| « | August 2019 | » | ||||
 |
||||||
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
Another assigned hymn to illustrate.
I had in my mind exactly what I wanted and had to search for just the right elements for reference material. I needed a hand (I used a photo of my own), a split rock (found photo on Pinterest) and a flower (which I edited so it looks nothing like the reference photo).
I colored this page with markers.
Ddd
We have had these kind of squirrels at our house for about 25 years - after our god was no longer with us.
This one is enjoying some slivered almond on the deck.
This year, for the first time ever, we have some new guys who have moved in.
We think they are California Gray squirrels. There are a lot of differences between the two, beyond the odd 'paint job' on this guy. He almost looks like he would be bristly like a hedgehog but It sure makes him blend in.
OLD SQUIRRELS:
climb trees easily, eat one nut or seed at a time holding it in their hands and biting off parts,have tufts on their ears, good wire-walkers, live in the trees, run with their tails down, will stand at the back window peering in to beg for nuts.
NEW SQUIRRELS:
have a harder time getting up trees, scoop up seeds by the mouthful and chew it up hulls and all, have smaller untufted ears, sometimes walk on wires by hanging upside down rather than balancing on top, live in burrow, run with their tails straight up like a chipmunk, will run and hide if they catch a glimpse of you in the window even if they are 20 feet away.
We saw that these were hanging out on top of posts so they could see around the area around the burrows so we make some that stood up higher. They like to get on top and remind you of meercats!
We call these guys 'Neuman' because they are the new men in the neighborhood.
Ddd
One of the groups I play with is all about creating cards and swapping them. We have been working our way though the alphabet (A is for .... B is for ....) and finally worked our way up to X. Ooooh that is a tough one.
I made a card using the one single wood block stamp I own for the theme X is for xylograph. And, yes, I had to look it up, too.
I used some table scraps to put together a collage card and included some X and O stickers to reinforce the 'X' theme.
Y and Z card Ideas were much easier to come up with. In fact, those were done, shown and filed away when we STARTED the alphabet series!
Ddd
For this hymn I borrowed from one of the Drawing 101 lessons I took a while back. One of the photos we were given to work from was called Dorothy Church and we drew it in pencil - learning aout multi-point perspective.
I used the same building - drawing from my own original drawing, but this time in ink.
Markers were used for the coloring.
Ddd
A new lettering lesson is in the queue for today:
EZEKIEL: Day #1 – Full Hearts – Intro
Here is another font based on the Basic Block Print. We are working in the book of Ezekiel this week so I have written out the book name in the new font.
This looks a little complicated so I’ll show you how easy it is to do (second graphic). There are 5 steps. 1) In pencil, draw a heart that is 5 units wide and 3 ½ units tall. The top point drops down ½ unit. 2) a rectangle that is 3 units tall and 2 units wide is layered over the heart at an angle. 3) Use the rectangle as a size guide to construct your block letter. 4) With ink, trace the outer edge of the heart and the outline of the letter where it rests inside the heart. Leave the overhanging parts of the letter (outside the heart) as unfinished lines. 5) erase the pencil guides.
EZEKIEL: Day #2 – Full Hearts – Alphabet
Here is a repeat of the instructions on constructing these letters. For consistency, I cut a heart hollow out of a piece of paper as well as the correct measurement of the rectangle. Then I could simply trace these ‘stencils’ with my pencil.
There are 5 steps, shown in the first graphic. 1) In pencil, draw a heart that is 5 units wide and 3 ½ units tall. The top point drops down ½ unit. 2) a rectangle that is 3 units tall and 2 units wide is layered over the heart at an angle. 3) Use the rectangle as a size guide to construct your block letter. 4) With ink, trace the outer edge of the heart and the outline of the letter where it rests inside the heart. Leave the overhanging parts of the letter (outside the heart) as unfinished lines. 5) erase the pencil guides.
EZEKIEL: Day #3 – Full Hearts – Crossword
Generally, you would not be writing out whole words with a font as complicated as this – although a title on a page or a keyword might be done. But I wanted you to get lots of practice, so today we will make a crossword.
EZEKIEL: Day #4 – Full Hearts – Scripture Writing
For writing out this scripture, I used the Full Hearts font as the first letter of each word and completed the remainder in 1x2 simple upper-case letters.
