One of the Sketches Comes to Life as a Pendant plus a PCAGOE Challenge

Taking a little break from the Collaborative ACEO to promote the PCAGOE March Animal Challenge. You can still vote for your favorite ACEO sketch here and don't forget to comment so that you can be entered into the drawing for the final ACEO. My challenge entry is actually tied to the collaborative project. You will see that it closely resembles my fawn sketch. As soon as I had sketched it for the blog, I knew I wanted it to be a pendant. It is a little celebration of spring and all the new baby animals. I love the way it came out. It reminds me of an old children's book illustration which is exactly how it looked in my head! So.... take some time this weekend and head over to PCAGOE.com and vote for your favorite animal entry. When you vote, you will be entered into a drawing for a fun flora/fauna themed prize pack donated by the talented members of the PCAGOE! You can vote from now until midnight EST on March 3rd and the winners will be announced on the 4th! I will also announce the ACEO sketch winner on the 4th and then it will be time for color suggestions (we're almost done!)

















Be inspired by the animals you see in the PCAGOE Challenge and create your own animal inspired piece of art this weekend! And don't forget to vote!

Be Inspired by Animals

This week we turn to the animal kingdom for a bit of inspiration. Many of us don't have to look far to find an animal. There are always our pets, the birds that wake us up each morning, and even the squirrels that are forever in motion. They can inspire us in many ways. From the feelings they bring out in us, to the many expressions they make in response to us. Getting out into nature and watching animals is also a great way to be inspired. Try to look at the details separate from the actual animal. Look at how they are constructed, the color combinations, the textures of the different skin types and the patterns they use as camouflage or warnings.

It is also great to just take literal inspiration and recreate the entire animal as a piece of art. Many, many artists feature animals in their art in many fantastic ways. Here's one of mine and a few I found on Etsy (click on each photo to see more of the artists work):



















Inspirational Words: fur, scales, hooves, tongues, feathers, jungle, bird, primate, pet, pattern, color, camouflage, blending, features, paws, snouts, expression, habitat, conservation, predator, prey, texture, fly, slither, crawl, hunt, hop, leap, fear, shape, motion, survival, ocean, mating displays, wild, exotic, eyes, ears, anatomy














Take a little time this week to observe an animal or several animals. Maybe even take a trip to the zoo to see something more exotic than what can be found in your neck of the woods. You can also get inspiration by looking at the world through an animals eyes, try climbing up high and getting a "bird's eye" view of what the world looks like, or crawl through the grass to see what a snake sees. These different views can give you knew perspective and new ideas. The animal kingdom is rich in inspiration, all you need to do is look!

Remember, if you are inspired to create something from one of the Be Inspired features, please send a picture and description to my e-mail, blockpartypress@yahoo.com and I may feature you on my blog. The piece must be inspired by the Be Inspired post and cannot be an item created prior to the posting. If your Be Inspired piece is featured, I will send you a free pendant from my Etsy shop (I will choose the pendant and it will be a surprise).