“Animal in Tape” Tutorial

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Animals in Tape, art camp for women, hot press watercolor, Kelli Nina Perkins, Tempest in a Teacup, Washi masking tape

Animals in Tape: Tutorial
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Supplies Needed:
• Several different kinds of Washi masking tape (or even just regular masking tape)
• Mechanical pencil
• Smooth paper, about 5″x7″ (I use Fabriano Artistico #140 hot press watercolor paper)

Step 1. Lay down five pieces of tape anywhere on the page. Don’t worry at this stage what it will be; just concentrate on moving the shapes around in a way that pleases you.

Step 2a. Add five more pieces of tape, a different pattern this time. Make sure to overlap these new pieces on top of the previous five pieces.

Step 2b. Before moving to Step 3, turn your paper all around and see if an animal emerges naturally at this point. I saw potentials in each of the directions, but decided to pull out the barking-dog-like one on the upper right.

Step 3. Lay down however many pieces of tape you like (in new patterns, if desired) to “fill out” your chosen animal.

Step 4. Add pencil to define eyes and body shape, and for hair, fur, whiskers, etc. I usually go about this step rather slowly, and add more tape if desired.

Step 5. Done!

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This is a simplified version of “Animals in Tape.” A more “mixed-media” version is part of my book, Drawing & Painting Imaginary Animals.

More artwork made in the same way!

Moose

Tags

Animals, art, moose, painting animals, watercolor

I’ve had more than the usual amount of messing-around time this week!

Pig 2 & Podcast

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Animals, painting animals, pigs, podcast, psychotactics.com, Sean D'Souza, watercolor

Pig II, watercolor and pencil on paper.

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I forgot to mention earlier today that I was interviewed recently by Sean D’Souza of psychotactics.com. Great questions, and I had a lot of fun with this one. It’s long, so be sure and doodle if you decide to listen!

Carla’s Podcast with Sean: Click here.

What Makes You…?

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Animals, Dar Hosta's 52 Mondays Blog, hot press watercolor, painting animals, pig, watercolor

Pig, watercolor and pencil on hot press watercolor paper. (Click to enlarge)

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This morning I read Dar Hosta’s 52 Mondays Blog where she talks about how small questions can make big changes in our lives. (It’s a great post, read it here!)

One of the questions asked was, “What are you happy about?” which, in my hurried reading, became, “What makes you happy?” and then, “What makes you unhappy?”

The one answer that kept popping up to that last question was “Comparing myself to others.”

The internet is great for inspiration but can be really dangerous for those of us prone to seeing glimpses of what others are doing and then feeling totally lacking. (And, it’s true — there is always someone better, and more successful! Which, of course, is life, and we all learn that lesson each day…nothing new here!)

However, there are tangible things I can do that can minimize this tendency to compare myself to others, which just makes me unhappy.

One easy thing I can do is turn away from the computer and create something new (which I did this morning — see the pig, above).

Does anyone else have this Comparison Problem? What is one small thing you can do today to help minimize this tendency, which is probably making you unhappy, too?

Women Reading Books

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live model painting, painting, Peter Millet, watercolor, watercolor painting, woman reading book, women reading books

Woman Reading Book I

Woman Reading Book II

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These two watercolors were created last Friday from a live model; she was wearing a long red dress and a crocheted shawl. It was in the abstraction class I took with Peter Millet; loved the class!

“Abstraction is real, probably more real than nature.” — Josef Albers

 

The Art of Silliness: The Book!

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book, Carla Sonheim, Drawing Lab, The Art of Silliness, The Art of Silliness: A Creativity Book for Everyone

I can finally show you the cover of my other forthcoming book!

“The Art of Silliness: A Creativity Book for Everyone” is a compilation-“plus” of the worksheet exercises from my online class series, The Art of Silliness. Published by Perigee Books, it is due out November 6th and will also be available as a Kindle version and also as a Nook.

I’ll be planning some fun things here at the blog in November to celebrate, but before that I’ll be doing a blog tour for “Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals: A Mixed Media Workshop with Carla Sonheim.” (Amazon says this one is due out September 1st already!) There will be book giveaways, fresh tutorials, and more.

I’m really excited about both books, and am so grateful to be able to do what I do. Thank YOU for being such a large part of it!

Lady

Tags

art, figure painting, Liesel Lund, online art class, online art classes, painting figures, watercolor painting

It’s good to experiment with new things!

I finished the last of my summer online classes Friday, and so finally felt free to join some friends for a Sunday art-making gathering. I experimented with wet-on-wet watercoloring (I usually paint wet-on-dry, meaning, I will paint a layer of watercolor, let it dry completely, then go in with a second layer).

This lady started out as Liesel Lund, but I didn’t capture Liesel at all in my first paint stroke (darn!), so she just became an imaginary portrait instead.

Lots to do now to catch up on neglected things. Have a great week!

P.S. I used Yasutomo Sumi-e watercolors.

P.S.S. My friend Dar Hosta asked if she could print out my lady to make a Cranky Bird! Click here to see it!

More Elephants

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Artwork, drawing animals, elephant, painting animals, painting elephants

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Heck

Tags

abstract art, abstract sculpture, Frye Art Museum, Peter Millet, sculptor, seattle sculptor, Sketching and The Roots of Abstraction

I’m taking a class this week with Seattle sculptor Peter Millet at the Frye Art Museum. The class is called “Sketching and The Roots of Abstraction.” Here are a few things I worked on yesterday:

The animal-guy above was drawn from a primitive wood statue; and the two sets of hands were drawn from a painting in the Frye collection, but “abstracted.”

I’m really enjoying the class so far (though I had to leave early today due to work commitments). This sign on the way to class this morning made me laugh!

Elephant in Oil

Tags

Animals, drawing animals, elephant oil painting, elephant painting, oil painting, oil paints, painting animals

Several weeks ago I stopped at a yard sale and found a set of water soluble oil paints for $5. Deal! I spent that day and the next painting with a media I had long wanted to try.

The first day I was in heaven; I had found my medium at last! (I’ve never really loved acrylics.) I dashed off several pieces I really liked.

But the second day, the honeymoon was over. Nothing worked or came together as easily as the day before.

And then my classes began and I haven’t been able to get back to the oils since.

And now I’m a bit scared to begin again.

And I ask myself, “Do I really need a new medium?”

And the answer is a definite, “No, I do not.”

But…