I've been creating a series of December/Holiday tutorial videos over on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube! The tutorial posted for December 21, 2020, the Bethlehem Star Card, needed a template to simplify the project. The file below if free for your personal use. It will easily fit on the front of a 5x7 inch card. 

Please right-click on the image to download it. Please click on a link above to your favorite social media site to see a step-by-step video of the project. 

Happy Holidays!

When I started this page, it was to deal with some broken traditions I didn't want broken and to deal with the unhappy feelings and very negative vibes. But as I started adding the art, I began to realize that not all "broken traditions" were negative.

**Due to the nature of the less-than-positive things that happened this holiday season, I've opted to show you the page before I add the journaling.** However, some of the artwork turned out better than I could have imagined!

First Broken Tradition: "Am I Beginning Punished?"
Early in our marriage, the first time I ever gifted clothes to Chris at Christmas he wanted to know if he'd done something wrong. His version of being punished was to get clothes because "they're not fun." He wanted toys or something he could play with...unless they're something he WANTED.

Chris saw the guitar fabric when he was with me when I stopped into a quilt shop. I found the Real Tree® camo fabric a few days later and made the two scrub tops on the sly so he'd be surprised. Seems if it's something you choose, getting clothes for Christmas isn't such a bad deal!

Second Broken Tradition: "Please Tell Me You DID NOT Get Me A Vacuum For Christmas..."
No, I've never been gifted a vacuum for any reason...after all, Chris is still alive, isn't he? However, I did get a toaster, but there's a reason. I've often kvetched about our old toaster as it's not meant for bagels. You can just barely squeeze them in, but on occasion, the toaster decides to eat the bagels. It won't turn them loose and it turns them to charcoal briquets in short order. The problem with this is you NEVER know when it's going to have a snit-fit and burn the bagel.
It just so happened Chris was home when this occurred right before the holiday and he saw what the problem was. So we know have a bagel-friendly toaster that has a "High Lift Toast Boost"...so you don't have to burn your little fingers fishing your toast out of the slots.

On my page, you can lift the bagels out of the toaster via the small tab at the top and then push them back in. If I had been thinking, I would have made the handle go up and down at the same time, but I didn't think of it until it was complete. So, yeah, I guess getting appliances for the holidays are okay...when they're something you want!

Saving The Goofy Fun For Last
Last, but certainly the most fun (for me), was this fuzzy guy!
This guy showed up from California and I it just so happened that I'd already been working on a long, vertical format for another project. This guy was the perfect subject for a thank you card for the fun package that was chocked full of goodies.
You can't look at this guy and not giggle and it's nearly impossible not to play with him. I scanned the card before I sent it off and then printed it for the purposes of putting it in my journal. It's not quite as interactive as the toaster. I almost made an envelope for the card to rest in, but I was concerned it might not find its way back inside, so I compromised with a painted envelope.

While it wasn't strictly necessary to add the tab and the word, lift, I figured it would see more action if there was an invitation there. Below, you can see the full figure as well as the top portion of the card I made.
The figure is actually a pen and looks like a cross between Animal from the Muppets gang and Big Bird from Sesame Street...

And all of this serves as a reminder that if I look, a little bit, maybe even a lot, of good can be found in a bad situation. Please, make no mistake, my holidays were very fun and joyous, but there were some traditions that were broken and it's very sad to see them go. Journaling is simply my way of dealing with it.

While drawing round ornaments is very fun and satisfying, especially when we add in all the gorgeous details with a little bit of gold and glitter, after a while it can be great fun to explore other shapes and sizes. Using a little creativity and imagination, we can expand on the basic circle to make more exotic shapes!

To do this tutorial, you'll need:

• a circle template OR assorted bottle caps and jar lids in a variety of sizes
• pencil
• tracing paper
• permanent black pen
• watercolors
• eraser

Optional:

• gold gel pen
• white gel pen
• Other metallic or pearlescent pens and markers

Steps:
Draw a straight line on your tracing paper. This is your base line.
Choose a circle on the template or bottle cap. Resting the bottom of the circle on the straight line, draw a circle.
Then move either to the left or right and draw a second circle the same size. See example.
The further apart the circles, the more of an "oval shape" you'll get. Experiment with the width of the combined circles to see what you like best. Add a small rectangle and a circle for the top and you have your first ornament.

