Suit Your Surface

64 Arts

There are more things to draw on than just paper…

Let’s see how many things I can come up with that are suitable for drawing on that are not paper:

  • Sidewalks (make your own sidewalk chalk!I bet those water bottle ice-cube trays would be perfect molds for them!)
  • Chalkboards
  • Whiteboards
  • Walls (if you have permission of the wall-owner, of course)
  • Nails (as in finger nails–I’ve always been curious about those polish markers for this sort of thing)
  • Silk (veering into painting a bit, but I think it’s an understandable deviation)
  • Appliances*
  • Cakes

Yup, I was totally leading up to that last one 🙂 I used to do a LOT of cake decorating. I was mostly self-taught, then I took the Wilton classes so I could teach others. I could put anything on a cake, as long as I had a picture to go by. One cake in particular decided to test those skills:

1999 Camp Gordon Johnston Assn Fundraiser

This group used an old WWII cartoon by Bill Mauldin on their brochures and wanted it duplicated onto a cake.

This was a bit before the edible images were very widespread so there wasn’t much to do but draw it on.

I was able to transfer the primary lines using piping gel transfer and a piece of transparency film, then filled in the rest with a very tiny tip (a 1 and a 0, if I remember correctly) and black icing. It took hours, but the CGJA loved it!

What other surfaces do you want to draw on? And what types of preparation would you have to make to do it?

* * *

And, now, for the Daily Doodle! Again, I had a couple because it was my night to do my weekly life-comic. If you’d like to see the larger size of the left side of the image, click on over to Cocktail Hour and see how my studio got it’s name. The ones on the right are honest doodles, though.

The top right is a visual pun: Spur of the Moment. I was just thinking how this little exercise was just that–and into my head this image popped. Nice when the muse plays along, right? (My muse’s name is Tessa, by the way–but that’s a whole ‘nother story.) The bottom right, however, was inspired by the  Search for the Missing Cookies over at A Duck in Her Pond. The actual line she wrote was

And we all know a pig without Oreos is not a happy pig.

All I could think about was a sad little piggie (wearing pearls, of course!) shaking an empty box of cookies and looking terribly forlorn. I know we feel very sad when we run out of cookies, here!

Still plenty of time to share your doodles and be entered in the drawing for the handmade journal. Each link gets you an entry 🙂

12 thoughts on “Suit Your Surface

  1. LOL! I’m so glad you liked the pig line. I think it’s amazing you can decorate cakes. I am so terrible at it. I smear the icing about and if I have to write a message…well, that’s what sprinkles are for.

    1. I really enjoyed teaching those classes–the only reason I stopped was that I enrolled in Culinary School and it took over my evenings (when I taught). Lots of folks who didn’t think they could found out just how much they *could* do–I loved that part!

    1. Thanks! I’ll bet there’s something you can draw–I had a friend in high school who drew these furry, fluffy little things with faces. He may not have been able to draw anything else, but he could draw those. Of course, not everyone needs to be able to draw–I’ll bet you have other awesome talents!

  2. Oh dear, that piggy does look sad! Lovely doodles. And I can think of some other surfaces to draw on:
    Paper napkins: I cherish two with drawings from my hubby and son.
    Pencil case: mine was made of wood (years ago at school) and I decorated every inch.
    CDs: I not only write what’s on the CD but I draw something too.
    Bathroom mirror: Once my hubby left a heart on it drawn with toothpaste!

    That’s it I think! Have a great Wednesday!

  3. I mostly draw on paper. I like to draw little things on envelopes when I send a card or letter—-I feel that it ‘cheers’ up the mail person and the receiver of the letter. I don’t think most of us draw enough—-we should all do a doodle a day.

  4. if I was brave enough to paint the appliances I could come up with some funky stuff — our house is currently on the bland side

    1. As a teenager I painted a spare phone with images of people talking on phones. Very pop art, Lichtenstein-influenced. Mom made me take it off. Ever since I’ve wanted to do it again (even though we don’t use a land line anymore, lol).

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