Swimming in the Pond...

My niece asked me a few months ago to draw a picture of herself, her sister, and the cousins as animals, swimming in a pond.

I started the animals, and then didn't go back to the drawing until last month. Then I started coloring it and life interrupted.

Now. After 3 weeks, I finally have it finished. I just need to get prints made for each of the kids and a few friends :)

I colored it with Copic markers. It's on a piece of 17 x 22 inch bristol. My second big piece with Copics. It's time consuming, but fun!

Rhoda

Hearts and Sugar

We are sneaking up on that special day in February.

Not really one of my favorites. But I do have a few things I like about it.

When I was in college I used to deliver flowers for the local florist. I LOVED that. There is nothing better than the smell of roses and the smile on someones face when you show up at their door with a handful of them.

I also liked the way my dad gave us Valentines. It was usually some small trinket and he would take them to the ladies in the local bakery early. They would make each of us girls a small personal cake and our trinket would be hiding inside.

No cakes or roses here this week. But I do have a free digi for you :)

You can right click and save the image or you can click "here" to download it :)

Enjoy your week!

Rhoda

Singer Sewing Machine Free Graphic...

As I typed the title, I realized it could suggest a sewing machine or a musical artist.

I think we will stick with the sewing machine for now :)

I don't know about you, but I like to be a "singer" but only when I drive :) Kyla and I took a trip to Northern Idaho last weekend. The car was filled with music the whole way there and back. Sometimes, you just need to surround yourself with music and sing! Other times you need to surround yourself with bright fun fabrics and let the machine sing!

Enjoy :) you can click the image to download it or click "here" to download the file.

Happy February!

Rhoda

Can You Hear Crickets...

Hi All,

Is January over yet? This really hasn't been my favorite month.

Between sickness, death, dreary days, and just all round "blah" I am ready to be moving on.

Spring is calling :)

There will be a freebie listed tomorrow. I had some ready to be worked up, and then forgot about them in all the chaos. They are still just sitting on my computer. Waiting to be finished. They were snow related. Hopefully I get to them before it's spring and I am drawing flowers :)

I did take some time to draw and color this past week. This picture was in my favorites over on Deviant Art. I really wanted to color something, so I drew it out on some 14 x 17 bristol paper and then colored it with Copic markers.

Today I matted it and now one of my art students will build it a frame. I am giving him the original :) I will probably get another photo of it or a scan and then make some prints for my nieces and anyone else who wants one.

I also started another drawing of some animals swimming in a pond. My niece requested it last spring and I am finally getting to it.

Here's to the end of January!!

Always,

Rhoda

Who's Ready for Fall?...

Happy Tuesday!

I know I'm late with this, but at least it's on the correct day, right?

It's starting to feel like Fall. Our first day of fall was rainy, cool, and perfect! We spent the day playing checkers, baking, and doodling.

I'm ready for fall colors, crisp mornings, warmer evenings, and pumpkins!

Time to get ready for fall harvest and Halloween. My favorite scrapbook papers are the Halloween theme :) You can download this little witch "here" or by clicking and saving on the image.

Rhoda

Sweet Braids...

Happy Tuesday!

It's time for another free digi. There has been a "people" theme for a while now.

Might start changing it up again next week, unless you are happy with the people...you can let me know what you would like in the comments :)

I'm always open to suggestions...

You can download "Lizzy Braids" by clicking HERE, or by right clicking and saving the image.

Happy Coloring :)

Rhoda

Bird Watching

The birds have been chirping around here like crazy.

As soon as the sun starts to peek over the hills, the birds start chattering.

It's probably my favorite noise to wake up to. Unless it's a magpie. Yuck!

My studio has a lilac right outside one of the windows. I've found myself just staring at the birds. Watching them flitter around inside the branches. The way they bob their little heads. Their tiny claws gripping for balance. Fascinating.

