I hope you are well!  

Summer is here!!  It's time for the pool, the beach, and time with the fam.  :)   It's a great time of year for me!

Creatively speaking, I've been working on some fabulous projects for Chameleon Pens.  It's both fun and challenging.  This is my first design team, and I've been feeling my way along, with LOTS of love and support from my lead, Cathy Andronica!

Today, I thought I would share with you a bit about my journey to become a designer, and also give you a quick catch-up on what's been happening on my YouTube Channel.

It's been a busy summer - taking kids to swimming, family activities, CAD work, painting, posting, sharing - busy!





Now, I am deep in the process of learning to make videos of my art and process.  I have my camera set-up (sneak-peek last post).  It took some tweaking to get it right...I'm getting better :)  I figured out a bit about lighting, built an overhead camera mount, and started shooting my painting process.  The result was a 3+ hour video of painting Furiosa that no one in their right mind would watch!  

So, of course, I had to speed it up.  I spent several hours working on it, and still ended up with a really long video - 40 minutes.  So, I have more work to do before I can share it with you.  I'm sorry about the wait, but I think it will be worth it. :)

I've been doodling/tangling over alcohol ink and loving it!

My method for this type of drawing/tangling/doodling is random, or rather, intuitive. If I need inspiration, I may head over to my Pinterest board where I have tons of tangles and tangle tutorials!

I start with the white Gelly Roll pen, just making lines and circles.  I switch back and forth between pens as the piece develops.

More lines.
More circles.
Dots.  
Swirls.
Flowing shapes.
Shadows.
More dots.

It is a process of letting go, and allowing the art to take it's course.  Over-analyzing will get you in trouble.  Sometimes, you may get stuck or frustrated.  That is part of it too.  If that happens, just take a step back.  Get a cup of coffee, or go for a walk, and relax a bit.  

Then, go back, and continue working without judging your piece.  Just pick up the pen that appeals to you, and make a mark.  Make another mark.  It's ok if it doesn't turn out as a fabulous piece of art every time...it only matters that you allow yourself the freedom to enjoy the process.

That is why I share both my successful and not-so-successful pieces.  Frankly, it is rather uncomfortable.  But, I want you to know, that it is more important to try than to be perfect.  That the process is worth it, even if the results are less than amazing. Even master artists, like Matisse or Rembrandt, made mistakes...but they didn't let that stop them.  Don't let it stop you, either :)

Here are 2 projects I've been working on:

I started with this vibrant ink page.  
I will let you in on a little secret.  This is a high resolution print of the original ink painting.  I didn't want to mess up the original + this is a great way to extend your artwork.

I used a variety of pens, including white Gelly Roll by Sakura, Prismacolor fine tip pens in black, and Pitt Artist pens in grey and other colors.  I love using the white Gelly Roll to make dots!

To be honest, I wasn't really happy with the overall result of this piece.  Since I didn't like where it was going, I just started randomly trying out difference pens, doodles, and a silly smiley face or 2 - after all, the real goal is to have fun!
In the end, there were several elements that I loved + it was a great learning experience.

You can see a really cool effect on the pic above, in the bottom right corner next to the blue smiley.  :)  The squiggly line that is gold, outlined by a dark teal color is made with a Sakura Gelly Roll Gold Shadow pen.  This is a great effect over the vibrant colors of the alcohol ink.

A few more detail shots.  
It is so much fun to play with these pens.

And..the completed piece.  

While I was somewhat frustrated with the page above...this one was completely opposite!  I absolutely loved the results :)

I was so involved in drawing, I forgot to take progress shots.  Sorry about that!  

I love the flowiness (is that a word?) of this flower.  The alcohol ink background had perfect highlights and shadows to make the purple center look sphereical.  *sigh*

I also fell in love with the golden yellow shape in the center of this pic.  I'm not sure why, but it really makes me smile.

Somehow, this whale just swam up beneath my floating flowers!  How wonderful :)

Ok, so that's it!  

I hope I've shined a little brightness into your day, encouraged you, and most of all...I hope I've made you smile :-D.  Don't forget to pass it on...one smile can change everything.

Let me know what you think!  If you enjoyed this, please share.

P. S.  Keep a look out for my upcoming posts...one is strictly for fun, the other is my video project!

My day has been hijacked!  Atleast, that is how I felt yesterday afternoon.  My well-laid plans had been tossed out the window like yesterday's news!  Poof!  Gone!

But, let me start at the beginning.

My day started out pretty normal, up by 6 am, getting my "younger" kids to school.(They are both in Junior High now, so not as young as I sometimes think they are.)
That all went well...perfectly normal.  Once they were off, I grabbed my coffee and my journal for my mostly daily morning meditation and reflection time.  

I was just getting started when the phone rang.

Don't be afraid to reach higher than you ever have before!

P. S.  I am having a Summer Sale on Artfinder.  Come check it out and save 25%!

If you haven't signed up for my newsletter yet, you can do that here.  :)

Sometimes the answers we seek were hidden deep inside us all along.  Don't be afraid to look inward.

P. S.  If you haven't signed up for my newsletter yet, you can do that here.  :)

I encourage you to look for ways you can say Yes!  Today and every day :)

Love others, but be true to yourself.

The secret to success:  don't quit.

P. S.  Have an amazing weekend!

Keep going forward, the breakthrough is coming.