Rainy Day Project

Rainy Day Project
Originally uploaded by ddhabicht

I have SAQA deadline tomorrow so I am finishing this up to send. Acrylic paint, fabric paint, inks, markers, thread, now I am beading and embroidering a bit. It's a perfect rainy day project.

UCR Botanical Gardens

UCR Botanical Gardens
Originally uploaded by ddhabicht

Today our plein aire painting group was invited to paint the botanical gardens. They have been closed since Christmas due to flooding and they are going to reopen next weekend. There is 46 acres of gardens from succulents to tropicals, roses to herbs. Everything is starting to bloom. This hillside was in the South African garden. This is one of my sketches.

Postcards from our walks- Sharing Art Globally

I belong to an amazing group of international artists who live in wonderful, dreamy places around the world. The group is called "Sketchersize", started by a renowned artist and blogger, Katherine Tyrrell. You might have seen Katherines Tyrrell's post on her well traveled site "Making the Mark" about the group and our newest venture. It is called "Postcards from my Walk" featuring the postcards we will be sending each other over the next year, there are 14 of us participating.  We exercise by walking or hiking and somehow manage to sketch along the way. It is so exciting to see all the wonderful places that these cards will be traveling from. Currently, on the blog, each of us are introducing ourselves, a different person each day. Everyone sharing a glimpse of an artists life in different parts of the world. Get to know more about these extrodinary artists, each so different and talented by visiting daily. Cathy Gatland was kind enough to design our "logo" and its perfect. I will add it to the sidebar with a link to the site. A special thanks to Ronell Van Wyk for her hard work in organizing the group and getting us going! I hope you will follow the journey of our art around the world!

Vasquez Rocks- photo meetup group

We went with the photo meetup group to Vasquez Rocks. These rocks seem to jet out of the earth at these sharp angles and can reach up to 150 feet tall. Made of sandstone the rocks are barren and void of most vegetation, it was like being on a different planet, a moonscape. The area has been featured in many movies, advertisements and music videos.  I ended up painting two watercolors and did one small 5x7 pastel. These were all done with no prior drawing  and sitting with Jennifer on a picnic table while Randy hiked up the mountains to get some vista view photos. I was glad that the weather is still cold enough that I think most of the snakes are hybernating since we ended up walking around the mountains to find another plein aire paint group that was there. The weather was perfect and afterwards we all went to lunch and then to another site were oil was discovered in Calif back in the 1800's

The suns out, and we are out for our walk

With the weather being so wonderful I couldn't stay inside with Blake so we all decided to go for a long walk. We ventured over to the local coffee shop where we had coffee and I sketched a bit. We then stopped by Sprouts on the way home and got fresh veggies for dinner and our juicer. Little Blake was fast asleep by the time we arrived back at the house. Here is my quick sketch of the seating area outside the coffee shop, it has a silly pot with a sad orange tree trying to survive a very unfriendly environment for anything green in this sea of cement! On the way home I noticed that the Red Oak trees were starting to drop there leaves, finally. They had long turned from their beautiful mahogany color to a muddy brown color but the shapes, each unique captivate me. I can't resist them. I seem to gather a few everytime we walk by, when they are new, when they have turned colors and when they are dry!

Lino Block carving Workshop-A fun day in the sun

Saturday I had a linoleum block carving workshop. It was such an amazing day, the weather was perfect and we ended up working outside where we also had our lunch. Here are some of the photos and beautiful prints that we achieved. I want to share the process so you can also try this yourself. Some of the women felt it was almost Zen as it was so relaxing, a perfect destresser!

I took some of my photos of a fountain, of some of my paintings and I even used a sketch. I scanned them into photoshop where I used the stamp filter to change to a simple cut out design. You can decide how smooth or how cut your stamp will be, by sliding the adjustment bar right or left. For a more complex look you can also make multiple stamps for different layers of color by using the cutout filter. In some cases changing the photo to grayscale helps but often just letting the computer assign colors works for easier transfer to linoblocks. This will require you to seperate out each color and cut a lino block for each color. It also requires you to have a stabilizer and alignment method so each block will line up correctly for the layers of stamping you will do. If you decide to use the easier approach which is the stamp filter you will be able to print up a black and white copy on your inkjet printer which can then be burnished onto the lino block.  Also remember if you want to use text make sure you mirror it first and then carve so that your stamp will produce the text correctly.  If you use speedball printing inks for printing your stamps they will bleed if you decide to paint over your block prints.

Each student recieved a packet of 5 different images from which they could choose. Some brought their own image and we ended up with all unique blocks as a result!


We tested the standard Linoleum blocks which are already mounted on wood verses the softer carving material that is also available. Most prefered the linoblocks as they seemed to cut cleaner, producing a much cleaner edge.

I used a photo of Randy that I love from our trip to Italy.

Desiree

Here are some of the results. These block prints can be printed and painted, printed on fabric. We are thinking of using them for stamping our artquilts using fabric paints. So many ways to use them and they last for a very long time. Once you have created one of these unique stamps you can print multiple copies for cards, for selling etc. Make sure when you get a good print that you sign below and number. A limited number of prints keeps the artwork valued. You can also display your blocks on a shelf as a piece of art, Enjoy!

Kay

Marilyn

 

Marta

Nancy

Berry trees

Sorry the photo isn't great, another quick shot from my phone in my studio. Its funny how much Christmas stuff  I need to paint and it seems like after Christmas I just want to be done with it for awhile. I thought while I still was feeling it I better stick with the Christmas energy and keep painting. I have been working on these berry trees, these are two of a series of four. I am hoping to see them as cards and also want to transfer them to fabric and some applique patterns. Done with tissue paper and watercolors. I have added text to them using Photoshop and I like the results. I need to post from a different computer to share the end product.

WDE Jan 2nd

WDE Jan 2nd
Originally uploaded by ddhabicht

More sketching,painting and creating is on the top of my list for 2011. Unfortunately, I found myself feeling to sick to paint or draw on day one, here is my entry for day two after spending most of it on the couch. I loved this photo of the dog tucked into the cushions on the couch, much like my day!