Intro: I finally got around to testing my skills on working with silhouettes... and boy are they difficult to make! I had no idea it could take so much thought to creating something that looks simple but really is not. I made these specifically to open up for trading.
What I created: I ended up making 3 ATCs of the same theme... I felt inspired by some images I had looked at in the past for a school project. I was researching the different clothes and jewelry that is worn in India and ended up saving a bunch of the pictures I found. I sketched the women with a pencil first then decided I wanted a little frame that would be the same for all three. I ended up creating a template on copy paper which I first cut out then used as a guide to make the frame. As you can see, I tried my best to make all three the same yet all three different all at once. I was originally going to keep them just black and white but then loved the idea of hinting at a sunset. I know I got a little carried away with the white gel pen but I have been trying to find a way to use strong black and white lines that fit my style. Materials: watercolor pencils, sharpie, Stadler liners, white roll gel pen, and Le Pen markers. Made on cold pressed watercolor paper.
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Intro: I have created a challenge for myself for the month of April (I wrote a brief post about it back in January).
I have participated in other challenges that have shown just how beneficial it is to be a part of a challenge. Feel free to join me on this and challenge yourself! For my dA friends you can just post your creations there. If you do not have an account then feel free to link here for everyone to see. Especially if you want some feedback then do share links. I am using #smallcanvaschallenge2017 to tag my works for this challenge. For feedback options continue reading... Details: The main purpose of this challenge is to get better at creating details on small canvases (#smallcanvaschallenge2017). And to develop the ability to recognize what details are important in keeping on a small and limited canvas and which details are not relevant. I am personally going to work on creating Artist Tiles for this challenge. The other goal at the end is going to be: how to display or use the small canvases that you have spent a whole month creating? When working with larger canvases that is not an issue as they are simply displayed as is... but because the canvas you are working on is so small there is an advantage that you have of creating a bigger work of art by assembling them. Examples: creating a scrapbook album, collector album, shadowbox, display canvas, cards, etc. It can be anything! Definition of small canvas: What I define as small canvas typically includes ATCs, inchies, small artist tiles, tea bags, paper dolls, etc. Any canvas that is 5"x5" and smaller is considered as a small canvas. For 3D works maximum dimensions on any side is 5 inches (5"x5"x5"). Rules:
Blog Posts: So you might be wondering how I'll be handling posts on this blog and elsewhere for this challenge? I am going to post only once a week with what I have created, so in total there are going to be 4 update posts for this month. At the end I'll also be posting a summary of this challenge that'll have links and details on anyone else who participates (also a journal feature on DeviantArt). Share what you make/feedback: Share your creations by using the hashtag #smallcanvaschallenge2017
Just remember it is a challenge but not a contest - do not add on pressure. This is all about creativity...and art. There should be no stress...only fun! Intro: I have started a project over on Kickstarter to finally take the steps that I need in order to bring the Paradox Sketchbook to life. I have to start somewhere and having prints available is a good starting point for a beginner like me. Samples: Below are some samples that I picked for anyone wanting to see what I have created using basic art materials bought from local stores (mainly Walmart). Imagine the quality and details that can improve if the materials that I worked with were better... ACEO - 2.5" x 3.5"Postcard - front - 4" x 6"ACEOs made for tradesThoughts: so you might be wondering where I plan on going with this? The goal in steps is to first get the high quality materials that are going to allow high quality art to be created. Then step 2 would be to get the materials needed to make high quality prints available for purchase. Once these two steps have been completed then the third step would be to set up shop. Mainly I would set up shop online but once in a while attend events and shows where I can have prints and other goodies available for purchase.
