Krista Doodles

2012-01-22T13:43:00.000-06:00

If you haven't checked it out, cookies are my newest adventure. I have a Blog and a Facebook page. Recently 22 other cookie makin' women decided to do a fun "Virtual Baby Shower" based upon various fairytale characters. Mine as you can see, was Mulan.

I really wanted a chance here to challenge myself and really combine my love of drawing with my new found love of cookie decorating. So I decided to try a royal icing transfer. For those who don't know, a Royal Icing transfer is made from that really hard icing-Royal Icing. It is piped on to acetate or parchment paper/wax paper and left to dry, just as you would a cookie. But when it is dry you slowly peel it off the paper and place it on the wet icing of a cookie, cake etc.

This was so exciting for me, I could actually take an original drawing (Which I will always love. Drawing, sketching, getting the side of my hand dirty with black or blue pencil. Those who draw alot can relate ;) and place it on a cookie. Well, sounded good in theory.

Here is a little bit of my process.
I started out with a rough sketch. Then I cleaned it up to a single line thinking of how I would be piping lines instead of pencil lines. It's a totally thought process.

Then I decided what colors I would be using and plotted them out on a color sketch. After I have decided what would be piped black and what would be colored, came the job I so do NOT enjoy... mixing icing colors. Just tedious.

Then I took the cleaned up sketch and taped it to a hard surface. In this case I use my kids Robert Munch book. On top of that sketch I taped a sheet of wax paper. Why? Well, honestly because I felt like I could see through the wax paper better than parchment and I didn't have any acetate. But if I had to do it again I would definitely not use wax paper. I found moisture leaked out of the icing causing the paper to bubble a little, making the transfer warped. And that is why next time I will probably use a sheet of acetate instead.

After it was dried, a few days, I slowly peeled it off and placed it on a freshly iced cookie. And proceeded to decorate as per usual.

And this is what I ended up with. Because it bubbled a little, the transfer broke in half as I was placing it on the cookie. But I just used the icing as paint and "repaired it." Then I used food color as paint and painted on the face on Mulan and the eyes on Lil' Brother. Overall I am happy with how my first transfer turned out. Its all a learning experience!

Thanks for stopping by! :)
~Krista

Halloween Cookie Sketches

2011-09-14T14:52:00.000-05:00

So...I am planning my Halloween cookies. A little early but October is a busy one. So I don't have many Halloween cutters. Call it cheap or creative, but I pulled out ones I do have and tried to figure out some cool Halloween shapes. Such as an egg, octopus, plain circles and below is actually an upside down headstone (which I personally think is not appetizing to eat.) So it became Frankenstein!

Finding your Line

2011-07-19T22:50:00.001-05:00

So... this started off as a little sketch to just put on an old binder full of family recipes. Ended up a finished piece. Can't really say its me, my hair is not nearly that high, amongst other things.

I'm experimenting with keeping the "sketchiness" of my original line and coloring it. This linework is a bit more tied down than I want, oh well.

Round Two...

2011-07-18T23:15:00.001-05:00

So let's try this blogging thing again. For those who followed me on here before... this is my new and resurrected blog! Unintentionally my last post was the day before my daughter, now 4 *gasp* was born. Since then we welcomed a little boy and well... life just got away from me. I have thought about starting a new blog - but just decided to stick with my "Krista Doodles."

And so here we are...

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-05T19:17:00.000-05:00

Hi all! I was going to just wait till next Christmas and make the longest post in history... :) But instead, I thought I would just post a little something I made for the next upcoming holiday, Happy Halloween!

Merry Christmas!

2005-12-22T16:02:00.000-06:00

Well, it has been a while. Getting settled and getting ready for Christmas (yah!!!!) not much time. So I thought I would just take a few moments to say I hope you all have a great holiday! What can make you happier than a little gingerbread man?!

The Swing Girls

2005-12-01T18:27:00.000-06:00

I said that I would try to post something I have made and here is what I could find. I made these "Swing Girls" for my twin nieces for their first Christmas. They are now 3 years old and I miss how "squishy" they were, so I just had to sneak in a pic in of them then! Sorry

I made them out of colored sculpey. Usually I just use white sculpey and paint them after. This was my first attempt at "pre-color!" Looking back they look stiff, but I guess you could always make something better.
Now only if Drew and Riley will stop throwing things at them on the wall, Mom and Dad can hang them back up!! Everyone's a critic!

Onament Ideas

2005-11-19T16:16:00.000-06:00

A few years ago, I thought I would try my hand at making Christmas Ornaments. Since it is that season again... I have been doing a few sketches that I would like to make into ornaments. These are just two little ones.

Just a little scared flower....

2005-11-12T11:05:00.000-06:00

Just a little somethin'. I've been playing with Painter and trying to find something that looks good under a few of my rough sketches. This one was a mix of watercolors and chalk in the end. I've been trying to learn Painter with as little reading of the manual as possible, that's my work process. I just "read" the pictures. But I am having fun experimenting with all the different effects. So far I am love the possibilities of Painter!

S'more girls and bugs...

2005-11-10T16:20:00.000-06:00

These are a few more sketches I was doing to try to "find" a style for a little story I have flying around in my mind. Neither the story nor the style has been locked down. ( Not the first time you have heard that eh?... oh yes, I am Canadian!!)
I originally was going to go more realistic, but as I started drawing I realized I wanted something more loose, fun and kind of stylized (for me) and yet expressive. I only say that because when I go more or less realistic, I get caught up in the drawing and not expression.
These are just a few sketches of "me trying new things". I am not sure I am going this route or not. But thought I'd throw them up here for a looksee. Sorry Mike, no "little feets" on these. Their toes don't pop out till their shoes come off. :)

Life Drawing with Actors

2005-11-05T17:39:00.000-06:00

Thought I would post some life drawings I did in a class with actors. Life drawing was not always fun for me back in college, but once I had the oportunity to work with actors in costumes or models with real personality, I enjoyed it so much more. Emotion, life!.. but I guess that is why I went into animation in the first place! :)

All Kitties need color...

2005-10-31T09:25:00.000-06:00

For those who said it would be nice to see color and since Kevin says all kitties need color......

Here kitty kitty......

2005-10-29T18:25:00.000-05:00

I guess this is what they call blogging guilt.... I haven't had alot of time to do much this week, so I thought I would just post something I did earlier this year. I know it isn't much, but it is my attempt at being a little more stylized and less like the "mouse" style. Still trying to find "my style." Or should I say, just being comfortable with what is my style.

Here it goes...

2005-10-24T14:27:00.000-05:00

Well, I promised I would try to post something... so here it is. Not too new, but hasn't been seen that much. Actually, that can be said for alot of my work. So I guess that is why my biggest fan of a husband started this blog.
Here is a little sketch, inspired by my nieces. 'Nough said. Baby steps...

She's gonna kill me for this, but...

2005-10-22T19:17:00.000-05:00

... I am a huge fan of my wife's artwork. In fact,...I only married her so that I could have access to her original drawings. Krista and I both work in the art field professionally,...but as of late,... neither of us has had very much time to pursue our own personal works. In an effort to push my own personal creativity , I recently joined the community of fellow artist bloggers with one of my own. In a selfish effort to see some more of my wifes artwork,.. I started one for her. ( Sorry honey. ) Krista is very modest and shy so I knew she would never start one of these herself,...so I figured I would get her started. What do ya say honey,...got some doodles for me ? ---with love and admiration , Kevin. ( Thanks so much to Darryl Young for helping me set this up as well.)