ICAD 2018 - 15-21/61

15/61 - Sea Green

Prima watercolors, Micron marker, and gel pen.

I learned afterwards that the quote is from a member of NIN.  

16/61 - Superhero 

We  weren't home and I could not come up with a superhero other than my husband and did not want to  make a cartoon character out of him so I gathered scraps of what was in my travel bag and made a medal for a superhero.

Posca pens and collagey stuff.

17/61 - Path

I was thinking arteries and veins were the pathway to and from the heart but someone told me this looks like it could be a path in a Dr. Seuss book.

Koi watercolors and Micron pen

18/61 - Suitcase or in this case Suit Case

I made the mistake of looking at the ICAD Facebook page too early in the day and was blown away by the suitcases that were being shared so, not wanting to possibly have that influence me, I went a different route.  A case of playing cards with all four suits showing along.  And I named them Portmanteau Playing Cards as that's another name for suitcase.  (I know, pretty twisted.)

Colored Pencils and Microns

19/61 - Legend

All, or mostly all flowers have legends that go along with them and this is the legend of the tulips.

Zig Clear Color Brush Markers and gel pen

20/61 - Greeetings From

Well, if you follow along you'll know that this doubled as my entry in Scribble Picnic this week for the theme PLUMP.  

Colored pencils and Micron

21/61 - Treasure

Things that I treasure most are people and intangibles.  I am not one for jewels, but this was what I wanted to draw for this challenge.  I actually had the entire card full of those jewel shapes but it was taking so darn long to color them, layering the metallic colored pencil and adding the marker facets that I decided it would be okay to have them partially cover the cloth.  The cloth was another story unto itself.  The color I wanted to use was available in my Mermaid Markers, but that proved to be so fluid that it bled into the jewels (left side about 2/3 way down) so I had to scrap that.  Then I tried the Zig brush markers and there's an oopsy there too, but I spent way too much time on this already so I wasn't going to start over.

Metallic colored pencils, Zig Brush markers, Micron marker

This is a exercise in trying different things out and I like that, but sometimes I wish the quality of the paper were better so the materials that I want to use look better.  I do find that there is even a difference in the quality of index card depending where they've been purchased.  The cards I'm presently using came from a pack I bought at the $Tree and they are, at the same time, porous and waxy in places.  Some people choose to prep their cards with gesso before they start, but I haven't done that so I will continue with these or try to find some of better quality that I might have tucked away somewhere.

If you're following along with these posts, I'll just remind you that you can always start up at any point during ICAD.  There's no formal requirement for anything except that you use an index card for the base of your "creativity".  I won't say art because that puts some people off.  They say "I'm not an artist!"  And that may be true.  I don't consider myself an "artist", but I do know that I'm creative and that most people, if not all are also creative.  You create when you cook or bake.  When you organize things you are creating calm from chaos.  When you write lists - creating.  When you read you are creating images in your head.  When you build something, or plant something you are creating.  

And the things we can use to create are almost limitless.  Magazines, junk mail (you know we all get it), wrapping paper, tissue paper, receipts, hang tags, staples, crayons, ballpoint pens, simple lead pencils, string, twine, ribbon, glue, tape, things you have in your desk or junk drawer.  Brown paper bags.  Bubble wrap.  Don't have paint - tea and coffee will work.  So will Kool Aid or food coloring if you're careful.  Cancelled postage stamps, envelopes from cards and the insides of security envelopes your bills come in.  

Go ahead.  Give it a try.  It doesn't have to take up hours.  It can be a few minutes.  One of my favorite quotes is "Create something every day even if it sucks." If you make your goal to create something and you do that, you have achieved your goal even if it does suck or does not come out the way you wanted it to.  Not everything has to be complicated or perfect.  Enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.