In the next example, choose a large circle or lid and again, using a straight line as your base, draw one half of the circle. The circle will be divided in half vertically.
Now move the template or cap and draw the other half so that it overlaps the first half as seen in the image below. Another way to do this is to draw one large circle on the tracing paper and then cut it in half. Overlay the edges until you are pleased with the shape. Tape the edges of the paper to hold the shape.


Make sure to use the straight line as your base to keep the sides even in length.  Add a rectangle, circle and string at the top and you have your second ornament!

One variation on this is to deliberately offset the second half so the "circle" is wider at the top than on the bottom. Play around by moving the template or cap around to get different shapes and lengths.







Moving to a more complex image, let's try stacking the circles to make a longer ornament:
After starting with the double circles like we did in the first example, I added a second row of three circles (second image). I then added a long spike. The second row of circles and spike are the same height as the large circle. This helps to keep things in balance, but it would be easy enough to go much longer with the spiked shape if you wanted to play.

In the last example, I used a row of three circles to get an extra wide ornament. I then added a second row of circles and the long spike shape. Last, I added another circle as a "dome" over the first row of large circles.

There are any number of combinations of shapes you can come up with with a little experimentation!

Let's Add A Little Paint

Since the ornaments are all drawn on tracing paper, turn the paper over and trace the outline of your ornaments onto the watercolor paper. Experiment with different arrangements by drawing thumbnails to quickly see what you like. Avoid drawing all the ornaments the same size and at the same level on the paper. I opted to split my ornaments into two groups to balance my page. Overlap the ornaments for more interest:
Next, paint around the ornaments with clear water and drop in some green watercolor paint. Keep an eye on the edges to keep them soft, as if they're fading away. While the paper is still wet, drop in other colors if you like.

Study a real bulb for ideas on where the shadows fall and where the highlights and lowlights are:

Notice how the lights are different on the frosted red ornament and harder on the shiny bobbles but they all have soft and hard lights in the shapes.

Playing around with color is half the reason I like painting ornaments so I dropped in red orange and pink. I used a granulating violet in the shadowed areas and left white skips for my highlights.

The way the image looks at the moment, it looks like the long ornament is in front of the smaller one. It takes a few tricks to move it to the front of the red ornament!

On the right side, I used cobalt teal blue and violet to paint in the ornament. I left the strip and smaller circles bare until the painted dried and then went back and added orange. I again used violet as my shadow color.

To make the two ornaments on the left look like they were overlapping, I painted the smaller ornament over the large one as if it were not there. After it dried, I added in the details in white pen on the larger ornament with a permanent ink. Once the ink dried, I washed over it with same watercolors we can see in the small ornament.


Technically speaking, there should be swirls on the backside of the smaller ornament, but I found out the hard way the ink in the metallic gel pen was not permanent and there was no way to add the swirls without lifting paint so I opted to leave them out.

If you've enjoyed this tutorial, I invite you to check out the free tutorial, "How To Sketch and Paint The Eiffel Tower," as well as "'Tis The Season Holiday Class" (just click the class title for more info!). We'll be creating awesome holiday art all year long and you can do as little or as much as you want based on the class option you choose.

And once again, I'd like to take this moment to send my wishes for the season's best to you. I hope your holidays are fun, happy, healthy and full of those you love!

From Paint A Festive Poinsettia Online Class

I'm always amazed at how fast the last three months of the year go whizzing by. I start September with the highest of hopes, believing I'm going to get oh, so much done. The next thing I know, I'm staring at the middle of December in the blink of an eye (or so it seems).

Then the pressure starts getting intense...do I have enough time to create a greeting card? What about some hostess gifts? Maybe a few pieces for my Etsy shop?

And then reality intrudes and I realize that once again, I've waited too late in the year to get started. The holiday card becomes a New Year's greeting card, the majority of gifts are store bought and Etsy gets ignored.

Ah, but not this year...or next, I should say!

Paint A Festive Poinsettia Online Class is now open! This class is also part of 'Tis The Season - Year Long Holiday Class over at the Imaginary Realm where you get to choose whether you take one class, three classes, or all of them!! 

Concept art for 'Tis The Season Holiday Class

Poinsettias have been nearly synonymous with the holidays since the early 1900s and because they're such a highly recognized plant, the artist can play with colors, shapes, sizes and it still reads as a poinsettia.