I never thought I would become a bird watcher (and I'm not even close to being an official one)...but I do find myself paying a little more attention to them than I used to :)

I even find myself drawing them :) Sheesh! If you feel like coloring this image as well...to celebrate your "love of birds" you can find her in my shop: Bird Watching.

Happy Sunday!

Rhoda

It's Time To Read...

It's that time of the week again.

This week I thought I might share some of the older "Little People" that I drew. I think I made this one last spring. I dedicated it to my sis. She reads as much as I do...and we are always sharing titles and spending hours in the bookstore together.

Our perfect day: lunch and a B&N date. Hours to spend sitting in the aisles browsing the stacks we pulled off the shelf. coffee. easy enough :)

She is fun to color, and probably one of my favorite stamps. You can download this stamp "here".

Enjoy!

Rhoda

A Little Character...

Phew! It's finally Friday :)

It ended up being a relatively calm day, which was a nice break.

My first hour kids wanted to color, so I took out the Copic collection. They saw the blank paper and couldn't decide what they wanted to draw.

One of them told me "I just want to color, not draw". I offered to do the drawing, and we were off. We started with picture number one, and then I spent the rest of the morning listening to "draw me next", or "now can you draw insert name".

They are high school kids, but you would have thought I was surrounded by Kinders :)

Part of our collection:

And a few of them close up:

A few times we were just rolling on the floor laughing. A piece here and there was just so close to right...funny how a person can be simplified into a cartoon, and still be recognized.

Loads of fun!

Rhoda

Turtles Color Digitally...

Happy Tuesday Friends :)

I finished my digital coloring today...and then I colored a few doodles with markers. My creative expression was all over the place!

I'm not sure I really want to continue coloring this image (since I have been playing with this same picture for over a month now).

Paint on this one might be out of the question.

Maybe I'll come up with another image that I would be willing to paint, color, and digitally render. The more I look at this one, the more pieces of it bug me. I suppose that is a good thing, it highlights the parts I still need to work on. Right?

In my previous post you can see the same image colored with marker...I like different parts of each of them. Not sure I can pick a favorite...and that's okay. It just means I can bounce back and forth between the two mediums...

And...since it's Tuesday, I have an image to share with you. He even comes bearing flowers:

You can download him by clicking "here".

Hope you have a wonderful week :)


Always,

Rhoda

Playing with Mediums...

Morning.

Happy Monday!

I've been playing with markers and ipads again. Now I'm deciding if I want to try painting the same image in acrylic as well. Not sure how many times I want to color the same image. I might draw something else and try all 3 mediums with it. Still deciding :)

Here's my image colored with Copic makers:

I've almost finished the coloring on the iPad for the same image...just need to finish her clothes and hair. I'll post it when I am done. You can tell me which one you like best :)

Have a great day!

Rhoda

Animal Menagerie

I will be leaving to see my sister and nieces tomorrow.

Five day weekend, here I come! (I took an extra personal day for drive time, which means I don't have to rush home).

Part of my mission is to deliver artwork to Sophie. She is working on a collage (that I have yet to see or get any details on)...but she specifically requested art work from me for it.

Here is what I drew, colored, and cut for her:

If you would like, you can have the hippo :) She is available for download "here". She will look awesome dancing across one of your projects or cards. Makes me think of Fantasia. One of my favs!! :)

Have a great weekend!

Rhoda

Sweet German Bear...

Just wanted to pop in really quick and post a finished project (not by me).

Anna shared a link to her finished card with the "Sweetheart Bear" colored in the most adorable color scheme. It's a must see:

If you get a moment, there are some other wonderful creations on her blog. Have fun browsing :)

Rhoda

Steampunk Goodness

Hello All :)

Still super busy here, but I couldn't forget a Tuesday blog post. I've been meaning to pop in and add some other posts, but just haven't found the time.

I've almost finished up with an illustration job. Thirty illustrations plus maps. It's been an amazing process, but definitely fills up my creative time!

