Inspiring Me

I’ve been busy working on more drawings and mixed media things. As I try new things and get new ideas, I have to figure out how to put my ideas on paper. It takes times so I won’t be posting as often. In the mean time, I snapped a few photos. I hope you enjoy them!

“Beautiful Sunset” – photo by Melody Kittles – You can click the photo to see more info on my deviantART page.

“Green Tea” – photo by Melody Kittles – To see more info on this photo, click it to go to my deviantART page.

 

“My Favorite Photographer” – photo by Melody Kittles – This photo is not available for sale or download. For more information, please click the photo to go to my deviantART page. For those of you who don’t know, this is my husband John. He blogs at J.D. Kittles Photography. I don’t know who snaps more photos of whom! He’s taking a short break right now from the blog but he’ll be back at it soon. Look forward to it! I know I am!

Gilded Blessings

I’ve been fighting a nasty cold all week. I’m only just getting my voice back after 4 days without it. I sound like a squeaky hinge. But I have been working on more art and this is my latest. It took a total of two days work. It’s done in layers and the first layer had to dry before I could finish it with the details.

“Gilded Blessings” – Mixed Media artwork by Melody Kittles – watercolor, acrylic, ink – For more info, please click the photo to go to my deviantART page.

I Made It!

I feel terrible today. Don’t you just hate colds? They seem to hang on. I started working on a mixed media piece yesterday but couldn’t bring myself to finish it. Just too worn out and blech. I did finish it today, though. I used mixed media paper (7 x 10), drawing pens, brush pens, and watercolors. This is a very simple practice work I used to try to get used to my watercolor paint. I really enjoyed the results. To see more information about it, of if you’d like to purchase a print, please click on the photo to go to my deviantART page.

“I Made It!” – mixed media artwork by Melody Kittles

 

Home Again, Home Again!

I’m so glad to be home. We visiting with family during our Thanksgiving break and really enjoyed being with them. It’s good to be back in our own place, though. Unfortunately, we’ve been fighting a cold since before the break. First one daughter, then the other got it. Before we came home, John and I started feeling the beginnings of it. I feel pretty blechy today but I’m doing my best to get over it quickly. Taking my vitamins. Eating soup. Staying away from sugary things for the most part. I’ll probably make fresh honey lemon tea tonight.

Anyway, here are the last two works I submitted for daily art challenges in the fb group I belong to. I hope you enjoy them. Note: They are not available for purchase. Only the digital art piece is available for download and that, only for personal use. Please keep that in mind! Thanks!

This is the first one:

Misfortune themed art challenge submission (untitled as of yet) – digital art, using Sketchbook by Autodesk – This is my first doodle on the laptop. I have the app on my phone, too and have done a doodle there as well. Just trying to figure out the tools and the program to see how it all works. This artwork shows a lightning storm, a crashing wave, and a whirlpool (or a hurricane if you prefer). I really can’t work the pen/pencil tools very well yet. I think I need a stylus to be able to use it to the best effect. Oh, well. To see more about this work, please click the photo to go to my deviantART page.

“Munchkins and Giant” – photo taken by Melody Kittles and edited with Instagram’s presets – NO DOWNLOADS! This photo is copyrighted under a Creative Commons License All Rights Reserved (as are all my photos and artworks.) Please respect that. If you’d like to see more about this photo, click it to go to my deviantART page.

 

Web Of Life

This is the first drawing I worked on while on Thanksgiving break. I really had a lot of fun creating this one! It’s another mixed media piece, the drawing done on sketchbook paper with micron pens, an HB pencil, a ruler and a compass, then photographed and edited in Gimp. I added the color that way since we’re away from home for a little bit and I don’t have any paints with me. I will be creating a different color effect in acrylics on this piece and “The Mechanic” when I return home, though it may be some time before they are done. When complete, I’ll share the final result with my readers here. To order a print (no downloads please!!), click here to go to my gallery or click the photo to go to the artwork page. All artwork prints are on sale (25% off) for Black Friday only! Support your local artists, artisans and small business owners this year while you shop for Christmas gifts!