Now you might be wondering where is this going? What's the big deal on getting art prints out? The idea is to get fans... to spread the word about my name (the Paradox Sketchbook). I care about my fans and thus want to put effort into getting quality materials and a quality shop set up. I want to build a fan base so that in the end I can offer my fans something unique - publish my illustrated story. I want to get the story published first then work on a trading card game based off of it. I would think if my fans see that I care so much about them to put extra work into building up efforts and abilities so that what I give to them is my best work possible. If they see that I care then I would hope they return the favor and support me when I take on the journey to illustrate my story and release the trading card game. Intro: I recently was involved with multiple MMH (Make Me Happy threads) of ATCsForAll where we had to create postcards. Some of them had themes already decided by the person who they were made for and one had no theme at all. I was also participating in a Valentine Exchange that let me create 2 Valentine postcards. Along with an EAU thread - I got make my first envie and mail it off. There was also an art marathon going on that inspired me to make some heart themed ATCs. What I created: All of the snail mail art that I made used the following materials:
Note: For those that these were surprises for: I am sorry if they still have not arrived and I have already posted them here. It has been over 2 weeks since they were sent off, so I posted these keeping in mind that they have already arrived. The longest time for me was a trade completed in Slovakia and the cards reached their destination within two weeks. Intro: as predicted by myself... I got behind due to other art distractions! Woohoos for starting off my first challenge properly. At any rate... I am putting all efforts into this challenge now as I find it is helping me find my own art style. I am starting to figure out what things (elements, color choices, decorations, etc) I like putting in my art. I spent the weekend (partially) catching up but did not spend enough time. If I had spent some of Sunday catching up then I would have gotten ahead but that was not to be...
What I created: As you can see from the slideshow above, I created four total faces this weekend. I had only one sketched out before but I sketched the other three on Thursday. All four were painted Friday evening and majority of Saturday afternoon. All four are ATC sized (2.5"x3.5") and done in watercolors with some detailing in Le Pen marker and white gel pen. These are probably going to be the last of my ATC sized faces for this month... I have up to number 24 sketched out all on postcard sized canvases (4"x6"). I might for the last few come back to ATC just because they are quicker to finish but who knows...it'll depend on my mood. For Portrait #06 (Janine) I went and had a little experiment with materials and my style. I would say that it was fun but I would probably not make faces in this style again as I did not like how her hair turned out in the end. I used distress ink to lay down the foundation for background and some parts of the face. Then went in with watercolors on the face only. Added to that I used Prismacolor Markers to make the bold shading in the hair plus some areas of the face. Final touches were done with a white gel pen, Le Pen Marker, Sharpie Fine-Point. Further thoughts: Out of nowhere... I have gotten this blog an Instagram account (ParadoxSketchbook). I'll be focusing on uploading all of my work on there (all media, and all canvas types). I might eventually start sharing some works-in-progress and just other musings. Along with ARPG related art... that'll be big starting in March as I have officially joined 2 ARPGs and am in the process of working on joining 3 more. You ask why so many? Only because I know I get tired of drawing the same subject over and over again... so just to keep my creativity fresh and your eyes fresh it'll be nice to keep rotating between them all. I am planning on finishing up my first art related to an ARPG for a February event soon but it is not a priority right now. March has another challenge in store for me... Arch Triptych Challenge! I have already prepared the canvas that I'll be painting for the challenge... and soon to start coming up with themes and possible sketches this week. I hope you do join me when the time comes as I find the challenge quite entertaining. Intro: I ran into some contests that were happening on DeviantArt.com and just couldn't resist entering because the prices were too good to pass by. I do not have any hopes of winning but I think it helps as I have some art now that I can use in trades or swaps or even as gifts.
