Robots on my Mind

This week has been a week for robots.  My almost 12 year old son was attending a camp all this week where they learned to build robots that could navigate a maze.  The robots were made out of Legos and used Mindstorms software to make it move. 

 I also finished a collection based on one of my favorite drawings.  It's one of my favorites because I used shapes I ordinarily don't use, colors I ordinarily don't prefer and subject matter rather than abstraction and it came out really cool. 

The way I like to design is to take pieces and parts of a picture and make a new design from it.  Like this:

Or this:

See if you can spot which bits I used.  And if you are burning with curiosity you can check out the whole collection of Robots and Rectangles.

Paisley of the Week! Oooooo it's Ooze!

Ooze by Hearthmagick

Angela Till, also known on DeviantArt as Hearthmagick is an artist that I immediately saw as a kindred spirit.  She has only been on dA for three months and already she's put up some amazing work!  I was hard pressed to pick a fave paisley piece for this feature.  Eventually I chose this one because it's in a media that I don't use often, colored pencil, and it's in a palette to which  I am very partial orange-pink-yellow.  Enjoy, and hop on over to her page to see the rest of her supa-cool doodles!

Design Blog

It hasn't been that blissful creating a design blog.

After much gnashing of teeth, some swearing and major eyestrain, I've finally gotten my design blog up.  I wouldn't quite say it's running.  I still very much prefer the format and ease of use that DeviantArt gives me but it's been implied that people might not take me seriously on Deviant.  It's too really bad, because their interface is a dream to use for a portfolio.  Blogger -- not so much.  Someone suggested though, that I use Photobucket for image placement and it's great because you can upload an entire  file of images in less than a minute.  For anyone else who has felt the need to hurl their computer out of a window when trying to set up an entire image collection on blogger the solution I found was this:  after you've placed about three images in compose mode, hit return a couple of times to start a new row.  Otherwise your pix are all over the place.  Who knew?

Pick Me!

I haven't submitted a design to a Spoonflower contest in a while,  but I liked the theme of this contest: Summer Flowers.  It had a limited palette which I like the challange of using and the colors they chose this time weren't too difficult to like.  Purple -n- Blue are always fine with me!  Anyway, if you have a minute to go and vote, I'd greatly appreciate it!  I know that I've not done a Paisley of the Week! this week.  Maybe I ought to change the name to Paisley of the Weak instead?  Next Monday for sure!

Artist's Block Remedy

Sometimes you start a sketch with something in mind, then it turns into something else.  Eventually you turn the page on your sketchbook and forget it entirely.  Then, you happen across it again (after a day of drawing stuff that looks like crud) and begin to think it has possiblitlies.  This is one of my more successful ways of dealing with artist's block.  Go back and look at something I've abandoned and see if it might fly.

And it might.

Paisley of the Week! Pink-n-Orange

When I first started Paisley of the Week! I had wanted it to be a window for my fellow artists and Etsians to show off.  I STILL want that but lately, I have been having a hard time finding paisley artists.  Maybe I am looking in the wrong place or maybe I'm not asking enough artists.  Anyway, the one artist I didn't plan on having as guest Paisley of the Week! was myself.  So, in an effort to still have Paisley of the Week be a  giving sort of thing, I am posting a free paisley wallpaper for you to use.  The design will tile so you can use it for your desktop or Twitter. This is only for personal use, please do not copy or redistribute. And if you or someone you know would like to have their work as Paisley of the Week!  please let me know!

Hmmmmm....

This one I am sure of.

This one, not so sure.  What actually goes with mauve? It hasn't been around for so long that I forgot.  It might be peach or it might not.  What do you think?

Three Cheers...

For the Red White and Blue!

The paisley bandana, one of the most classic paisleys ever.  Navy or red used to be your only choices but now, you can get a bandana in just about any color you can think of.   I love the twist on this one from Wholesale For Everyone with both colors together at once.  Perfect for July 4th!  Go USA!