Whimsical art and drawing in general

I had the opportunity to try out whimsical art during the Draw-a-Thon this weekend at AFA. As with zentangle, this has been a major addition to freeing myself of worries about how things should look in my drawings, and just do something visual. I loved using bold and fun colors and trying out things that I was sure I'd hate before it hit the page, yet turned out ok.

It has been great to break out my pencils and ink pens and draw again. Drawing is where I began doing art when I was twelve, and I have struggled with trying to make things look "just right" for years. I can do it pretty well, but it has always been time consuming and often frustrating, with only the very best pieces surviving the "tear it up or crush it into a ball and throw it in the trash" process.

The method of zentangle has given me patience, confidence, and has allowed me to see where a piece takes me, rather than having it all mapped out ahead of time. Whimsical art has given me permission to try out new color combos and design elements, and to simply have fun with my creations! I'm doing a workshop on artistic expression, finding my own style, through Art Trader magazine, and I'm hoping these few revelations in the last couple of days will help with discovering my own creative style.

Here are some whimsical pieces, and some flower pieces that are both part of the draw-a-thon and for the Spring Equinox/Ostara swap at AFA. Thanks for checking in!

Crocus

Dogwood

Irises

Violets