Home from Las Vegas and…

… I’m staying home today!

I didn’t take a single photo while teaching, but my friend Karine saved the day and took some for me. I’ll post a selection in a few days.

I enjoyed my classes so much, and the students were phenomenal!! Thank you to everyone who took my classes…

Have a super weekend!!

Oaxacan Dotted Elephant – Step by Step

This elephant is inspired by beautiful Oaxacan wood animal carvings. Here’s how to do it:

STEP 1: Doodle some scribbly elephants in your sketchbook. Pick the one  you like best, and scan into the computer. Enlarge to fit nicely on an 8″x10″ paper; print (I printed on 140# Fabriano hot press watrcolor paper).

STEP 2: With a black permanent marker, draw in curvy lines around the existing lines. Fill in.

STEP 3: Paint a transparent layer of watercolor, using several colors.

STEP 4: Using markers and colored pencils, color in your elephant with lines, dots and patterns until you are pleased.

(detail)

STEP 5: Finish with a white paint pen. Add dots along the black lines, and any other place you feel needs a little white.

Art/Instructions © 2010 Carla Sonheim

Black Swan

A week ago today I went to my office/studio and got a VERY SLOW START. In fact, I ended up just lying on the floor for at least an hour, thinking and daydreaming and resting. I guess I was tired.

After about an hour of lying there not working, I suddenly HAD to go to the art store that very minute so that I could buy some gouache, a media I’d been wanting to try forever.

Once at the art store, however, I bought some commercial tubes of egg tempera instead (because I’m easily distracted).

OMGosh… I am loving it! It’s the best of watercolor and oil paint, combined. And the finish looks kind of like a monoprint, which I also love. Look at these textures!!

The black swan piece above has been modified somewhat since I scanned it in (I changed the scary red eye); so I’ll rescan and also show about six more paintings in a day or two… still trying to get the hang of the medium, but I’m feeling really excited.

Has anyone out there worked with egg tempera? Is there something I should know about it, such as, why isn’t it more widely used?

Have a great week!

Oops, Jumped the Gun

THIS is the final cover!!

Postcard Wall

Your postcards continue to arrive and they are not allowed to go on the wall until I’ve sent a postcard in return. It’s so fun to receive these in the mail… thank you to each of you who have sent one… There’s still room on the wall! If you would like to play, see here.

Play Retreat: Day Three

At the end of the second day I decided to try to use Ice Resin as a painting medium, which needed time to dry overnight. I dripped the gooey stuff on the paper “with intention” in the hopes that it would look like an elephant… it didn’t quite work on its own, though, so I added the pencil to “help the viewer,” as Teesha recommended.

This one sort of worked as I had hoped, so I left it alone for now. This one is really wonderful backlit (by hanging in front of a window, for example)…. the light shines through the resin and it GLOWS!!

Finally, I spent an enormous amount of time on this guy, who is huge. I think the paper is 12″x30″. I did many layers of colored pencil on his body, and it was very meditative.

Play Retreat: Day Two

Hello!

I got a rough start on the second day of last week’s retreat, and didn’t do anything until after lunch besides go to the art store with my friend Pam and stand at a window… but then I got busy with some transfer drawings (technique borrowed from Paul Klee). Some of them I loved just as they were, and some seemed to need embellishment.

The painterly look on the top and bottom pieces was achieved with a white Daniel Smith watercolor stick that was given to me while at the retreat. (Sarah, who I barely know, is a very generous soul, as I just found out today how expensive they were… thank you, Sarah!) I found them challenging to work with, but the struggle actually showed in the texture, which I really liked in the end, and I will definitely work with them more.

Final Cover Design

… and I love it!!

Play Retreat: 1st Day

I’ll post the art created at the three-day PLAY retreat in three posts, by day.

The first day I got a fairly slow start, not knowing what to draw, what to do, etc. So I got myself started by doing another “boy” piece (above). Once in the groove, I redrew the sidewalk crack guy on two 5″x7″ matte boards (and he kind of became a bird):

But I like to give myself challenges and restrictions (as you know), so I made the piece “work” when positioned all four ways:

Then I painted a painting the same way:

That was fun.

Then I spent the rest of my time chit-chatting!

(PS… I’ve listed the bird and dog paintings on etsy…)

Illustration Friday: Focus

“Careful, Don’t Drop It,” mixed media on matte board.

It’s been ages since I participated in Illustration Friday, so here’s a little drawing…

This past weekend I attended Teesha Moore’s PLAY retreat… I have tons to share, but my camera and downloader and scanner and computer and artwork are split between home and office, and I need to gather all together to properly document! So, tomorrow. A wonderful weekend with wonderful people… worth every penny!!