Ripple Sketches ATCs 1-3

I was introduced to Ripple Sketches recently by *awiakta and felt inspired to contribute art to help the Gulf. Artists, please check out that site and donate your art for sale, with all proceeds going to the preservation of marine life and clean up of the Gulf of Mexico. They're 2½"x3½" art cards, so easy to make. They sell for $10, except for the Great American Illustrator art cards, which are $50 and are created by published and professional artists.

Now as I look back at *awiakta's submission, I realize I was directly influenced by her illustration, as we both drew an octopus in pretty much the same pose. I saw her drawing, and it was in my brain. I almost drew a squid, but realized I didn't know how to draw a squid without a reference. So I drew an octopus and the pose was in my mind.

The creative process of these cards was actually pretty simple. I was finished hemming up the skirt I've been working on. I had a pile of scrap materials. I grabbed up a piece of canvas paper and made a collage and sewed it together. Then, after that, I stared at the random shapes to see what I'd think of to go "Oceanic" themed for Ripple Sketches. I looked at it and thought, origami. So I drew a little crane with a silver sharpie, which wrote horribly on the canvas paper. Or it's drying out.

Then I moved on to the next cards, which were side by side on the sheet. So I put a lovely scrap across both of them, right dab in the middle. Which made me think of a sushi sea weed wrap. And voila, I drew a sushi! I looked at the last piece. A fish wouldn't look right. Something tentacled would still be identifiable and fit nicely in the layout I made. I don't know how to draw a squid, so an octopus!

Didn't mean to pilfer hers. And I guess you can't really look in the ocean and tell two octopi apart by looking at them. I was going to draw a cute little sushi octopus, but I already made a sushi. You can see all the individual images on my blog. [link]



The next set of cards was made because I squirted too much paint on my palette...