French Bulldog and the Devil's ivy
This little fellow was wrought the other day when I was back in my studio at my work for the first time in a bit. Having been dealing with a serious illness in the family has meant cobwebs in the studio.
When I'm uncertain where to begin I always return to my favourites: animals and plants.
And this little fellow came up. I sketched him first roughly then scanned him ,per usual, and decided to digitally ink him simply. In so doing I realized he'd make a pretty good coloring book page.
So I went in with the heavy outline and finer detail in the center.
The "Devil's Ivy" is of course the ever popular house plant the Pothos.
To test out my own theory of a joyful coloring book page, I did Indeed coloring him in myself using my oil pastels in my style I love.
Obviously I 'colored him' more in the way I love to paint, but of course it was fun and indeed meditative as I think many adults find coloring pages.
It was then that I thought I might go down this road, the digital coloring pages, as right now I need that simple focus on things. So, I'm excited to have this little guy ON things as I usually do (prints, shirts, housewares, wall murals etc) but that I might want to dip my toe back into Etsy.
I was doing a little investigating there yesterday, after art time in my studio, and see that indeed digital downloaded coloring book pages and other things such as journal pages, planners, even sticker layouts (which I would LOVE to make). So, I might have a little go at that.
Do any of you use etsy for digital downloadable work? If so , have you found it worth your while? Have you found it enjoyable or rewarding?
However you slice it, doing this new series of animals and plants will most likely give me what I need right now: Simple Joy. In these uncertain times, the more streamlined, simple and quietly focused one can be on simple moments of joy are probably very much needed. With who knows WHAT is coming this Autumn, I think coloring book pages and Zen moments of colorful contemplation might be a happy distraction.
I hope all of you find a moment in your day to find some simple joy.
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