Art House Co-op - 4x6 Exchange

In the beginning of March, I was lucky enough to snag a spot in Art House Co-op's 4x6 Exchange. Art House Co-op is the fantastic organization behind the Sketchbook Project (which I also participated in this year -can't wait for the tour!...). If you're a creative-minded person, whether it be through art or writing, I urge you to check out their website and follow them on facebook or twitter. They are constantly announcing new free projects to turn on your creative brain.

For this project, I had to create a 4” x 6” inch, flat artwork then mail it and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Art House in Brooklyn. In return, they will exchange my work with another artist’s submission and mail it to me...ah, the element of surprise...

So for my project, I decided I would make a peacock. I think they were really "IN" last summer, so I'm operating a good 9 months behind the rest of you trend-setters. I also still wear jeggings.....and I'm considering reading Twilight.

 I made my pencil drawing on a piece of matte board, you can see my 1 and only rough sketch in the background. I wanted to color it with some really light pigments and let the pencil drawing show thorough. If I hadn't professed a deep hatred for watercolor and given away all the expensive paints I was forced to buy for school, then watercolor would have been perfect. Also, gouache would probably have been perfect, except I have no idea what that is.  

So, lacking watercolor and gouache, I decided I'd try some super-thinned acrylic paint and try to achieve the same effect. I left the drawing on the desk for a few minutes while I went to get my paints. 

When I got back, I found this.....

My 5 year old decided she needed to color in the peacock for me, even though I had asked her not to touch it. I'm not going to lie, I was mad and I yelled at her. Then I felt horrible for crushing her creative efforts and apologized. But I couldn't cover this up with thinned paint. I debated drawing a new peacock, but lack of time triumphed over my former artistic vision. So on to plan B....

Glitter Pens.

Yes, I know they look like they are made for pre-teen girls, I'm not even sure why I own them. I probably needed to write "I love Justin Bieber" on my trapperkeeper or something. But they write really nice and smooth, they covered the scribbles (can you see them?) and they *sparkle* (hard to see through the computer).

I mailed this off today and will be anxiously awaiting my exchange. You can also see it on the Art House site here.