Category Archives: Medium

Liberate You Art 2016 Blog Hop

 

 

2016 Liberate your art cards received. sheiladelgado.com

 

So glad you joined me for the 2016 Liberate Your Art Blog! Just look at the beautiful cards I received this year. So many fabulous artists and photographers! And look what arrived just today!

L.Y.A. Side swaps #19, #20. Juana Almaguer, Darlene Cunnup.

L.Y.A. Side swaps #19, #20. Juana Almaguer, Darlene Cunnup.

I surprised Juana Almaguer with a side swap, we swapped last year and her address was on my list. She was kind enough to send me one in return. Her’s is on the left. It felt familiar from the start. (She uses it as part of her blog header.) Juana told me that this is the first postcard she sent out when she joined L.Y.A. years ago. I love the bold graphics in contrast with the soft, watery, earthy colors! Very soulful.

Darlene Cunnup’s blurry photo of a handmade doll is so endearing. Takes me back to childhood. Days spent playing outdoors, the smell of fresh-cut grass, and tiny treasures found along the way.

Thanks Ladies for sharing these beautiful works with me! There are still one or two on the way. I will update this post when they arrive.

A look at the cards I mailed out this year.

2016 Liberate your art cards received. sheiladelgado.com

My five official swap postcards.

2016 Official five swap postcards. sheiladelgado.com

And here is our host, Kat Sloma‘s 2016 Postcard. I love her work! She has a thing for trees and leaves, just like I do.  Can you believe she uses her iPhone to create?

Kat Sloma Liberate Your Art 2016. sheiladelgado.com

Kat Sloma Liberate Your Art 2016

It is always fun to see Kat’s stats for the swap.

1050 pieces of art liberated
175 artists participating
12 countries represented

Two of those countries were new to the swap, and I received a card from one of them – Carol in Israel! Kat created a stellar video with art from the participants, be sure to check it out!

I lost count of how many I sent out this year. Roughly 37, with six of those sent overseas. So far I have received 20 side swaps and the six official cards.

 

Liberated Artists

I have posted about each artist as the cards arrived. But for those of you visiting for the first time on the hop, the links below will introduce you to each one.


Last Days to Liberate
First cards Arrive
Card #3
Magenta Mail Art
Side Swap And a Postcard Template
Side Swap Surge
Postcard #4
Side Swap #9
Number Five Has Arrived
Side Swap #10
LYA Loot
Postcard Profusion
A Postcard And A Doodle

Last year I got the idea to start an album for the postcards. This year, I received two of the same card from Michele Matucheski. One was an official swap card, and one was a side swap. Naturally I used them for my front and back covers. (It was the first card I received) These small albums are at the dollar store, and fit postcards perfectly.

My L.Y.A. Collection 2016. sheladelgado.com

My L.Y.A. Collection 2016

 

My Liberated Art History

This is the sixth year I have participated. That is even before I started blogging. Click on the links in the sidebar (scroll down) to see my art, and the videos from the past blog hops. Needless to say, Kat has been a major influence in getting my art out into the world!

LYA-2011-my-artHere is a peek at the collage Kat created the first year, 2011. Those are my trees. I had my cards printed that year and shared them with friends and family. That was a big step for me!

See the full collage at Kat’s site. I could not find those particular trees to show you, but I did find some that were painted at the same time. They are pretty terrible, but I am fond of them because of what they stand for.  A brave new step!

 

Trees. 5 x 7 watercolor. Sheila Delgado. sheiladelgado.com

Trees. 5 x 7 watercolor. Sheila Delgado

 

Thank you Kat, and the volunteers, for making this swap possible!

My heartfelt thanks to the talented artists who shared their art with me,
and with the world! Hope to see you in 2017!

Click on a link below to visit with other L.Y.A. Artists!

 

Sun Splatters

 

 

Sun Splatters, 5 x 5 watercolor and pen. © 2016 Sheila Delgado

Sun Splatters, 5 x 5 watercolor and pen. © 2016 Sheila Delgado

I started this piece months ago. When I started to add pen to shape the petals, I totally goofed. I did not start with a sketch, I just splattered paint, and then added the pen to highlight some of the shapes the paint developed.

When I came back to the piece recently, I was so attracted to the colors, I felt I had to try to save it. I continued to add petal shapes. Next I added more of the rust tones to the background. That looked terrific in person, but not in the scan. So I went back in with some deep sap green.

I thought it was too dark, so I washed some of that back out. Looking at the petals, I thought it might be a good idea to add some shadows. I didn’t want to ruin what I had, so I added shadows digitally, in Photoshop. The shadows here are not deep enough, and maybe they are not correctly placed. This is still a work in progress for now. Below is the original.

Sun Splatters, 5 x 5 watercolor and pen. © 2016 Sheila Delgado

Sun Splatters, 5 x 5 watercolor and pen. © 2016 Sheila Delgado

 

Slide 1: left for dead
Slide 2: attempt resuscitation
Slide 3: add contrast, sap green
Slide 4: lighten the contrast
Slide 5: digital shadows

 

 

 

 

Sun Splatters, Left for Dead. Original. 2016 Sheila Delgado

Sun Splatters, Left for Dead. Original. 2016 Sheila Delgado

 

Tomorrow is the Liberate Your Art Blog Hop. I hope you will join me, and visit some of the other artists as well. Kat will unveil her video – Sure to be fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Header Help, Bookmarks, A Postcard And A doodle

 

L.Y.A. Side swap #18 Siobhan Wolf.

L.Y.A. Side swap #18 Siobhan Wolf.

This lovely postcard arrived, from Siobhan Wolf. She tells me this is how a typical Ohio Spring looks. Brrrr! We have swapped in years past, and I find the connection as joyful as she does. Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful photography with me Siobhan! Those tulips are so pretty – I love it!

Header Help

Kat van Rooyen, Zentangle - Diva Dance:Rock and Roll.

Kat van Rooyen, Zentangle – Diva Dance:Rock and Roll.

This weekend I worked on some graphics for my good friend Kat van Rooyen. She a had digital disaster, and had to start her blog over again on a new platform. Kat does Zentangle art, so we used a pattern she loves. To the right is the art she sent me. I had to add more flowers to the bottom to create the shape I wanted.

I selected fonts that reflected Kat’s personality, and her art. Zentangle is based on structured patterns. The line work is often very graphic and bold.

Zentangle Triangle Pattern. Sheiladelgado.com

I did two versions of the header. One with a border, and one without. Kat can interchange these when she changes page colors on her blog. For holidays or special events. Below is the completed Header. Visit Kat’s site for a better look. I also created a triangle pattern for the background, which is barely visible, but I think it adds some interest.

Header for Kat van Rooyen's site.

Header for Kat van Rooyen’s site.

 Bookmarks

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was submitting a bookmark to UPPERCASE magazine. I didn’t make the cut, but my submission is included with the almost 300 entries. They are available to download for personal use. Please respect the copyright of the artists. I thank you, as does Janine Vangool.  How fun is that! If you have never seen uppercase magazine, you need to check it out! Visit the blog and Flip through the new issue. Gorgeous! And if you print some bookmarks, why not stop by and tell Janine, “Thanks”.

A Doodle

Watercolor doodle ATC. 2016 Sheila Delgado

Watercolor doodle ATC. 2016 Sheila Delgado

Again I was inspired by one of the postcards I received. I showed you a card from Lynn Radford yesterday, the one with the colored pencils on it.  Made me want to grab the pencils next to me and put color to paper. This is just a teeny ATC, only took a few minutes. Just a bit of fun!