Index Card a Day 2023 (ICAD) - weeks 5,6 and 7

Here's a round up of weeks five, six and seven of ICAD 23.  Above is: Evergreen; Playground; Charcoal (another of my somewhat grumpy charcoal faces); Cottage.

Perspective; Summer and Astronomy (an inked 'galaxy' background).

Week six was Imaginary; Metallic (using an embossing folder and silver card with black acrylic paint brushed on and them wiped off); Zodiac; Levels (another embossing folder)...

...Chandelier; Float or Buoy (using magazine collage); Trivia.

Week seven had Patina (using an embossing folder and acrylic paint dry brushing); Repeat (using one of my hand carved stamps, made from an eraser); Millefleurs; Wabi Sabi (which I chose to interpret using darning)...

...Vermilion; Raindrops and Focus.

Two more weeks to go and the challenge is over for another year.
 

Clematis

My clematis are enjoying the somewhat changeable weather this month and I love to see them flowering happily.  Above is Clematis Venosa Violacea which is sprawling over the winter flowering honeysuckle.

Clematis Perle D'Azur mingled with Rose New Dawn on the arch.

It's a pretty combination.

Clematis Princess Kate is romping up a tripod. 

Whereas Clematis Prince Charles is attempting to dominate the trellis.

Herbaceous Clematis Arabella is adding the the colour in the north facing border.

Clematis Blue Angel is hidden at the back of the north facing border, but is growing alongside Rose William Shakespeare 2000.

I seem to have a collection of blue/purple clematis now (with the exception of Princess Kate).  In the past, I have had many others with redder flowers, but these are the ones which have stayed with me.  I also have some herbaceous clematis which are just starting to flower, so they will get a mention in a future post. 

Index card a Day (ICAD) 2023 - weeks 3 and 4

Here are the next two weeks' of ICAD.  Above, Seaglass; Alphabet; Sunflower and Xylophone. Inks, paint and magazine collage featured here.

Violet; Tranquility and Postage Stamp.

Unexpected and Enchanted Forest.

Inside Unexpected is a surprise...

...and a unicorn is hiding in the Enchanted Forest.  This one took a while as I kept changing the opening sections, cutting bits out, then putting them back.  I used a tree stencil with some inking as well as paper from a paper pad with the starry sky and the unicorn stamp which was embossed in silver. I finished it with lots of stickles (glitter glue).  It got there in the end!

Bubbles; Dictionary (using a piece of dictionary page with the word 'dictionary' circled; Indigo and Pinball.

Finally for now Asanoha, which is a traditional Japanese pattern based on a hemp leaf inside a hexagon. Thanks to the internet for this and for how to draw it too!

Some of these prompts are certainly giving me a challenge but it's an enjoyable one.
 

Wanderlust 2023 - weeks sixteen to twenty-three - Pens

I have enjoyed finding out what different pens can do; watercolour pens, permanent markers, acrylic paint pens and drawing pens.  Above was the first week of 'pens' and we used permanent pens (like Sharpies) on tracing paper to layer up an image. I let myself go to create the swirly background patterns, which was fun!

We used acrylic paint pens on a gel plate to make our own collage paper and then created a collage.

Using acrylic paint pens meant we couldn't be perfect, so these quirky faces were enjoyable - the pressure was taken off.  

Watercolour pens created these pretty flowers.

Paint and stencils created the background and we then had to find faces and bring them out with paint pens - again, no trying to be perfect!

Continuous line with a brush pen and ink drew the rocks and then we added collage papers also created using pen and ink and paints.  I found this really relaxing to do.

Collage for a background and using acrylic paint pens through a stencil started this page. We then added botanical silhouettes with a paint pen. 

Finally, in the 'Artful Musings' series where an artist (in this case, Amy Maricle - Mindful Art Studio) discusses their processes, we used watercolour to created a background. The emphasis was on slow lines, adding or removing pressure from the brush to create the thickness of the line.  I loved this and have since signed up for two of Amy Maricle's classes - The Simplest Things journal and Little Book of Wonders.  I have also bought her book, Draw Yourself Calm, as her slow drawing really captured my interest.

The course now moves on to Sprays and Mists.