Melinda Chan

I recently received some new art tools as part of a monthly art tools subscription. It's a surprise what I'll get each month. Using some of the pens from the August subscription box, I created the drawing above. I wasn't too excited by the tools this month. They didn't seem too different from things I've used in the past. Hopefully I'll like next month's delivery more.

I couldn't help myself. I recently started a class where I needed a notebook. I had a notebook, but the cover was plain black. Though I was super busy, I had to use some paint pens to decorate the cover.

The design was whatever came to mind. I definitely didn't spend much time thinking through it. I just knew that I would not have been able to concentrate with just a plain cover.

This was a quick project. We recently purchased a mini freezer and accidentally dented the door a bit. Not wanting to see the dent, I found some leftover magnetic sheets and drew some designs onto it to created magnets. It was a simple project and it served a purpose of not only covering the dent, but also adding some personality to a boring appliance.

Since starting my granny square project last year, I've completed 120 squares to date. I'm planning to make a blanket that will require 272 squares in total, so I've got 152 more squares to go.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, crocheting these squares is meditative, so I'm not in a rush to get the remaining squares completed. I admit, there is small part of me that is itching to get things done, but overall my focus has been to use this past time to relax and center myself.

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.