An Autumn Leaf Art Journaling Idea

Let Go of Everything..., by Clare Walker
Available with blank leaves, on Redbubble

Hello there

Hope all is great with you. But if you're feeling like there's a lot (or a little) of which you'd just like to be rid, am sharing  you this art journaling idea that came to me this week. Feel free to try it if you'd like.


One "Letting Go" Art Journaling Method

The way I did it (which doesn't, of course, have to be the way you do it) was this:

1. Get quiet and peaceful (eg by deep breathing), with the art supplies/device you want in front of you.

2. Draw a scene or symbol that represents "letting go," to you. 

For me, it was falling autumn leaves, but it doesn't have to be that for you...It could be the tide, a feather, or a dustbin or trash can. Whatever works for you is all that matters. (Neither does it matter how "well" or other wise you think you can draw. You don't have to share this with anyone...I don't share a huge chunk of the things like this I create).

3. Include some space or way to incorporate the words or symbols representing things of which you wish to be rid. (In the picture above, you'll see that each leaf has a labels, such as "Anger" and "Fear". But your labels will of course be your own).

4. Identify the things you'd like to be rid of (for me, they felt heavier than everything else).

5. Add those things as labels on your drawing.

6. Optional, but if it feels good, complete this by crumpling, altering or destroying the journaling in whatever way feels good to you. (In my case, on the newest version of the journaling (as it was digital) I erased the labels, and was just left with the pretty colours of "blank," falling leaves again.

The next step

In end, I really liked the actual design once those "heavy" labels on the leaves were removed, so I popped the peaceful and blank version of this design onto Redbubble. 

I guess if you really would prefer and *really* don't want to draw anything, you could always get a stack of postcards with the blank design on, and add and destroy your own labels.

The peaceful, blank version of the
design, on a postcard...

But though I love people to buy things of mine to which they feel drawn (thank you again if you have and do), in this case, it's very likely that you'll get the most benefit from drawing this out yourself.

Go on, give it a go...I dare you.

More soon.

PS. If you are one of the people seeking designs featuring cats, bats and hats for Halloween, fear not, my newest Halloween designs *are* already on sale in my Redbubble shop, and at Craftsuprint, so please use those links if you'd rather buy now than wait for any upcoming posts. Many thanks!

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Free November Clip Art (Art Every Day Month, Day 3)

Tap, click or right-click to download and use this image...

          

Hello there. Day two of the Art Every Day challenge was more personal for me.

Day three though, is above. I realised that I hadn't put up the usual "month illustration," freebie for a while, so here it is. Just click, tap or right-click depending upon your device, and its yours to use pretty freely (see my angel policy for details). 

Note that this illustration is only about 6 by 4 inches at 300 dpi. But that makes it smaller, and therefore better for web projects.

This is an original watercolour pen and wash illustration, using Faber Castell pens, metallic gel pens, and Inktense paint pans. 

Hope all's  really well with you-I'll be back soon with more images.

(Update on November 5th: I have had to withdraw from the Art Every Day Month challenge, having twisted my neck, which is causing pain and exhaustion. As you might expect, the main cure for this is rest, but I'll be back as soon as I can).

New Design: Toadstools and Mushrooms

Hello there.

Hope you're well and thriving.

Yes, this week's  post is a bit later than usual, because it's been a busy week involving all sorts of things away from the computer. (House repairs, mainly...Do *anyone* ever enjoy even the concept of  maintenance tasks? If so, please can you tell me how? Thanks!).

Anyway...onward and upward. The inspiration this week came from a friend who takes the most marvellously atmospheric photos, and graciously allowed me to use her lovely, magical  pics of fly agaric mushrooms as the reference photos for the more mushroomy motifs in this design.

As you can see, out came a pattern that's perfect for really cosying up to autumn (or fall, depending on where you are ;-)

And you can browse or buy this design on an even bigger range of items by clicking or tapping on this link.

Have a great weekend.

More, and in less haste, soon!

PS. This design is also now available on fabric at Zazzle.

