Obsessive Creative

Hacked

2012-01-20T18:45:00.000-08:00

My Twitter account has been hacked. Please disregard any messages from my Twitter account. I have reported the abuse to Twitter support.

Update ... my Twitter account has been restored! Sorry for any erroneous messages that were sent out. Hopefully, I can get an illustration up soon ... stay tuned.

Yule Tide

2011-12-24T10:54:00.000-08:00

Yule Tide

Mixed Media, Collage Assemblage

Illustration Friday: Messenger

Happy Holidays to Everyone in Cyber Land! Be safe and have fun. Here's wishing all the Creatives many more illustrations for 2012.

2011-12-13T18:46:00.000-08:00

Cartoon from Vintage Magazine

Collage Assemblage

Illustration Friday: Separate

Sharing a cup of hot chocolate or coffee on a star-struck night.

Cypress Forest Under Six Descending Moons

2011-11-26T15:05:00.001-08:00

Cypress Forest Under Six Descending Moons

Acrylic, collage

Illustration Friday: Round.

Anyone living in the southeastern United States is familiar with cypress trees that grow out of marshy swamps. They probably grow in other regions of the world also. They are very common in Florida. Who knows, but maybe on another planet (one with many moons), in the far and distant universe cypress trees grow there too.

Illustration Friday: Vanity

2011-11-20T08:21:00.001-08:00

Green Cap

Pencil and Collage

A new hat or cap can make us feel special! Not a bad thing after all.

Illustration Friday: Silent

2011-11-13T16:18:00.001-08:00

Do Fish Sleep?

Night Beach

Mixed media, collage assemblage

Have you ever been to the beach at night? It leaves you with an ominous feeling, looking out at the dark and foreboding silent sea. Can you imagine how dark it is underneath the water? How do all the sea creatures see? Or do they sense instead. I wonder if they bump into one another, as humans do in the day.

I was inspired by abstract artist, Paul Klee (1879 - 1940) for "Do Fish Sleep?"

Fisch Zauber

(Fish Magic)

Paul Klee

Oil and Watercolor on muslin, mounted on cardboard

Illustration Friday: Stripes

2011-11-06T19:15:00.000-08:00

CyberMan

Mixed media, collage assemblage

Happy Veterans Day! Here's a little abstraction for your stripes.

This guy was a doodle I did many moons ago. The artwork is all cut from hand-painted paper and then layered on top of a painted board.

Homme is French for "great man."

Illustration Friday: Fuel

2011-10-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

Vulture

Collage assemblage

Some economists and political cartoonists equate the vulture with fuel, portraying our appetite for energy and consumption. I think the vulture has gotten a bad wrap, however, even though it eats dead meat.

A few years ago, I used to live next to a nature preserve that bordered a county facility. Hundreds of turkey vultures made this site their home. They perched on the rooftops of the few buildings that were available, on trees and near big power lines. Hundreds sat quietly, pruning and standing around, waiting and resting. It was a sight to see really, all those big birds with red heads. They wobbled across the roof tops with their big claw legs and occasionally, they'd take off in flight.

Well, it is the time of year when we're allowed to celebrate the darker aspects of nature, whether it be vultures, ghouls or witches chanting spells ... BOO!

Illustration Friday: Mesmerizing

2011-09-19T13:28:00.000-07:00

Sea Snake

Mixed media, collage assemblage

I was Inspired by William Blake's watercolor painting for Illustration Friday's theme, "mesmerizing." Blake painted the snake to accompany The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, "A Memorable Fancy" from his Illuminated Books. Below is Blake's watercolor. I have used hand-painted papers then cut, collage and assembled.

William Blake, 1790

Sea Snake

Mixed media, collage assemblage

Illustration Friday: Boundaries

2011-09-11T17:21:00.000-07:00

Floral

Mixed media, collage assemblage

Nature hath no boundaries except human intervention.

vws: 322

Illustration Friday: Disguise

2011-08-28T10:10:00.000-07:00

Harlequin

Collage Assemblage
© Kerry Schofield

For this week's interpretation of Illustration Friday's "disguise," I created a rendition of Harlequin sitting on a paper moon.

