ICAD 2017 - Week 9 - Days 57 - 61 and a Remembrance

Well, it's over for this year.  This is the last of the cards.  

Week 9 - Themes - Optional 

Days 57 - 61 - Prompts - Optional

Day 57 - Spring

I decided to do a series for  prompts 57- 61, the four seasons.  Done in Prima watercolors and Micron pen.  Try as I might, and I did try 3 cameras and several different lighting situations, I could not get the true colors on these.  

Day 58 - Summer

Day 59 - Fall

Day 60 - Winter

And all four days together.  I toyed with the idea of putting the names of the months in the white spaces, but then someone pointed out to me that if I left them off this would be universal.  If I add the names of the months with the corresponding season it would only be true of the Northern Hemisphere.  So I decided to leave the white space to make it's own statement.  

Day 61 - Sunset

This was the sunset on Saturday night.  I was feeling rather melancholy that day because I had heard the day before that a friend, a former coworker from school, had suddenly passed away in her home country of Columbia.  Though I only knew her for a few years, she stood out as a person I was glad that I got to know.  She was our part-time Spanish teacher and when she had a free period, and sometimes after she was done with her classes for the day, she would go down to the art room and create.  Sometimes she would do the same projects as the students were doing and sometimes she worked on her own.  She would show me her finished creations and told me that she used them as gifts for her family back in Columbia.  She was very talented.  

Created By M. Infante 2/15

Created by M. Infante 2/15

I didn't use the sunset from that day for my picture inspiration, I found another one from a few weeks ago.  But I did dedicate my finished one to her and wrote what I had been thinking when looking at that sunset on Saturday evening..........

"Martha, did you paint the sunset tonight?  Did God let you use our tears as your watercolors?  Rest in peace sweet friend.  You will be remembered."

Wouldn't it be nice to think that we would each get a chance to paint a sunset?

I took the picture of my card next to the little box that she gave me when she visited the US and our school this past spring.  At the time she told me that she was going to come back and say goodbye before she left.  I was happy about that because I had a little gift for her also, a small traveling set of watercolors and a little zippered "cat" pouch to keep them in.  When she didn't return we learned that she had already left for Columbia so I reached out to her on Facebook.  She didn't want to send me her address, instead she told me to hold onto the gift until she returned neither of us ever thinking she wouldn't.  

So I finished this endeavor with a little bit of bitter-sweetness at the end.  I'll post a picture of all the cards together in the next couple of days.  I hope you've enjoyed looking at them as much as I have enjoyed doing them.  

There is a new challenge at Daisy Yellow starting today as a matter of fact.  It's called "Catchphrase" and it's all about adding words to your art.  Here is the link if you want to check it out. I think I'll be giving it a try but I'll be delaying my start a couple of days as I have another bigger project that has to get done right away.  

ICAD 2017 - Week 8 - Days 50 - 56

Week 8 - Themes - Optional

I tried a new technique to me on these first two cards - printing with bubble wrap.  Unfortunately the bubble wrap I had on hand at the time had bigger bubbles than I would have liked for the first time. That being said, I'm not disappointed with how they came out.  I used stamp pads and when I try this again I will be using some Color Burst or Brushos.  Stay tuned for a card in the future with a bubble wrap background.  

Days  50 - 56 - Prompts - Optional

Day 50 - Sun or Moon - I chose Moon

I used the insides from security envelopes (HWNSNBP was going to toss out and I rescued, though I do have a pretty good stash of these somewhere I'm sure).  I used some new metallic markers for the lettering highlighted with a Micron marker.  

I hope you can see the faint face of the Man in the Moon done in colored pencil.

Day 51 - Swim

This is a watercolor which started off as a card I was cleaning my aquabrush on.  The two shades of orange reminded me of fish as I was doing this so I just kept adding more and more strokes.  Then I went back and added the water and eyes.  (Someone said this would make a nice scarf - what do you think?)

Day 52 - Adjective - I chose VERDANT as I used all the shades of green KOI watercolors.  The flowers are tissue paper and the butterfly is cut from another piece of index card.

Day 53 - Mirror

This was an experiment of sorts. The background is made with Prima watercolors.  The line drawings were done in mirror fashion.  After I taped down the corners lightly I held pens in both hands and had my non-dominant hand mirror what I was doing with my dominant hand.  This can be done with two people, but I didn't even approach HWNSNBP with a request for help.  It would have taken too long to explain, I just know!  Oh, and I stuck with straight lines this time.  If I try it again I may just be venturous enough to add some curves.  

Day 54 - Greetings From.........

The Jersey Shore

I still had that fun map of Cape May around and on it were advertisements with graphics that I cut out.  Also in my stash was a gift card holder from Christmas Tree Shoppes which provided the beach scene, big lighthouse and shell.  I used all these elements to collage a postcard.

