365 Day Alpha Feb 9 to 15th

I keep saying another week's worth - got to come up with another opening statement... but then again, that's exactly what I've done. Here is this week's Alpha squares... I love my egg... witht hat crispy edge around the whites. BIG GRIN
All done with colored pencils except the "r"
n - A couple sets of train tracks going into a tunnel.
O - the yellow of the yolk is to die for. In real it looks like you can really eat it off the page.
P - a bunch of fiddlehead ferns - not my best rendering...
Q - I absolutely love this style of "Q" done with an empty 6.0 Parallel pen dipped in black Sumi ink, when dry, accented with Stardust gel pens.
r - I put a piece of wide Sookwang double sided tape on my square, cut the vertical sections and added my glitter one color at a time. The holly leaf was masked first, rose glitter put on, mask removed and the green then put on. I outlined it with a Ranger's white Inkssentials pen.
S - I had wanted a pic of a "sidewinder snake moving on dessert sand, but I couldn't think of what the snakes name was when I was looking for images and kept coming up with side twister instead (or variations thereof), none of which gave me the snake I wanted. But I came across this Sand Boa and said that will do even better - nice colors. I scored the body with a fine tipped stylus to give the illusion of scales
T - love my mailbox... my name was also scored with stylus, but with a larger head.

365 Day Alpha Feb 2 to 8th

This week's Alpha square's were a little bit of a challenge, what with me still working 40 hour weeks, an executive Guild meeting, trying to get some grocer shopping done, getting stuff ready for my class next weekend, getting some backgrounds done for our Guild's Galleria coming up soon, etc etc. Sheesh I'm making myself tired just listing these things. Anyway they are done...
G - is kind of like those curved standing lamps and the back of one of those faux wood metal desks. I thought the outline really looked like a G. Done with colored pencils.
H - This ones a bit depressing. I sure wouldn't want it. But is drapes on either side of a window that's facing a brick wall. Also done with colored pencilsI - Greek columns done with Micron pen
J - Not sure what I was thinking here, but it could be anything that's really rolled up, like wall insulation or something similar. Done with Stardust gel pens, Derwent watercolor pencils and moved around with a waterbrush.
K - Just a graphic design again done with colored pencils
L - Love this one. A friend sent me an ATC with a rubber stamped and painted boot with 3 gold bells hanging as tassels. I have it sitting in front of me still. I'm looking at it and it just dawned on me that 's the shape of an "L". So I hand copied it and colored it with colored pencils. Added a touch of gold Ritz glitter for the bells.
M - I was using this Martha Stewart border punch today and another lightbulb went off. That sure looked like the letter "m", done with a zig marker and colored pencils.

365 Day Alpha Squares Jan 28 to Feb 1 - Z to F

Another week's worth of Alpha Squares. You can see by all the calligraphic letters I did this week, I didn't have much time to think about none calligraphic ways to do them. C'est la vie...

Another couple of weeks and I'll be back at my regular hours with lots of time to play.

Z - Pointed Brush letter using ArtQuest Black watercolor then shadowing it with a silver gel pen
A - Flat Edged Brush letter on CP watercolor paper using ArtQuest red watercolor, outlined in black leaving a white space then background colored in with gel pens and moved around with water.
B - Black cardstock dry embossed designs then colored pencils run over the high points.
C - Horseshoe done with colored pencils
D - A Versal letter D done with a Zig marker and punched out flourish pieces. (Love this punch from EK Success)
E - Another Pointed Brush letter done with ArtQuest in an Orangey Yellow, Then colored pencils flicked along the edges of the letter and then around the edges of the square.
F - A traffic light sign with a street sign attached done with colored pencils.

365 Day Alpha Jan 19 to 25th S to Y

Another week, another 7 Alpha squares. Just zipping along here even in frigid temps... Big Grin
Heating is still not fixed. The repair man is now supposed to come at around 1PM and of course the outside temps fell to -25 during the night so the inside temps went to a low of 51 degrees. Not funny.

Anyway on another note - creatively speaking: All were done with colored pencils this week
S - Both the sign and the road have the curve of the S shape.
T - The ribbon around a gift wrapped box
U - Had a few U's in mind but was in a mood for a calligraphic one instead.
V - Saw these lamps while waiting for a C-train and jotted them on my little scrap of paper.
W - Couldn't resist doing a W this way. Those bum cheeks are definitely an endowed w
X - I remember playing with Jacks when I was a kid.
Y - I again had a few ideas for the Y but wanted something a bit more graphic and so divided my paper into the 3 shapes splitting my paper evenly. When I was coloring it in, it just reminded me so much of a Martini glass, but I had already colored in the martini section with the yellows and oranges (not martini colors), so it ended up being a sunrise martini and I added the cherry.

