As things are constantly changing for me, some good - some bad, I've been feeling the negative effects heavier than the good lately and I don't like it. I search to find ways to get rid of that feeling before it consumes me.
One thing to do is to get outdoors. Seriously, go outside and take in that sun. Feel the breeze on your face, be still for a moment and just breathe.
That already helps feel like some of the burden is taken off the shoulders. From here you can decide to go for a walk, exercise, sit and relax, spend time in the garden, whatever makes you happy.
This time I decided to be creative. I haven't picked up a paint brush in a very long time and I can tell you, it was very therapeutic.
So I kicked the kids outside, set everything up on the picnic table and thought something different to do is to paint rocks.
I can tell you that it kept the kids very quiet ... For about 15 minutes.
I let them be at their creative ways as I opened myself to the paint brush and paint.
It took me a while to find out what to paint. Like I said, it's been so long so I ended up looking images on Google to get a feel for it, it was like trying to find my style again.
Then the idea struck. Halloween is just around the corner. Every year I am usually preparing for it right about now, creating new decorations, making costumes etc. Last year I was pretty bummed out about and it's almost the same this year but really, I should do more of what I like and what makes me feel good and you should too. Brings up that happiness meter.
I painted two rocks yesterday. It was all the time I had, otherwise I would have done 15!
Here are some pictures of the process.
I painted the whole surface orange first, doing a few layers so it's not so transparent. I only have acrylics and oil paints, not sure of there's a different paint for rocks or if there is another process so that the paints come out strong. I just went with it.
I then painted the moon, dabbed the paint brush in red, removing the excess paint off and dabbed around it and inside the moon for that blood moon feel.
I painted the outline of the rock in black making a thick line and using that for my trees.
Time to make the spider!
Adding the mushrooms, plants and yellow eyes and faces gave it the right touch it needed to create a fun spooky rock decor.
I liked how it turned out actually so the next one I created, I wanted to have the same style of trees with a bit of a whimsical feel to it.
The process for the background was fairly simple. I first used a darker blue for the top and edges. Like my art talk? Dark blue... Not cerulean or sky or deep. I talk in shades baby!
Then I used the lighter blue that you see at the top of the picture, blending it in with the dark and getting brighter in the middle. I tried using a lemon yellow for the moon but it was very transparent so it took a few coats. And even then it wasn't the best.
Time for a tree! Taking advantage of the shape the rock is, I was able to make a cute curvey tree that accents the rock quite nice in my opinion.
Add a few Halloween details and voila!
I'm not sure how I feel about the silver addition. I wanted to give it a shot. My brush was too thick at the point so my stars are fat.
I don't think I will use the same technique with the silver, next time will just be highlighted detailed lines to make it stand out more. Here I think I used too much of it. But hey it was all for good fun.
Oh! What happened to the kids!!!???
No, I didn't lose them. Even though I got lost in creating this art, I still had my eyes and ears on them. The kids gave up on their art to play on the trampoline and play on their bikes as well. Kids gotta move!
As the rocks dried I went off to pick more raspberries in the backyard.
This is the 4th time picking and even though it's more than the last it's still not enough to make a jam. But that's ok, the kids gobbled these up in no time. I just wanted to share a picture of raspberries for fun because I know some of you out there just looooove raspberries 😁 You're welcome 😜
I hope you enjoyed my little art making, and remember, being creative helps bring out the happy 😊