Danielle Calabro

Some how I have been able to keep my creativity flowing, even with everything going on. I am calling this one, "Ladybug Landings." This is page 2 of the new sketchbook and try to my word, I tested out the watercolors. They worked great, didn't lead through at all. I also used water-based paint markers and of course my trusty Copic markers and pens. I did something a little different on this one. I wanted a little more depth so I added extra shading with multiliner pens.  I like the way it turned out, there are a few areas I would like to re-do but for the most part very happy with the way it came out. With a little more practice shading with pens and that won't be a problem anymore, of course we are our own worse critics.  Do you see the ladybugs? 

Doodle done with Copic markers, multiliners and pencil Last Friday I did a little shopping, got paid and needed to (wanted to) pick up a few things.  One thing was a smaller sketchbook, something that could fit in my purse. I always have to get the first page done right away so above is page one of my new compact sketchbook. I was hoping it would stand up to my Copic markers but unfortunately they bleed through a bit. I will be trying out  watercolors next to see how it stands up to the water. You should be able to check that out in a few days, that is if the kids don't come home with loads of homework every night.

I have wanted to do one of these for a while, I always see these really beautiful Mandala's on Pintrest so I figured I would give it a shot. The one thing I learned with these is a compass, ruler and protract are a necessity. I am not a patient person so the first part was the most painful for me. Finding the center of the page, marking it then using the protractor to set my ruler lines. After that drawing out the lines I grabbed the compass and drew the circles. Once complete I got to work.  I was a little afraid of putting color on it, I didn't want to use too many and mess it up. I tried to reuse colors through out the whole thing. I started this bad boy on Sunday, and I have to say I am very happy with the way it came out. Here are some close ups of the detail: Unfortunately I will have to put my art off for a few days, we have to finish a summer time school project that apparently will be graded (and yes, I did say Summer time project). We get to make a t...

There is a place in Orlando, FL called Leu Gardens , it has been well over 10 years since I have been there but I remember it like it was last year. It is magnificent, I remember walking around there for hours. When I was younger I would go there to photograph the flowers. Sadly I have lost touch with it, talking about it makes me want to go again, take my kids to one of the movie nights they have there. Go during the day and photograph some of the flowers all while listening to my children tell me how hot and bored they are, it's great to torture your kids with a little fresh air. Honestly I'm not sure how they will act bit hopefully they would enjoy it. I sat down last weekend and started this sketch and I finished it up last night, it reminded me of the times I use to go to the garden. I sketched this out in pencil then went over the sketch with my Micron pens and color was added with Copic markers. I am sure you have heard me say this before and I am going to say ...

After spending a while on Tangles I have decided to focus on how to handle watercolors more besides just using them for the backgrounds. I have always been a little afraid of watercolors because the can be so unpredictable, however I am finding that to be the best thing about them.  I am not a patient person so practicing is pretty much out of the question, with me, it's do or die when it comes to art. So instead of taking a scrap of watercolor paper I dove right into my new watercolor journal and sketched out my little bugs world and went right to painting it today after my hubby went to work. Of course I had to take a few breaks but it is finished.  Still trying to get the blending down but I am happy with the way it turned out. It was painted in watercolors and outlined with Microns, the little bit of white you see was done with my Uni-ball broad white pen. Of course I still don't have the right lighting so the picture doesn't do it justice. 

I originally started this garden with the intentions to do tangles on it and as you can see I changed my mind. I started with a watercolor background and used salt to add some little effects. Once the background was dry I drew out my little garden. I then painted it in with gouache, outlined and added some details to the plants and rocks. After staring at it for about 30 minutes I figured out what I was missing....some depth. To be honest I have been staying up so late lately that the last thing I wanted to do is get the paint out and then have to clean up a mess but I wanted to finish. I grabbed my copic markers and figured what the hell, lets see if they will work on top go the gouache and they did. All of the shading was done with Copic markers.

There is no pretty pictures in this post only the UGLY truth of how health care is more about getting the money and less about treating the person. This post will have absolutely nothing to do with art and everything to do with the screwed up health system. I am so disgusted with our so called health care system and I am going to explain why. A very close family member of mine woke with a headache the other night only to end up having a seizer, she said she was feeling better only to start having another one a little while later. Now I don't know every detail of what exactly happened that morning, I do know I received a call at 7:30 in the morning letting me know she was on the way to the hospital. This family member I speak of is a wonderful mother of 5, a foster mother of 2 other children, a wife and she works a regular job. Her family is not the type of family to sit around and let the government take care of them, not only that a few months ago they had their house burn ...

My art has changed over that year since I have started. I started with acrylics and have moved to smaller more detailed art. I still like playing around with the acrylics but I am still trying to find myself as an artist. I love doodling, I love watercolors and I love mixing them. I also love working with my Copic markers. I purchased a new compass last week and I wanted to put it to the test. I am not sure if any of you remember from an earlier post I had started a page with just the rectangle and had a bunch of white left. I decided to add to the page and this is what I came up with. I used Copic and Micron multiliner pens and filled the tangles in with Copic Sketch markers. I am not sure if this type of doodling will get me anywhere but it is defiantly a way to keep my creative mind flowing.  What do you do to keep your creative mind flowing?