EZEKIEL: Day #5 – Full Hearts – Bible Page
The use of the font in my bible page is similar to yesterday’s scripture page. There are, however, three distinctions: 1) the hearts are tilted a bit, this way and that. 2) the hearts are colored as a background to the letters, which makes them easier to read. 3) I finished the words in script instead of print which adds more formality.
The heart from the Drawing Room was done on vellum, cut out and glued down with a dry adhesive.
That is quite a unique lettering style is it not?
Ddd
The other day my hubby called me to come look at the HUGE fungus growing off the side of some cement steps at the side of the house. Holy Smokes! This thing was at least 10 inches across.
Those perfectly round holes in it are a mystery but it kinda makes this look like a big face.
It's a little disconcerting - am I right?
Went out after a couple of days to see if it had grown bigger and it was completely shriveled up.
A true mystery.
Ddd
We spent a day at a local art festival. The venue had some lovely gardens that we wandered through when we needed a break.
I only had my iPhone to use for taking pictures and did a lot of editing when I got them back on my computer. I was pleased with how well they came out.
I was pleased with the focu and rich colors I got with my phone.
Ddd
With a hymn so familiar to all I wanted an illustration that had a lot of symbolism. I went with the hands of Jesus holding the earth and then turned the earth into a heart.
I references John 3:16 to tie it all together.
I used markers for the coloring.
Ddd
This is another hymn assignment that immediately brought an image to mind. I used a similar illustration in my bible quite some time ago with a scripture that refers to the cornerstone.
The original idea for the cross built into the corner was one I saw on Pinterest - I think it was for a conference advertisement but I am no longer sure about that.
This page is colored with markers.
Ddd
I took most of July off from this activity as I did not want to do 4 weeks of patriotic hymns. One was plenty.
When I saw the name of this hymn I immediately thought of the stacked up animals in the children's book: The Bremen Town Musicians. I don't remember what the book was about so no idea how well it fits, but I just wanted that illustration.
I colored using markers.
Ddd
Next lettering lesson is due and we've worked our way to Lamentations. Here are the 5 days of lessons:
LAMENTATIONS: Day #1 – Art Deco – Intro
The alphabet font we will focus on this week is based on the Basic Oval Print but is really a half-oval. You do not notice the overall styling too much in the upper case (at least with the letters used today). But you can definitely see the ‘art deco’ make its self-evident when we work in the lower case.
Work with an overall letter height of four units. Crossbars fall at the ¾ mark or down at the ¼ mark. The upper-case ‘I’ gets serifs even though this is not a serif font.
Try out these two words for a start and we’ll jump into the full alphabet tomorrow.
LAMENTATIONS: Day #2 – Art Deco – Alphabet
There’s that classic art deco look. Yesterday we did not see any styling evident in the upper-case letters we used, but now you’ll take note of the classic sweeping curves that open the B, D, P and R. The J and K share a different sort of opening sweep. Note the little overhangs where a half-oval crosses a straight line.
As to scale, the x-height is 3 units of the overall height of 4 units. The descender is only 1 unit.
Once again, we get a full set of numbers with this font.
LAMENTATIONS: Day #4 – Art Deco – Scripture
Today we will write another block of text – this time a scripture from Lamentations. With the scripture reference you get to practice working on a smaller scale – 2 units high with 1 ½ units as the x-height.
LAMENTATIONS: Day #5 – Art Deco – Bible Page
For this bible page in Lamentations I shrank my letters down to 2 units. You can actually get a lot of text in this font as it is compressed horizontally by nature.
My scripture selection worked well with the magnifying glass from the weekly Drawing Room lesson.
Have YOU tried any of these lettering lessons?
Ddd
Thanks to YouTube I was able to figure out on my own how to load my first quilt onto the longarm machine. Yay Me!
Then, with YouTube I was able to figure out how to set the stitch regulator as I wanted and baste the first section of the quilt sandwich. Hooray For Me!
And finally, I went to my class on Thursday and had hands-on training on the whole enchilada. We used a sample sandwich of plain fabric to practice a wide variety of free-motion fill patterns plus how to thread, change bobbins, fix problems (most user error) and maintain our machines.
So today... two days later... I approached the already loaded lap quilt, fired up the machine, gave it a new bobbin and thread cone, cleaned the rails, and adjusted the stitch regulator for 'the real deal'.
