Tag Archives: Watercolor

Oct23

Creative Juice #213

Posted on October 23, 2020 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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A dozen articles to inspire you this weekend.

The incomparable photographs of Annie Liebovitz.
Zentangle houses.
Animal photos that will make you laugh.
If you give a quilter some fabric. . .
Why four writers chose to start blogging.
Travel sketches from a couple of years ago.
If you’re a baby boomer, these are the top 10 albums you probably own (or maybe you need to buy them).
This list of books to read with children includes old favorites from my kids’ childhoods and new books that make me wish I had grandkids to read to.
Four ways to make your writing persuasive.
Don’t you just hate it when you hear a noise in your house that you just can’t identify?
A lay-off from the corporate world gave this artist the motivation to start a new career.
Someday I’d like to draw on the wall like this.

Oct16

Creative Juice #212

Posted on October 16, 2020 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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I much prefer these uplifting, creative articles to the news these days.

Turn up your nose at balloon animals? Not these.
Tesselated zentangles.
Gorgeous wildlife photography.
Artists’ and writers’ workspaces. Mine looks like Francis Bacon’s right now.
Quilting memories in verse.
If you’re a parent who is also a bookworm.
For the writers: We unsubscribed from the local newspaper about a year ago—it just got way too expensive. But if you still read the local newspaper, have you considered it as a writing resource?
You can’t do every good thing. Here is an October Zentangle challenge that I’d love to be doing, but I’m participating in two other October challenges. I know my limits. However, I love what Alice has done.
A quilter tells the story behind one of her quilts.
Folk dancing tips during the pandemic.
I love looking at people’s art journals.
I love looking over Lindsay’s shoulder while she’s painting.

Oct3

OctPoWriMo Day 3

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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Today’s prompt is Beauty in Chaos. I opted to do the creative exercise.

brand new paint set
 
no expectations
just exploration
42 colors
some vibrant
some muddy
no plan
just joy and delight
comparing the matte color on the tray
with what it looks like on the paper
blended with water
different kinds of strokes
green leaves
swirls and dots
a crescent of red
tendrils of blue and green
orange made pastel with white
squiggles and lines
nothing thought out
just the pleasure of getting to know the paints

©ARHuelsenbeck

Sep25

Creative Juice #209

Posted on September 25, 2020 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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Some interesting stuff; some funny stuff; some deep stuff.

This one’s a little hard to look at. A sculptor made prosthetic masks for soldiers disfigured in World War I.
Can you stand any more Covid-19 jokes?
Many variations on the tangle Printemps.
How to machine-quilt a border with an S-curve ruler.
A prayer from 1968 that is so timely today.
Do you have books you read and reread multiple times? Me, too.
What if they had texting in Medieval times?
The truth about Meissen porcelain.
A professional watercolorist’s life.
Spiritual director Marsha Crockett’s journal provides guided meditations and contemplative helps. You can also follow her on Instagram.
One of my favorite artists painted a lovely portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsberg and paired it with a poetic tribute.
I’ve read some of these books (and they were great) and seen rave reviews of others. Anyway, if you don’t know what to read next, maybe pick something off this list.

Aug28

Creative Juice #205

Posted on August 28, 2020 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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Lots of pretty stuff here.

Do you love hamsters? Then you must follow this artist on Instagram.
If 100 of you each want to chip in $4 to buy me this dragon, I won’t stop you.
Beautiful star quilt.
Books have the power to change people; people have the power to change the world. As for me, The Hate U Give woke me up to white privilege, something I thought didn’t apply to me.
Super-realistic drawings done in colored pencil.
I love every one of these reading nooks, but my favorites are the ones where you can look out the window at a beautiful view.
Interesting zentangle project.
Award-winning photos people took with their iPhones.
This free mandala-drawing class looks like it will be fun.
This article is especially for elementary general music teachers, but if you like music, you might find it very enjoyable.
I know I should be doing this. But, somehow, I’m not.
This watercolor artist was in her fifties before she began taking her art seriously.

Aug7

Creative Juice #202

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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Wow! Creative stuff this week.

How museums are re-thinking their collections in light of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The joy and beauty of raising a child with special needs.
Shark merch that Donna found on Etsy a couple of years ago.
Incredibly beautiful quilts.
What you can do with $1, vision, and skill.
Remember when kids used to go back to school? It could happen, and if it does, you may want to take special photographs to record the momentous occasion.
Do you like sci-fi short stories? This article from two years ago tells you where to find some good ones.
Do you like to read YA? Here’s a list of particularly intense books.
Different interpretations of a Zentangle challenge.
Gorgeous drone photography. There are so many pictures in this article, I never made it to the end. . .
An artist’s watercolor journey.
I love this artist’s work.

