Category Archives: Pen

September 30-Day Creative Gathering

Ranunculus. Day 1, 8 x 8 on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Ranunculus. Day 1, 8 x 8 on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

A load of laundry.
A load of pillows.
Dusted.
Vacuumed.
Did dishes.
Finished organizing art supplies.
Sampled paint colors. Eliminated some choices and grouped by value.
Painted a palette grouping the values.
Did a mani/pedi.

You know what this was. Procrastination. Haha.
Late last night I finally started painting. DUH. If I had done the first part in the afternoon, I might have finished in time.

The first layer is a napkin from Ikea. I thought I had separated the layers, but after I Placed it, I noticed there was one more layer. So instead of dark outlines, I had soft ones. I used matte medium top and bottom, so that took a long time to dry.

This morning, I cut the vase out of scrapbook paper, glued that on, and sat staring with no clue what to do next. Haha.

I didn’t have a vision or a plan. I was inspired by some playful florals I found on Pinterest, and Instagram. And I feel like I missed the mark. That is exactly what this needs. A few bold marks. So. A work in progress.

I think I need to add some bright marks, and I need to brighten the leaves. I used stamps, ink, acrylics, posco pen and watercolor.

The background was originally a pale turquoise. It seemed too light, the vase was not standing out. So I laid a wash of Inktense over it, and dabbed it off. I left it slightly darker around the edge of the vase. The splatters turned out much large than I wanted. The blooms are so dark, adding the light might not be such a bad thing.

Early evening. Time to start number two.

Like The Deserts Miss The Rain

10 minutes of Glorious rain.
10 minutes of Glorious rain.

A few blessed minutes. Rain. Needed to help fight the fire that is north of us. We are not in any danger, but the plume of smoke is ominous just the same. The areas around us received more rain, as usual. I read that there were 99 fires in Arizona. Such a high number, and we are not the only state with active fires.

Messy Desk, SMD.
Messy Desk, SMD.

I am finally finished with this trio I started in the Creative Gathering. I switched the colors, wasn’t quite happy with my first choice. As luck would have it, I painted the blooms and sky about three times. Haha.

After my first color layer on the blooms, I used a non permanent pen to add the details back to the purple and pink. I had already painted the sky, having noticed how pale the color was. And that some of the white gesso was showing through in small areas. For some reason, I did not notice the ink had smeared, until I had finished the last panel. ??? Maybe the shine was distracting? Haha. I really have no idea how I did not notice it. The black ink over the sky areas was very light, it just looked slightly dirty.

I began again. Another layer of blue here and there. Two more layers to cover the inky blooms. More sealer. I painted the centers with liquitex acrylic paint pen, two layers of semi-transparent yellow. For a closer look, click the image below.

Oops, I did it again. Thought it would be a quick fix. Ha! I painted these for three little under-age-five sisters. Recycled cradled board equals lots of texture. Here is a look at the original palette. Better, yes?

Day 12, Mixed Media on 6 x 6 Cradled Board. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 12, Mixed Media on 6 x 6 Cradled Board. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

Happy week to you!

Little Star

Little Star, 4 x 4 Watercolor on Strathmore 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Little Star, 4 x 4 Watercolor on Strathmore 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

Most days, I wake up with a song in my head. Nah. Not a Pollyanna “song in my heart”. Haha. It’s often a very annoying song. Playing on repeat, before I am even fully conscious.

I usually try to figure out, where the thought might have come from. Was it something I saw, something I read? Maybe a silly clip from Youtube. If there is time, I will look the song up, and listen. Usually, that clears my internal playlist.

Today, the opening line of Little Star came to mind. And that made perfect sense, as a title for these wonky flowers. Maybe it was meant to be. I painted them before bed last night.