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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

turning a doodle into art

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Last week I shared some of my own personal art that hangs on the wall of our home and I am going to continue with that theme here and there for a couple more weeks to share a little more about what kind of art I create for my own living space.

In the midst of preparing for our new family member we have been organizing and moving things around (I'll show you our progress soon) and my office space has been relocated to our bedroom and I needed a nice big piece of art to hang above my desk to tie the rest of the room together.


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I decided to take some of my line drawings of pattern and paint them really big to fit a large canvas. This is what lots of people call doodling but in my humble opinion it is simply drawing. It can be challenging, it takes lots of time, understanding of shape, how to use lines and how best to use space.


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I always start with an idea- typically drawn out on a sketchbook page for practice.


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And then using a small brush and acrylic paint mixed with a little water, I begin free hand painting my pattern on the canvas that I had painted with a layer of light celery green paint.


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I add lots of little details.
Since I wanted more of a line drawing without color I used those tiny details and lines to establish visual interest and dimension.


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It takes time, lots and lots of time to work this way with a tiny bush


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and patience, lots and lots of patience to fill a large surface.


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Over time things start to develop and look like an pattern on the surface.


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And when it is finished it is a great piece of art to hang!


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34 comments:

  1. That is lovely! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Love it :) It's really beautiful, and looks great in the wall. Of course, I'm partial to artwork with tons of little details. Yes, takes lots and lots of patience!

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  3. I'm new to your blog Alisa, and LOVE it so far. You are so talented and look insanely beautiful and glowing at 28weeks, Congratulations.

    This is a beautiful doodle art, I love it. It's huge, no wonder it took so long to do. I have been wanting to start painting and drawing again, and HOPEFULLY with ALL my kiddos starting school finally in a couple weeks, I will have time to do just that.

    Thanks for the inspiration, and CONGRATULATIONS on your new shop, it is awesome, and of course that book. It sounds amazing.

    p.s. I am hosting a big party celebrating my one year since blogging, and would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, if you had an extra copy to contribute??? I'd be all over reviewing the book too, since I can't really sew, and breaking all the rules sounds like it's THE ONLY way I'd be able to do it, lol.

    Anyway, hope to hear back from you.

    Have a wonderful day!!!

    Stop by anytime to say hello!!!
    Hugs, Bella :)
    **AMAZE ME AUGUST** @ Bella Before and After Any projects, recipes, diy welcome.
    **PARTY PLANNING TUESDAYS** @ Euro Style Cakes. All your party planning tips, decorations, invitations, and recipes welcome at my NEW party.

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  4. Just Beautiful! And an act of patience to be sure!

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  5. Love. it!!! Simple but gorgeous!

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  6. This is just so beautiful and inspiring!

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  7. Love it - the colors are perfection!

    I do have a question: do you prime the canvas with something (e.g. gesso) before you paint with acrylics? In one of the photos, it looks like the canvas has a shiny flat finish rather than the "raw" canvas texture.

    Thanks so much for sharing this work - makes me want to convert one of my doodles to a larger format too!

    All the best - Chris

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  8. What an beautiful piece! I love the composition...and the color. My favorite color is blue. :) You are so super creative. Love reading your blog!

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  9. Très belle oeuvre... Toutes mes félicitations... Elle se marie parfaitement avec vos bouquets.
    Gros bisous

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  10. That is really cool! I love the color and the size canvas that you chose.

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  11. Ah! Wow, that's so pretty! I've taken my doodles before and made them into art by scanning them into photoshop and doing crazy stuff like compartmentalizing parts of the image and adding effects and filters to it to make it look super abstract... but this is really just taking it to a whole new level since you're putting so much time and effort into it! That's awesome!

    -Carly
    www.createliveblog.com

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  12. Awww, so cute! Congrats on being patient enough to actually finish it! ;-) by the way, what are u having, a boy or a girl?

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  13. Gotta say I just love your desk!!!

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  14. Beautiful, I would be proud to own that piece. Talk about a lot o work but it looks like it was worth it.

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  15. Beautiful art and very effective!

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  16. Alisa, That is AWESOME!
    LOVE the colour and very inspiring. I'm thinking a doodle artwork is in my future.
    THANKS so much for posting this!

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  17. Love the color and the detail. It looks wonderful!!

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  18. Gorgeous! Your patience paid off!

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  19. That "doodle" fits perfectly in that space. So pretty..

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  20. need more time to draw! I congratulate you on this piece of art! is beautiful and very feminine. Evelin.

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  21. I really enjoy your blog and your art! So does my 2-year-old daughter. She is obsessed with watching your painting videos. Its the first thing she wants to do each day and she'll come up to me several times asking to watch the "bideos." Yesterday she wanted a few then JUST HAD to go paint at her easel! You're inspiring new little artists!
    Thanks for sharing your gift with us.

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  22. beautiful! as always.. your desk area is so neat.. so so envious! I need to take lessons from you! xo hugs

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  23. How inspiring!! Love this!!!

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  24. Wow! You are very talented in the field of art. Very creative

    Cassy from Acoustic Guitar Lessons

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  25. So why exactly don't you have a fabric line??? :)

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  26. I love that piece - the blue palette is so pretty.

    xo
    Cortnie
    http://tinyparticlesoflight.blogspot.com/

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  27. Beautiful work, Alisa. I so love your doodly-drawings and this colourway is so pretty :)

    I saw some big canvases just today and my creative cogs went crazy thinking what I could do big and messy and doodly!

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  28. I have the same question as Chris - the surface you're painting on looks shiny - my canvas isn't! What's it primed with?

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  29. Kittyj10:43 PM

    AWESOMO!!!

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  30. Thank you for sharing this with us. I love that this is done all in one colour.

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  31. You are so awesome to share these tutorials with us. You give me so much more confidence in trying new artistic creations. Thank you

    ♥Lee Ann

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