August 23, 2017

COLOR CRAZY

I am here to permit you -- no ENCOURAGE you -- to get a little crazy with color once in awhile.


You see, I've been coloring these flowers for several months now. I finally got tired of trying to make them look realistic, traditional, and/or at least, cohesive.


Do you remember me talking about these coloring pages of Designer Series Paper that Stampin' Up! had available during Sale-A-Bration?

I love them, and am tending to hoard them. In fact, one of the designs is still sitting whole and untouched. I don't want to RUIN it! Huh? Linda!!

Two of the designs I had cut up into 3 1/4" x 4 3/4" pieces for a workshop I'd had featuring them. I took all the unused (unloved??) pieces that were left over, and stuck them inside a folder which I bring to the 319 Gallery where I volunteer each Tuesday.


Recently, while I was there I pulled out a piece similar to the one I show above. I looked at all those lovely hand-drawn flowers, trying to decide what to do. I'd colored them in so many different ways. I wanted something that wasn't so cliche.


I always bring along with me to the Gallery a random selection of my Copic Markers. Seriously, no rhyme or reason for the colors I bring with me. I'd love to bring them all, but since I have about 130 of them, it's way too heavy. So I just pack up whatever fits in a pencil box.

I decided to treat this sparse floral scene the same way -- randomly.

I blindly grabbed inside my container for a marker, and colored two petals in that color -- two petals not near each other, but on different parts of the canvas.

Next, I randomly selected another marker, and colored two distant petals in that color. 

I continued in that fashion until I had all the petals colored, sometimes reusing colors I'd already used. What a feast for the eyes! The mishmash of colors was so much fun! No rhyme or reason gave way to a plethora of colorful petals. Fun!

And talk about coloring being therapeutic! Doing it in this fashion requires little thinking. Just do it!


 I decided to leave the dragonfly as is, thus adding no color to him at all. Later on in the process, he seemed kind of like dead wood, so I added a layer of clear Wink of Stella. Of course, no matter how I positioned this while taking the photos, I could not capture the glisten. Just imagine that it really is there. It is!


After I had all the flowers colored in, sure, it was fun and vibrant, but there was so much WHITE space. I know, I know. A certain amount of white space is a good thing. A place for the eyes to rest, a break from the routine, etc. etc.


 But I wanted MORE! And I just did not want to color all that white space. Yuk. Boring.

So I drew in squiggly double lines to create a grid across the piece. Then, having three markers in the yellow family with me that day, I randomly colored in each of those squares with a yellow hue, not paying attention to the fact that sometimes the same color is next to the same color. Like I keep saying: RANDOM. The theme of this piece.

Do you notice that the black mat the piece is set onto is cut squiggly to match the squiggly lines of the grid? I thought that was a cool touch.


After I had my background completed, the flowers seemed a little lost. Believe it or not. With all that color. Refer back to the photo of the uncolored piece. See how the line work is just that? Line work?

So I had a great time RANDOMLY thickening the lines of the flowers. Yes! I really liked that!


Since, of course, because it's what I do, I turned the creation into a card. And here it is!


So there! How little fun it is to constantly follow the tried and true path. Have a blast and do things RANDOMLY! It will be a complete surprise as to what you end up with. Sure to be a little different and outside the box!

Random
Smiles.



9 comments:

  1. I am enjoying coloring in Postcard coloring books this year, I just need to stop buying all the pens, lol
    Thanks for sharing on Oh My Heartsie Girls WW this week!
    Have a great week!! :)

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  2. I don't do enough coloring and yet once I start I can't seem to stop. This is just encouraging me. Time to get out the pens and pencil crayons and let my spirit go@

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  3. I have never tried this. I'll bet it is very relaxing.

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  4. A huge celebration of colour here!
    #handmadeMonday

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  5. Oooo, I love this. More colour the better as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure I have a colouring page or two somewhere which could use this kind of treatment. Thanks for sharing with us at #handmadeMonday

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  6. simply beautiful what a wonderful form of art, my adult daughter finds it very relaxing to color
    come see us at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

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  7. For years I've been stuck in my earth tone and neutral color rut. Thanks for the encouragement to break out of it and for the inspiration. Hope to see you again next week at Celebrate Your Story!

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  8. It turned out GREAT...love the vibrant colors!
    I love seeing your work every week at Reader Tip Tuesday. Looking forward to seeing your creativity this week: http://www.jodiefitz.com/2017/09/05/reader-tip-tuesday-weeks-craft-recipe-party-2/

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