Melinda Chan

I wasn't planning to do a painting/drawing each day, but so far to my surprise, I've been able to commit to doing that since I starting doing more regular doodles earlier this fall.

Most of the time, I do abstract paintings. Usually I don't have a plan and just go with the flow as to whatever comes to me based on previous marks. Once in a while, I do cartoons like the one above. I try to do different styles so I don't get comfortable with one thing.

It's been years since I've used color pencils or watercolor. I've heard of watercolor pencils before, but had never had the opportunity to try them.

I saw a deal on a watercolor pencil set recently, so I decided to get it and give it a try. It felt odd drawing with color pencils just because I haven't used them in such a long time, but it was nice to feel the pencil along the paper instead of the usual doodles I create digitally. It was pretty fun to apply water to the pencil marks and see the effects that were possible.

It definitely allows you much more control than what you could do with traditional watercolor. I'll need to do more experimentation with heavier pencil marks to see if I can make the watercolor flow more.

I took a screen printing workshop last summer, but I wanted to give it a try at home so I purchased an all-in-one kit to play with.

My first attempt was a bit of a fail because I didn't coat my screen properly which resulted in a bad screen which I ended up having to reclaim so that I could start over.

I tried again and ended up with a better results. I still have much to learn and practice, but it was a good exercise. At least I can say that I tried it out. My next goal is to try do a print that involves a two color design. Once I gain the skills and confidence, I'll move on to other substrates like T-shirts, notebooks, cards and canvas tote bags.

2018 was the year when I did daily doodles. I took a break in 2019 and now I'm picking it back up again.

Looking back, it was nice to see doodles documenting each day. In a way, it was a visual journal  of my year in 2018. During these crazy times, I felt like I was getting a bit lost creatively, so I decided to pick up doodling again. I'm not going to put pressure on myself to do it each day, but whenever I want to express myself, I'll start a doodle.

Although I haven't done improv in years, I recently participated in an improv drawing game with two of my FB friends. I started off by drawing 3 lines and then each person would take turns, each adding 3 lines to the image.

The idea is to build on one another's contributions and be open to possibilities, much like what happens in improv. For instance, there were times where I was intending to turn a particular curve into a vase, but the others on the team had other ideas, so I had to be flexible when it came to my turn to draw and adapt to the new info I was given.

It's actually a very useful exercise in learning to be adaptable, flexible and creative. I tried to honor each of the lines that were drawn, meaning not covering them up, but instead, build upon the lines to add to the "scene".

So this is what we ending up creating as a team. I finished the image by adding color and final details. Turned out pretty well!

I didn't have many toys growing up, but the ones I had often focused on arts and crafts because I enjoyed being creative. Here's a toy that I used to love creating card designs with.

There were certain templates that I enjoyed using more than others, mainly because they offered smaller, more detailed designs. With the templates that had larger openings, they required a more stable hand to ensure that it didn't get stuck in the middle of the design.

I haven't played with this tool in many years, but it still works! I might use it to create some personalized cards in the future. With fine point markers, it makes the process much easier and more enjoyable.

I rarely cook or bake, but I decided to try making blueberry scones as part of my ongoing creativity practice. This was my second attempt at making scones. I can definitely see overlap with my more traditional art projects. It can get quite messy and I used hands to shape the dough into small discs. But the best part is that I get what I make.

I recently entered a mask-making contest. Because of my lack of sewing skills and limited time, I decided to make something using that was readily available at home. For me, that was used coffee grounds.

I ended up creating a DIY coffee mask. Not too long ago, a search online for coffee face mask would've turned out with a very different search results about skin care and beauty tips.

Unfortunately, I didn't win anything in the contest, but the experience of entering the contest brought back fond memories of my youth when I used to enter all sorts of drawing contests.

After carving in the design, painting it with underglaze and then scraping off the excess underglaze to reveal the lines of the design, I'm starting to work on the long process of painting/filling in the design. All very labor-intensive and detailed, but I guess that's why I enjoy it. Great way to practice being present and focused. 

There was a more finished photo that I had intended to use for this post, but I thought this one showing the scoring from the needle tool was actually more interesting.

There's something about the rough, sharp marks that makes it intriguing. Someone remarked that it reminded them of Frankenstein's head, which I think perfectly describes it.

Maybe this will inspire me to do a more textured piece in the future. For now, I'm still not sure how this one will end up looking like.