Dear Readers,

The world is covered in snow but in the studio I’m singin’ about colors…

Living Canvas is all about me embracing all sides of my creativity, letting one project inspire the next in whatever medium that calls to me. I let my new rainbow quilt, which you can see in more detail here, be my inspiration for an illustration. I started, like I usually do, by sketching on my iPad in procreate.

My rainbow quilt makes me so happy, it just tickles me when I seeing all the colors lay around the house. I wanted to create a piece that was about hope - something we all need right now, that I could share on the web to lift spirits. One of my first concept sketches is shown below. I thought drawing my quilt waving in the wind while a young character holds it running would tell my story…

But this type of carefree, bright day wasn’t connecting with me. Collectively we are “hanging in there,” many of us in the midst of the darkest part of their lives. I sketched more until I realized this required a portrait, a face that says, it’s going to be alright. And she splashed out of my pen…

Everything felt right, I went to final, enlarging the drawing onto to some vellum. Colored pencils take a lot of a layers, so I like to lay down a layer of air brush with a copic marker airbrush attachment (Kindly gifted to me from Copic.) In bolder areas, I put marker directly onto the vellum.

Then I build up the colored pencils, moving a small circular motion. Each area has about 9-12 layers of color. It has been some time since I’ve done a full colored pencil piece. I found these pencils in the bottom of the barrel chewed my family dog, I couldn’t part with them… I’m guessing they are from around 2009. Anyone else’s dog just LOVE prisma colored pencils?

I fell into a rhythm of blending colors and sharpening pencils.

When I finished, I scanned the drawing into my computer and added text. Hold on everyone, we will get through this. I really believe that.

Dear Readers,

2022 lays out in front of us and like me, you may be thinking about resolutions. The hard lines, going cold turkey on xyz, big aspirations, we all know how that goes. Here are FOUR ideas I have for a successful January and with some (very) tiny drawings to inspire you.

ONE

Drink a whole glass of water - make it a big one, when you wake up News Years Day! What could be better than starting of the year well hydrated? Sass it up with some fruit. Who knows, one good choice may lead to others.

TWO

Forgive someone. The fall outs and tensions of the past few years have been uncomfortable and heartbreaking. Find it in your heart to forgive the mistakes of others. Do it in your heart, believe it in your soul and move forward. Am I the only one with Lorde’s lyrics “No, I don’t keep a list can’t hold a grudge” stuck in their head? The song is called “Hold No Grudge” if you want to check it out.

THREE

Finish something! Why start something in January? What about finishing a project you abandoned? Take inventory, maybe its a book you really liked but didn’t finish… What about framing that family photo you’ve been meaning to do! Maybe it’s home improvement project, donations you never dropped off, or a craft you forgot about. Whatever it is, you’ll be so glad when you are done. These dolls below need some finishing don’t you think?

FOUR

Write a letter to a friend. Times are tough, reach out just to say hello. All it takes is picking up a pencil - you may be surprised what the words “I’m thinking of you” can do to lift up someone’s day.

Whatever you do in the fresh new year, be good to yourself and others.

Sending smiles and well wishes,

Kirbi

P.S. I hope my snail mail subscribers enjoyed the affirmation card I send out. To be included in future mailings go to the Blog “home” and subscribe — I don’t sell things, I don’t email, I only send snail mail surprises. Your information is safe with me. As the “metaverse” takes over the world this may be the only place I continue to update. I hope we can stay connected. <3