Aug1

Index-Card-a-Day and World Watercolor Month Wrap Up

Posted on August 1, 2020 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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I’ve been participating in the Index-Card-a-Day challenge, and World Watercolor Month, which ended yesterday. Here are my final cards.

The ICAD Day 54 prompt was outline. This is my interpretation:

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Day 55’s prompt was paisley. I painted a wet-on-wet watercolor background and drew on top of it.

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World Watercolor Month’s prompt for Day 27 was shine:

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ICAD’s Day 58 prompt was tea set:

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Day 29’s prompt for World Watercolor Month was yesterday. My response is based on the Lennon-McCartney song. This is the most liked post on my Instagram page this week:

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For Day 30, I decided to fiddle with an idea for a logo for ARHtistic License:

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I went off-prompt for the final day of both challenges. Months ago I tore a page out of a magazine that had a picture of paper plates printed with folk-art florals, which inspired this. It’s my personal favorite of the week and possibly of the entire challenge.

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All in all, I completed 54 cards. Technically I only participated on 51 of the 61 days, but one day I painted 4 cards.

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I love doing challenges because it stretches me, encourages me to try new things, learn things I didn’t know before. I hope you’ll join me next year.

Jul25

Index-Card-a-Day Week 8; World Watercolor Month Week 4

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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I’m participating in the Index-Card-a-Day challenge, and World Watercolor Month. I completed six cards this week.

The ICAD day 47 prompt was pencil:

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Day 48 I went off-prompt. Of course, you know, I’d have to fit in a unicorn at some point during the challenge.

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The prompt for day 49 was orchard. For day 19 of World Watercolor Month it was favorite scent. A blooming cherry tree fits both. I copied this tree from Anna Koliadych’s book, 15-Minute Watercolor Masterpieces. This card got the most likes this week on my Instagram page.

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Day 50 I went off-prompt. I’m working on a book of poems for children, which I plan to illustrate myself. The illustrations will be black-and-white line drawings, but this is World Watercolor Month, so I painted this one accordingly. The poem is about a boy learning to write a thank you note for a sweater knitted by his grandmother.

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Day 51’s prompt of blue (my favorite color) reminded me how much I loved “sky blue” popsicles from the Good Humor man when I was a child.

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Day 52 I also went off-prompt. This is an illustration for a poem about a boy who is disappointed with his new haircut. I think this is my favorite card of the week.

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Jul18

Index-Card-a-Day Week 7; World Watercolor Month Week 3

Posted on July 18, 2020 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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I’m participating in the Index-Card-a-Day challenge, and World Watercolor Month. I completed six cards this week.

ICAD Day 40’s prompt was gradient. I’ve never painted a gradient before. I watched a how-to video that seemed counter-intuitive to me. (I meant to include it in this post, but I can’t find it again.) Anyway, it started with a saturated section on top and then dipping your brush in water and drawing the pigment down, tilting your board so that gravity works with you, and repeating the dipping and drawing. I would have thought that you start with a wash and then build up the pigment little by little with layering. Anyhow, it was more challenging than I would have thought. Here are four tries:

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Day 41’s prompt was cinnamon or spice, which made me think of my favorite tea, Constant Comment. When I was teaching, as soon as I got to school in the morning, I’d go brew a cup of tea in my favorite mug.

Favorite mug

Here is my watercolor version:

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Day 42’s prompt was knot, so I tried some Celtic knots:

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On Day 44 I didn’t like the prompt, so I did another try of my character, Fenton, the fairy prince. I think this is my best portrait of him so far. It’s also my favorite card this week.

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All my Fentons still look like different people. I’m not yet able to draw him consistently.

Amy Cowen, an artist who I follow on Instagram, draws a face almost every day. I think that’s what I’m going to have to do. Maybe I’ll do it for ICAD next year.

On Day 45 I went off-prompt and did a Zentangle string instead. First I painted a wet-on-wet swirl design as a background, then when it dried, I drew on top of it. The patterns used are stoic, orlique, quipple, and wadical. This was my most-liked card on my Instagram page this week.

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Day 47 I went off-prompt again and painted a platypus:

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Jul11

Index-Card-a-Day Week 6; World Watercolor Month Week 2

Posted on July 11, 2020 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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I’m participating in the Index-Card-a-Day challenge, and World Watercolor Month. I completed six cards this week.

The ICAD Day 33 prompt was periwinkle. As of this writing, it has the most “likes” this week on my Instagram page.

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Day 34’s prompt was board game:

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Day 35 was lantern:

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Day 37 was hydrangea:

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World Watercolor Month prompt for Day 8 was fall. I chose to experiment with wet-on-wet in fall colors.

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WWM Day 9 prompt was fruit. I copied this little project from 15-Minute Watercolor Masterpieces by Anna Koliadych. I think this is my favorite this week:

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Did you post projects for an art challenge this week? Feel free to add a link to the comments below so we all can see!

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