Alpha Challenge Jan 12 to 18th - L to R

Another week, another 7 letters. I've never in the past, jotted down things I've seen for future reference, but I'm riding along on the LRT (lower rail transit) and I'm finding myself constantly taking out my pencil and my little pad and doodling the image I've just seen, or taking notes on color scheme or whatever reminds me - that's a letter for the future... Big Grin. I'm having fun. Hope you're enjoying what I see and how I interpret it.
I think a bit of my sense of humor was caught in my "L", hope you're not to squeamish with that worm dangling from the end of the fishing hook...
The "M" is the Eaton's building in front of one of our LRT stations. I'm waiting for the traint o arrive and looking across the street at this building I've looked at soooo many times in the past and all of a sudden I see the "M" which is a window surrounded by beautiful beige stonework.
OK so you get the croquet set for "N". I wonder if I'm winning.
The "O" is a bowl of cheerios (which I don't eat, only Rice Krispies or Special K...). A little on the blause side what with white milk and cream toned cereal, so I put a red rim aorund the bowl.
Love my "P". I don't think I've ever seen anyone in real life wearing a monocle, but it came to me in one of those nights I couldn't sleep.
Now you all know how I loce my morning Mochaccino, so i couldn't resist doing this one with a teaspoon sticking out of the cup for the tail of the Q. I also used composition gold leaf for the rim of the cup, just a little pizzazz.
Now the "R" I was having difficulties with and rather than do a traditional letter R, I really scratched my head trying to come up with something and this satelite dish just popped in there, who knows where that thought came from.
All the letters except P are done with colored pencils, the P is a Zig black marker.
Enjoy

365 Day Alpha Jan 5 to 11

Another week has gone by and for most of it, my muse was with me. E - My friend Moe took some pics of her door with the iron work in it on one of our recent FRIGID days when there was lots of frost on the window. She sent me a bunch of images and I said that one looks like an "E". I used Derwent sketching pencils that are water soluble and a black marker for the iron work. Then I used my quickie glue pen and glitter and a Ranger's Inkssentials white pen for the frost. I think it worked out really well.

F - Well for lack of what to do with the F, I just did something very graphic using Derwent watercolor pencils.
g - Love my "g"... It's both Prisma colors and Derwent watercolor pencils. PS that's not me sitting there BIG GRIN, although I wouldn't mind. You've got the 2 rounds, small and large for the g section and then the feather in the hat is the ear of the g.
H - Again I used Derwent water soluble sketching pencils. Lots of ladders.
i - I thought the candle with the flame really looked like an "i" - done with Prisma colors.

J - Love the boldness of the J done with Prisma colors.

K - well I was in a quandry again for what to do with the letter K. Prisma colors. The K is first dry embossed with a stylus and then the flat of the colored pencil skimmed over the surface. I really like the end result of it.

365 day Alpha (Jan 1 to 4)

Hi all
Here's the first week's alpha pics. Can't say my muse was with me although I like the colors in the "A" and I laugh at the "B" (the top of my head and stuff, but definitely not the bust - BIG GRIN). The magnet is OK and I'm not a golfer, but I thought it worked well.

365 Day Alpha Challenge

I put out a challenge to my Guild and ByHand Artists Yahoo Group for a 365 Day Alpha Challenge. Now we'll see how well I can keep up. BIG Grin. Why not play along.

I originally saw this I think on Cyberscribes. There was a lady who had done it and I was inspired by what she did. I kept it in the back of my mind. Don't remember who she was, and my computer has crashed since then, so I lost the information I had saved. But I'm thanking her anyway for a great idea.

Here is the Blurb I sent out:
It will start on the 1st day of January 2009 and end on the last day of December 2009.

You don’t have to be a calligrapher or an artist, but you do have to want to be CREATIVE and learn to be observant.

The RULES:
Every day you MUST create one letter of the alphabet (sequential starting with “A”). No excuse – we all say we’re too busy and we’ll do it tomorrow. That’s a NO, NO. Even if you only can do 2 minutes worth of a scribbled pencil letter, DO IT. Some days you’ll be able to spend more time, other days will be a challenge. AND don’t throw any of them away. We’re all our worst critics. This is a journey of both the good and the “bad”. There will be many days our “muse” deserts us and then there will be days that everything just falls into place.
When you’ve finished the 26 letters of the alphabet, then start all over again starting with the letter ”A”.
This is strictly between you and yourself. You do not have to tell anyone you’ve started or that you’re doing it, or even if you’ve failed along the way. Only you will know. You don’t have to show your work to anyone except yourself. But if you want to share, that would be great.

Make sure you DATE each day’s art. If you want to put them in a journal – wonderful. If you only want to store them in a shoe box – that’s fine too. At the end of the year, look through them and I’m sure it will bring back a bunch of memories, you’ll probably see growth and who knows what else.

SIZE: anywhere from 2.5” sq to 6” sq (must be square and no smaller or larger than these sizes but anything in between is fine). If you wish to do different sizes each day that’s fine too, although it will be harder to bind or store them if that’s what you’ll do in the end. And I’m sure there is someone out there that will say “I want to do a rectangle”. Well there’s nothing stopping you from doing a rectangle within the square format, just black out the negative portions – BIG GRIN.

Medium: Use pencils (graphite, colored, watercolor, pastels), pen and ink, watercolors, gel pens, whatever tools you feel like using that day. Be CREATIVE.

As I said above – you don’t have to be a calligrapher or an artist. Use your computer or magazines to help you. Trace or copy something onto your square or even use a TOUCH (but only a touch) of collage stuff. Your squares must be hand done. We are not doing actual letters, unless that’s what you want to do, but the nuances of the letter. Maybe you’ve seen a shadow that looks like a letter, or the tines of a fork that look like the letter “E”, or the iron work on a door that may look like the letter “S”, a magnet may be a letter “C”, or the negative portion between your feet may be the letter “V”, or... Of course if you’re stuck for what to do with a certain letter, you can always just draw the letter, but do something artistic with it.

Keep your eyes and mind open and look around you. What do you see. Is there anything out there that reminds you of a letter. Make sure you jot the thought down. That’s another BIG GRIN.

Keep a few loose squares in your purse and work on them when you’re standing in line, or sitting at the doctor’s office, or having lunch.

Push yourself a bit at the beginning, but once the habit is formed it becomes so much easier and then the most important thing is to enjoy the process.