Here are a few of the illustrations that I have completed:

The illustrations are for an eBook. As soon as it is released I will be sure to post a link so you all can check it out :)

And I have a free file. It's an image that I drew a few weeks ago and wanted to share, but never had a chance to prep it. It's finally done. I have been loving all the steam punk goodies out there, as well as the steam punk art. I was inspired to create this steam punk fish:

You can download it "here" I'd love to see it once you have it colored or on a project. If you get a chance, post a link in the comment section, or email me and I will put a link in a post :)

Have a great day!

Rhoda

Little Bits...

Somedays, okay, most days, I have so many ideas in my head that I can only formulate a small percentage.

Or I start to process the idea and the plan and then the day ends and I stall out. Later, I come back to it and wonder which direction I was going with it.

Do you do that? Start something with a clear end in sight and then loose steam or forget what your end goal was?

The point? I had a great idea for cutting and printing my digi stamps with Silhouette. A few weeks ago. I prepped them. Cut them, printed them. Thought about how there is a "how to tutorial" in there somewhere. Then I put them on my bench, the day ended, and I didn't make it back to them.

No coloring.

No card making.

They just sat there. Along with some other printed things. I now have a "to be colored" pile.

This weekend I succeeded in coloring a couple. I even made a card!

I really really like it. It's making me formulate some other ideas. Yup. I know. More ideas...like my head isn't stuffed full of them already :) If they ever make it to fruition...I'll be sure to let you know!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Rhoda

Being Nerdy...

Happy Tuesday!

We had a busy weekend. In between running errands, a Zumba-thon, duck hunting, and a volleyball tournament, I still managed some quiet time.

I went all "nerdy" with my blog and redesigned my logos and then the layout. What do you think? Each of the boxes at the top are now links to different parts of my blog. I have more ideas, and other things to work on, but want to make sure I have the time to sit down and do it right.

So much to learn and do, so little time.

The weather has cooled down a little. Unfortunately, the smoke is still hanging on. I'm not sure we will know how to act once the air clears up. We all might go a little wonky!

In anticipation of crisp clean mornings I made following digi stamp to share with you:

You can download this little fellow by clicking "here".

He will be fun to add to all those fall colored cards. I'm looking forward to coloring him myself...and hopefully some of the other designs that I have waiting in my studio. I'll get there eventually :)

Have a great day!

Rhoda

Carded

Cards.
I am back in the paper habit. My scrapbook room calls to me, and I answer :)

There have been new layouts.

New paper piecing sets.

And lots and lots of cards!

I submitted a couple of these to a publication call. Alas, they weren't chosen. But...that just means I can share them with you now!

Always,
Rhoda

Drawing, Drawing, Drawing...

Is it hot yet?

We are hitting the 90's here. The air is full of smoke. There is a fire somewhere up the valley, and maybe over the border in Idaho. Summer is in full swing.

I've been MIA. Traveling. Playing. Working. Drawing.

I am taking two online classes that are super intense. Usually, I end up sitting on my bum for two straight days just drawing. Trying to get it all done so that I can go back to playing.

We've put well over 800 miles on the car in the last 3 weeks.
Gone swimming.
Watched the Independence Day parade.
Fireworks set to music from each of the wars in the past 150 years.
Shopped the sidewalk sales.
Played in the river.
Eaten Hospice ice cream cones.
Been eaten by mosquitos.
Visited with family.
It's been AWESOME :)

My plan is to post some of my drawings when they are in am more finalized version. Or maybe a series from beginning to end. Depends on how they turn out. One class is comic drawing, the other is figure drawing. My brain is frying!

I did manage to make a new listing for the shop:

And I'm hoping to add a few more :)

Might even be something new to make from all of my scribbles, scratches, and attempted drawings in the past 3 weeks!

Happy July,

Rhoda

Coloring Always Makes Me Happy...

Just a quick pop in to show you what I have been coloring...

It was way more time consuming than I expected. Kyla and I have been sitting at the table most of the morning :) We aren't complaining though. Coloring is always fun!

The image is a blending of two digis from Saturated Canary. Keep checking in to see what I make with them...

Rhoda