It CAN Be All Unicorns & Rainbows!

Who says life can't be all unicorns and rainbows? Certainly not me! In fact, I love to perpetuate the idea of beautiful natural occurrences and mythical creatures... especially in a whimsical painting. For sure!

This piece actually started as a background created with watercolor crayons and pencils... making fun marks and scribbles in a free-form manner. A little bit of drawing and it looks like this. A little bit of water and it turns into that.

A little bit of paint and that turned into this... and then this turned into that...and then that turned into a unicorn. Wheeeeee!

I thought I'd give this piece a nice pastel theme and play up the rainbow and the Unicorn Girl. Can you tell I was channeling My Little Pony?

And although it seems simple in subject, it was the tiny little tweaks here and there that set my brain on fire. I absolutely loved going back in to add little details to create interest. I kept adding, changing and tweaking it until I was satisfied with the finished piece. The most exciting part is that now I know how to fix what I'm not liking... and I'm less afraid of messing up my painting. So, see.... miracles do happen!

An Odd Bird...

Feel like an odd bird lately... with my head in the clouds... Cleaning and organizing the house because I have to... Longing to create because I want to... Needing to exercise to feel fit again... And wanting time for relaxation to recharge... Life isn't stopping to give me enough time for all of this... My head is spinning... What's an odd bird to do?

Pink, Fluffy Cotton Candy...

Mmmmmm... this watercolored cotton candy came out so good, I want to eat it!
Amazing how two colors... pink and red... and a 2B pencil slightly smudged, can create such an impact. Simple imagery, simple subject matter... and just simply sublime.
If you'd like to purchase a necklace featuring this cotton candy art, check out the Whimsical Jewelry section of my Etsy shop!

Weaknesses...

My first cupcake, and it ended up being a watercolor. One medium that I have not really played with at all in my past. But I'm loving it. It's practically mistake-proof, and you can build layers upon layers of color. Fun!

Practicing Whimsy...

On the third day of Art & Soul I took a class called Practicing Whimsy. In this workshop, Carla Sonheim took us on a drawing journey of learning to let go a bit... something I totally need to do! We did exercises using our non-dominant hand, drawing without looking, drawing with one continuous line, making objects with wire and more. Some with props and sometimes just from memory. In the afternoon we practiced our watercolor and charcoal skills, then created a small "series" of paintings. I did the fish and the bird which were tied to the wire technique and then made them cohesive with color. My favorite thing are the kitty-cat clouds in the bird scene. Hooray for whimsy!