Harlequin is created from individual pieces of hand-painted cut paper. He was assembled first and resembles a paper doll. He's about 12 inches tall. The paper moon is wrapped in yellow tissue paper over a cut shape. I enjoyed hand-stamping the collage paper of his shirt with the lid from an old tube of dried-up watercolor paint. Assembling Harlequin in this way has given me some more ideas for collaged paper dolls. Even his small facial features (eyes, nose and mouth) are hand-cut from collage paper.

vws: 370

Illustration Friday: Influence

2011-08-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

The Pink Elephant
Collage Assemblage
© Kerry Schofield

Sunny Rays

Collage Assemblage

The elephant was feeling very sad. He thought he always looked so grey.

One day when he was stomping up a hill to gather some coconuts for his evening meal, he came upon a beautiful pink flamingo. He thought to himself, if only he could be pink he would be so happy.

But then it occurred to him that he could also become blue.

"No, no" he said, blue just won't do, not even Indigo. Nor did he go gaga over green or gold.

"No Sir Ree, it's pink for me!" he said. And with that, he turned pink. From that day on, he never went back to grey and stayed pink for ever after.

vws: 277

Illustration Friday: Swell

2011-08-14T17:54:00.000-07:00

Collage Assemblage

SuperGator

There are many tales and accounts of fire-breathing dragons all over the world. But in Florida where I live, there's an urban legend of a fire-breathing alligator. This Super Gator is reportedly 50 feet long! Can you believe it? Obviously, such a creature would be a man-eater (or woman-eater for that matter). If anyone has seen one, please let me know. I'd be very interested your hearing the story.

The most time-consuming and intricate part of making this collage was cutting out all those teeth! Each one is cut from a vintage paper lamp shade that had faded over the years.

VWS: 231

Illustration Friday: Imperfect

2011-08-07T10:30:00.000-07:00

Mixed Media, Collage Assemblage

Feline Mania

The spotted black and white stray cat scurried up the stairs to the second story flat. It stood on tall, lanky legs that supported a boney frame. Its face was scruffy and one eye blinked smaller than the other. By the outside door, two large potted plants hid water and food. It bowed down by the pretty yellow bowl with painted fish and crunched away hungrily at the dry meal.

In a perfect world, all the stray neighborhood cats would have homes to live in when it's cold and raining and plenty of food to eat and water to drink.

This is an original pencil drawing, which is "colored" with collaged tissue and hand-painted papers. The cats are cut from original pencil sketches and collaged with various papers.

Illustration Friday: Perennial

2011-07-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

Collage Assemblage

Tropical Lily

I decided to create a literal interpretation for this week's Illustration Friday theme. This collage is from one of my original botanical sketches. All those petals, leaves and stems are individually cut from snippets of hand painted paper.

But of course we have perennials in Florida; likewise, this one is subtropical with its bright pinks and reds. We also have a lot of bugs, snakes, lizards, alligators, tropical birds, armadillos and much more wildlife that makes this state special in its own regard.

Illustration Friday: Remedy

2011-07-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

Collage

Coasting

Bicycle riding is a great remedy for boredom. It's also a fun way to get some exercise and commune with nature. One day recently, while sitting in my truck at a red light, a young man behind me on a motorcycle was dressed in a black beret hat, black "shades" and a white t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked like he just stepped out of a 1950s movie. Likewise, this is where I got the idea for my bicycle rider.

Illustration Friday: Midsummer Night

2011-06-24T21:36:00.000-07:00

Collage

Happy Stars

I was rummaging through some old boxes in my storage unit the other day and came across my cousins' artwork. Richard and Julie did these two happy faces when they were just small children and they're now in their late 30s! Did I forget to mention I'm a pack rat and save everything? It's really fun to look back on children's artwork from yesteryear. I added some collage stars from one of my watercolors for this happy image. When I was a kid, I also created a woodcut with some similar round faces. I thought these two were especially cute.

Illustration Friday: Launch

2011-06-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

Collage Vintage Remix

Off to a Far Away Galaxy

It's not every day you see a pink mouse. I've thought about pink mice off and on since my childhood. Sometime ago, I designed a pink mouse cross stitch design that I'm going to stitch up one of these days.

