Artist Renee Mak

What an amazing and fun workshop! Finished Piece Here is my finished piece from week four of Doodles Unleashed by Traci Bautista. Flower detail From start to finish this workshop was so much fun  and I learned new techniques that I'll use often. Collaged doodle detail Like adding doodles with gel medium and then painting over them. Marker word detail And using transparent markers for a "watermark" effect... see the word create above in blue? Fluorescent doodle detail Using fluorescent paint and markers was also new to me... but I really like how bright it made things! Flower detail This detailed shot of a flower is from the lower right hand  corner of the finished piece... I love how all the different layers show thru, don't you! Face close up Overall I have to say that taking this workshop was the best way  to begin my new year!   Traci's techniques and teaching style has both taught and inspired me in...

Doodles~ Week Three! Part One... Part one of Stylized Faces was to create a colorful mixed media background. The lesson started by taking a blank piece of Strathmore Series 400 Mixed Media Paper and markers and writing a few words on the page.  It could be anything... and won't really show in the end. I wrote CREATE  LIVE  LOVE.  Then several other marks  with markers was added. After that I added paint with a brush over the entire surface, using several similar colors.  Paint and glazing gel was used to  color over the words without entirely blocking them out. Everyday items, like bubble wrap, a medicine bottle and a plastic lid where then used to stamp a complimentary color onto the painting. I also used the back of a Starbucks coffee sleeve and a handmade flower stamp to add interest and layers. This process continued until I added several more layers and felt the piece was ready for step two... a styli...

It's time for another Blue Mondays post ... I've been spending so much time painting doodles and have,  quite frankly, gotten carried away!   The studio is a wonderful place for me to get lost... even if just for a moment. I let the brightly colored paint take me places far far away... where the sun is shining, flowers are blooming and the leaves are still on the trees! Finding and following colorful doodles is easy and extremely freeing... with no plan or expectations, I just let the paint flow! The brush and  paint carry my thoughts out onto the paper as if it's magic. Of course the color blue always appears... and is always a welcome addition to  my piece! And so... here's one more post dedicated to the fabulous color Blue... and all the wonderful places it's been showing up in my doodles this past weekend! Have a fabulously colorful Monday... and don't forget to be creative today! ~XO~

Doodles... Week Two! The second week of Traci Bautista 's Doodles Unleashed Workshop is called Spontaneous Watercolor Backgrounds ! I love this exercise! I got to randomly spread color around and then  "find the doodle" in the color! I made this simple foam stamp and added green to  my yellow and orange background. Next I used silk flowers as stencils and continued  to build up my layers. "Finding the doodle" is the most fun... Layer by layer... Color by color... And mark by mark! Now to add additional marks, letterforms and any final details until I think it's done! Stay tuned for the finished piece... and if you still haven't signed up for this FREE workshop... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR! It's just soooo much fun I want to share. xoxo

Doodles Unleashed Workshop As many of you know, I'm taking part in a free  workshop via Strathmorestudios.com   called Doodles Unleashed . It's a four week class and each week I get to  learn a new technique from our fabulous instructor, Traci Bautista !  She leads me, and over 3000 other artists, on a step by step journey of fun, creative and  colorful mixed media doodling.  Here's a quick photo overview, start to finish, of one of my  pieces from week one. I started by laying objects onto mixed media paper. Then I sprayed color over them. {Keep your eyes on this fleur de lis and watch how it changes throughout this process!} Layer upon layer of bright colors were added until most of the  surface was covered. Removing the stenciled objects was the next step. And then I continued to add color and marks with oil pastels, watercolor paints and more acrylic paint. After everything dried...