One of my favorite things about this particular plant is the complementary colors of red and green or pink and light green. These colors add a distinctive zing to the artwork that's hard to create any other way! Using an analogous color scheme is another way to jazz up the brilliant jewel tone colors of the leaves.

The Festive Poinsettia class covers drawing your plant on the page, making decisions on what to include and leave out, painting the plant, using your handwriting as fancy lettering and last, how to share your art by making a fun greeting card with a specialty cut and fold to make the edges of the poinsettia really stand out!

So if you're feeling a bit frazzled as you try to come up with an idea for the holidays, come on over and join me at The Imaginary Realm. Just think, this time next year, we'll have created 13 separate pieces of art without the usual stress and strain!

As always, please let me know if I can answer any questions!

Concept Art for 'Tis The Season

Have you ever noticed that the less time you have, the more inspired you are or is that just me?

Every year, when the temperatures begin to drop, the leaves begin to change, and the decorations start to show up and I find myself ridiculously inspired—I cannot wait to get into the studio to start creating. I have all kinds of art ideas dancing in my head!

Except...the hours in which to create are usual nowhere to be found.

With all the extra activities going on in November and December, finding or making time to create can get tricky. I find myself up at some absurd hour in the morning or burning too much midnight oil in the hopes of getting something finished in time to use it for this year's holiday season. Sound familiar?

And every year as I scramble to get together an idea for a card to send to family and friends, I vow this is the last time I'm going to do this. Instead, I set a goal that I'll create a piece of holiday art every month so I won't be scrambling in December. Inevitably, or so it seems, as the year steams into the last few months of the year I realize that once again, I've not followed through on my plan and I'm scrambling to come up with some holiday art.

However...this year is going to be very different! Because you and I are going to be making holiday art ALL YEAR LONG! 

Introducing 'Tis The Season, An Online Holiday Class!

Here's the super cool thing about this class—the lessons will come out once a month for the year and there are three different class options that allow you to choose what works best with you. You'll also have a minimum of a year with the materials and depending on the class option, up to two years! If you're traveling when the lesson drops, don't worry. It will be there waiting on you when you're reading to start creating.

In addition, these classes are all about the studio and taking our time. There will be an art element as well as a lettering element to each class. The classes will be posted on the first Wednesday of each month and there's even a bonus class available! There will also be email reminders to let you know when the next lesson is available and to help keep you on track.

Come this time next year, you'll have a year's worth of artwork to choose from for your holiday card and gifts! Sound like a plan? Then come sign up!

You can get the details here. 

I look forward to creating with you all year long!

Dare I admit that I sometimes get bored with watercolors?! I hope that statement didn't scandalize you...but it's true. I compare a steady diet of watercolor to a steady diet of the same sandwich, made with the same ingredients everyday for lunch. After a while, my enjoyment starts to disappear and then it becomes something I do by rote without fully engaging in the activity (or eating) and that usually leads to a disaster as you should never ever attempt to paint with watercolors (or eat) unless you're fully engaged!

The beginning layout in white chalk

I love the look of chalk work and have done a little bit for myself. I recently stumbled across a couple of artists that do colored chalk work and it started me to thinking about my old pastel pencils and sticks laying in a dark drawer, forgotten. Queue the sad music...

So I went digging and finally unearthed the pencils and three sets of sticks...umm, I'm thinking there was some hanky-panky going on in the dark drawer because I'm pretty sure there were some pencils and ONE set the last time I looked! Maybe we should have queued the party music instead!

Adding color to the berries and putting down the first layer of white for the lettering

Next was the hunt for a dark/black journal and to my disappointment, I selected a journal from the Dyan Reaveley Dylusions line. I cannot recommend this journal as the binding was so tight on the book it couldn't be opened very far. When I added a little pressure, the binding (thread) popped and the front page tore away from the back where it was glued. Mind you, I didn't use a lot of pressure, it was just that tight.

Anyway, it's 8 x 8 inches which is a perfect size as you can work around all four edges and meet the middle while keeping your hand off the page. If you've ever worked with pastel or charcoal, you know what I'm sayin'. You start putting your hands on the page and you're gonna have a smeary mess in no time!

Adding the "greens" of the leaves...which also include blues, aqua, and violet

Once upon a time, I thought I was going to be a pastelist...until I fell into the wicked, web of watercolor and never quite escaped. I wanted to start out with something fairly simple until I familiarized myself with pastels once again as it has been a really, Really, REALLY long time since I used them.

