Daily Doodle #43: Bar Napkin Doodle

Pen and marker on bar paper. 4" x 5 1/2". 12/12/13. Win it here.

To win the original of this painting, share this link on your facebook page and tag or message Eliza Furmansky Fine Art  so I know to put your name in my daily lottery jar. 

Add a title, story, lyric, or thought inspired by this doodle, and I'll put your name in twice! I LOVE reading your thoughts! Thank you.

Drawing will be the evening of 12/18.

Click here to see the last 42 Doodles!

I knew eventually my time management would slip and I'd have to do some sort of "bar napkin doodle." Here it is.

I was enjoying a holiday toast with my improv group, recently renamed "Improv Anonymous," at Sonya's, and at about 11pm, I said I should go "doodle."

They said, "Doodle here!"

Holly supplied a pen, the bartender supplied a scrap of paper and a bill booklet to doodle upon, and Tony supplied his cell phone to take a picture, and post to my website, which we managed to do at 12:02am.

I added a little color when I got home.

"To imperfection. Cheers!" proclaims the slightly inebriated doodler.

Next Day Thoughts:

I hate this doodle. Viscerally. Maybe I'll call it, "Don't listen to Lady Mezcal... ever."

Best thing to come out of it is this wonderful bit of writing from one of the biggest supporters of The Daily Doodle:

"Jerome was ready to step out tonight! He dressed to impress; he even wore his monocle. He'd heard this bar was a wild one. He found out the truth of that statement when the woman sitting next to him leaned over and blew in his ear. Her touch, her breath... the intimacy... it startled him, and though he was ashamed to admit it, made him feel - - pretty." -C.D.

and the song pairing of "It's All Too Much" by The Beatles from D.A.

Daily Doodle #42: Ghosts in Time

Watercolor on paper. 8 1/2" x 5 1/2". 12/16/13.  Win it here.   Purchase a print here.

I came down from Cloud Doodles, still wanting to improvise with black watercolor on paper. I know there's a story here, but it hasn't fully emerged for me yet. Perhaps as people share this one, and comment on it, it will become more clear.

I like how the river flows over the land in different eras, and I'm very curious about the shadowy figure moving through the trees following the wisps of something flying out of the picture frame.  Is this the ghost of the person whose skull we see, breaking the current of time?

 

To win the original of this painting, share this link on your facebook page and tag or message Eliza Furmansky Fine Art  so I know to put your name in my daily lottery jar. 

Add a title, story, lyric, or thought inspired by this doodle, and I'll put your name in twice! I LOVE reading your thoughts! Thank you.

Drawing will be the evening of 12/17.

Click here to see the last 41 Doodles!

 

I posted this one late last night, and already people have shared some really cool thoughts, titles and songs.  Here a few I grabbed this morning:

"He crept to the edge of his world - a place of dark wonders, a place she found terrifying - and surreptitiously sent out a message to her world - a world of light that he was sure held wonders of its own."  -from CD

"I think they're Nature's sentinels...watching out for travelers who need the cover of night to arrive at their destination...protectors of the marginalized." -from V.

"Because I could not stop for Death
He kindly stopped for me
The Carriage held but just Ourselves
And Immortality." -Emily Dickinson -from EH

"Yay! makes me think of the River Stix, receiving a transmission from Higher Power on a sacred hill, swirling winds and spirits, Nature's secret alchemy that happens while everyone else is sleeping, ... awesome!  ...Intrapsychic terrain for sure." -from NW

Song pairings:

   Bastille's  'Oblivion' -from JH.

  'O Death' from O Brother Where Art There -from DA

  Creedence Clearwater Revival's "BAD MOON RISING " -from CH

Titles: Flesh becomes water wood becomes bone (SQ), Mushroom Hunting (EL), Unicorn Hunting (JB), Moon River (JK)

Thanks everyone! Keep 'em coming!

 

Daily Doodle #41: Cloud Doodles

Watercolor on paper. 4 1/2" x 7". 12/15/2013. Win it here.   Purchase a print here.

Tried something different today.  I really enjoyed using black watercolor paint yesterday, on The Mean Doodle Mistress, and then today, as I was stuck in miserable traffic, I glanced up and caught a small flock of birds silhouetted against a gray cloudy sky, and thought that would be fun to play with when I got home.

I ended up getting completely caught up in the gray watercolor clouds, finding little pictures in them, and giving them just a little more definition. (It was awfully hard to choose which way to orient this one because I doodled different cloud pictures from different angles.)

I hope you enjoy looking for the different faces, cougars, an elephant, a couple of birds, a skull, an eagle mask, a monkey, a wolf, and who knows what else you might find in these clouds!