About an hour later, voila! It was fully quilted and ready to take off the machine. Another hour to trim it and bind it - label added - and DONE!
This quilt is from the book by Ricky Tims on Convergence Quilts which I had to order from a different library system. - Fascinating concept that had found me selecting about a dozen sets of fabric from my scores of fat quarters. I will be making MANY of these quilts. So easy with stunning results.
For the quilting, I did large rosettes in the four corners and then echoed ripples out about 3/4 of the way across the quilt in both directions. The ripples all cross one another and overlap at the center.
Theinner border was not quilted. The outer border got leaves and vines. I use this a lot on my domestic machine and I wanted to test with a pattern I was familiar with.
This quilt will go to the hospital's Passages program.
Ddd
We’re in for a real adventure this week!
PHILIPPIANS: Day #1 – Funky Print – Introduction
The alphabet we are creating to play with this week is based on the Basic Round Print. So you can easily see that relationship, I have written out the basic followed by the Funky Print with all the bells and whistles.
You can decorate your letters as you wish but do try to make changes from one letter to another to maintain the funky feeling.
PHILIPPIANS: Day #2 – Funky Print – Alphabet
Although this entire alphabet is based on the Basic Round Print, it is only a jumping off point. Many of the letter shapes have changed to suit the slightly whacky style. For instance, the ‘g’ and ‘q’ do not descend below the baseline and have severe curves in their stems. Both of the ‘j’s have a distinct back slant and the ‘u’s are almost closed at the top.
Begin by writing the Basic Round Print in pencil. Make changes to the letter shapes as you wish, then ink the NEW basic shapes with a very heavy pen. Finally, use a very fine tip pen to make funky decorations on your letters. To create some unity, I used some elements repeatedly (stripes, dots, triangles, flags, squiggles).
If you don’t like the way I have decorated a letter, just change it to suit yourself.
PHILIPPIANS: Day #3 – Funky Print – Going Digital
A crazy alphabet deserves an equally craze set of numbers. Note that these numerals use many of the same decorative elements as the alphabet.
PHILIPPIANS: Day #4 – Funky Print – Write It Out
This is the perfect alphabet to bounce off the baseline. Because of all the wild decorations I wanted to find a way to have a little bit of control so it would not look sloppy. I found that raising every other letter one unit off the baseline worked very well. Capitals and full-height lower-case letters are not bounced. I also added a bit of slant here and there. You could also add color for even more fun.
Your assignment today is to use your funky letters to write a scripture from Philippians for practice.
PHILIPPIANS: Day #5 – Funky Print – Bible Page
The task for today is to use your new Funky Print to journal a scripture in your bible. I used Philippians 3:14 and combined it with the trophy cup from this week’s Drawing Room tutorial.
There is much less bounce used here than on yesterday’s journal page. Instead, I used slanted letters and occasionally made a few letters smaller to accommodate the long words in the narrow margin. The good news is that, with this font, it allows a lot of leeway while still looking good.
What a ride!
Ddd
The consistent look of this lettering is all in the details. It looks deceptively simple but it does take careful attention to get it just right:
JEREMIAH: Day #1 – Bulging Rectangles – Intro
Getting the curved sides for these letters ‘just right’, is not as hard as one might think – thankfully.
Begin by using a pencil and making a box for each letter. Most will be two units wide by four units tall. (the letter ‘I’ is one unit wide while the ‘M’ and ‘W’ are four units wide.) Then draw the letter shape by making the corner start just on the inside of the dot and bulge to the outside of the dots and back into the corner on the inside of the dot. Repeat for all lines.
Note that there are a few straight lines (crosspieces on ‘E’, ‘A’ and ‘H’) and a few overhangs (center of ‘E’ and upper left of ‘M’). Tomorrow we’ll see more of these but these will get you through this introductory word.
JEREMIAH: Day #2 – Bulging Rectangles – Alphabet 1
Review of the process of making the Bulging Rectangles Font: Begin by using a pencil and making a box for each letter. Most will be two units wide by four units tall. (the letter ‘I’ is one unit wide while the ‘M’ and ‘W’ are four units wide.) Then draw the letter shape by making the corner start just on the inside of the dot and bulge to the outside of the dots and back into the corner on the inside of the dot. Repeat for all lines.