What I created: I had to make a group icon (final is only 50x100 pixels exact) and not having a computer I could not use my tablet to do digital work. So! I ended up cutting out domino tile sized watercolor paper (1"x2") and using those to make three total designs for the group. The purpose of the group is ATC being made and possibly even traded but focusing on ARPGs in the dA community. All three were made using watercolors, Prismacolor Colored Pencils, Le Pen marker, and white gel pen. I also entered another contest where we had to draw an original character created by the host - a lioness. The lioness was personally a struggle for me. I am not sure if it is the materials... my motivation or some other factors that got in the way but it was a true struggle. I had decided I was going to paint the lioness in watercolors from the start. So I sketched her out on a 4"x6" (postcard sized) watercolor paper cut-out. I started working in simple values using watercolor paints. When I went in to start blending the results were horrifying. To hide the nightmare I decided to use Prismacolor Markers... with the same thoughts I laid down the main values then decided to use Baby Oil to blend them together to get a painterly effect. Another mistake... it looked like a blurred out painting with no ideas as to what the painting subject is. My final attempts on the lioness was to use watercolors again on top to see if I could fix some things. I was not able to get much done as the watercolors kept sliding as if there was wax underneath. In the end I used a black marker (pen) and a white gel pen to create lines. I outlined the main parts to make the whole thing look like lineart then added some shading in using cross hatch and other techniques using just a black pen. I could not fix it any further...and was too frustrated to make a new one so I ended up submitting her as is into the contest. The final image is above this post. Closing thoughts: Both contests end on February 14th so I should know a few days after that on what my status is.. .as I said I have no hope of winning. For anyone interested I have given a brief into to ARPGs below as I am participating in them now. I believe it'll be a good way to continue adding works to the dA gallery. Also it has inspired me to finally start working on my own story. I am now going to be working on a mixture of literature and art.. combined together. I call them "Quick Reads" because the written part is only suppose to focus on perhaps aiding the illustration or making up missing parts. They are suppose to be shorter than traditional novels, perhaps something in between a manga and a children's illustration book. When I post my first one I'll explain the whole idea at that time... What is ARPG: Like me, most of you are wondering what this is and perhaps are going to be interested in taking part too. Does anyone one remember RPGs? Role Playing Games that you can play on any platform (from mobile, to PC, to handheld)... but instead of playing the actual game add art to it. ARPG (Art Role Playing Game) are designed so that you can progress through set stories (or your own storyline) by making art. When there is a quest, you draw your character participating in said quest. Some artists even take it to a different level by writing only. You can draw just a scene summarizing the quest or you can show a progression by doing multiple art works or setting it up like a comic strip. For those of us struggling to find inspiration or themes to draw/paint these ARPGs are a great place to go. Having regular timed events happening also encourages artists to use skills on a regular basis allowing for the development that any artist seeks. Some people participate in these to make money, while others do it for the development of their artistic skills. Stuff to come: I have been getting behind on my 29 Faces challenges (applause) because I have been busy with contests, swaps, and now ARPGs. So a little overview of what is to come for the rest of this month and perhaps even some of March:
Full list: Art Challenges and Projects 2017 Intro: These are side works that I created while working on challenges and projects. All are currently available for trading...and there is quite a mix.
What I created: There are 6 inchies (1"x1") and each one is different as the themes are different.There are also 5 mini artist tiles (1.5"x1") that are all zentangle focused with some henna inspiration behind the designs. I used puffy paint to add some solid lines (randomly) that I wanted to work around. I wanted the design to work off of something that was already there and thus came up with the idea of putting bold lines down without planning. Then lastly are 2 ATCs (2.5"x3.5") that are both part of an experiment. I was experimenting painting using tea as the medium. This was done with the background of the Couples 01 ATC. Along with that I wanted to focus on simple posters (WWF Panda Poster) made with bold contrasting colors with some muted tones for background. I ended up blocking out the white parts of the panda then just going to town with all of the muted colors that I had available on my pallette. I used the splatter technique to lay the colors down. Once it was dry I used the Le Pen Marker to fill in the black parts then adding some decorative parts to the white. I used a white gel pen to do the same decorative lines on the black parts. Further thoughts: I do think that I'll have more art in the Animals series coming up as I have already done sketches for an owl and a lioness. I would say the tea painting experiment was a total fail as I did not use washes. I simply laid down the tea then added water on top... which is not the proper way to paint using tea. I might try this again in the future but I feel that I would rather use brown India Ink instead. Inchies have become an addiction... I have already cut up a bunch of inchies plus these mini tiles from leftover watercolor paper. I think they are great for using as goodies to send to hosts or even artists that I trade with. Intro: This swap on ATCsForAll focused on bizarre holidays from around the world in February. We had to select holidays to illustrate from a list that was provided. It did not have all of the holidays listed and thus we were really limited. And no, the holidays were not all bizarre like the title says. If I remember correctly, there were no bizarre holidays for February at all.
