Category Archives: Coloring

365 Somethings Project: Week 8

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I’m pretty happy with my progress this week, so let’s get right into it.

1. Ashley Cowl: I think I see the end in sight, and I like what I see! (And I can legitimately start pondering the next project. *she types with a happy gleam in her eye.*)

Ashley Cowl progress

2. Rachel Reinert’s Color Workshop: This week’s project involved stippling, or taking a gel pen and dotting the page until you start questioning your sanity. Truth be told, I’ve never been a real fan of pointillism, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’m not fond of stippling. Bottom line: I completely agree with Rachel’s comment that it provides a nice texture for the mushrooms and I see that it provides a great deal of control for both mixing colors and creating lighter and darker areas. I’m glad I understand the technique, but I’m pretty sure it will make rare appearances at best in my work.

Rachel Reinert’s Color Workshop Stippling Project

3. WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: I also post an entry for this week’s challenge. The topic was “Sweet.”

Overall, I feel like I accomplished something this week, and it does seem the challenge keeps creativity in the back of my mind throughout the week. Probably most important to me, I’m noticing that, whenever I’m working on something for my challenge, I generally have a feeling of satisfaction. That’s good information to have when planning the rest of your life. 🙂

365 Somethings Project: Week 4

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This week’s report will be very concise because I’m feeling particularly worn. Still, progress was made. As always, if you want to know more about the underlying challenge, see iHanna’s post.

  1. Rachel Reinert’s Color Workshop: This week I used petroleum jelly to blend oil-based colored pencil. Per Rachel’s suggestion, I used Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils. I found these much nicer to work with than my usual wax-based Prismacolor pencils, and I liked the result:

    Polychromos pencils blended with petroleum jelly

    2. Hoisin Pork and Vegetables from Prevention’s Ultimate Quick & Healthy Cookbook: I bought this cookbook not long after I married, and it quickly became a favorite before we had children. After that, the recipes seemed a bit labor intensive and the quantities too small for the time I had to cook and number I had to feed. This week, however, I found this recipe. After changing the proportions to twice the meat and noodles, three times the sauce, and at least three times the vegetables, it turned out really well, and I have leftovers for another meal.

    Hoisin Pork and Vegetables

 

3.  Ashley Cowl: Okay, we aren’t going to discuss this one, let alone photograph my progress this week. Let’s just say I learned that, as much as I’m determined to make progress, it’s better to stop when I’m tired or distracted. :/

4. WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: This week, the topic was silence. I’m still a bit on the fence about my photo, but I suppose it sometimes counts just to show up.

I’m toying with adding a daily or weekly writing prompt from one of my writing books and/or carrying a small sketchbook with me so I can doodle or make a fast sketch when I get a moment away from home. I think there is a balance to be found between being spread to thin among various endeavors and having different avenues of creativity for whatever circumstances I am in.

365 Somethings Project: Week 3

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As I’m continuing to progress with this challenge while the rest of my life as a homeschooling mom of three on a hobby farm returns to our typical, chaotic pace, I’m slowly convincing myself that I can in fact complete this challenge. I am definitely enjoying the process at the very least. If I can just complete two more weeks, I will feel more than ready to commit my project goals and parameters to blog post and not look back.

This week, it feels as though I am getting in just under the wire. However, that’s still getting in, and I’m going to take that as success. My progress this week is as follows:

1. Rachel Reinert’s Color Workshop: Last week’s start on the burnishing project went from:

Rachel Reinert’s Color Workshop Burnishing Project in progress

to:

Finished burnishing project

 

This project taught me about layering color with wax-based pencils and, less directly,  about creating a color palette. Overall, I’m pretty pleased.

2. Ashley Cowl: I have to say this one was more of an exercise in patience this week. I was so delighted with my progress, only to look down and notice a glaring error which required laboriously removing about an inch of rows. As of tonight, I’m left with this, which I suspect is a zero net gain, but the error’s been corrected and shouldn’t recur. Truth be told, I learn so much more from my mistakes in knitting and crochet than I do from the parts that go seamlessly, so I guess that’s some consolation.