Free Leaf Clip Art Printable: Green Leaves Pattern

It's time for another freebie, in this case an A4 printable pattern of green spring/ summer leaves. It would make a great background or piece of wrapping or craft paper. Or you're welcome to use just some of it as clip art. You can use it any way you like in line with my angel policy.

To grab this, just right-click, click or tap (depending on your device) and save, and you're good to go. (IF you take a picture of anything you make, I'd love to see it (maybe on the BoundingSquirrel Facebook Page?) and would also do what I can to promote anything you make which incorporates it too.

If you're more of a fabric person, the design is also available on many different kinds of fabric, from Zazzle. The image below shows the design on a fat quarter...

Bright Green Leaf Pattern Fabric
by BoundingSquirrel

But however you use this design, have fun with bringing a touch of spring and summer into your life, whatever the season when you're reading this. 

And I'll leave you with a little teaser that there's another project almost finished too that I think you'll like. But it's not quite finished, so will leave that to post at the start of next week. (or the next post, if you're reading this later).

Take care and see you then!

Day 34: Does Anyone Know What These Are Called, Please?

Must confess that I don't even know the correct name for the bush upon which this today's sketch is based.

The entire bush was about 4 feet high  and three feet wide in total, with every set of leaves looking something like this sketch (growing in a sheltered section of a park, near a lake, in mid October in London, UK, if that helps).

If you happen to know the name of this (very pretty, and probably very common...) bush, please do let me know, perhaps over on the Facebook Page. Many thanks!

(Sketch in Mozart Komorebi watercolours, and Faber Castell Ecco pen).

"Autumn Glory" Surface Pattern Design

Now that the recipient has their design (and loved it, apparently. Phew! :-) I can post a picture of it here:

I'd also like to give a quick shout-out to bagsoflove.co.uk who did a beautiful job of making a warm, fleecy scarf from this design. Which arrived incredibly quickly, and even ready packaged, like this (though had to take the photo at night and did not do it justice!):

And no, in case you're wondering, BagsofLove haven't sponsored this post at all. Am just a happy customer, delighted and relieved that their workmanship was so efficient *and* beautiful.

And now, I guess, it's back to more Christmas stuff. Let me know in the comments whether all *your* Christmas shopping is complete by the end of November, half done, or definitely not started yet on principle!

More soon.

Simple Autumn Leaves Animation

Have spent most of the week either looking after The Computer Man with his cold, or dodging catching it. But feeling under the weather was a good reason to spend some screen time learning about something new, so had a go at drawing and animating some simple autumn leaves. Enjoy!

Daily Illustration #90: Berry & Leaf Pattern

This started as an experiment in simpler and less focal pattern-making. (Sometimes I still need to learn that it's OK to whisper, sometimes ;-).

But once the leaf motifs started forming ogee-ish shapes, it morphed into an experiment in making a (geometic-ish) design with organic motifs.

Add in the red and the green, and suddenly, I'm up to my old tricks (ie making a seasonal design (in this case, something quite Christmassy, like napkins do you think?) at an entirely inapporopriate time of year.

But in any event, think I'll keep the pattern. What sort of items do you reckon it would suit? Please leave a comment and tell me. 

How abstract is *too* abstract?

How abstract is *too* abstract? Or, depending upon your point of view, can there ever be such a thing as *too* abstract anyway?

Just to reassure you, I'm not asking this for theoretical reasons, like some medieval cleric wondering about the number of angels he could fit onto the head of a pin. No, there's a practical purpose.

The thing is, I'm enjoying creating inspirational poscards at the moment, and people seem to like them. So far so good. But  like the rest of us, I've been used to pin-sharp natural photographic scenes as a backdrop to such things, (I'm thinking about majestic mountains with the word "Courage" emblazoned at the bottom, etc.)

So part of me feels constrained by this. The other feels it's high time that inspirational images came in all shapes, and specifically, softer, more feminine, and maybe more abstract choices. Hence my dilemma.

I have no answer to the question posed in the title of this post...