Creative Challenge Week 2: Ghoul Spa Sketches

More sketches here for my ghoul spa idea. Am trying to get the witch to look like the same witch in this earlier post and am trying to simplify the bed of nails. Sometimes I feel like I am spinning my wheels and I wonder if I should just go ahead and paint my first one and not fuss so much. Hope to have a fresh eye tomorrow.

I like this quote by one of my favorite illustrators, Maira Kalman:

I do everything I do because I love to do it, even when I worry or am confused or slightly in despair. Those feelings usually pass. And then the next day is there.

Always a good thing. The next day.

Creative Challenge Week 2: Ghoul Spa

Here is a sketch idea for Illustration Friday's "idle." She is enjoying a day at the spa--ghoul style.

Creative Challenge: Week 2 Monster Tango

I wanted to post this last week--as you can see from the subject--but it took me a few days to complete it. This challenge is going to be quite that, I think!

Creative Challenge: Week One - Tango 3

I stepped out of my comfort zone and decided no more drawing from photos. After a few lame attempts at sketching inanimate objects dancing, I got excited about the idea of ghouls doing the tango. So here they are!

By the way, thanks everyone for your comments. I do appreciate them!

Creative Challenge: Week One - Tango 2

Welcome to everyone who joined the 3-week challenge! I'm looking forward to seeing how your work and mine progresses. If anyone else wants to join the fun, just let me know and I will add you to the side bar list.

So here are more tango sketches. See previous sketch here.

It has been fun to use photo reference, but I would like to take these to another level. I have been thinking about how to translate these into illustrations for children. So far the children's sketches I did were not working for me. The thought occurred that I could be temporarily stuck here. I don't want to be in drawing-from-photo land for too long. It was good for a while, but I'm hoping I can get away tomorrow!

Creative Challenge: Week One - Tango 1

Today is my first post for a new 3-week challenge. If you want to read more about it, see my previous post. If you want to join the fun, just leave me a comment and I can add your link to the 3-week challenge list.

Above is a sketch for Illustration Friday prompt "tango." I used photo reference, which is how I sometimes start. Not sure where I will take this, but it was fun studying the action and the positive and negative shapes of the dancers.

An Invitation for You

On Monday Jenn and I and hopefully more bloggers will be starting a new challenge. We are calling it a 3-week challenge instead of a 21-day challenge (as you may opt not to post every day).

If you're not familiar with the 21-day challenge, you can read more about it on this earlier post. In a nutshell, if you do something for at least 21 days it becomes a habit.

This will be my third challenge in a row (Jenn has participated in all three, too!)

Why do these you ask? Actively seeking out new creative challenges helps us to expand our creativity according to Creative Something. (This is a really good link to check out, by the way.) Also, I found it to be a valuable learning experience and it was fun to communicate with others doing the same thing. So here it is:


The Challenge

1. Participate for 3 weeks
2. Complete 3 or more sketches per week.
3. Complete one finished piece per week. Can be in color or not.
4. Themes are optional. For example, use the Illustration Friday prompt.
5. Each day you complete something, post it to your blog.
   

If you want to join the party, let me know!!

Back Soon

I planned to start another challenge this week, but last week I wasn't thinking about my surgery scheduled for tomorrow. It's just minor, but it will be on my hand. Not even on my dominant hand, though. So no biggie. But just in case, I thought I'd start the new challenge next week. It might work better if it starts on a Monday anyway.

Jenn and I have been planning. More later...

A Lovely Surprise

Today, there was a lovely surprise waiting in my mailbox. This beautiful and meticulously crafted and just-as-meticulously wrapped magnet arrived in brown kraft paper tied with a wonderful handmade tag with my name on it.

It felt really good to receive a handmade piece with a handmade tag, even. That extra touch made it extra special.

The creator? It was the talented fellow artist and blogger Michelle Eaton. I won the magnet in her recent giveaway. Be sure to check out her blog.

Thanks, Michelle!

Painted Sketch - Day 21

So here is my final post for this challenge. It's been good to do this. I painted almost every day and that was the goal. Some I felt good about, some...eh. The important thing was that I experimented a bit, but I also stuck with gouache as medium of choice and it was a learning experience.

Many of them felt like unfinished paintings (like the one above). It was more satisfying when I approached my work with the idea of painted sketches.

Anyway, I am going to start a new challenge next week. I was going to post about it today, but I am very late with my post. So I will stop here and be back next week.

Have a great weekend!

Painted Sketch - Day 20

I have one more day to go for my 21-day challenge--my second one. The first 21 days I did a sketch a day. Next it was a painted sketch a day. So here I am on day 20. I'm thinking about the next challenge. I don't know yet what it will be.

Doing a painted sketch a day made me think about what a complex activity painting is. There are so many variables that affect the outcome. It's all good though. It's what makes it so exciting.

More tomorrow...

Painted Sketch - Day 19 -Shaky

Painted Sketch - Day 18

Working again on gray painted background.

Painted Sketch - Day 17

Instead of using colored paper, I painted over gray paint. This allowed me to do some blending in the background.

The subject matter? I did this quickly and just let it happen. Maybe you or I can make up a story about it. That would be fun.