When I'm sure what I want to do I start with a page of outlines.
Today I'm working with gouache and a black marker for outlining.
This one was clearly a mistake. I could try again without the marker but I think I'll pass on the idea for a while.
I've always enjoyed flowers so this one is my favorite.
I'll be outlining the vines and flowers on this one next. I think of patchwork quilts when I design things like this.
This one will be used on my line of baby clothes on zazzle for starters and I'll try it on other products after that.
After all of that i figured I'd go back to drawing and do another horse in black and white.
Unfortunately the drawing was too busy, and the lines too fine to make into a rubber stamp so I'm not quite sure hat to do at that point. I could just paint it in. Keep checking the blog to see what happens with it and to get more ideas.
I decided to try painting in the flowers by hand and will attempt a number of background colors before doing anything permanent with it.
Many years ago I painted the pink Dala Horses in the photos so I thought I'd re visit the idea and see what else I could come up with.
This time I'd do it on paper.
I may still try these deigns on actual wooden horses to be sure they really work but for now, experimenting on paper saves me a lot of work. I this one I thought I'd add a bit of color to see how I'd like it.
On this one I went back to the all pink idea but added a bit of an all over pattern to kick it up a notch and I feel that I'm on to something here, what do you think?
I really enjoy my Dala Horses at Christmas. I give some for gifts, put any of the ornaments that didn't sell on my Christmas tree and use the few horses that I still own as part of my Holiday Decor.
What's your favorite thing to do with your horses this time of year?
I think they really add to the mood and the charm of the season, don't you?
We decided to use an old fiber optic tree this year because there just isn't room for a real tree in a tiny house.
I try never to do any 2 horses the same. Mixing designs and pattern keeps things more interesting, don't you think so?
Most of my other decorations are just bits of paper and old photos. Not only is it inexpensive. They don't take any storage place as I just toss anything that didn't last well and put other ones up as I sort through my photos each year.
It gives me a chance to scan a lot of the older ones and use up any that I don't plan to keep.
There are a number of approaches to any design. Even something as simple as a white flower or a daisy.
I found a variation of this design in a Scandinavian pattern book. It had red flowers so considering the background color I was using I thought I'd try white.
This time I decided to just freehand some leaves and vines to drop the flowers into.
I also decided to try different lengths and numbers of petals on the flowers.
Next I tried combining them with other flowers to see how that would work. That's the beauty of painting the posts on the wheelchair ramp. I've got dozens of different surfaces to practice on and it's been quite a conversation starter in the neighborhood.