I know you're probably wondering where on earth would I get an idea for a pink mouse. Well, it goes back to my childhood growing up in England during the 60s. Back then, little pink sugar mice were very popular and were sold in the village stores along with yarns and a sundry of other things. They were my favorites as a kid along with fresh strawberry tarts, English style. Yum! It truly is the simple (and sweet) things in life that can make us O-so happy.

Visit this link to learn more:

http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/2005/05/sugar-and-mice-and-everything-nice.html

Illustration Friday: Swept

2011-06-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

Collage Vintage Remix

Red Hat

Matilda resolved to keep her red hat hunkered down against the swirling wind and ensuing storm. She would not be deterred, however, as she marched out the front door to meet nature's fury. Her hair braided and suit buttoned up, she swept up her little black purse to meet the day head on, inclement weather or not.

Illustration Friday: Shadows

2011-06-04T18:37:00.000-07:00

"Winged Goddess"

Collage Remix

The shadow of a Greek victory goddess imbued with collage. True, our shadow follows us everywhere and is yet another aspect of our true selves. It may hide, lurk or sprout wings and fly away. If it does the latter, be sure to follow it where ever it goes! Oh, and never lie to your shadow or make up bad stories about it. It will really not like you very much for that. And after all, you have to live with your shadow. Treat it (and yourself) kindly.

Illustration Friday: Asleep

2011-05-29T19:28:00.000-07:00

Possessed Data Bits
Collage Remix

I must admit, napping is one of my favorite things to do. I never feel guilty when I take a catnap. Maybe it's because I have cats as pets and their habits have worn off on me.

I'm also a science fiction freak and look to the genre for this week's IF topic. I've included part of a verse from a poem that's not yet published about obsessive hoarding. Other than collecting books, beads and art supplies, I also collect electronic gadgets. I have to ask myself, do I really need them all? And my answer is, Yes! I can't help it but I'm an electronic junkie. When all of my data devices become too much to think about, I just take a nap and forget about them for awhile.

Illustration Friday: Safari

2011-05-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

"Beautiful World"

Collage Remix from 1940s - 1960s vintage and contemporary magazines, books

The natural world of flowers, clay, birds and butterflies -- what a beautiful world!

I found this image in a vintage magazine and have been wanting to use it for sometime. I love this photograph of an African girl with her beautiful smile. It seemed fitting to surround her with bright flowers and fauna.

You may also like this collage I did a few weeks ago for Illustration Friday:

http://obsessivecreativeus.blogspot.com/2011/04/illustration-friday-duet.html

Illustration Friday: Beginner

2011-05-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

"City Walk"

Collage Remix from 1940s - 1960s vintage magazines, books

The beginning of a walk is always the best part.

Talking about beginners, I have finally got up my very first website, www.obsessivecreative.us. I designed it using HTML and CSS coding only. I spend hours and hours learning the code and working on it. I took a web publishing class this last semester at USF and completed the class last week.

I need to iron out a few wrinkles and make some refinements to the site over the summer months, but basically it's up and running!

Whew ... "that was easy," Not! Some of you may remember the front page artwork from Illustration Friday's "Stir" submission:

http://obsessivecreativeus.blogspot.com/2011/03/illustration-friday-stir.html

Illustration Friday: Bottle

2011-04-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

"Birdie on a Bottle"

Collage Remix from 1940s - 1960s vintage magazines and books, digital

This little birdie is a canary, which I have always wanted to have as a pet. But with cats, that's out of the question. When I was around 11 or 12 years of age, an English neighbor across the street had a beautiful canary and a large aviary filled with many finches.

We used to visit her and chat for a while over some tea. She loved her birds and took great care with them! That little canary used to sing up a storm. This little guy reminds me of just that same one along with my favorite soda, ginger ale.

Illustration Friday: Duet

2011-04-03T18:45:00.000-07:00

"Giraffe Love"

Collage Remix from 1940s - 1960s vintage magazines and mixed media

Duet: the music of love!