To win the original of this painting, share this link on your facebook page and tag or message Eliza Furmansky Fine Art  so I know to put your name in my daily lottery jar. 

Add a title, story, lyric, or thought inspired by this doodle, and I'll put your name in twice! I LOVE reading your thoughts! Thank you.

Drawing will be the evening of 12/16.

Click here to see the last 40 Doodles!

Daily Doodle #40: The Mean Doodle Mistress

Watercolor on paper. 5" x 9". 12/14/13. Win it here. Purchase a print here.

To win the original of this painting, share this link on your facebook page and tag or message Eliza Furmansky Fine Art  so I know to put your name in my daily lottery jar. 

Add a title, story, lyric, or thought inspired by this doodle, and I'll put your name in twice! I LOVE reading your thoughts! Thank you.

Drawing will be the evening of 12/15.

Click here to see the last 39 Doodles!

This week has been a frustrating one for me on The Daily Doodle Project.  With holidays approaching, work increasing, and stacks of projects and responsibilities, I feel like far too many things have been slipping through the cracks while I've been doodling under the rigid regime of the Daily Doodle Mistress. 

While I've kept up with the necessities of life, I've missed out on time playing outside, moving my body, luxuriating in time with loved ones. I long for dark wild spinning, limbs flying free, thought- scattering-dancing. I long for a conversation with a friend with all the time in the world to appreciate it, no nagging threads pulling at me. I long for empty in-boxes and blank to-do lists. I long for a day without needing to get online.

But all week, the Mean Doodle Mistress kept cracking the whip.  And I spent almost all of my free time doodling away- making little pieces of art, and sending them out into the internet, hoping they made a difference somewhere for someone besides me, which would help make the relentless nature of this project, this expression, somehow worth it.

It is hard to balance work and play, when the work is something I'm passionate about. And yet, if I don't let my inner artist have enough fun out in the world, the passion molds into obligation and duty, and the artist gets angry and grumpy. (And while I am only one judge of the doodles, and often not in the majority opinion on their merits, there's something different about a doodle doodled from duty. Perhaps  for me, it is tainted with the stench of the jail.)

This doodle is a warning to the Doodle Task Master (yes that's me, but perhaps you have one, too) that when artists don't get enough play-time, wonderful projects and commitments can become prisons, and that just won't do for a doodler.

Daily Doodle #39: Triangle Song

Ink on paper. 5"  x 7 1/2". 12/13/13. Win it here. Purchase a print here.

To win the original of this painting, share this link on your facebook page and tag or message Eliza Furmansky Fine Art  so I know to put your name in my daily lottery jar. 

Add a title, story, lyric, or thought inspired by this doodle, and I'll put your name in twice! I LOVE reading your thoughts! Thank you.

Drawing will be the evening of 12/14.

Click Here to see the last 38 Doodles!

 

Daily Doodle #38: Medieval Snuggle

Watercolor on paper. 6 1/2" x 5 1/2"/ 12/12/13. Win it here.  Purchase a print here.

I was going to paint a dragon flying across the moon towards the castle, making this a last embrace before our lovers are separated by danger and uncertainty, but I just couldn't do it (okay, and I ran out of time).

So, now our lovers live at the end of the story, and get to enjoy a "Happy Ever After" moment though the ages. Clearly, all is well now at the castle, and they can just the moonlight and the snuggle.

Click Here to see the last 37 Doodles!

The lottery drawing for this doodle has already passed, However, you can purchase a print of it for $20, if you click here.  And you can enter to win your own original doodle every day until November 5th, 2014! I post a new one every day  for you to share on my Eliza Furmansky Fine Art page on facebook,  and on my Daily Doodle Blog.

Thank you so much for visiting The Daily Doodle! I hope you're a little inspired and nourished, and that you visit again! Enjoy your day!

~Eliza

Daily Doodle #37: Dreams of a Folding Chair Flying to the Moon

Watercolor and permanent ink on paper. 7 1/2" x 5". 12/11/2013. Win it here. Purchase a print here. 

Watercolor and permanent ink on paper. 7 1/2" x 5". 12/11/2013. Win it here. Purchase a print here.
 

I was looking at the two little folding chairs on my balcony today when I started doodling.  They seemed to be gazing off dreamily at the Aurora bridge, and so, I let them free.

I'm not sure if this is a Folding Chair dreaming of leaving its home and flying to the moon, or if it's a Nomadic Vagabond Folding Chair dreaming of settling down.

To win the original of this painting, share this link on your facebook page and tag or message Eliza Furmansky Fine Art  so I know to put your name in my daily lottery jar. 

