Entries Tagged as: red

Work in Progress with Red

August 24th, 2011, Comments (2)

I got started on a mixed media piece yesterday, sneaking in some art time after my little girl fell asleep. She's not sleeping through the night yet, but she's sleeping a good chunk (usually 3-5 hours, once it was 7.5!) for the first part of the night, which if I'm not exhausted, gives me a bit of time to create. I'll take it!

This is just a piece of the collage, which will be a background for the painting that will soon be going down on top of it. It's made up of handmade paper, bits of rice paper I'd stamped with leaves, stamps, or stencils, old book pages, and blueprints. The splashes of red fit oh so nicely into the red theme. Ah, it felt so good to play with collage again!

Half-morning in photos

August 19th, 2011, Comments (8)

A snapshot of my Wednesday morning in photos, including a lovely red flower!

The morning moon hung like a whole note in the sky.

A parachute red flower turned alien pod.

My tuning fork legs led the way.

Mid-morning nap.

How was your morning?

p.s. I'm leah_art on instagram! Also, here's a great article on taking pictures with your phone.

Using Red to Express Emotions

August 16th, 2011, Comments (8)

I tend to go through phases with colors. Blues are a constant, but I've also had phases where reds and oranges play a larger part in my work. This past year, while pregnant, I found red to represent a connection to life and blood. But prior to this year, I've used reds to express intense emotions, anger, passion, or just plain old fire.


It feels good to let emotions out in paint. The Red Bear painting I shared at the beginning with this month's theme post is a prime example of that. I was feeling supremely frustrated that day. As I painted intuitively, the red bear appeared.

At other times, I've enjoyed painting with reds in a more abstract manner. Red feels so powerful and intense!

How have you used reds to express your emotions in art?

Drawing One-Armed

August 4th, 2011, Comments (13)

With red in mind, and a baby in one arm, I managed to doodle a bit last night in my sketchbook. Intuitively playing with caran d'ache pastels in reds and oranges and pinks, this woman with an umbrella came along. Hooray for creating, even if it's one-armed!

Creative Every Day Theme for August: Red

July 31st, 2011, Comments (9)

At the end of each month I will announce the totally optional theme for the following month. For the month of August 2011, the theme will be Red.

As always, this month's theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge is totally optional. Use it if it inspires you, continue being creative every day in your own way if it doesn't, or do something in between. You can sign up for the 2011 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime. More info can be found here and the sign-up page is here.

I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month on the blog to help keep you inspired. You can use the posts here for jumping off points or interpret the theme in your own creative way. If you need some suggestions, here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:

  • *Have a red-themed day: Paint your nails red, dress in red, eat red foods. .
  • *Take your camera out for a walk and capture whatever you see that's red: houses, fire hydrants, flowers...
  • *Write about a moment that's made you turn red with embarrassment.
  • *Paint with firey strokes and colors.
  • *Create art by candlelight.
  • *Use the movements of blood in your body as your inspiration.
  • *Crush berries to make your own paint.
  • *Work in a medium that requires heat, such as encaustic.

How to use the CED themes:

If you're feeling creatively stuck or blocked at any point during the month, use the theme as a source of inspiration to get you moving. Feel free to focus on the theme in your creative activities for the entire month or as much as you'd like.

Using the theme is entirely optional for CED participants. Use it if it inspires you, ignore it if it doesn't. I'll be sharing posts throughout the month around the theme (among other things) to get you thinking about how to incorporate it into your life. I'd love to hear how you use the theme in your creative world.

And have fun with it!

I love red so much that I almost want to paint everything red. --Alexander Calder

p.s. The art above is adapted from my piece, Red Bear, available here.