Get Inspired! Vintage Gift Wrap and the Feeling of Neon Pink

Ever since a friend of mine gave me a few scraps of wrapping paper from the 1950's that she had found in a relative's attic, I've been hooked on the stuff.  I cant get enough!  I love using it in my artwork so much that I even bought a book about it and was even more inspired.  Nobody can do patterns and odd color pairings like the paper designers of the 50s, 60s and 70s.   I just love the bright colors, the bold patterns, and the thinness of the actual paper used, making it perfect for using in my mixed media background layers.  I thought we could all use a dose of color inspiration today.   Here are a couple of my favorites!

 Do these colors inspire you too?  I thought I'd turn one into a color palette for anyone to use.  I really liked this particular palette because it plays with primary colors with the bright neony pink on a background of mustardy yellow, something I would NEVER think to put together, and it just works beautifully! Try this one out in your next work or in your sketchbook or art journal.

I dont know what it is about the neon pinks in these papers that just make me so happy.  So here's hoping your day is feels like the color neon pink today! I've got the whole afternoon to work in my studio, so I know mine will!  What color does your day feel like to you?

XO, HARMONY

Blooms and Roofs: A Color Study

I've been experimenting in my sketchbook lately exploring color and pattern, working up the nerve to do some serious fabric design on my newly purchased canvas cloth.  I started with some loose sketching of flowers layered on top of each other on one page and then a repetitive pattern of house doodles on the opposite page.  I really wanted to play more with using bright colors against soft hues.  I watered down some simple craft paint and started to play.  Here are a few peeks of what I created in the end.

Dont they remind you of crisp autumn leaves against a sunset sky?  As I was painting the houses, I started to imagine a story about little costumed ghosts and princesses going trick or treating door to door.  Do they inspire you to try a bit of fall inspired art making of your own?  If you'd like to try working with this color palette, I made it super simple for you.  I isolated the colors that I created with and made a digital palette just for you!

As soon as I completed my pages, I left the room and my 3 year old son snuck in and picked up his own creative inspiration on the next page.  I was able to catch him on tape and interview him a bit on his process.  If you have a child, a childlike heart, or maybe need a bit more childishness in your creative world, I highly recommend that you spend the next 2 minutes letting him inspire you.

XO, HARMONY