What I created: I made all three cards out of watercolor plus added details using LePen marker and white gel pen. As I am preoccupied with other swaps, 29 Faces challenge, and personal trades I did not get a chance to create more cards. I was originally going to do 5 or 6 but ran out of time. Even though the swap deadline is three weeks away I just have too many swaps that end at the same time as this one. Enjoy! Intro: Week one of the 29 Faces Challenge for February was great and very productive. I was able to get the first two faces done in one day... but then this weekend got really tiring and just not healthy. I was not able to create face #06... Looks like this week I'll be playing catch up. I was able to get #06 to #24 all sketched out and ready to go! #06 is still an ATC (for this swap) but the rest are all on 4"x6" postcard canvases. I already went ahead and purchased an simple leather album from Hobby Lobby (only for $3.49) to start collecting postcards in. My first blind postcard from a PIF already came in, plus I'll be getting 2 more from MMHs so it looks like the album should fill up quickly. Especially when I have all of these faces completed.
What I created: I made all of the faces on ATCs sized canvases (2.5"x3.5"). The first two have already been traded for personal trades (so quick!). And the next three are for the Paying Tribute - Celebrities We Lost in 2016 Swap. All were done with watercolor paints plus detailing done using Le Pen markers and white gel pen. Further thoughts: I am not so sure if I'll be able to get the bigger sized canvases done all in one day now.. I found that working with the faces on ATC sized canvas was pretty quick even with details. But the details did get difficult to create even with a really tiny brush. It looks like I might need to purchase markers/pens for detailing seeing as the brushes are not working out. At any rate I am still going to stick to my goal of finishing one face a day even if they are on postcard sized canvases now. No further requests came in for portraits but I was able to get a really lovely collection put together on Paint My Photo plus some images from a Facebook page (with permission). I still have 5 more faces left to think about... I might use the Facebook page for those seeing as I have not used any of their images for reference. For the upcoming week I'll have my first 3 requests completed. I have already sketched a self-portrait so I'll not be shying away from that. I am going to keep the last 5 slots open still just in case I do get a request. Intro: Just catching you guys up on recent art that I have traded already. I specifically made these for personal trades set up on ATCsForAll.
What I created: All of them were made using watercolor, Le Pen marker, and white roll gel pen. The Stained Glass Rose and the Heart inchie both have puffy paint used for outlining. I made three ATCs (2.5"x3.5") and 6 inchies (1"x1"). Further thoughts: I was recently feeling very inspired by Art Nouveau stained glass art and had decided to create a bunch of ATCs and postcards that a similar style. I already knew I was going to be using puffy paint as a replacement liner (gutta) for the stained glass art and Chinese watercolors due to their stained look. So far I was not exactly pleased with what I created due to the tip of the puffy paint bottle not behaving properly. I am going to get a fine tip liner bottle and try again to see if I am able to get better results. |
Author: RejiI used to be a digital artist but switched back to traditional art as I feel more connected with the art I create this way. Currently, I create art whenever I can for art trades and commissions. I have worked with clay (earth clay to modern forms like Polymer, Sculpey, even Air Dry clay) along with watercolors, acrylics, oil paints, pastels, charcoal, pen and pencil drawings, India ink, Chinese Colors, wires, felt fabric, yarn, weaving, basket making, and the list goes on and on. I am currently working on exploring nail art, make-up, dress making, scrapbooking, and small canvas art. Archives
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