Weekly Challenge 110: Get Rid of the Box

This week's challenge at I am the Diva czt is about getting rid of the box. That is, doing an unbounded tangle without the constraints of boundaries. That has never been a problem for me; my challenge has always been to stay within the box. For this challenge I started with a painted paper that I made blowdrying fluid acrylic paints on tyvek paper. As the hot air blows over the paper, the paint moves around in swirls and rivulets creating interesting patterns. I shaded and drew lines to give the impression of the view of the land from a plane flying over, which is as far from the boundaries that one can get.

Below is a sample of the paper without the shading and drawn lines.

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Book Box: Turning Old Book Into Storage Box

I had this very old book lying in the attic for a long time. Just as I was about to toss it out, inspiration struck me. I decided to make a book box out of it. As always, Google search came to my rescue. I found several excellent tutorials to teach me how to do it. It was quite easy to do. I used the tools and the materials I already had: Elmer's glue and a utility knife. What I learned was that I needed to put in a new blade after 50 or so pages. When I did that, the cutting went cleanly and smoothly. Apart from the drying time, cutting itself took about an hour.

With the ones below, I did something different. I cut only up to half way and made it like a shadow box. I inserted a collaged print into the hollow. You can see the print pages behind the image. Then, I stamped round the edges.

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How Does One Get to Carnegie Hall

How does one get to Carnegie Hall? According to urban legend the answer is "practice, practice, practice". Of course, talent and ambition help too. Elephant Lochanadevi practicing her standing balance is my submission to this week's Illustration Friday theme "Talent".

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Art by Indira Govindan. If you are curious about this and art in the yoga art series, please visit my Etsy shop

Illustration Friday: Whisper

This week's topic at the Illustration Friday is WHISPER. This is my quick pencil sketch on the topic. Isn't whisper really this?

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Year of the Snake

This is my submission for this week's topic "Year of the Snake"  at  I am the Diva CZT.

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Pyrographic Art: Wise Owl

I continue to experiment and practice with the wood burning kit I purchased a few months ago. The owl above was created on a bamboo cutting board ( I got a set of two for $3 from Amazing Savings) using a combination of techniques:

1. First, I heat transferred the owl image (which I got from Graphics Fairy) on the wood using the technique described here. 

2. Next, I wood burned the details and shading using various tips. 

3. Finally, I painted additional details (light colored feathers) using acrylic paints. 

The whole project took about three hours and though, I am pleased with the overall effect, I intend to practice more.

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Virtual Paintout: Valparaiso, Chile

This month we visit Valparaiso, Chile at the Virtual Paintout. Valparaiso is a historic city and is also one of  UNESCO Heritage sites. But, as I was taking a virtual tour of the city, I was beginning to think that it might as well be called the graffiti capital of the world. I found spectacular street art everywhere and the city seemed like a living museum. Take a look here, here and here.
So, I decided to capture one of the street arts as a painting for my submission. I found this on the gate of a regular home on a well maintained street. I found the sneering asymmetrical face intriguing (or is it a beaten up face?) and wondered why someone would choose to have it painted outside their home. On the same street down a couple of homes, there was another set of flamboyant drawings. Provided I get vegetarian food to eat, I would definitely like to visit Valparaiso, Chile.

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