Category Archives: Mixed Media

Seaing is Believing

This week the Spoonflower design challenge is to use watercolors (or digital watercolor brushes) to create a whimsical surface patterns inspired by fantasy creature motifs. I know that the Seahorse is a real creature, but to me they have always seemed magical.

I used both digital watercolor brushes and hand-painted watercolor for this design. You can see the digital brush layers on some of the Sand Dollars. The Seahorses are all hand-painted.

Voting begins today. This challenge sponsored by Skillshare. The top winners will take home Spoonflower credit and a Skillshare Premium subscription to start learning everything from how to create a surface design using motifs to “The Basics of Photoshop”, “Hand Lettering” and so much more! And, for the first time ever, all submissions into May’s design challenges are automatically entered to win the grand prize full of design goodies worth over $1000!

Here is a closer look.

I drew some dots, and circles and spots, and used them to suggest air bubbles, sand and pebbles. The watercolor was applied using a clipping mask. Here is a short video that shows how it is done. I know some of this may be too complicated, for those of you that do not use Photoshop, but the basic principal is easy to understand. It is just like cut and paste from the olden days!

I started by deciding on a palette, sunset hues.

Sunset palette

I am working on a companion piece as well. This will be on a smaller scale than you see here. This collection will lend itself to quilting or children’s clothing projects. I will also do this using different colors for the background.

Sand Dollars. Digital surface design. © 2017 Sheila Delgado

Thanks so much for taking the time to vote, I can’t make top ten without you!

LYA Side Swap

Val van der Poel.

I received this wonderful watercolor from my good friend Val in BC Canada. Val works in many mediums, and she is consistently learning and growing her skills in new areas. She works in paper quilling, watercolors, acrylics, oils, pen & ink, charcoal, mixed media and, recently, fabric art.

Not only that, she teaches too! I can always count on Val to give a sincere evaluation of my work. Be sure to visit her site and treat yourself to her fabulous work!

On the back of the card:

This is what I feel about art;
“Art is a Gift. Whether you make it, give it or receive it, I hope you will cherish it!”

Wonderful thought. And yes, I do cherish your card! Hugs and best wishes to you as well Val. Thanks so much for sharing your work with me. Your mountains are inspiring, and your pines and poppies are perfect! Love this view!

Wouldn’t You Like To Be A Dreamer Too!

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Dreamer. Janice Darby. LYA Side Swap 2017

Don’t know why, but the Dr. Pepper song popped into my head, and the words morphed into the post title. In trying to get it out of my head, I watched the original commercial. I did not need to realize that it is nearly forty years old!

Janice Darby’s Dreamer opens the 2017 LYA video (by Kat Sloma). Each time I saw this image on the Facebook group page, I crossed my fingers that one would come my way. Love the layers in this! Janice and I have swapped before, I always look forward to her card. She lives in Santa Maria, California. Very inspiring city I think!

On the back:

Never let it be said that to DREAM is a waste of one’s time,
for DREAMS are our realities in waiting.
In dreams we plant the seeds of our future.

Love that thought Janice! So glad you agreed to a side swap. Thanks so much for sharing your awesome art with me!

Coneflower. Chandra Lynn. LYA Side Swap 2017

Chandra sent this digitally enhanced photo from Alabama. She shared her enhancement experiments in a recent blog post. Looks like fun to me! I need to find some fun photo apps. I really love the colors in this. Makes me think of watercolors flowing together. Beautiful! She included this:

We do not escape into philosophy, psychology, and art
–we go there to restore our shattered selves into whole ones.
Anais Nin

Chandra’s blog posts are often filled with inspirational words. She teaches composition and literature, reading and writing are her passions. Thank you Chandra for sharing your passions with us!

Pink Flamingo, colored pencil. Diane McWhirter. Australia.

Diane’s work is always stunning. Take a look at her pet portraits. She also works in ink, and I just love her vivid, lively colors. Lot’s of happy in her work! Her floral pillows are gorgeous. So honored that you would swap with me Diane – had no idea your postcard postage is $2.95 (Australia)! If it helps, I think your work is priceless.

So blessed to count these talented women among my LYA friends! I find their work delightful and inspiring! Hope you enjoyed these cards as well.

Pouring and Postcards

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Pour #1, acrylic on 4 x 4 gallery wrapped canvas. 2017 Sheila Delgado

Previews of the pours I worked on today. Planned on doing only two in blue, but had enough paint to try a third. In this first pour, I did get some interesting cells. Microscopic, but they do look good in person.

Fingers crossed they survive the drying time. I used thicker paint this time, mixed with water and a few sprays of silicone (WD-40). I did not want huge cells, but I am guessing I could have made them larger by using more silicone. Perhaps the paint needs to be thinned more as well.

The experimenting is fun. I pour the paint from individual containers, and the “dirty pour” technique creates larger cells. I may try that next time. I used my heat gun to bring out the cells. Maybe could have done that longer. So many variables.

Pour #2, acrylic on 4 x 4 gallery wrapped canvas. 2017 Sheila Delgado

None of these from today resemble Angels. Still interesting, and I think I can make them work, with a slight change in focus. I will share them again after they have dried, and let you know what I come up with.

Pour #3, acrylic on 4 x 4 gallery wrapped canvas. 2017 Sheila Delgado

LYA SIDE SWAPS

With Butter and Syrup, Nan Johnson.

Doesn’t this card from Nan Johnson make your mouth water?! Nan’s work is amazing. She does fantastic, detailed “home” portraits, beautiful landscapes, and wonderful pet portraits.

Art – Food for the Soul!

I think so as well, and I very much enjoyed the visual feast on Nan’s site. Thanks so much Nan for sharing your art with me, so glad you participated in LYA this year! You are right, it is a fun swap!

Gems, Kat van Rooyen, CZT.

My good friend Kat surprised me with her Gems. I received her card as an official LYA postcard. Didn’t think I would get another as a side swap. This LYA has been full of surprises! Kat is a Certified Zentangle Teacher. She tells me these look better in person, but I think they look pretty real on the card. Lots of depth in the colors! Thanks Kat for surprising me with your colorful, wonderful art!

I just love that the LYA art swap is still going strong!

Birds and Flowers. Mixed media digital surface design. © 2017 Sheila Delgado

Voting continues in the Spoonflower design challenge. Wanna help me make the top ten? You can only vote once, but you can share the link with friends.

Read more about how this design was created, in yesterday’s post. Thanks for taking the time to vote!