Art & Illustrations Archives - SandyBreckenridge.com

A Squirrel with Pearls

March 9, 2021 By Sandy Breckenridge 2 Comments

“Sometimes big trees grow out of acorns. I think I heard that from a squirrel.” —Jerry Coleman

My husband made an observation during our many years together. I think it started watching me enjoy the movie “Chicken Run” for the third time. I kindly dismissed him to go and work on one of his varied projects, while he chuckled and graciously accepted.

His observation: Sandy loves movies with talking animals!

Fluke, is a movie about a man who died and came back as his family’s new dog. Babe is about a sweet little pig who narrowly escapes becoming Christmas dinner. And the claymation movie, Chicken Run is about the inhabitants of a chicken farm wanting to escape their evil owners. All three are favorites. There are numerous other movies with talking animals on my favorite movie list.

Can’t Forget Rocky the Squirrel

Did you grow up enjoying cartoons? I sure did.

Who could forget Bullwinkle J. Moose and Rocky the Flying Squirrel? Maybe this is when my love of watching films with talking animals started.

I don’t remember a time where the humanification of animals combined with storytelling didn’t pique my attention. The same holds true as an artist. I enjoy illustrating animals and including sweet quotes, sayings, and heartfelt messages.

Little Girls with Vision

Squirrel Dreams is the name of a recent digital painting I was working on the day of Ruth Bader Gingsburg’s passing. It’s not easy to bridge from talking animals to the seriousness of the lifelong accomplishments and inspiration of RGB. But I had to try.

Ruth was a short-statured woman with enormous power who was an effective advocate for gender equality, women’s rights, and many other issues. She would wear a symbolic collar made of pearls on the days she’d write a dissenting opinion.

She was often quoted. The messages she imparted were deep, thought-provoking pearls of wisdom.

So, on the day of RGB’s passing, my Squirrel Dreams piece was transformed. She became a dainty, kind, pearl-wearing squirrel with tremendous power. She chose to serve as an example for little girls to dream, and dream big. Leave it to a squirrel to remind us that even a tiny acorn can carry much more than its weight, and take us to places we can only imagine.

If you know someone who might enjoy the message in the painting, click > Squirrel Dreams Merchandise & Posters

The Quickdraw Challenge

January 31, 2021 By Sandy Breckenridge Leave a Comment

“Sketching regularly requires you to pay close attention to the visual world around you. With practice, you begin to see things you never noticed before.” —Paul Laseau

One of my favorite creative activities is the Quickdraw Challenge. The idea is to set a timer for a specified amount of time, such as an hour, and practice in your medium of choice.

How to get started:

Gather your supplies
Create an intention
Set your timer
Now, go!

At the end of the hour, stop whether you feel you are finished or not. This exercise allows you to play and frees up your mind to flow and create without overthinking.

I like to put all my quickdraws together and revisit them at a later time. They are perfect for use as comps to stimulate ideas. You may choose to refine your creations and develop new works of art. Or, you may get lucky and find in the hour you created a piece you simply love.

Starting With a Scrap Image

There is nothing wrong with starting with an image or photograph you might find. Design is just redesigning. As long as the scrap is not recognizable and you have not violated copyrighted material, go for it.

Playing with Graphic Elements

In the Graphic Design Element Series, you can learn about all the fundamentals of design. Line, plane, tone, small, medium, large, circle, square, and triangle are the first of elements that are covered.

You’ll notice in the video below where I provide an example of this exercise I used simple lines to create the Field of Flowers image. I actually really liked the finished piece, so I uploaded it to my online shop.

Video of a Recent Field of Flowers Quickdraw

This illustration only took about 45 minutes from start to finish. It is pretty cool and when I uploaded it to my online store. I loved how it looked on many items.

When you unleash your creative spirit, you can create almost instant gratification and help build your confidence. I invite you to play, have fun, and explore different mediums.

One day you might play with pencils, the next watercolors, the next photo enhancement. The key is to permit yourself to play. Playing is an act of self-love and who can argue with that?!

To see how this image looks on various home items including big pillows, click >Field of Flowers
(Scroll to the bottom of the page after you click on the link and you can see a wide range of items with this design.)

Nature Opens Our Hearts

January 8, 2021 By Sandy Breckenridge Leave a Comment

Have you ever heard of “forest bathing”? Have you ever noticed when you walk in nature you just feel better?

When the September 2020 equinox arrived, my husband and I had been staying very close to home for 6 months. The greater Seattle area was the U.S. ground zero for Covid-19.

The first known case in the nation was diagnosed at the end of February in Everett just 48 miles north of Seattle. Our home is located right between the two cities in the smaller town of Edmonds that adjoins Puget Sound.

Living in a smaller, waterfront walk-friendly town has its perks. Natural beauty surrounds us. Our town appreciates art and culture. It has a marina, ferry dock, art galleries, quaint specialty stores with colorful window displays, restaurants, coffee shops, and more; most anything someone in a small town could want. We really don’t need to drive far to buy what we need.

Luckily, we are more introverted than extroverted. Going for long walks and working from home on our varied projects has kept us pretty balanced. It’s also been a great time to expand our creativity as we cope with the grief for the lives lost during this time. We find grief rises and falls like waves.

Finding Beauty in Darkness

I always take my camera when I walk through our local neighborhoods, on our park’s trails, or down to the waterfront. Time in isolation nurtures my imagination.

While taking pictures of whatever catches my attention, I came up with the idea to make my photos more meaningful. Why not digitally enhance and build a relatable theme around them?

When I was walking through Yost Park, I paused at a little stream. I noticed a collection of leaves. The way the water was lightly washing around them caught my attention.

In my mind’s eye I saw nature carrying the leaves and depositing them to form them into a heart. It was like nature was saying:

“It’s gonna be alright.
I will open your heart and heal you if you let me.”

Creating Your Own Reality

Nature Opens Our Hearts was my first artistic image that inspired the idea of digitally enhancing my photos.

The drab colors of the sky and darkness of the day felt so appropriate for these times. So much sadness, collective grief, and uncertainty surrounds us. I felt a desire to do something transformative with this scene.

I felt the drabness and gray tones needed to remain to reflect how harsh things have been…and…the contrast of the leaves could express that healing is within our hearts if we just open and let love in.