Mr. Gnu in his Canoe

Mr. Gnu in his canoe
Raced Yak in his kayak
click image to view larger.

This is my second painting in Andrea's Mole, an illo for San Cassimally's Animal Carnival.  It is done in acrylics.  It took me ten days to paint it and two more to scan and post it.  I regret to say I'm still sick and it's taking a lot out of me.

I posted the steps (4 coats of paint) here, but don't have time to do it again.  At least, not now.

Collaboration: The Pigephant (Evolution of the grub)

Someone left me a perfectly nice outline of an elephant, I assume as a collaboration, and I messed it up BIG TIME.  I'd never used oil pastels to speak of, so this was my first attempt, and I didn't really know what I was doing.

First try:

Pigephant (the grub)

My husband said it looked like a grub.  I was calling it a pigephant.  I decided the back legs were too far back.  (That was something I did!)  I kept fiddling with it and finally had this:

King Tut-tut

I decided his trunk was too short.  (?)  I made it longer.  I moved the tusks (but couldn't quite hide where the old one was.  I also moved the eye.

King Pink

So here is the maybe final version, in my round 3 book, a collaboration.  It may still need more work.  Can anyone tell me how to preserve it when I finish?  Can I spray it with fixative?  Will fixative stick?  Do oil pastels ruin the paper?

I am sorry to say I haven't had a chance, with the wedding et al, to post about my returned round 3 Moley. Sometime relatively soon, I hope.

Half a page for Molly

This was from Carlos Campos show, which was colorful and awesome.

True story.... she was a lot nicer and looked younger then I expected.

Rachel Antonoff in Roma's book

This was so cute - a Wednesday Addams inspired collection by Rachel Antonoff.

Here is what it looked like in real life (if you can call fashion week real life...)

Working in Mike's Book while on Vacation in Findley Lake, NY

Collaborative piece with Ammon.



Found a glue stick in my OTR art bag so I decided to try a collage.



Collaged piece



Close up of collage work.



Another close-up.



Unsure if this one is finished yet....

Finished with Ammon's Book

Finished with Ammon's book and wish I had more to work on. The piece above was black gesso, acrylic paint, white gel pen and Sharpie paint pen.



A collaboration piece with Ammon. "Authenticity means taking risks to remain true to who you really are." (I made that up as it seemed relevant to me at the time. Colored pencil, gesso & gel pen.



Vintage flexi Parker fountain pen filled with Herbin Violette Pensee ink, colored pencils and other inks.



Collaboration piece for Ellen.



As previously shown, created with various markers.

Will be mailing soon, then eagerly awaiting the next.

steve's art in ballookey's book + +

Whew, sorry it's been so long since I've participated here. I finally got some work in Ballookey's book and it's ready to send out. I ended up gluing in some of my drawings/paintings after a major messed up attempt at painting on these pages, intended for drawing. So, this was the only way I could fix the situation at hand. I threw a mix CD and a Splotch Monster in your gift pocket as well Ballookey, so I hope you enjoy 'em.  Mary, I also started a drawing for you to collaborate on as well in there! It's been a lot of fun doing round 2 and I wish I could participate in 3, but new responsibilities and priorities have come my way this time around. Thanks to everyone for their wonderful art, inspiration and encouragement. Thanks especially to you Andrea, for getting the ball rolling and keeping it alive!

Biffybeans: Third and Fourth in My Own Book

99.99% of the time I create art without thinking. This means that something started can end up as something else - which is what happened on both of these pieces. When I tried to add some Zinc White acrylic over a Neocolor II mandala, they all smeared.... (Which is how the background tint evolved.) But I didn't care. I grabbed a brush & some black gesso & painted over it and then added white gel pen doodles. 1st layer black gesso, then I pasted in some pretty wrapping paper, tried to do Neocolor mandala in similar colors, white paint, black gesso, then white gel pen. The End.



This girl started out in colored pencil. (You can still see some of it.) I felt like I was "pushing" when I created her. (To me, "pushing" means creating art when I'm not fully present and I usually make a mess.) I filled the background with craft paint, then eventually obscured what I'd started with. The message seemed appropriate. Kind of like the old, "You gotta break some eggs if you want to make an omlette."

1 more piece before I'm ready to ship and it's a collaborative piece for Ellen. When I bought this Folio, I didn't realize there was an actual "Sketchbook" version with 160g paper. I bought a blank journal... which means plenty of pages for people to always work on the right hand side of the page if they choose.

Waiting for my Folio

Until my new A4 folio arrives...

I completed a painting this past Saturday for an upcoming group show at a local community theater. The show is entitled "In Unison" and once I was accepted to be a part of the exhibit, I immediately knew that I wanted to create something with the show's theme in mind. From concept to finished painting. (Painting yet untitled.)

Biffybeans: New to The Exchange.

Hi everyone - I'm a new kid on the block.

I write, (blogs & books) make art, (mixed media) teach workshops, (mandalas for personal growth) and play music. (Hand percussion & shekere)

I've made quite a few pieces of mandala art over the last 4 years.1500ish? (Yes... Obsessive, yeah...I know.) Have used many different kinds of media & have been known to mix a few together. Maybe I will put a few mandalas in your books...  We'll see. ;o)

Many of you know me from my blog, Spiritual Evolution of the Bean where I share my art, do lots of product reviews, (writing & art supplies) and talk about life, the universe & everything.

I also write the Rhodia Drive blog for Exaclair,
have a new Etsy Shop(original art)
have a channel on YouYube,
a fan page on Facebook,
loads of pictures on Flickr,
send out the occasional Tweet,
and sell my art prints on Imagekind.

Happy to be a part of this project! 

splotch monster 313 in milo's book

splotch monster 312 in milo's book

splotch monster 311 in milo's book

splotch monster 310 in milo's book

deep sea life in willie's book

Lately I've been more into watercolors and figurative drawings - mostly animals of course. I was inspired and blown away by the work in Willie's Mole, and some of the sea life, including Aya's octopus and Ellen's two-page spread really inspired me to try some too. Being into things that are freaky and monstery, I went for the stuff that lives miles below the ocean's surface, and learned a lot in the process. That's what I love about these exchanges and drawing in general - they inspire me and cause me to want to learn about things I might otherwise know little about. Anyhow, it was an adjustment, working back in the smaller Mole again, being I've been spoiled by working in my newer A4 watercolor book, which I love to pieces. Still, it was kind of cool trying to draw so small again. I hope to get this journal out into the mail ASAP.

splotch monster collaborations

Hi all! I guess since some of us are waiting around for some sketchbooks to arrive, I was wondering if anyone here might be interested in trying out some collaborations using some of my paint splotches posted here at my new blog, A Splotch Monster A Day. You can print out paint splotches and draw directly on them, or work on them using software like Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. Above is an example of some various possibilities and a collab between me, my wife and artist Pixohammer. If you do try some, let me know and I'll post 'em at the blog, along with any links you want me to include to you blogs/sites.