Note that there are a few straight lines (crosspieces on ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘E’, ‘F’, ‘G’, ‘H’, ‘J’, ‘X’, and ‘Z’ plus uprights on ‘D’, ‘I’, ‘M’, ‘Q’, ‘T’ and ‘Y’) There are a few overhangs (center of ‘E’, ‘F’, ‘G’, ‘Q’, ‘X’, ‘Y’ and ‘Z’ plus the upper left of ‘M’ and ‘N’).
Because of the unique construction of this set of letters you’ll need to match them with numbers and punctuation. So those are included as well. Study those for the straight lines, and overhangs that make them fit with the alphabet.
JEREMIAH: Day #3 – Bulging Rectangles – Alphabet 2
I wanted you to have something to use as a lower-case with the main alphabet so I developed a similar bulging half-size font. After I put this together, I realized that it works very well on its own as well.
The general shaping is done the same as on the larger font but the size of the letters is 2x2. The exceptions are, again, the ‘I’ at 1x2 and the ‘M’ and ‘W’ at 3x2.
JEREMIAH: Day #3 – Bulging Rectangles – Alphabet 2
I wanted you to have something to use as a lower-case with the main alphabet so I developed a similar bulging half-size font. After I put this together, I realized that it works very well on its own as well.
The general shaping is done the same as on the larger font but the size of the letters is 2x2. The exceptions are, again, the ‘I’ at 1x2 and the ‘M’ and ‘W’ at 3x2.
JEREMIAH: Day #5 – Bulging Rectangles – Bible Page
Use either, or both, of the alphabets to journal a scripture in Jeremiah in your Bible. I had a fairly short block of text to write so I was able to use the taller letters quite effectively.
The shape of these letters made me think of how you could hold them in two hands (especially the M and W) so that led to the pairing them with the binoculars from the Drawing Room.
I did use the smaller letter set for the scripture reference at the bottom of the page.
Wrapping up another week of lessons! Keep practicing.
Ddd
The second challenge issued by the card group mentioned yesterday was to create a card with shades of blue.
Again, I worked mainly from what I could find in the scrap bin on the desktop except that I started with the round sticker that is the focal point. This gave me the tonal range of blue I wanted to work with.
Scraps were arranged in stripes with a further scrap being circle-punched.
I used some flowers and scrap dots from the same sheet to build some trailing plants for which I made stems with blue marker.
When I was done, the bright pink of the flower was too harsh on it's own so I added rhinestones of the same color to the centers of the silver flowers.
Challenge met!
Ddd
It's been a long time since I created a card using a sketch. I usually just wing it!
But a group that I am a member of issued a challenge to make a card using a specific sketch.
I started with the photograph that I took many years ago while visiting out of state. Then I keyed all my colors off of that palette - digging materials out of the scrap bins on my desktop. Everything was leftovers except for 1) the light speckled background which I created a while back by using it to dab up the bits of leftover paint and ink on my worksurface while watercoloring 2) the ribbon which I opened a new roll for and 3) the word stickers.
On the original sketch, the word stickers would have been wro circle elements.
Ddd
I have been gifted with a longarm quilting machine! We drove up to central Washington in the middle of July to disassemble it and transport it back home. Then we had to wait until today for the service techs to do the reassembly and add a few features.
Now I have to wait for a new power cord for the computer and then for August 15 when I can take a class.
I have never laid hands on a longarm machine before and I don't want to break anything! I don't know how to load a bobbin, thread the machine, or anything.
I plan to spend a lot of time watching various YouTube videos to bring me up to speed.
I named it Sasquatch (Squatch for short) because it has a big footprint (bigfoot print)! The frame is 12 feet long and 4.5 feet deep. It has a 26" sewing head on it.
You'll no doubt be hearing a lot about this in the future - or at least seeing a lot of the resulting quilts!
Ddd
I find it hard to believe that this is week 30 of this progressive learning of lettering series. But, because many weeks (like this one) contain more than one alphabet, I have totally lost track of the total number that have been taught. Here are the daily lessons for this week:
ISAIAH: Day #1 – Quirky Prints – Intro
We are going to work with a couple of quirky print styles this week. In this introductory piece you will find the book of Isaiah written out in each using an all-caps and an upper- and lower-case.
The styles are similar with their curled ends but the letter forms often change up. The first letters are closer to standard print and the second alphabet adds open circles to the line ends and hash marks on the long lines.
