Author: Rhonda Chase

Hour 4 – Creature Doodling with Rhonda Chase

Rhonda Chase Leave a Comment

We begin as with any doodle, with the creation of form and line. Enjoy the interaction of the paper and your instrument. Contour your form into a shape.

When I began creating free association creatures I started with an eye shape. The interior of the eye I leave until last. Once you have created a shape make other lines to contribute to that shape. Allow the process to be natural and intuitive. There is no wrong way to do this. The purpose of this creation is to experience and enjoy the process of creating it. As you work, when you feel yourself pause to think of what to do next, consider turning the drawing and looking at it from a different perspective. What else could it be other than what your mind originally thought? This process can help stretch your creative muscles, add fun to the process and wonderful uniqueness to the final piece.

Free Association is a fancy art term for not thinking about anything in particular when you work. No source material and as empty a brain as you can. Think of it as meditation and a time for piece. What forms in the end can often be a visual reflection of your current subconscious mind. Finding meaning in such things is not unlike defining a dream.

Free association

n.
1. A spontaneous, logically unconstrained and undirected association of ideas, emotions, and feelings.
2. A psychoanalytic technique in which a patient’s articulation of free associations is encouraged in order to reveal unconscious thoughts and emotions, such as traumatic experiences that have been repressed.
 


 

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Thank you for joining me this hour to take a moment in this new year to breath and create. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Best wishes,
Rhonda Chase

Prompt 2 – Hour 3

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creepya

 

Thank you for joining us on this spooky and exciting evening. While working on the original Creature Card Creation project I used some of the time to quantity, as best I could, what features and attributes equate to an end result. What makes an object or creature cute? What makes something Creepy? Admittedly these are not fool proof but certain generalities tend true.

For something to be creepy it helps to have human characteristics. Humanoid but just a little off. Something stretched, accentuated, and slightly off. For today’s project I’m going to be working with something that starts off a bit creepy. I received a variety of dummy heads used for training at a hair school. It’s just a head which is a little creepy on its own. Perhaps if I take the faces off and use them for something else I can push the creepiness factor. If I take the eyes out and decorate it in a Day of the Dead style it would be mildly creepy but the colors and designs would encourage it in a different direction. If I take the eyes out and paint it like a zombie it would train the creepiness (except for our desensitization towards zombies in general.)

These thoughts and considerations on creepiness are best exemplefied through the concept of “the uncanny valley.” Wikipedia-“The uncanny valley is a hypothesis in the field of aesthetics which holds that when features look and move almost, but not exactly, like natural beings, it causes a response of revulsion among some observers.” For more information and history visit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley.

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I was invited to a mask show at For Artsake Gallery in Newport, Oregon. In preparation for today I created a “mask” using three faces. You can watch a video of it in action on my instagram page. Today I’m going to see what faces I have left and make something similar if possible.

Join us on Facebook to see updates and talk to Rhonda Chase the artist while she works!

 

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melissahalloween2 For my take on this prompt I plan on creating creepy Halloween decor. Some of you may have already seen the picture below as I posted it in the group as a sneak peek of a project I planned to do today. I will be using the items below to create creepy skulls. The skulls, cotton and liquid latex were all purchased on Amazon. In total I spent $36 on everything. My husband gave me the idea from one of the many Halloween videos he sent me. Below is the video. I plan on creating one that looks similar to the one created in the video and the other I plan to turn into a demon skull.
 
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ruthhalloween What’s creepier than worms with teeth? And this is one the whole family can get in on and enjoy! On my blog I have created a step by step photo tutorial with basic instructions and here I’ll give you a taste of some creepy creations I’ve been working on lately.

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sarahhalloween  Creepy things are my favorite things.  I especially like to add a little cute to my creep and make things that blur the lines between the two.  Failing that, some super creepy paper dolls are never a bad idea.

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Here is a video of Jonathan Coulton’s “Creepy Doll”. Am I the only one who doesn’t like old dolls and finds them creepy?? ~Melissa

Prompt 10: illustrating from a poem

Rhonda Chase Leave a Comment

Welcome committed artisans and fans we are entering the final stretch. Those of you still awake have a chance to win a prize for staying up with us.

A lesser known fact about me (Rhonda Chase) is that I write Children’s stories and poems. I’ve always loved Dr Seuss and Shel Silverstein’s unique artwork paired with rhyme. I have started working with a company recently to help me get my drawings and poetry together for print. I would like to share with you the first one we are trying to tackle. (Thinking it to be easier than the longer stories.)

There are a couple of things we still need to work out for the story. I need some sketches and items for the title type pages and to figure out what is missing in the story. We feel like it needs one more line before the end…. What do you think the crayons do before they get put back into the box?

Here are some of the images I made to go with the story some years ago.

Crayons:

I spilled my crayons they rolled around the table.

Yellow stood up plainly with a happy prideful grin.
Planting itself squarely underneath my little chin.

Blue was speaking lightly in a very mellow tone.
Asking in it’s own way to be left a bit alone.

Orange kept on rolling tell it ran into a chair.
Pulling out a bandage for it’s wrapper had a tear.

Red was staring smugly at my little forest green.
Wanting him for herself to create a Christmas scene.

Green was watching fearfully about to run and hide.
Behind the salt and pepper, or maybe deep inside.

Pink began to promenade around Purple with glee.
Hoping she would be invited to a cup of tea.

Lifting each one gently, I placed my crayons back into their box.

Rhonda Chase

Rhonda Chase

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You are welcome to make a drawing about my story or any other you enjoy. What is your favorite story?
Here is one more poem to help inspire you:

The Cat

There was a little cat.
That sat and sat and sat.
Until his butt began to grow.
Because he sat upon it so.
He got off his rump to eat.
And fell back down upon his seat.
The little cat began to fear.
His rear had grown too large to steer.

 

Promt 5: Inspired by a song…

Rhonda Chase Leave a Comment

By now it’s afternoon for everyone stateside. Hopefully you have already made something (anything is encouraged but not required.) Stop by and see us/chat with us on facebook or leave a comment/post here. Make sure to say Hi somewhere if you want a chance to win a prize.

I have never tried to create something inspired by a song… at least not that I can think of. I normally have to listen to something while working to distract my left brain while the right side is creating. On this occasion I was thinking one song… over and over that is purposefully inspiring the creative process. What will you make?
Post it here! 🙂

 

Here is the song a few of us are using for this prompt. Kelly Clarkson’s “Heartbeat Song” from her new album “Piece by Piece”.