Day 55 - Sepia

Using a sepia toned Koi watercolor, I started painting these shapes, layering them back to appear as they were overlapping.  Then I took a sepia Micron and added some linework to the swirls.  Lastly, I used metallic Prima watercolor to fill in the blank spaces between the shapes.  I wish you could see the little shimmer in it.

Day 56 - Ghost or Zombie

I was combining this card with the Scribble Picnic challenge of CURTAIN which I found out too late has been postponed until next week.  This is watercolored.  I used some brush pens and a gel pen for the title, a Micron for the author/illustrator info, and some pencil shadows for the curtains.  Can you see the ghost?  I think I might have to work on a story to actually go with this.  There are a few ideas haunting me.

Five more days to go.  

ICAD 2017 - Week 7 - Days 43 - 49

Week 7  - Themes (optional)

 (sorry for the busy background, should have chosen better)

Days 43 - 49 Prompts (optional) 

Day 43 - Lyrics

Inktense pencils and Micron marker.  Lyrics from "Late Lament" by the Moody Blues.  Inspired by a post on Facebrook from a friend attending their concert that evening.  

Day 44 - Denim or Blue

Prima watercolors on gessoed card.  Collaged with denim scrap, stickers, corrugated cardboard scraps and punch waste.

Day 45 - Night Sky

Peerless watercolors, white acrylic paint, gel marker, glow in the dark star sticker.  Some more lyrics on this one from "Three Stars Will Shine Tonight".  Do you remember Dr. Kildare?  I think he was my first crush.  

Day 46 - Love

Prima watercolors and Micron pen.  

Day 47 - Layers.

This idea started when I picked up some loose bark pieces from a tree adjacent to our school parking lot.  I sorted through some of my stash to find something to go with it and luckily found a selection of owls that I thought would be perfect with the woodsy items.  How many owls can you spot? 

Day 48 - Intersection

These little arrow stickers (or are they supposed to be houses????) reminded me of the arrows that you see on maps that say "YOU ARE HERE".  So I labeled each intersection in that way.

Day 49 - Charm Bracelet

Tambi watercolors, metallic brush markers, Micron pen, Caran D'Ache Pablo pencils.  You can see my full write-up on this card here as I also used it in conjunction with the Scribble Picnic theme of LADYBUG this week.  

Twelve days to go with these.  

Scribble Picnic - LADYBUG / ICAD - Day 49 - Charm Bracelet

Our Scribble Picnic theme for the week is LADYBUG and today's ICAD prompt is CHARM BRACELET and thinking about them both a memory clicked.  

One of our special education teachers passed away a few years ago.  She had ovarian cancer and by the time she was diagnosed she was already at Stage IV.  When school ended in June of that year we never expected that she would not be returning in September.  Or ever.

I was asked to help plan a little memorial for her.  Something that her students could take part in.  

I remembered that she had been very distraught over losing her ladybug charm bracelet at school one day.  She had told me that she loved ladybugs and her husband had bought it for her.  (It was much more elaborate than the one I have illustrated.)  To my knowledge, the bracelet never turned up.  

Because she had a love for ladybugs, in the spring I planned a ladybug release.  I found a nursery that sold them in containers of hundreds in each.  We took her former students and anyone else from the building who wanted to take part out to the playground.  Our principal had a few words and then I read this:

"Mrs. _ loved ladybugs - maybe because of their bright color, or maybe because they are so small. Or, maybe it was because of all the good they can do - just like she wished for her students.  For whatever reason it was that she loved them think about this - When a ladybug opens it's wings to fly, you'll be surprised to see that the wings form a heart.  And...... it's in our hearts that we will keep the memory of Mrs. _ and all the good she did."

We also planted a tree in her memory.  A redbud that has beautiful magenta blooms in the spring that give way to heart-shaped leaves.  It was planted outside our principal's window and when his door is open I can see it.  

While I was searching for the card that I had with the write-up on it (it was glued in a journal from around that time period) I came across a few of these drawings below.  Before I worked in the school office I used to substitute teach and in my "go bag" I always kept some markers and paper/notebook to have something to do should there be a lot of prep time.  This was something that I had doodled during one of those periods.  It was chock full of ladybugs so I thought I'd share it also today.

I see by the clock that it's already Thursday here, but I believe I still can post this at the Picnic this week since it's officially held in another time zone.  Let me hurry on over there to check that out and to see all the other ladybug/ladybird entries for this week.  You can click here to join me.  And if you want to join the Picnic next week, the theme is CURTAIN.  

