artsy fun

Working on a Workshop

I have a creativity workshop coming up next week and I’m having a grand time choosing which activities to include.

The hard part is limiting myself to just two hours of fun.

A promo image for the workshop I am planning

image description: a small painting of a black heart covered in stars against a pink background covered in gold dots, the painting is trimmed with gold paint. The text over the image reads ‘have fun. make stuff. Relaxing Creativity. a workshop with Christine Hennebury, Monday, April 24, 7:30-9:30PM @ The Annex, cost $15″

Sunday Morning Robots

As I write this, I’m sitting at my kitchen table on a sunny, chilly Sunday morning, watching an episode of Vera and drawing.

I often find it hard to watch TV or a movie without doing something else at the same time. I don’t know if that’s an ADHD thing or just a people thing. Either way, it’s not a reflection on how interesting the show is.

And I often find it hard to get around to drawing all on its own , too. That *is* an ADHD thing, I find it challenging to start any new task that I know will require a lot of focus or that will take a long time. (And since I have a lot of trouble breaking projects into smaller tasks, it always feels like everything will take forever.)

So the TV/drawing combination works for me.

I just have to choose a show that doesn’t require full concentration and a drawing that is about process instead of about thinking up new stuff.

Hence this robot party that’s just getting started in here:

A series of brightly coloured rectangles drawn on white paper.
They aren’t robots yet but they will be soon. Image description: a photo of a drawing of a series of brightly coloured rectangles with a smaller rectangle on top of each one. They’re on a rectangular piece of white paper that’s resting on a wooden table and there is a pile of markers and pens at the top of the image.

Lunchtime Monsters

Yesterday during lunchtime, I was feeling a bit tense so I tried the traditional remedy…

I drew a few monsters to help my brain relax and find a little breathing room.

A drawing of 5 monsters made by drawing a bumpy line and then dividing the line and the bottom half of the drawing into 5 sections.
Image description: 5 monsters created by drawing a single bumpy line, dividing the line and the bottom half of the paper into 5 sections and then colouring each section separately. The monsters are against a background of yellow lines. The first monster is red, with a tuft of black hair, has one eye and is wearing a blue pinstriped shirt. The second monster is purple with two eyes, a mouthful of tiny teeth, pointed ears, a pointy-tipped tail and is wearing a shirt with yellow splotches. The third is blue with black arms, three eyes, and a wide open mouth, the fourth is yellow with green polka dots and a ridge of green spikes in the back of its head. It is turned to the left so only its right eye is visible. The fifth monster is only partially on the page, has green skin, two eyes, and black horns and is wearing a red sweater.

New paints = big fun

I bought myself a new pan of paints on Wednesday and decided to give them a try last night.

I did a few brushstrokes of paint on the page and, once they dried, I outlined them with black marker and little faces and antennae to create these fun little creatures:

A small drawing of stylized figures made from a brushstroke of paint with details added in marker
Image description: my small drawing of a series of creatures created by making a brushstroke with light orange paint and then outlining them/adding details with black marker. The figures are mostly rounded with big eyes and look like little ghosts or bugs, some have antennae. My initials and the date are on the right hand side.

I’m delighted by the one in the skirt. What a fun little dance they’re doing!

(Yes, I can be delighted by my own work, aren’t you? I didn’t know it would turn out so well.)

Index Cards…Still at it!

I accidentally took a little break from Index Card A Day when I got sick for a few days and got off track.

I’m having fun catching up though.

Here’s my card for the prompt ‘inkwell.’

A drawing of an inkwell filled with green ink and a green and gold octopus tentacle.
Image description: a drawing of an inkwell filled with green ink with a label that says ‘Octavia Green,’ in the upper right is a green and gold octopus tentacle that is slightly curled. There are black horizontal lines in the background of the drawing.