Week 3 of 365 Days of Art Challenge

DragonArt Evolution
by J. NeonDragon Peffer

This is week 3 of the 365 Days of Art Challenge. I didn't get much sketching done this week, as my hands were really bothering me. I have just one small sketch.  I love dragons and my nephew gave me a book on drawing dragons, DragonArt Evolution How to Draw Everything Dragon by J. "NeonDragon" Peffer for Christmas.  It looks like a great book and I'm looking forward to doing all the exercises in it. The author breaks down the dragon into various body sections and then finally puts them all together. She includes a variety of dragon types. This week I tried the 4 different types of eyes she demonstrated. I only used pencil. I need more work on the shading. Adding pen will be next and finally drawing them in full color using a variety of techniques, such as colored pencils, pastels, watercolor . . .whatever the dragon tells me.

The four types of eyes (orb, reptile, round pupil, and jewel) demonstrated in the book.

The other creative thing I did this week was dye silk scarves with a few friends. We used Colorhue Dyes and some Dye_Na-Flow Fabric Paints by Jacquard to dye the silks. Roberta and I first saw the Colorhue dyes at a demonstration at the Long Beach International Quilt Show a couple of years ago. It was quick and easy and not very messy. So we bought a package of dyes. They do not create very intense colors, but the colors are still beautiful and dyeing fabric is just so much fun. Following are the scarves I dyed. 

(Note:everything is dyed with Colorhue dyes, except where noted. Photos show half the scarf.)

11"x 60" Flat Crepe silk scarf.  Dyed using turquoise, blue, and lime green. Spritzed purple Dye-Na-Flow over punchinello to create a dotted pattern. The fabric paint bled everywhere and I ended up with mottled purple, instead of dots of purple. I plan to add some foiling later.   

11" x 60" Flat Crepe silk scarf. Painted a lime green stripe diagonally across the center, followed by turquoise, blue, eggplant, rose, and finally orange on either side of the green. Then I added black creating diagonal pleats going different directions across the scarf. I want to add some beaded fringe to the ends of this scarf. 

11"x 60"  Flat Crepe silk scarf. Lime green and green background. The flowers at the ends and in the center of the scarf  are created with a mix of turquoise, blue, eggplant,  and black.  Added some rose, goldenrod, and turquoise for highlights.  Used accordion folding the scarf to create the stripes. I plan to add some beads to the flowers and maybe some beaded fringe to the ends of the scarf.  (There isn't a line between the large flower and the stripes - it's a fold in the fabric that needs to be pressed out.)

11" x 60" Flat Crepe silk scarf. Goldenrod and orange background. Turquoise, blue and eggplant mixture for the spirals at both ends of the scarf. Added turquoise and goldenrod, creating the green center. Used a toothbrush to splatter emerald, blue, purple, and yellow Dye-Na-Flow fabric paint over the entire scarf.  I just love the excitement added with the splattering.  I think this scarf is my favorite of the ones I dyed today.

8" x 54" Habotai silk scarf. This was my clean-up scarf. Whenever there was excess dye left on the table, I used this scarf to wipe it up so as not to waste any of the dye. The more and more that I cleaned, the prettier and prettier the scarf became. Hard to believe this "waste" scarf has turned out so beautiful!! That's one of the reasons I like the Colorhue dyes. They adhere to the fibers so quickly, that the colors do not become muddy as colors are mixed on the scarf.