ICAD 2017 - Week 6 - Days 36 - 42

Hard to believe that 6 weeks have gone by already with this challenge.

Week 6 - Themes (Optional)

Days 36 - 42 Prompts (Optional)

Day 36 - Perfume

As I have a fragrance sensitivity I had a hard time with this one mentally.  What I came up with was a collage of flowers with some musical notes.  A fragrance wafts through the air much like music. But like music, if it's too loud or intense it can be offensive. 

Day 37 - Kaomoji or Emoji

Another word I had to look up - Kaomoji.  Made by combining a series of characters.  These are only a few combinations to make fish.   I used what I could find in my desk at work for this one: Yellow Sharpie Meanstreak Permanent Marking Stick, Black Sharpie, Mr. Sketch Stix 

Day 38 - Charcoal

Believe it or not, charcoal was one art supply I did not seem to have.  Fortunately I did have a coupon for AC Moore.  And a coupon is a good reason to buy new supplies.  Win/Win.  I not only bought a charcoal pencil but some chalk pencils also (and some more blending stumps which I did not use for this).  

Day 39 - Ampersand

The background is done with Prima watercolors. The ampersand is doodled with Micron pen.

Day 40 - Steampunk

Well, not exactly.  I wanted to make it more "geary", but then I started seeing all these creatures in the background (which was Mermaid markers by the way).  

Day 41 - Roots

I toiled, in a good way, over the background "roots" to this.  I used a combination of Prima and Gansi Tambi watercolors.  There are many layers of color to this and I'm surprised that the index card didn't start to pill.  The roots are more like those of an orchid plant on the outside of the flower pot, but I didn't want to make it a pot so I chose a color that might also be considered maybe the bark of a tree or stone or something above ground really because the butterfly wouldn't be found underground.  The butterfly itself is fussy cut from a sheet of scrapbook paper.  The quote is handwritten with a Micron. (pssst.......this might be my favorite so far.........)

Day 42 - Onomatopoeia

Def. - "the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named"

My letters are drawn with Pentel Flexible brush pens.  The water is Caran D'Ache Pablo colored pencils.  

19 more days!

ICAD 2017 - Week 5 - Days 29 - 35

Week 5 was a lot of fun.  I only went off prompt once, the day that we were traveling.  I'll mention why below.

Week 5 - Themes (Optional)

Days 29 - 35 Prompts

Day 29 - Polka Dot

Colored pencil and watercolor.  When I posted this on the Daisy Yellow ICAD Facebook page someone asked me to explain my thought process for this.  Specifically I could not.  I just remember sitting at Chili's for lunch with HWNSNBP after having wasted a better part of the day going back and forth for our car (the window was fixed but then the air-conditioning went) and thinking about the prompt and what I would do when I got home and this popped into my head.  I'm not sure if this is how polka dots are born or if my chicken was just too spicy!

Day 30 - Gyroscope

I know what a gyroscope is, but we were getting ready to leave for a 5-day extended weekend and my brain just couldn't wrap around "gyroscope".  So instead, as I was packing my supplies to go, I gathered bits from the table and made a one staple collage.  This included patterns that I had used on previous cards, the envelope from a Dunkin' Donuts gift card, and old (losing) lottery ticket, a tea bag envelope, one of Kirby's feathers and some scrap pieces from a previouse card.  

Day 31 - Faux Wallpaper

I started with two shades of blue watercolors and then tried to use a stencil over the background with some white acrylic paint.  In the first apartment that HWNSNBP and I lived in, we hung wallpaper in the bedroom that was lightblue.  If you looked at it close up, you could see it was made of tiny little dots of various shades of light blue and white.  

Day 2 - Desert or Dessert

Since our Scribble Picnic theme for the week was WATERMELON, I decided to use dessert.  I once carved a watermelon like this for a special occasion - I think it might have been my sister's bridal shower.  It was very time consuming and I remember having to be very careful with those swan necks.  But it did look nice.  This was done with watercolors, white acrylic paint, and a stabilo marker.

Day 33 - Orange

This was fun.  It's actually the second rendition of what I had in my head.  The first one was too Lucy Goosey, so I redid it paying more attention to what I was painting.  This is watercolored with Micron pen details.

Day 34 - Fourth of July

On our way home on the 4th HWNSNBP and I stopped at our favorite ice cream place along the way.  The paper wrapping on their cones is a flag and HWNSNBP happened to have a double wrapped cone which gave me enough to cut them up into this banner.  Then I drew the word LIBERTY in marker and painted it with metallic Prima watercolors.

Day 35 - Favorite Type of Apple

Watercolor and Posca Pen.  Who were Frenchy, Rizzo, Jan, and Marty you might ask?  They were the Pink Ladies - get it?