Add a title, story, lyric, or thought inspired by this doodle, and I'll put your name in twice! I LOVE reading your thoughts! Thank you.

Drawing will be the evening of 12/12.

Click here to see the last 36 Doodles!

Daily Doodle #36: Lisa Frank's Primordial Bubble Bath

Oil on canvas. 6" x 8". 12/10/2013. Win it here. Purchase a print of it here.

I thought I'd try a little oil doodle today. Here it is.

I imagine this is where Lisa Frank takes her bubble baths.

 

To win the original of this painting, share this link on your facebook page and tag or message Eliza Furmansky Fine Art  so I know to put your name in my daily lottery jar. 

Add a title, story, lyric, or thought inspired by this doodle, and I'll put your name in twice!

Drawing will be the evening of 12/11.

Daily Doodle #35: Everything Dies

I thought I'd get back to what I consider to be my "truest" form of doodling today -no pencils, no plans.

I'm really curious to read how other people will caption this one, but for me, I think it started with an eagle because I read my Free Will Astrology horoscope this morning, and Rob Brezny said I should think like one over the next few months.

The rest of this doodle is me dealing with the relentless cycle of creation and giving away that I've thrust myself into with this Daily Doodle project. It's really quite an experience to create something every SINGLE day, share it, find out what people think, or don't think about it, and then to give it away. -A lot of ups and downs each day.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've fallen in love with a few of my doodles, and I've been having a hard time putting them in the mail. I now allow myself a week with each doodle, before sending it off to its new home.  So, I've been watching doodles wash over my wall and out my door like waves crashing on the beach. Themes, mediums, patterns, emerge and pass away. I'm sad to see them go, but delighted and surprised by what the next wave brings.

I feel like a traveler on a journey with a heavy pack.  Each step I take, requires me to leave something behind in order to move on, and I'm not always gracefully accepting of this loss. Hence, "Everything Dies."

There is a river flowing into death, parting that thin veil that separates the living from the after-living.  This river relentlessly carries us along, despite the will of our resistance.  Everything passes away: the eagle eats the fish, the bowling pins fall, the moon is chased off by the sun, the stars burn out, the river keeps flowing.

And for me, doodles keep washing in and out of my life.

Someone proposed an alternative story about this doodle that I prefer to mine and want to share:

The "Eagle" is actually a shape-shifter in disguise who flew in to the Afterlife to save two souls.  He tricked the moon, and said he was just coming to fish, but then he snatched the souls instead and whisked them back to the land of the living.

Also, perhaps I should change the title? "Everything Dies" might be a bit to emo for the doodle now.  Someone suggested "Owl's Well that Ends Well," which fits the new story a bit more.

Watercolor and permanent ink on paper. 5" x 7 1/2". 12/9/2013. Win it here. Purchase a print here.

 

To win the original of this painting, share this link on your facebook page and tag or message Eliza Furmansky Fine Art  so I know to put your name in my daily lottery jar. 

Add a title, story, lyric, or thought inspired by this doodle, and I'll put your name in twice!

Drawing will be the evening of 12/10.

Click here to visit the Daily Doodle Archive, where you can browse through all past doodles, and purchase prints.

Daily Doodle #34: Adonis

Watercolor on paper. 5" x 7 1/2". 12/8/2013. Win it here.

Sometimes I have NO IDEA where a doodle comes from.  I was freezing cold and disappointed with my day, and thought I might doodle a sad little disappointed doodle, possibly a woman drowning in a sea of tears she'd cried herself.

But somehow the figure turned into a defiant and proud swimmer, complete with goggles!

And then the goggles turned into a wreath...

And then the swimmer turned into Adonis...

And there you have it! Mysterious doodle origins.

Also, my calendar this month has pictures each day of something from the Italian Renaissance, so I suppose I have been thinking about revisiting and renewing the classics.  Maybe that had a little something to do with doodling  Mr. Adonis, too.

 

To win the original of this painting, share this link on your facebook page and tag or message Eliza Furmansky Fine Art  so I know to put your name in my daily lottery jar. 

Add a title, story, lyric, or thought inspired by this doodle, and I'll put your name in twice!

Drawing will be the evening of 12/9.

Daily Doodle #33: Seed Song

Watercolor and permanent ink on paper. 5" x 6". 12/7/2013. Win it here. Purchase a print here.

"Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, "Grow, grow."

-The Talmud

Perhaps a whisper, perhaps a song...

I like thinking about the song a seed might make, if we could hear it grow -Sinking its roots into the earth, reaching its stem towards the sun, and eventually its leaves, and then its blossoms, beckoning sensuously yonder.

