I was playing with shadowing.

Making mandalas is fun in many ways

and to explore shadowing has become a favorite of mine. To see how much one can trick the eyes just by adding some darker colors and lines. I'm always looking for new ways of doing it, and I'm very pleased with this last one.

It's made on handmade paper using watersoluble crayons and a black micron pen. New to me to use handmade papers with an uneven surface. That makes it a bit more difficult to do the penwork, but it is possible if one takes the time and work a bit slower.
 

 

It's not excactly a masterpiece, but I remembered to do it a bit different this time and was surprised on how well it worked out. Just by moving the shadows a bit away from the edges, it looks like the outer edges are pointing upwards. Can you see it, and isn't it fantastic how such a small detail can change the whole picture? I just want to do it more and more and more and share it all with you.

 

 

 

I promise, I won't do that. I don't need to share absolute everything on my blog, but I will keep making them though. I'm always looking for the ultimate one, but each time I'm done I still keep thinking I can do a better one. Probably there is no ultimate one, but I can't stop looking for it.

I'm back!

 

It's fine to have my computer back

but why on earth do they need to change everythng I knew? Do you know the feeling, to start figuring out everything once more? Well, I'm still glad to have it back.

It shouldn't come as a surprise to you that a mandala is the first thing I want to show you. This one is a result of something I heard on the radio news. They were talking about apprentices and how to find enough apprenticeships. Many of the youths had no place to start after school.

I didn't plan to make a mandala on this theme, but it must have been influencing me after all. 

 

 

I call this one "Learning before flying"  When the painting was done, I still didn't know how it should end up. I have this habit sometimes to bring my work with me and study it while I am doing other things, often good ideas are coming while doing so.

At first I thought it looked like acorns or something like that, but then I saw what it could be.

 

 

I started my penwork and ended up with what you see below. Could you see this coming?



 

I don't know what they're doing, but I imagine they're learning before flying. It always amazes me how big the changes are when my piece is fully done, penwork and shadowing. Not only the depth, but do you see the changes in colors as well? I simply love this kind of work.



 

It's great to be back, even though I felt a bit like a newbie at first.

Have a good day everyone!

No computer.

My computer broke down.

It's so irritating, I bought it in February and now it's broken. For the time being I have to write on my ipad, with no access to any new photos. I don't know how long it will take to get it fixed, but it might take as long as three weeks I've been told.

I know the computer is just a tool, but it has become a much used one and I feel a bit helpless without  it. There's nothing else to do but wait, so until I get it back you'll have to do without anything new from me.

My latest work.

This first mandala I made a week ago, using colors I normally don't use. Many many times I was tempted to give it up because I didn't like it/the colors. Now, I'm glad I didn't, I like it even if it's not my prefered colors. I also added some text to it and think it works well.



 

This next one is more like me, colorwise. This mandala is made without any use of micronpens or other pens. I sketched it using a pencil, that's all. I have to practice shading, it's not that easy without my favorite grey marker. Right now I'm making another one  similar to this, but with a bit different colors and a new colormix idea for the background. 

 

 

I added this photo just to show you  I used twinks in addition at this one. I so much like this photo, it has a different angel and the colors are so beautiful. I didn't like the senter design,so I did an experiment. I cut out the circle and replaced it with something else.

 

 

New center and the background color in place. I really like how it loosen up a bit in the outer edge, and I do like it even if I skipped all the penwork. This photo shows a bit brighter colors than in person.

 

 

I have some beautiful handmade papers which I'll probably use to make a mandala on. I just have to choose the right design and colors to that one.

 

It's so cold today I feel for getting a fire going in the stove, but that would be a bit too early.

Enjoy your day.

The rise and fall of a mandala.

A strong idea and refusing to adjust.

 

I should have seen it coming from the start, but my idea was so strong and I believed so much in it that I refused to see the facts. Some times that's how it is, one has to follow the idea to it's end. Below is the finished drawn piece. I did see there were alot going on, but hey, just wait until it's colored.

 

See what I mean? It's all much clearer now, right. At this stage I started to plan my penwork, and boy should that be the best I ever did. - That shape I'll  make rounded and that flat and yes, I'll make that one like a bag. You all know how the mind flies.

I was so occupied making my masterpiece that I didn't notice what was about to happen. After the last stroke, I sat back to enjoy my work..................oooops, what happened? It looks like a mess, but come on, the shadowing still remains. Of course, that will make it come together again. Uha, for a moment I thought I had messed it all up!

All the shadowing done and now the realities dawns on me. How on earth could I manage to mess it up like this? Throw it away, I won't see it any more.
So I went to do something else, but in the back of my mind I still thought of it and what could be done to rescue it.

You know I have worked with curtains and sunscreens for many years. Let me create a sunscreen and call the outer shape an umbrella. And that's what I did. I don't know what I feel about it still, but it is what it is.

 

One thing's for sure, I have learned a few lessons from this and even found some new ideas. The time spent wasn't completely a vaste.

I'm hooked on mandalas again.

 

I had a wonderful day  yesterday.

I spent most of the day making a new mandala and I enjoyed it so much. This time I remembered to take photos as I went along, because I so much like to see how it changes from start to finish. 

First I used the compass to make the circle(s), I need them, otherwise it would never become a circle. Then I start to draw the design using a pencil. Normally I have no plans on how the end result is going to be even though I have some really good ones inside me. It's just that I don't know exactly how to draw them. Perhaps that should be my next project, to figure out how to make them.

 

Well, after I'm finished drawing with my pencil, I draw over with a micron pen and use the eraser to remove the pencil lines. Then it's time to paint.

 

 

Here I have used water soluble crayons only. At this stage, while painting, I make most of the decisions on how it will become at the end. Preparing for shadowing and all the lines. When the painting is done my mandala looks quite good, and it could be considered  finished, but it's not. The most fun part still remains, all the penwork. And the transformation is amazing, often it's hard to believe it's the same piece.

 



 

 

Most times when I'm done, I discover things I should/could have done in a different way, but that might be a common "problem". I'm pleased on how this one turned out, and especially pleased that I could leave the triangles without any lines. Stop in time, so to speak.

 

When it comes to which colors to use, I have no conscious plans. I most often start in the center and work my way out, choosing colors as I work. If I'm in doubt, I jump to the next row and then go back. All the shadowing is done using a light grey marker pen.

 

 

That was how I spent my Sunday, did you make some art too?

Art I saw in America.

 

It's always interesting to see alot of diffeent art abroad.

 

One do get inspired and think of new ways of doing things. I did photograph alot of sculptures and decorations too, but today I have chosen to show you some paintings I saw. This first one was photographed in a gallery in Tulsa, we went there to see the exhibition, Famous Faces, of the artist Kristin Halldorsdottir Eyfells. A very interesting exhibition.
 

 

Kristin H. Eyfells is an Icelandic artist who use oversized canvases to paint faces. As you see below she uses different colors to express the different feelings she sees in people. She claims that every wrinkle in our faces is there for a reason. She has made alot of faces, not only famous ones. Below is a photo of a card I recieved when I bought her book called Famous Faces.

 

The next two photos were taken in Santa Fe in a marked there. Santa Fe was a fantastic place to visit if one take interest in art and crafts. All the soft-edged buildings felt so friendly too. I loved being in Santa Fe.

 

 

This last photo is a very old well known painting, made of  Johannes Vermeer. It's called Girl with a Pearl Earring. You can read mor about it here. This painting has been one of my favorites for a long time, I once  read a novel about the prehistory of this painting, how it might have happened. Isn't it beautiful? I did photohraph this in Las Vegas.

I hope you got a bit inspired too!