Taking it to the Second Floor

Julie Fei Fan Balzer posted the Second Floor challenge today, which was to create something inspired by circles using techniques outside of your comfort zone.  What to do?  After sketching, painting, doodling, I was coming up with nothing.  Also, Laura posted her Diva challenge today, which was to do something in sepia tones.  My initial thought was that I wasn't going to participate because one color family, let alone sepia, just isn't my thing.  I LOVE color -- the more the better.  But then, a light bulb went off  --- combine the challenges.  Do something inspired by circles in a color palate outside of my comfort zone.  What would it feel like to limit myself to colors in the sepia family?  And here's the result. 

I started off with a big circle, but then immediately felt confined.  But I decided to press on.  Sepia reminded me of nature, and so I drew a tree.  I've been wanting to draw these chickens ever since I saw them in a Zentangle book.  Using circles (well ovals) in the tree, filling in the grass with more circles, adding lots of gold circles behind the tree, and using circles to border the original circle, was fun and inspired lots of variations.  I went out of the sepia family with touches of green and red, but there's brown mixed in to everything.  I like it!

My takeaways from these challenges:

1.  Never say never.
2.  Experiment with different colors - put aside the tried and true for something different.
3.  Sometimes creativity can emerge from confinement and limitation.

Supplies used: H2O paint, Sakura pens and Koi watercolors.