“Web of Life” – mixed media artwork by Melody Kittles

The Mechanic

I’m really pleased with the progress I’ve made so far on my Thanksgiving break. I’ll be uploading more of what I’ve done as I add them to my deviantART gallery. Click here to go to my gallery or click on the photo to order prints. No downloads, please! My work is licensed under an “All Rights Reserved” Creative Commons License. All prints at deviantART are 25% off for Black Friday so please support your local artists and/or small businesses while you shop for Christmas gifts!

“The Mechanic” – mixed media (drawing in micron pens, colors and textures added in Gimp) by Melody Kittles.

A Poppy For Remembrance

Yesterday was Remembrance Day in the United Kingdom. Tomorrow is Veteran’s Day in the United States of America. Yesterday’s art challenge was “Flanders Field” or “Remembrance”. Do you know, I had to go refresh my memory of the poem? It didn’t take long to form an idea for an artwork on the topic, though. I hope you will take some time and remember those who fought and died for your country.

“A Poppy For Remembrance” – mixed media artwork by Melody Kittles – For more info, click the photo to go to my deviantART page. You can read all the info there. No download or prints are available for this artwork. The photo came out much too blurry for that. I’ll work on getting a better photo as soon as I’m able.

Cee’s Weekly Oddball Challenge: Mystery Valves and a Fractaleaf

I’m sorry for not posting yesterday. I tried to edit a photo yesterday and it just was not happening. Have you ever had one of those days where things just don’t click, no matter how hard you try? I guess yesterday was one of those kinds of days for me, creatively. Otherwise, I had a pretty awesome day.

I’ve had this photo for about a week or two and wanted to do something with it in Gimp. I snapped it with my cell while John was doing the “Taking Over” photo shoot. (Oh! John is also selling a few prints through deviantART now, so do check out what he has available there! They’d make really nice Christmas gifts!) I started last night and…ugh…we won’t go into the details. But here’s the end result. I finished it up this morning without too much trouble. And as a bonus, I found the fractal tool in Gimp and tried it out on the leaf photo I used to paint the leaf for the art challenge ‘autumn’ topic. It’s not anything fancy but it definitely fits the ‘oddball’ theme for Cee’s Oddball Challenge. These are my first two attempts at photomanipulation. I hope you enjoy them! For more info on either of them, just click the photos to check them out on my deviantART pages for each. You can download a copy for personal use only or purchase a print if either one strikes your fancy. 🙂

“Mystery Valves” – by Melody Kittles – Click here to go to my deviantART page for this photo.

“Fractaleaf” – photo by Melody Kittles – For more information, please click the photo to go to my deviantART page.

Of Things To Come

Today’s art challenge was ‘shadows’ and we were given two basic guidlines. 1. Use one color to build up layers. 2. No outlines. This is my submission for that challenge and while I don’t know if it fit the guidelines well or not, I’m still happy with the end result. I debated using blue or black but I’ve been working with those colors so much lately, I wanted to try something different. I went with red…which is not a particularly great color to me but that meant it was more of a challenge, too, I guess.

“Of Things To Come” – acrylic painting by Melody Kittles – Please click on the photo to go to my deviantART page. You can find out more information there. Please do not download copies of this photo as I plan to upload a better photo in future to offer for sale or digital download. Thanks!

 

Even The Heavens Cry Sometimes

Today’s art challenge was ‘rain’ and this is my mixed media submission. I hope you enjoy it! I used blue, black and silver acrylic paints and aqua sequin dot fabric to create this piece. For more information, click on the photo to go to my deviantART page for this work. No downloads or prints are available at this time. I have to upload a better scan of the artwork and then I’ll open it for downloads and/or prints.

“Even The Heaven’s Cry Sometimes” – by Melody Kittles