 

To win the original of this painting, share this link on your facebook page and tag or message Eliza Furmansky Fine Art  so I know to put your name in my daily lottery jar. 

Add a title, story, lyric, or thought inspired by this doodle, and I'll put your name in twice!

Drawing will be the evening of 12/8.

Daily Doodle #32: Morning Bird

Watercolor on paper. 5" x 7". 12/6/2013. Win it here.

Watercolor on paper. 5" x 7". 12/6/2013. Win it here.

To win the original of this painting, share this link on your facebook page and tag or message Eliza Furmansky Fine Art  so I know to put your name in my daily lottery jar. 

Add a title, story, lyric, or thought inspired by this doodle, and I'll put your name in twice!

Drawing will be the evening of 12/7.

Visit the Daily Doodle Archive, to browse, and purchase prints.

We ran a martial arts belt test today at Lake Washington Girls Middle School, so I woke up early this morning and read about 25 papers about courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self control and indomitable spirit. One of the papers that stuck with me was a 6th grader writing about the integrity it takes to get up in the morning after just one snooze, and the indomitable spirit it takes to rise with a smile. I could deeply relate.

So, tonight, I doodled this little morning bird. The day looks awfully big from inside its shell, and clearly it would rather stay in its cozy egg, but you can see it gathering its indomitable spirit to rise and shine with the sun. Go get 'em, Little Morning Bird!

*One more interesting tid-bit about Morning Bird and the Doodle Process:

This doodle did NOT go smoothly! I actually had a worry that it might be the first Daily Doodle that just didn't work. I was exhausted, and didn't really know what I wanted to doodle or with what materials. I started moving a pencil around on the page, and didn't see ANYTHING I wanted to play with for the longest time. Then... there was an egg.

And this little bird full of trepidation started coming out of its shell.  So, in the end, it was perfectly fitting that a doodle having a hard time emerging from the page would become a bird having a hard time emerging from its shell. When anything is possible, it can be awfully scary to begin sometimes...

Daily Doodle #31: Yuletide Lovers

Watercolor on paper. 4" x 6". 12/5/2013. Win it here.

Hey everyone, it's the one month anniversary of THE DAILY DOODLE PROJECT!

Thank you so much for sharing, inspiring, and supporting me in this great doodle endeavor so far! I hope you enjoy this one!

It reminds me of that perfect embrace that feels like getting into a hot tub.

To win the original of this painting, share this link on your facebook page and tag or message Eliza Furmansky Fine Art in it so I know to put your name in my daily lottery jar. 

Add a title, story, lyric, or thought inspired by this doodle, and I'll put your name in twice!

Drawing will be the evening of 12/6.

Visit the Daily Doodle Archive, to browse, and purchase prints.

Daily Doodle #30: Mermaid Napping

Watercolor and permanent ink on paper. 5 1/2" x 4". 12/4/2013. Win it here.

To win the original of this painting, share this link on your facebook page and tag Eliza Furmansky Fine Art in it so I know to put your name in my daily lottery jar. 

Add a title, story, lyric, or thought inspired by this doodle, and I'll put your name in twice!

Drawing will be the evening of 12/5.

Visit the Daily Doodle Archive, to browse, and purchase prints.

Daily Doodle #29: Changing of the Guard

Permanent ink on paper. 8 1/2" x 5". 12/3/2013. Purchase a print here.

One of my favorite outcomes from The Daily Doodle Project has been reading the various captions, stories, poems, and titles written by people when they share my doodles. Sometimes, I get the gratification of having effectively communicated a feeling, or a thought through my art, and sometimes I get a glimpse into someone's life experience, or a whole new perspective on a doodle.

Here are some of my favorite responses I received from people about "Changing of the Guard":

"This one makes me think of that moment when you touch your own divinity. Just a glimpse of knowing how wonderful and special you are. How much your heart can love, how much you can hold, how much you can feel and yet . . . knowing you are so much more than can ever be revealed at once." -R.T.

"On the far end of town where the Triacrawla-grass grows, the Boo-Boo Bird found the nest of her dreams in the Spectacular tree. She could watch the skies and twilight dream, as the Sun and the Moon changed shifts to watch over her." -M.O.

"Celestial harmony and the gifts of the earth!" -S.G.

"The mystical moment when the sun and moon greet each other. Moon: 'Over to you, my golden sister.' Sun: 'Always, and now, silver one!'" -J.G.

What would you write?

The lottery drawing for this doodle has already passed, and the original is now with a beautiful traveler, mother, and Balinese dancer.  However, you can purchase a print of it for $20, if you click here.

