! We will see whose cranium is the fullest.

PS - Chrissy: I don't know why Dan isn't commenting anymore either. He was solid for a while and now he's MIA. That sucks, dude.

Allelujah it's Friday. Go make it a good one.

GO.

Layerpalooza

I really loved all of the stories about how you like to start your days. I especially liked the fact that we all seem to enjoy a warm beverage. Even the guys. Here is a cup of quiet peace for you all...

Yesterday was nice. I never really found my groove though... which was a little annoying. I'm not feeling top notch and I don't know if it's THAT or if it's just change of routine.

I got to spend a wee bit of time with Jackie, Cole & Farrah at noon. This is Cole and Jackie. So cute! So many babies and so many pregnant ladies around lately. It's cool. I'm thinking of doing a collection of pregnant lady paintings... I wonder if that would be cool?

Starfish. Wow. The photos are still coming!! I took a couple of hours yesterday to work on a starfish painting... but, I had trouble getting the colours right. I'm going to work on it tomorrow in hopes of pulling it back from the brink.

I have decided on this logo for my art site. This is how I sign my paintings so it seemed appropriate. I wanted the logo to have more of a tactile, artistic feel than a slick designer feel... BECAUSE the new site is about ART.

Throwback to the shoes... this is one of my favourite shoe paintings from the For Some Reason It's Always About the Shoes show.

OK, OK - here they are!

The TIPLETS! The Pencil Crayon Playground for the rest of the month is this: Layerpalooza. What does that mean? That means crack out your stuff and make something. Take some ideas you use a LOT and mix them up with some things you don't use very often. Layer your skills. Layer your colours. Layer your ideas. Go!

STEP 1: round up your FUN INGREDIENTS. I wanted to make a keepsake for my little friend Eila (pronounced Ay-la). We spent time together on her birthday and got some great shots. I printed this photo from my laser printer in black and white. Pencil Crayons WILL NOT WRITE ON real PHOTOS. I found scrapbook paper that was colourful. I got some bit and pieces to experiment with.

STEP 2: PREPARATION. Get ready to use the pencil crayons. I glued the laser print photo to a chuck of paper. I used some kind of doodad to round the corners. I glued stuff with Matte Gel Medium (normally I use a little glue stick and a little spit...). All this - just to get it how you want it. On big paper or small paper or wood or cardboard or whatever the playground-in-you feels like.

STEP 3: Go! I also call this the ThrowDown. I block in some bigger chunks of colour. Remember - you can be messy or neat. I don't care. I coloured around the photos to make the subjects jump out. I coloured on the laser print photo AND on the scrapbook paper because I am a rebel.

STEP 4: KEEP GOING. Sometimes, I push it too far. Sometimes, leaving it at the ThrowDown stage is good enough. I like to add patterns and sketchy-mess to create an energy or feeling. You might think this looks like ass... but, EXPERIMENT with your boundaries.

STEP 4+++: Further still. Okay. I don't like what you might call 'embellishments'. Doodad. Whatever they are. BUT - I experimented with some brads this time and I really liked it. I thought it was the least I could do - SEEING AS YOU ARE ALL EXPERIMENTING WITH PENCIL CRAYONS. I liked it! I also added a bunch of writing and thoughts. I think you call that 'journalling' in the scrapbook world. I call it words and thoughts.

The finished playground...

Notice the colour and detail difference on this image. This is a scan. The previous shots were photographs. (Click to enlarge for better detail.)

NOTE: I am a HUGE fan of using a date stamp. Use it a bunch of times. Smush it. Push it. Make a mess. It's all good.

Whew. Hope that gives  you some motivation. Get out there. Send me your results. I want to see these things in action. If you take a look at the graphic at the TOP of the post - it's also pencil crayon over a laser print photo IN A NICE NEAT MANNER.

Today: It's Beth's last day. I'm heading out of a walk with Dana Stewart and her tribe this morning for a little assessment of inner peace. After that, I have work to do. I want to paint. I want to have a great day.

DRAW WINNER: First, thanks for all of the GREAT comments. SO much fun. So good. Laura Daniels. YOU ARE THE WINNER of a small art piece!! I have to be honest, I was working on your starfish piece yesterday - only I'm not happy with it yet. Please send me your contact info and I will finish up on the weekend and fire that into the mail on Monday. Whooo Hoooo!

ALL COMMENT LEFT ON THIS BLOG BETWEEN NOW AND NEXT FRIDAY AT 7am will be entered in a draw for something. I don't know what that something is yet - but, it's something. Something GOOD. Get your comments in for a chance.

That was a LONG ONE! If you made it this far - you are a trooper. Have a great day. Have a greater weekend.

GO!

Perfect day unfolding...

