DAISY YELLOW - ICAD 2015, WEEK 1

For the third year, I am participating in Daisy Yellow's Index-Card-A-Day (ICAD) challenge.  The challenge started June 1st and continues through July 31st, so we have 61 days of creating art.  The idea behind using index cards is that 1) they are inexpensive; 2) they are not precious; and 3) to help get you in the habit of creating some kind of art every day!  Prompts and themes are given a week at a time. There are no deadlines, no pressure--just the joy of a suggested prompt and/or theme and the freedom to create what you like.  You can go with the prompts, or not.  Of course, keeping it up every single day is difficult sometimes, and often I will do several at one time because of my hectic schedule.

You can come on over and join us .... it's not too late. Just dive in and get started!  You can always go back and catch up from this past week.  There's a linky over on the right side of the blog or you can find the group here.


This is my 2015 ICAD cover card.

Warm-ups  Prompts were: Work an analog puzzle or game, Write 3 Haiku poems, Take your Index Card(s) on an adventure, Create a Mobile ICAD station, Make a Grid, Draw/sketch/doodle something from the 1920's or '30s, Top Ten List, Imperfect Circles, Create a 6-pc Jigsaw Puzzle, Write your name of word of the year in Doodly letters.  

First  warm up prompt - Analog puzzle. I usually work an electronic Sudoku puzzle every day (brain exercising), so I just started a new one and transferred it to an Index Card and then worked it.  Messy yes.  Did it need to be perfect?  No.

Next up are my three Haiku poems.  I love Haiku, which we were to do in 5-7-5 tamber. 

Take your Index Card(s) on an adventure.  The day of this warm up, I was exhausted, so I just took my card out to the deck, with a fresh cup of coffee and a Sakura Gelly pen & my micro & bold Signo Uniball pens.  Highlights added after the coffee was gone with Cool Gray Copic marker and a pencil.

Mobile ICAD Station _ aka Traveling Art Kit

This is my traveling art kit, made with a freebie case I got from Merle Norman several years ago at Christmas time.  I have wagged this thing tons of places, road trips, and even just out to the deck. So nice to grab and go.  I always keep it stocked with:  a basic set of Sakura Gelly pens, a Bold Signo Uniball, some acrylic paint, index cards, scissors, tape, glue stick, magazine images, some found words, a few stickers & rub ons, some assorted ephemera, 3 different paint brushes (a liner, a #4 round and a flat), a 1 ounce container of water; some gesso in a pill bottle, my Koi Field watercolor set (with waterbrush), and some assorted size cuts of watercolor paper and a pencil bag with colored pencils. Tucked in the inside pockets I have some small stamps and a couple of mini stamp pads in black and a dark brown. I glued an envelope to the lid where I keep many small, flat items.  My journal will slip right in for longer road trips and things.  And I can add to it or decrease items as I need to do so.

Make a Grid.  I love making grids. I use them a lot to document my art supplies (paint, markers, etc). This time, I just went grid crazy a little bit while watching television with the hubs over a couple of evenings.  Watercolor, and Copic markers (which I had never documented these color families)

Draw or sketch something from the 20's or 30's. This prompt I found a bit difficult, since I cannot draw.  Also, I do not recommend you draw or select colors while trying not to wake the husband in the near-dark of the bedroom. You can get some very random/odd colors digging into a dark pencil bag that way. But I gave it a shot doing an image and some shapes from the 1920's and 30's.

    

 Top Ten List.  I am a copious list maker by nature.  Some may call it obsessive-compulsive disorder, but as I age, I find that I must have these lists to stay on top of what I need to accomplish and not forget what I am supposed to be doing.  I even have redundant lists of lists.  Ok.  So I am OCD.  But this Top Ten List was just for fun.  We were challenged to use different instruments/media for each item on the list, which I accomplished.

Next up was Imperfect Circles.  I love drawing circles, stamping circles, stenciling circles.  I find them to be very relaxing, no matter how you do them.  Both of these are done with pan watercolor.

Six-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle.  We were challenged to create a 6-piece jigsaw puzzle out of multiple index cards and then put it back together. (this one is not quite finished) :-(

And the last "official" warm up exercise was to write your name or word of the year in doodly letters. I actually did two, one on an index card, and the other as a tip-in for my journal.  Micro and Bold Signo Uniball pens and pan watercolor with #4 round brush

I did a few others, just for fun, and not in response to any prompt.

You know this is my favorite!

Memorial Day - and poor spelling or brain phart!

Erased words as a test on graphite

ICAD WEEK ONE

I always create a cover card for each week of the ICAD challenge. I can grab it when I am on the go and have a handy reference when out and about. It also serves to make a great weekly "divider" during the 61 days of this challenge.  While I write the prompt and media on the back of each ICAD created, it is nice to refer back to what the theme and prompts were for the week.

#1 - Chevrons

I used inexpensive lightweight spackling for the "texture paste" through a chevron stencil on this card.  You can buy a half pint of the stuff at the big blue box store for under $2.00 as opposed to the very expensive artists' modeling or texture paste. Works great. Dries fast. Mixed with color wonderfully and takes inks superbly.  This was created with Dylusions Ink Sprays in Funky Fuschia, London Blue and Bubblegum pink.  I actually dabbed on the Bubblegum pink onto that top chevron and it soaked up the color quickly, and spread quite nicely onto the dry spackling.  I just used the bottle end of the squirter thing.

#2 - CARNIVAL

My favorite memory of fairs and carnivals as a child was the cotton candy.  I didn't have much time as you can see by the simplistic nature of this card, but hey! we're not making museum quality art here. We're having fun and creating!  Watercolor.

#3 - DRAW A MAP

I love pre-printed maps, but I really don't like drawing maps.  Tammy Garcia (Daisy Yellow) must love maps because we always have at least one in our prompts. LOL.  My map is the Road to Discovery and is creativity-process based.  My road is filled with lots of coffee breaks, alternate plans, switchbacks, failed efforts, procrastination and finally to success! Watercolor, Prismacolor Pencils, Spectrum Noir markers and Micro Signo Uniball pen.

#4 - MAIL BOX - I love my rural mail carrier and sadly she is moving away at the end of June. The good Lord only knows where my mail will end up while they find her replacement. I have already begged the postmaster to give us someone really great like Jodie!  Prismacolor pencils, Micro Signo Uniball pen.

#5 OWL -  I find owls fascinating. There are so many kinds. This is the rarest of them all, the ever-elusive brown Texas Owl-cat.  hahaha.  Micro & Bold Signo Uniball pens, pan watercolors.

#6 - TAXI - Many moons ago, I visited New York City on several occasions and was always fascinated by the sheer volume of taxis available there.  Hardly anyone drives their own vehicles in Manhattan.  Here in north Texas, finding a taxi is like finding teeth on a chicken...impossible!  I like to use these kind of opportunities to practice my mediocre-at-best drawing skills. But if you don't practice, you don't get better, right?

#7 - PERIODIC TABLE - I thought creating a periodic table would be easy.  But regular periodic table of elements are soooooo boring, and way to science-y for me.  So I made one up!  Prismacolor pencils and Micro signo Uniball pen

So that's it for the start of ICAD.  I'm looking forward to the ensuing weeks and carving out at least a few minutes out of every day to create something, play with some of my supplies, experiment and just have a little fun.  Consider joining us at Daisy Yellow.  You will probably see many people you know there!

As always, I'm keepin' it artful!

~~Betty
aka Arty Auntie