I also wanted to incorporate the look of the white chalk. I think this piece could probably use more white, and I haven't yet decided if I'll try to add it in or if I'll just turn the page and do another piece. I'm leaning towards a new piece.

The piece as it currently stands...I'm thinking it's not finished.

This is as far as I've gone on the page and I'm thinking it needs a little something something...some more holly leaves, a few pieces of pine, a flourish, a _________________. Something. What do you think? Any suggestions?

While this is fun, and I have no doubt I'll do more, I will always go back to my ever faithful watercolors. I am curious to see what this latest exploration will influence my work with watercolors as my work with watercolors has influenced my approach to pastels.

What have you tried that's either new or new to you because you haven't picked it up in decades?! Please share!

I wish for each of you the season's very best delights!

I hope your hearts are full, your eyes aglow with joy and you're surrounded by love. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

Painted in 2011

I hope each of you find yourself with family, friends and love ones for the holidays, no matter what or how you celebrate.

I also wish for you some downtime so that you might savor the season's special moments without stress or worry.

I pray for safety for our troops and first responders scattered about the world, keeping us secure, and for their families as they celebrate alone. 

A tree? For me!?!

It's so shiny!

There's something on my head. It tickles.

Wonder if I can reach the shiny ball swinging down there, hmmmm....

I'm invisible and the humans can't see me!

Puncture marks on watercolor paper, copper foil and a custom card

Come and join me on Saturday, December 12th, from nine until noon, as we catch a little "Wave Action" in our sketchbooks!

I don't know about you, but I'm ready to take a break from all the decorating and shopping and head over to the beach.

The class will be held at Keeton's in Bradenton and you can find more info here.  We'll be working from photos and with regular watercolor brushes rather than waterbrushes.

Waves seem like a challenge until you break them down into shapes. Adding the foam and white spray at towards the end of the page are what makes the whole sketch sing!

I hope you can make it!

From my "Pineapple Journal" I made myself with Canson watercolor paper.

Savor The Season Watercolor with ink (writing)

I'd love to tell you I created this recently, but it was actually last year and I never got around to posting it.

I find myself in the same headspace this year as last—wondering where the last 11 months went and how I'm going to get everything done between now and December 25th.

My plan is to take this advice to heart and
s. l. o. w.    w. a. y.    d. o. w. n.

I may get less done, but my hope is that I'll enjoy the season more instead of suddenly finding myself in January, thinking, "Huh, where did December go?"

The inspiration for the cup came from a very "plain Jane" cup I've had forever. It's totally ivory without any kind of holly border.

It was kinda fun to transform such a simple cup into something festive. With its age showing, it reminds me of an old friendship that is often renewed during the holidays. (Hello, my old friend, I don't see you often, but when I do, I am reminded of all our visits over a cup of tea...)

Regardless of how we got here, we're here—we might as well make the best of it and enjoy the last month of 2015!

For those of you celebrating Thanksgiving this week, I hope you have plenty of family, food and fun!

For those scattered around the world, I wish you Happy Autumnal blessings (even if it's Spring where you live!).

I am so very thankful for the friends and family I have, for our good health, the window on the world provided by the internet that allows me to pursue my artistic passion and for the small, everyday joys that come my way.

Commemorating A Wild and Wacky Mother's Day

Ever go to Gatorland on Mother's Day?

Ever been to Gatorland...at all?!

Well, we have! We went this past Sunday with family and friends and it would not do but some of them just had to go zip-lining over the gator ponds!

The Zippers

And they all had a blast. So much so, that I've already heard discussion about a return trip though we'll probably wait for cooler temperatures—it was HOT! (And yes, I know this is Florida, the land of there perpetual summer!).

The park had plenty of alligators and crocodiles along with lots of other critters—panthers, bobcats, tortoise, parrots, budgies, snakes, spiders, herons, egrets, flamingos, ducks, wood storks, anhingas, a rookery,  and without a doubt, the most buzzards I have ever seen at one time! There were hundreds of them!

It was interesting to watch the shows. Most of them were quite comical and at the same time, they were sliding in a lot of education about the critters, their habitats, what kind of environment and food they needed as well as a good bit of common sense about how to avoid being lunch.

My sketch above was just a fun parody on the goofiness of the day! The folks that ran the zip line were great sports and did everything they could to scare the pants off all the "zippers." (At no point was anyone in any danger.)

