Doodling with Sidewalk Chalk

I had the best time doing this.



I'm definitely putting "make sidewalk art" on my schedule this week, even if I have to do just a little bit at a time. I posted some images on my Facebook wall and got some comments about how it was to bad it was going to rain. To me, though, one of the best things about this kind of art is that it's temporary. Ephemeral. Imperfect.



It doesn't matter what it looks like because it will be gone eventually, usually sooner than later. This washed away less than 24 hours later, and I smiled as the rain came down. It doesn't matter. It just means I get to do it again!



I highly recommend getting a tub of sidewalk chalk and going to town. Embrace your inner 6-year-old. Don't worry about what it's "supposed to" look like and just have FUN! No judgement, no inner perfectionist whispering in your ear. Let it go! Make a mess. I'm pretty sure you're going to love it!

Art Journal 01.31.12 — Free

This page was inspired by a few things. First of all, the background was created so I could mess up my hands for this photo.

You can see the patterns in the paint on my hands on the page, even though I brushed over it, smearing all of the various textures together.

See the blue areas to the right and along the bottom? You can see that pattern in white on my hands. That's from sequin waste, also called punchinella.

Another influence is a canvas my niece painted for me for Christmas 2 years ago.

It's one of my most treasured possessions. I was so touched that she painted it for me and love how strong and bold it is. Just like my niece, actually!

The other influence on this page is the art of Alisa Burke. She's wonderful and I hope to take at least one of her online classes very soon.

I love the "stained glass" effect that happened when I added the wax pastels in the petals. Wasn't intentional, but I think it's very cool.



For the flower, I wasn't sure how I was going to handle "coloring" it, but I went with the pastels because they'd be transparent. I kept looking at the strong black outline and thinking I needed to add to that, doodle a bit and then add the white for some contrast. I'm really happy with how it turned out.



Mediums Used:
acrylic paint, various colors
water soluble wax pastels
ink

Other Materials:
punchinella
bubble wrap
shelf liner
paint brushes in various sizes (bottoms used to make the white dots)

Inspiration can come from anywhere

This stack of leftover paper and stapler are just sitting on the counter at work. Last week, I looked at it and thought something like, "I love the way that red pops off the greenish yellow. I'm going to use those colors!" Actually, the thought was less proper sentence structure and more like random words "Colors, wow, like, idea, art journal. YES! Ooooh!" all strung together in one "A HA" kind of moment.

Inspired by the colors from the paper above as well as reminders from other artists to give ourselves permission to make mistakes, have fun and enjoy the process.

I love those moments, those flashes of "A HA". Inspiration can come from anywhere at any time. I try to scribble something down when that happens, but this was burned in my head.  Still, I wanted to take the picture today as a reminder to myself and anyone reading that anything can trigger inspiration.

So tell me, what was the last thing that made you go, "A HA!"?