ICAD - WEEK 2

Another week of ICAD has come to a close, and only 6 more weeks to go.  I have managed to stay relatively caught up with the prompts and creating something everyday by doing so mostly right before I go to bed.  Most of this has happened well after midnight most nights. My days this week have been filled with canning, blanching and freezing fresh vegetables coming in from the garden. The hubs has a green thumb.  Me?  I can kill silk plants and even killed an air fern one time, and those things are supposed to thrive on neglect!

Last year I started making a marker or cover card for each week of ICAD.  Primarily, I use it as a quick reference during the week and it is easy to grab-and-go when I won't be home for many hours and tuck into my travelling ICAD bag (consisting of about 10-12 index cards, Signo Uniball pens and my Koi Field Watercolor kit and a waterbrush).

Tammy threw us a curve ball this week in my estimation.  The prompts are food based and we could use the prompts literally or figuratively, as always, or as a suggestion for color families.  Mostly I went with the color families, and weenied out on the "parsnip" thing.  Parsnips are visually boring, both in color and shape.  I like to eat them in lieu of potatoes, but rarely get the chance.  No matter how hard I thought about parsnips, nothing creative in any form or fashion came to my Muse with that prompt.  How exciting can beige-white be?  Not at all in my book.

Week 2 Cover Card

I have to admit I pre-painted this background long before ICAD started and thought the color choice was good for the week.  Mostly it was wavy line practice with a #4 round brush and watercolor.

Prompt #8 - Cherry and Grapefruit

I love cherries!  You know cherries come in all different kinds of colors and they are in early season right now.  While working on this prompt about 2:30 am, I was munching on some fresh cherries I had purchased at a local produce stand on Monday afternoon.  My cherries were red and yellow, but I drew some regular dark, Bing-style cherries in a bowl and added Erma Bombeck's infamous quote. Watercolor, Signo Uniball pens in micro and bold.

Prompt #9 - Carrots & Lemon

I love, love, love working with orange and yellow so I did two cards for this prompt.  On these two, both backgrounds were done with yellow Derwent Inktense blocks.  I sketched the top one and outlined with a micro Signo Uniball pen. Painted with pan watercolors, and lettered with a #3 round brush.

This one was prepped first with Derwent Inktense block in bright yellow.  I then used PVA Glue (Elmer's School Glue) to write out the words "Art Everywhere" (inspired from a television commercial) as a resist.  I let it dry thoroughly and then used orange Gouache over the top of the words, and ever-so-gently, removed the paint from the top of the letters with many q-tips so that the yellow base would show through..

Prompt #10 - Eggplant & Ginger

I was lucky enough to have three eggplants sitting on my kitchen counter for this prompt, thanks again to the farmer Hubs.  Sketched with a 3H pencil and then pan watercolor.  I took the card with me to the grocery store, found a piece of ginger I liked and stood there and sketched it.  I got a few funny looks, but I didn't care.  Sure, I could have snapped a photo, but it was more fun just to art someplace different.  Sadly, my attempt at drawing Pickled Ginger on a sushi roll was a miserable "fail".  It is hard to match the color of pickled ginger, and actually making that thing look like rice....well, you get the idea.  I love sushi and always have a nice pile of that pickled ginger and a big dollop of wasabi with each bite.  Yum.

Prompt #11 - Lime and Mango

Once again, I went with the color family for this prompt using craft acrylics in Lime Tree, Tropic Orange and Apricot.  I added some assorted collage elements that were laying on my dining table and called it good.

Prompt #12 - Parsnip & Kiwi

 

Here's where I totally blew off the parsnips.  While many in the ICAD group made some amazingly creative cards using parsnips, I just couldn't get into it.  I love the tart kiwi, but sadly I am very allergic to them (finding this out the hard way).  Pencil sketch, pan watercolors, Signo Uniball pens in micro and bold tips.

Prompt #13 - Blueberry & Plum

A minimal amount of time for thinking about this prompt so I went again with the color families of the prompt.  First I prepped this card with 2 thin coats of white Gesso.  Using craft and fluid artists' acrylics, I finger-painted some of circles & brush painted some parts using a #4 round with Admiral Blue, Violet, Lavender, Vanilla Ice Cream, Titanium White & Lime.  I added some found words and a cute little snail chipboard sticker.

Prompt #14 - Salt and Pepper

Sure, I could have drawn a salt and pepper shaker or tried to be a bit more creative with this today, but the brain is fried this week.  Too much on my plate so I just went with the color families, creating a play on the black and white words in reverse color order.  Black & Titanium White acrylic paints with bold & micro Signo Uniball pens.

There you have it.  Another week's worth of creating something every day.  Remember, we aren't creating museum quality art.  We are expressing ourselves creatively, sometimes thinking outside the box and sometimes, going with the obvious.  But I'm doing my best to stay artful every day!

Until next time,

ARTY AUNTIE
~~Betty