My goofball having a great time. If you enlarge the photo, you'll see me as a pink blob doing some videoing on the right

The Great Blue Heron was the only thing I actually managed to sketch on location. Everything else was done from photos once we got home. I was too busy running around attempting to video those flying through the air with the greatest of ease.

The silver token has the saying, "See you later, alligator" on one side and the Gatorland logo on the other.

If you're after a slower pace and a glimpse of old Florida attractions, this is a fun place to visit. Unless you go zip-lining, it won't take you a full day to visit, but I think you'll be glad you did!

Tribute to a fun day Stillman & Birn Zeta Sketchbook Watercolor and ink

Valentine's Day has always been a minefield for dating couples or those who have just broken up or those who have just gotten together. Add that to the pressures of Madison Avenue to buy bigger, better, sparklier things and it becomes a hated holiday. And that pressure is also felt by those who are alone and would rather not be!

Chris and I don't ignore the holiday as we both feel it's nice to recognize each other, but nor do we get caught in the "Hallmark Trap" of trying to make it picture perfect with just the right card, gift and activities for the day.

As it turned out, this year's Day of Love came about as something a little more special than the usual with a surprise gift (for me, that I adore), a great movie (Kingman: The Secret Service), lunch with friends, discovery of a cool, new shop near the theater with some fun new finds for decorating our home!

Detail of journal page

They were giving out roses at the new store, so another surprise—two white roses. Not only have they opened, but Moby and her holy terror tactical team have left them alone! (UPDATE: I spoke to soon—we awoke this morning to find one of the roses visiting the floor.)

Lastly, we ended our outing at Ruby Tuesday's. We wanted to sit out on the patio because it was jam-packed inside and very, very noisy. After we were seated we heard others complaining about the 45-minute wait. Because we opted for the patio, which we had all to ourselves, we didn't wait at all!

That's when we remembered it was Valentine's Day. Oops. I assure you that had that little piece of info crossed either of our minds, we've gone home and rewarmed the leftover pizza.

Our waitress asked us how long we'd been together and of all the folks she'd served, we had been together the longest (22 years and counting).

I decided to put together a journal spread for the day and it became very busy, very quickly.

To help make the text flow…wait. Stop. Let me back up first.

The first thing I did was kind of a quick pencil layout where I wanted all the items. I then laid down a piece of the drywall patch* that I've seen used by others to help with the journaling.

I'm sad to say, it left a very nasty glue residue all over the page which would not be picked up by a kneaded eraser nor a plastic one. Grrrrrr!

Detail of the page

I decided to keep going, sans drywall patch, and just wing the journaling. To better help the text flow (which really had no flow), I decided to add the arrows in a different ink color.

I added the movie ticket, a logo from a bag from the new store and RT's logo to offset the art and journaling. It was a busy day and I kinda like that the page is busy as well.

After nearly completing the spread, I began to think of a few more things I wanted to capture and added them in yet another ink color.

A fabulous day all the way around!

I hope your Valentine's Day was a special treat as well.

*While the patch did not work out for me this time, I will try it again. If you want to give this a whirl, I STRONGLY suggest you adhere the patch to a piece of fabric (that you don't care about!) several times BEFORE you press it down to your page.

This is still on the table, but it's just in time to wish you the very best of the season however you make celebrate.

It has been a fun year, made more so by each of you. While we may not have all met in person, you each are near and dear to me and I sometimes wonder where I'd be without you.

Lucky for me, I don't have to know the answer to that.

Wishing you and yours plenty of merry, sparkly and bright!

Back in 2011, I did a "Christmas In July" eClass in the hopes that I'd be ready for the holidays before December 23rd…it didn't work. All I can say is that I had my cards ready!

I've decided to share how I painted a cat face for my Christmas card from that class as a thank you to the many wonderful artists that have passed through ImaginaryTrips.com as well as for those of you who may wonder about the class set up and what's included in a trip.

Below is the video demonstration and pdf handout from the class. Obviously, we don't have a private class blog to post our work to, but I think this gives you an idea of what the classes are like.

This could be used any time you wanted to paint a cat face (rather than just during the holidays) and there are ideas at the end of the video on how to make this even more Christmasy.

I hope you will find time during this crazy-busy time of year to add or keep some art in your life. I know for me, art helps to ground me when things get absolutely nutty.

Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

Merry Christmas!

The assignment can be found here.