Ashley cowl – week 3

3. WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: The challenge word this week was “weathered.” I struggled with this one, but a quick walk out to the pastures on Friday to see if a predator was making our animals restless revealed ample subject matter. 🙂

4. Writers Happiness Challenge: A friend and I have agreed to support each other in this 30-day challenge, which takes just five minutes a day. The attraction for me is that this will allow me to create my perfect balance. I’m testing out a theory that I am happiest and most creative when I multitask between art, fiber art, and writing, rather than focusing exclusively on one. I am toying with the idea that multiple outlets helps to spur creativity in each.

Tonight, as I’m reviewing this week, I’m feeling a sense of frustration. I don’t feel like I’m creating anything of my own. That said, I am learning techniques and creating important habits, which should eventually lead to my own original work. I suppose a bit of patience is required.

Project 365 Somethings: Week 2

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(I’ve decided to post the purpose and parameters of my Project 365 Somethings when I’ve reached week 6. That way, I can refine the details and confirm my commitment to myself before announcing it here. However, if curiosity is killing you, I can say that my fellow blogger, Ihanna, suggested the challenge, and you can head over to Sweden and read what she proposed here.)

This week, I set a couple of goals for myself to have opportunities to infuse creativity into my day wherever I am.

1. Rachel Reinert’s Color Workshop: When working on this project, I discovered that I like to focus with good light and few distractions. Therefore, working at home in my office makes the most sense. Unfortunately, two-thirds of my homeschooling sons returned to their normal schedule this week, so I had far less time at home. That said, I still accomplished a little. I worked on Rachel’s burnishing project:

Rachel Reinert’s Color Workshop Burnishing Project in progress

 

At first, my internal critic immediately piped up that I hadn’t accomplished enough for this week . However, some of this challenge for me is about enjoyment, and, although I’d like to finish everything, I enjoyed what I did and I’m going to make the choice to focus on that.

2. Ashley Knit Cowl: If the Color Workshop is best accomplished at home, this little cowl project is perfect for portable creativity. It fits neatly into my backpack and the pattern is simple enough to accomplish in a noisy, distracting environment like my sons’ alternative school. Best of all, I get a lovely sense of achievement and the tactile and visual joy as the yarn runs through my fingers.

Ashley Cowl in progress

3. Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken with Potatoes and Mushrooms: I decided an easy and useful way to add a bit more creativity to my week could be as simple as dusting off one of my numerous cookbooks and trying a new recipe. This week I chose Lemon Chicken with Potatoes and Mushrooms, which was fairly quick and easy. I intended to take a picture of it when it finished in the slow cooker, but, with two male teens and one male preteen in my house, I was too late. Then again, I think that might say enough in itself. I did manage to get a photo before the adults took their portion, so I suppose that is something.

Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker

 

 

 

Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker: Lemon Chicken with Potatoes and Mushrooms

Whenever I make a new recipe, I follow it exactly the first time.  After that, however, I can’t help but start making it my own. In this case, I would switch from a whole chicken to chicken breasts to lower the fat and add broccoli florets and diced bell peppers in various colors to increase the variety of vegetables and add some color.

4. WordPress Weekly Photo Challenges: I decided to join the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenges because it nudges me to play with my Nikon D5000 and a handful of lenses. The topic of the challenge this week was growth, and I was pleased with how my entry turned out.

Overall, I’m generally happy with my progress this week, and I think happier for the 365 project overall.

Project 365 Somethings: Week 1

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I will write more about the details of this project in a few weeks when I’ve proved to myself I am going to stick with it. For now, however, I will record my progress.

Reinert’s Color Workshop

This week, I’m tackling Rachel Reinert’s Color Workshop: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Artistic Effects.

My goals with this book is first, to increase my enjoyment of coloring by being able to get depth and a better color schemes into my pages. A second, longer term goal is to improve my skills for my own art work and possibly for children’s book illustration.

Thus far, I’ve read through the first three of her four chapters covering tools, color theory, and techniques. While the tools were pretty familiar, the color theory provided an easy-to-understand review of basic color theory which I needed, and she included several techniques which I had not previously seen.

I am now working my way through her final chapter where she provides step-by-step instructions to get specific effects. The last part of the book contains coloring pages on which to follow her instructions. I’m really enjoying this. Here’s my first completed piece.

First Project in my 365 Project

 

 

 

 

Overall, a solid start to my project!