Inspiration from our community and ideas for mark making below!

“Cyclical! What fun and a great prompt for me to make my favorite shape, a spiral! I put a few different color paints down and loaded them onto a small plastic knife from a takeout order, which I then used to create the spiral in several sections. I did the same opposite it on the back of another sketchbook page and although it looks like I created that mark by closing the book and opening it with the wet paint from the first, it actually was its own knife painting!" - CLAUDIA

“In the same theme of cycles and coming back to things I had a watercolor painting for months which was really just green and yellow washes. I hadn't intended to end the painting there but at the time my husband said he liked it as is so I popped it in a frame and stuck it in his studio. However every time I passed it I thought to myself that painting is not done or there's more to be had there so I took it out of the frame this weekend and put it back on my table. Later that day I was looking for something in the desk drawer and I found these strips of post-it notes in different colors so I added them to the painting, glued them down and then made marks with a purple paint pen over them. I kind of like it (well it's no great shakes but I do like the idea that I have transformed it from something that was into something else and who knows where it may yet still go!)" - CLAUDIA I love that sentiment, “who knows where it may yet still go!” So true and what I think makes the creative process fun and interesting! 

"Ink and watercolor. I played with the gesture drawing technique (linked in the CS newsletter) by creating a loose, scribbly sketch without lifting the pen off the paper. I started by looking at some pictures of my cat, Bacon. Then, I added a figure and a tree. I decided I wanted some color and used watercolors for that purpose. It was a fun exercise. Bacon has to check out his portraits and pose with them. 😂" -MITZI I love it when Bacon makes an appearance!

SABRINA has been catching up on the prompts and it's been great seeing the ideas she has had for them. I love the use of the black outlines in this piece!

“Setting suns with watercolor, shimmers, acrylic.” - KAREN 
I find these shapes and colors to be very calming and love the addition of the shimmer!

My initial idea was to overlap different colors to see how they would turn out. I like how it represent different phases we go through—how there are same things that repeat but also how we have new experiences that add new colors to our lives. I didn’t go into this with a totally clear vision or plan so tried things and adjusted as I went on along. There are some things I wish I did a little differently but I do like the addition of the gold and bronze paper as well as the black background! 

Jackson Pollock, an action painter in the Abstract Expressionism movement, was known for putting his canvas on the floor and pouring paint straight from the can or trailing it from the brush or a stick. It reminds me how there are so many different ways to create a mark! For example, with a pencil or a brush you can make dots with the end of it, roll the entire tool into paint then stamp it onto the paper, or drag the entire brush across the paper.

 

As we continue our creative practice, try new and different ways of making marks (you can even dedicate one sketchbook page to this where you can create marks and jot down notes on what you did or just test things out.) 

 

Here are a few other ideas you could try: throwing cotton balls dipped into paint, flicking/splattering with palette knives and toothbrushes, hanging a brush and swinging it, using the wheels from toy cars and trucks, taking every day items and found pieces of nature to use as stamps, dipping marbles in paint and letting them roll around, using a fork or other utensil to apply paint.

 

Think outside the box, tap into your curiosity, get a little messy, and have fun with it! :)

I hope you're finding cool things--literally and figuratively--to do with ice! I'll be working on my page this week (still sorting through some ideas) and will talk to you on Friday for our 4th Creative Kickstart prompt! 

 

Take care and have a great rest of your week!