I fussed & fussed over this paper. Beth started it with a "Beach" theme. But that's not what it's becoming. And given the mountains (which I love) and the flowers (which I also love), it was not feeling very beach like. I couldn't come up with a thing all month & then some. I kept hearing, "The Atchison, Topeka, & The Santa Fe" a train song, but in Harry Connick, Jr's version on the album 25. I cut trains out to collage onto the paper, I tried to place a train track, but no. They didn't feel right. So I sat in front of it with colored pencils and markers. What to do? What. To. DO?!
 Colored Pencils. My medium. |  Markers. Got em out. Didn't touch em. |
Then I recalled many an inspired day watching Commander Mark on PBS.
Remember him? Fun! Enthusiastic! Encouraging. Aliens, planets, secret hide-a-ways.
Remember him? Fun! Enthusiastic! Encouraging. Aliens, planets, secret hide-a-ways.
So I grabbed my pencil & swooped & looped like Commander Mark would do. I didn't think. Just let the pencil lead me. I always used to think he knew what he would draw before he did it. But now, I wonder if he didn't just trust his marker & let the marker take him where it wanted to go on the drawing. My swooping resulted in a river that wandered into a waterfall. Wow, I found a way to connect the mountains to the flowers!
Starting a river. There were mountains, flowers and a moon. The river had yet to run through it.
 Adding base color |  Giving the water movement. |
Adding white, the faster flowing water. Starting the waterfall feel at the bottom front of the page.
Layers of blue hues & black/graphite to enhance corners & the swerving feel of a winding river.
The final effect. River to waterfall. Waterfall over Hawaiian flowers. Enhanced Moon.
I'm really happy with the results. I couldn't have planned this. I'm really glad I just let my pencils go to work. I feel like I achieved a good sense of 3-d with just a flat piece of paper. That in and of itself is an accomplishment in my book. Yay me! (remember to congratulate yourself after a job well done. You'll then encourage yourself to improve!)
