Rubberband Balls & Yarn

Mixed Media Painting on Drawing Paper

Strathmore, (yes, the people that make paper) is holding online workshops by the popular Traci Bautista, the amazing Cathy Johnson, and Mike Matessi. I have signed up for two, and I have already completed two lessons and 3 pieces of artwork. I even joined the DoodlesUnleashed flickr group! The photos above are from Week 2, “Watercolor Backgrounds” , studio table and work in progress. I was a bit discouraged with the background, so I covered it with a layer of tracing paper. Then I repeated some of the shapes and lines underneath with paint pens and finished the composition with black. 

I thought it would be easy to “unleash” by doodling, freewriting and freedrawing with brushstrokes, etc. To tell you the truth it has been really challenging for me. I am not a doodler. I make art by starting out with thumbnails, I build pieces up by layers, and I am somewhat of a perfectionist. It’s hard not to “define” angles, lines, and subject matter. Overall, it has been a creative challenge that has actually taught me some things. You can see more info at my Strathmore page and you can see my workshop pieces here and here.

*update: blogger Chongolio posted about his workshop experiences today too.