I have always been fascinated by bright colours. I think that’s one reason why I really enjoy drawing and colouring with markers. In the past, I have made a lot of cards this way. I’ve collected Sharpie markers for years, and I get excited when they come out with a new set of colours. Except, I probably won’t now after discovering Copic markers (that I was able to buy a few of recently with gift money and a sale). Copic markers have two ends: a chisel end which is quite versatile, and a brush end which I love for colouring in. They also have refillable chambers; and if you purchase refills, the refills do the job a few times! So then the cost ends up coming way down in the end. Copic markers also come in far more colours than Sharpie has, so I’ll purchase here and there and try to ignore the new Sharpie colours as they arrive…
Anyway, I share here some marker sketches I’ve done in recent months. After buying some Copics, I tested all my Sharpies, gave some away, threw some dried ones away, and organized the rest by basic colour families. I also created swatch cards for everything. So now when I want to draw or colour, I consult my swatch cards instead of the pen caps. This way of working is MUCH more inspiring because I don’t have to test colours to see what I’m getting. Below is a grid I designed. First I drew borders around each rectangle in a grid. Then I coloured in flower centres and flowers. Next I coloured in backgrounds of each rectangle, and finally I added dots around the petals. The result is a pleasing grid of pretty flowers!
I did the same for the next one, except I changed the flower petal shape slightly and added dots to the flower centres. These grids are fun to make!
Remember my pen sketches post, where I described the process for drawing flopped over flowers using ovals? This was more of a finished drawing using that method. I enjoyed the visual challenge of putting these flowers into a bouquet, in a vase, in front of a striped wall. I had to pay close attention to all the lines I was drawing and to the spaces I was colouring. It’s like working a logic puzzle.
Then I did the same for this drawing, but added the challenge of leaving out the initial black sketch lines. I love how all the colours look together.
If you’ve read my posts over the years, you know I love how geometry intersects with art. I decided to create a mandala and colour it all in. Once it was designed and coloured, I decided to experiment with layering monochromatic colour over some sections, and I love how it turned out! My favourite sections are the green-striped petals and the blue dotted areas nearby.
And then I repeated the process with all new colours. Notice, too, that the pointy parts on the outside are pointing in the direction opposite the direction of the ones in the previous photo. Making geometric designs with a ruler and a compass and then filling in all the patterned spaces could make for endless design ideas. I have a few books about geometric designs around the world; it’s really fun to dip into them and try ideas.
Next I transferred the idea of patterning with monochrome colours onto flower sketches I was already in the habit of making. I love how the patterning jazzes them up even more.
More of the same here…and just look at that beautiful red background – that is from one of my new Copic markers! Funnily, after I took this photo, I realized I hadn’t created stripes on the orange petals, so I filled that in later.
Then I took the whole idea onto a bigger drawing. I may turn this drawing or something similar into a mouse pad for my computer. I just have to finish figuring out all the technicalities involved in turning my art into useful objects such as mousepads, mugs, cards, or prints.
This last photo just shows everything collected together. For awhile, I was reading blog posts by an artist who recommended being deliberate all the time with choosing only certain colours for drawings…I tried, but am not showing you the photo. To me, the drawing was too sedate!! Maybe I have to practice that more, too, but for now, a million colours and patterns will be what I do.
If you have photos of your own drawings to share, I’d love to see them in the comments!
Colleen, I’m really enjoying your newsletter and your blog posts. They are inspirational and informative. Thanks a bunch.
From your pal Jane on on the NC coast
Jane, I am SO glad to hear this; thank you!! If you get a moment to reply, I would love to know a bit more about exactly what is inspirational and what is informative. Thanks, my friend!
Inspirational: your musings on your practice. All of us feel overwhelmed by the stuff of life yet you note how you fit creativity into grieving or whilst dealing with health/mental health issues.
I often have a challenge taking that first step into a new project. But after doing so, I can break down say a sewing project into steps that I will tick off daily–and I see accomplishment!
Informative: I like how you explain the process of making your marker sketches with compass and ruler–and then playing with color.
Both you and I embrace color and are rather fearless about it. Your photos are lovely, too!
Cheers!
Jane, this is really helpful; thank you! Interesting how you say I fit creativity into grieving; the process of making something was more of a necessity during that time. It was “move my hands” and direct my attention at something or get lost. I am glad this was inspirational. And I would love to see what projects you’ve been working on that you love.
And, MATH! Of course! I should have thought of that. 🙂
Thank you for your comments! I’ll have to e-mail and update you on things here.
What a wonderful collection of vibrant colorful art you’ve created, Colleen! Thanks for sharing it and the steps you took to get there.
Jane shared the link to this post, and I enjoyed reading it and some other posts as well as browsing the items in your store. Your art is so bright and cheerful.
I don’t have drawings to share, but I’ll link to some bookmarks I recently made. See here ~
https://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/724794-march-craft-thread/?do=findComment&comment=9390620
Regards,
Kareni
Kareni!! How wonderful to hear from a strong and influential voice from my homeschooling years!! Thank you for visiting my little space here and for your compliments! I haven’t visited the WTM forums in awhile, but I just dove right back into it via your thread, haha. Gosh, I will be forever grateful for those forums and for all the help I gleaned from wise women there. I don’t know how my kids grew up so fast; they are 25 and 22 now. Just yesterday I had a little cry session while cleaning out some things from the family-raising/homeschooling era. Anyway, I am just thrilled that you showed up here! (Thank you, Jane K.!).
Also I LOVE those book marks you made. I remember using card catalogs. And I was pretty upset just a few years ago when my local library online system, which still allowed one to search via the Dewey Decimal system (so you could check sections before and after any given topic), switched to (I don’t know what it’s called) a system where you just search via keywords. I am SURE this method doesn’t yield as many research options in the system, and I actually complained about it, haha. The person I spoke with understood, and she couldn’t explain why they didn’t leave the old option on the website. But alas, it is lost now. Anyway, I love that using these cards as art and craft is here to remind people of the fun and thoroughness of research. I love your bookmarks!
Thank you for showing up here! You’ve brightened my whole day!
And thank you for your kind words, Colleen.
I hear you on the usefulness of searching by Dewey Decimal number. My library’s new catalog no longer has that feature, but the Classic Catalog (which is still fortunately accessible) does.
I can also identify with ‘they grow so fast’ as my daughter graduated from college almost ten years ago. Time seemed to pass so slowly when I was a child…not now!
Sending all good wishes to you and yours, Colleen.
Best wishes to you and your family, too, Karen!
Thank you!