Colour on a very white day

We had a blizzard here today so I sat down and worked on the Zentangle pic I started from the YouTube tutorial last week. It's not perfect but it was a lot of fun to do. I think I may have to do more of these.

I Love Snow...

at Christmas. All other times, I'm all about green grass and flowers. beach sand and sunshine.

Now don't get me wrong, I do see the beauty in snow... well fresh snow anyway. To be honest, I think snowflakes are one of the most beautiful and fascinating things I've ever seen. There is actually a study here talking about how different snowflakes are formed. It's interesting but I mostly love looking at the photos...lol.

My kids are home from school today because it's too icy for buses. Seems this year, we've had more 'extreme weather' school cancelations than I remember ever having when I grew up. (and I've lived in Newfoundland and Northern Quebec, where snow is plentiful). Needless to say the boys are thrilled... I'm still working on seeing the bright side here.

Segueing into art now... I've been trying a lot of different styles because I don't want to fall into the rut I got into last year, where I drew nothing for the latter half of the year. So yesterday I decided that I'd try animation. Simple lines and textures...quick, easy and fun, right? Actually, it's a little more work than I realized. It was fun though. Ironically, when I sat down to think of what I wanted to draw, I realized that the two characters that I found most gorgeous in the movies I've seen, were Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians and Elsa from Frozen... the Winter characters....go figure. And yeah, my snowflakes are not even remotely symmetrical...my 7 year old just wanted to make sure I knew that.

Black & White and Colour

So we are back to dreary here today. The weather forecast says rain (and flood warnings), then ice pellets... :(

I'm craving colour (and oranges...lol) and thankfully I've got art to provide that. I'm not a person that can think something up in my head and put it on paper. I'm hoping with time this is something that will come to me. Right now though, I need to see the physical picture to draw. Pinterest has become a great source of inspiration for me. There are so many different ideas and styles in the pictures. Unfortunately, sometimes, even when I've clicked on the link, it doesn't source me back to who had the original idea. I'm hoping that if someone ever sees I've redone their photo, craft or drawing that they are flattered and not ticked. I will always try to credit the original if I can.

This arrow pic is one of those pictures. I used the watercolour pencils on it. It didn't turn out quite as vibrant as I would have liked but there are parts of it I really love like the leaves and the feathers.

The b/w profile on the top is totally a new style for me. It was a lot of shading and blending with harsher lines and tones. I'm kind of loving it. Feeling happily creative.