I am happy to report that it's Wednesday. Tuesday was much more productive than usual and I MADE IT OUT FOR A WALK. (Yes!) We live in a pretty picturesque neighborhood with a great path that winds through two cool areas and loops back. Total walking distance - about 5.35 miles. My goal: to walk this loop 4 times a week.

On the way around the loop yesterday I saw my favourite graffiti artist's work. Love this stuff. Okay, I know that it's defacing public property and blah, blah, blah - but, come on. That's cool. It doesn't have profanities or angry ideas... it's just love. I'm PRO GRAFFITI if it looks like this and spreads the good stuff. I love you, too.

I had both dogs (Rocket the Red Doberman on the left, Crash on the right) on the walk so it was slightly more challenging. Crash likes to walk at my pace and Rocket likes to tow us along like we should be water skiing in her wake. My hands were getting really sore so I gave the reigns to Crash. (He LOVES to hold other dogs' leashes in him mouth.) This worked well and the people we met got a laugh, too.

I went to Costco to scope out the Prismacolors. THERE WERE NONE. I didn't believe it so I walked up and down the same aisle searching for them. Again. Again. Again until I got dizzy. I asked the staff. Nothing. Not. A. Single. Pencil. Crayon. Boooo on Costco. Why the heck does someone need a rainbow of Sharpies and not pencil crayons? Oh, well - I spent $100 on stuff I probably didn't need as a protest. (I'll keep checking back.)

It was the first official day of BBQ season at Aubrey House last night. Yup. There's still snow on the deck - but, Dan and Crash were busy cooking up some delicious chicken and asparagus. Welcome back BBQ. Welcome back.

Okay, here's what you were waiting for. The TIPLETS continue. GREAT names and suggestions yesterday - thanks! If you're not an artsy-fartsy type and you don't care for these tips - I think it's good to read them anyways... you never know when this kind of thing might come up at a party! I decided that I'm going to call the pencil crayon section the Pencil Crayon Playground. These are tips and exercises to get you going - get you to PLAY. I would recommend getting a sketchbook for this stuff - but, I like to use all different textures of paper so I don't keep it in a book form. Today's Playground is on scrapbook card stock with a texture. Different papers will give you different results. Try different things... Even paper towel works!

The first technique to try is called Blendy-blending. The name is a tribute to Claudine Hellmuth who has the funniest names for her techniques... like smooshy-smooshy.

Get a piece of paper and find two pencil crayons of coordinating colour... that means find two that don't look like barf next to each other.

I mark off a rectangular shape and start at one side. The idea here is to blend from full saturation to zero (or paper colour). Using the side of the pencil I make a bunch of stokes lightly and all in the same direction (let's say vertical). Then I make light stokes in the opposite direction. Every now and then I blur my eyes to check out the smoothness of my blend (good tip). If you see white spots or overly saturated spots you work to smooth them. You work slowly and smoothing and evenly until you have a successful blend that you like.

When you're happy - take the second colour and start from the other side. I've used Deco Blue (PC1015) and Mulberry (PC 995). For this part - it's best to work pretty conservatively and get the colours blending nicely into eachother with light pressure. Use the paper texture to your advantage.

When I get the light blending how I want it - I use the lighter coloured pencil crayon to add a HARD pressure covering to make a nice smooth colour... I like it messy like this. You might not - so don't be messy then. I like to see strokes. You might not. I like to work quickly. You might not. The idea here - in a perfect world would be to have a nice perfect blend. I'm not perfect - so I like to have shaggy blends with some emotion. It's up to you.

You can use this technique to do anything. Backgrounds. Type. Whatever. Colour over laser prints of photos. Add sunsets to black and white images. Add colour to black and white scrapbook papers. Try using white OVER TOP of the blend for more effects. Try adding a third or fourth colour to the mix. (I know, it's like you have arrived at Heaven's Gate.)

KB PencilCrayon PLAYGROUND: Hand render your favourite letter and use this technique to fill it. Cut it out. Use in an alternate application (like a scrapbook layout or a gift tag, etc). Hope that gives you somewhere to start... GO. I want to see some of these things on your blogs! Send me the links so I can see your work!

Today: I have a client meeting this morning where I am at a cross roads - this will either end our relationship or cement it for some time. I just might be ready to let this one go... I guess I'll see what happens when I get there. I am struggling with some stuff that I need to let go of so I can focus on the things that fill me up. I feel like a quitter or a failure when I let stuff go... but, I need to see that a bigger failure would be putting off the things that make me happy. Right? Wrong? Hmmm.... I'm gonna get out for a walk. I have work to do. Beth is here and we will be working on some logo revisions.

ALL COMMENTS LEFT (before Friday at 9am) ARE ENTERED IN THE DRAW for a set of limited edition shoe greeting cards. I'm drawing for 10 sets on Friday. Get your comments in! Every comment counts!

Today is going to be a perfect day. Today is going to be a perfect day. Today is going to be a perfect day.

GO.