ISAIAH: Day #2 – Quirky Prints – Alphabet 1
This is the full alphabet for the first of our quirky prints. Get relaxed with those sweeping curls on this casual style.
Although the sample shows the lower-case smaller, the actual size of it is ½ of the full letter height. I made them smaller to conserve space on my paper! Also, note that the letter forms sometimes break out of the confines of their normal baseline and ascender lines. To demonstrate this, draw in a baseline and ascender on the sample.
In use on a project, this is a good alphabet to bounce off the baseline for added interest.
ISAIAH: Day #3 – Quirky Prints – Alphabet 2
The second alphabet is similar to the first but many of the letter forms are changed (see the ‘a’ in both alphabets). In addition, the curls end in little open circles as do many of the other lines. We also add two or three hashmarks on the letters for a little ‘zippiness’.
I used black and red pens to differentiate between the capitals and lower-case letters. AND you get a set of numbers to go with them.
This font also looks great when bounced off the baseline.
ISAIAH: Day #4 – Quirky Print 1 – Writing Scripture
Today we will practice using one of the new alphabets to write scripture. I used the first form introduced and kept it more formal by maintaining the baseline.
Note the change in the letter ‘Y’ where I shortened the main ‘v’ of it. Remember, you can always make an alphabet your own by editing the letter forms to suit yourself. Just remember to use them consistently throughout your piece.
ISAIAH: Day #5 – Quirky Print 2 – In Your Bible
Whichever of this week’s alphabets you did NOT use yesterday will be used today in your Bible. This alphabet 2 combines nicely with a casual script, a sketchy double-lined print and a controlled formal script.
I used different coloring on the various parts of these letters, echoing the colors in the drawing.
Quirky letters, indeed! Right?
Ddd
I didn't realize how closely the lyrics of the chorus of this hymn reflect the verses in Lamentations3:22-23.
I didn't have any inspiration for illustrating the lyrics so I filled with hand-drawn flowers which I colored with markers.
I love finding little cross-references like this!
Ddd
Here is a nice departure from the standard lettering!
COLOSSIANS: Day #1 – Icon Blocks – Intro
This week we are going to have some fun experimenting with the insertion of little icons into Basic Block Letters. The block alphabet I am using is a casual mix of upper- and lower-case letters.
For this sample I have used tiny fruits to substitute for the holes in letters that usually have one and as an added layer on other letters.
I colored in the fruits as well as the base letters.
COLOSSIANS: Day #2 – Icon Blocks – Alphabet
You can see in this full alphabet how the icons fit into the design of the letters. In case you find it difficult to distinguish the fruit shapes as they are layered, I included a line of them separately.
It is often useful to have a number style included but I would not use the icons on these.
When using the letters in writing of text, keep in mind that you can use whatever fruit you want on whichever letter. No rules! Also, keep in mind that the fruit on the letter B can be colored as either a lemon or a lime. The fruit on the letter I can be a slice of lemon or an orange. The same is true of the fruit on the E. The fruit on the C can be an apricot, peach or a red or purple plum. There are many colors of apples, so pick your favorite.
COLOSSIANS: Day #3 – Icon Blocks – Other Icons
Fruit is not the only icons you can use on your block letters. Try a few words using the icons shown below. What other icons can you think of to use?
COLOSSIANS: Day #4 – Icon Blocks – Word Layouts
This lettering style is a very nice one to overlap and let them bounce around off the baseline.
In the first sample I overlapped the letters – always with the letter to the left tucked behind. I also changed the icons to buttons and then added little ‘stitches’ around the letters. This might be fun to use with Colossians 3:12 – “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
On the second sample I still overlapped the letters but I kept the baseline more consistent. When the second line was penciled in, I made the tops of those letters conform to the bases of the letters above. This set got the wonky stars icons.
COLOSSIANS: Day #5 – Icon Blocks – Bible Page
For my Bible page I reverted back to the original design with the fruit filling. I did overlap my letters and let them bounce off the baseline. I combined the Icon Block lettering with a plain script that would not compete for attention.
The fruit in the illustration can be found in the Drawing Room tutorial(s) for the week. There you will learn to draw the apple, the pear and the grapes!
I had a lot of fun with these Icon Block Letters. How about you?
Ddd