And you can enter to win your own original doodle every day until November 5th, 2014! I post a new one every day  for you to share on my Eliza Furmansky Fine Art page on facebook,  and on my Daily Doodle Blog.

You can browse through the archive of Daily Doodle so far, and purchase prints of them here: The Daily Doodle Archive.

Thank you so much for visiting The Daily Doodle! I hope you're a little inspired and nourished, and that you visit again! Enjoy your day!

~Eliza

 

Daily Doodle #28: Village of the Butterflies

Watercolor on paper. 8' x 5 1/2". Posted 12/2/2013. Win it here.
 

A secret: I pre-doodled this because 12/2/13 is full of shuttles, airplanes, trains, work, and a visit from my Mummela. I may need to do more pre-doodling in the future as well, to make this whole Daily Doodle Project fly for a whole year and still have the rest of my life work. So this is the first of many "secret" pre-doodles.

This is my first true doodle in watercolor, by which I mean, I started with a yellow swirl, watched it grow  (as a doodle and a garden) from there.  I was doodling outside in a desert garden in the Catalinas, and my Dad pointed out a butterfly which had landed near me, which was when all the little butterflies flew into the doodle garden.

I've noticed in my Daily Doodles that old "doodle motifs" from my past surface before I move into new doodle motifs. Some of the old doodle motifs I noticed in this doodle are the purple swirl flowers, which is how I drew roses when I was about five years old, and the butterflies, which I doodled after my Mummela's doodles butterflies when I was about ten years old. I doodled butterflies a lot in those days, as the butterfly was the symbol for creativity, at a summer camp I went to called Geneva Glen, in Colorado.

I like how the sky looks like wind currents that the butterflies are riding. -That's an example of a new doodle motif: the swirls of sky around the stars turned into wind currents.  I wonder if that will emerge again in a future doodle...

To win the original of this painting, share this link on your facebook page and tag Eliza Furmansky Fine Art in it so I know to put your name in my daily lottery jar. 

Add a title, story, lyric, or thought inspired by this doodle, and I'll put your name in twice!

Drawing will be the evening of 12/3.

Daily Doodle #27: Love Birds

Watercolor on paper. 7" x 4 1/2" 12/1/2013. Purchase a print here.

As I was walking through the Catalinas the other day, I noticed these two little birds far off on a saguaro branch, chatting away.  Today, I doodled them into their own private penthouse, enjoying the desert paradise.

Daily Doodle #25. Purchase a print here.

The lottery drawing for this doodle has already passed, and the original is now with one of my favorite martial artist training partners and co-teachers.  However, you can purchase a print of it for $20, if you click here.

And you can enter to win your own original doodle every day until November 5th, 2014! I post a new one every day  for you to share on my Eliza Furmansky Fine Art page on facebook,  and on my Daily Doodle Blog.

You can browse through the archive of Daily Doodle so far, and purchase prints of them here: The Daily Doodle Archive.

 

Thank you so much for visiting The Daily Doodle! I hope you're a little inspired and nourished, and that you visit again! Enjoy your day!

~Eliza

 

Daily Doodle #26: Surf Birds

Watercolor on paper. 8" x 5 1/2". 11/30/2013. Purchase a print here.

One of my favorite outcomes from The Daily Doodle Project has been reading the various captions, stories, poems, and titles written by people when they share my doodles. Sometimes, I get the gratification of having effectively communicated a feeling, or a thought through my art, and sometimes I get a glimpse into someone's life experience, or a whole new perspective on a doodle.

Here are some of my favorite responses I received from people about "Surf Birds":

"Out of all the species on earth, the birds have found a way to defy extermination. During the solar eclipse, they use their cylinder flying formation to create a tubular funnel. Which created the ladder to travel planets. One day we will find the passenger pigeon on mars … or maybe Kunare!"

"It reminds me of going on a spirit journey and traveling to the center of yourself."

 "No Limits"

 "Bird Dreams"

 "Eternity"

The lottery drawing for this doodle has already passed, and the original is now in Tampa, Florida.  However, you can purchase a print of it for $20, if you click here.

And you can enter to win your own original doodle every day until November 5th, 2014! I post a new one every day  for you to share on my Eliza Furmansky Fine Art page on facebook,  and on my Daily Doodle Blog.

You can browse through the archive of Daily Doodle so far, and purchase prints of them here: The Daily Doodle Archive.

 

Thank you so much for visiting The Daily Doodle! I hope you're a little inspired and nourished, and that you visit again! Enjoy your day!

~Eliza

Daily Doodle #25: Night Walker

Watercolor on paper. 8" x 5 1/2". 11/29/2013. Win it here.

I had such a beautiful walk in the desert today, sun on my skin, birds chirping, cacti blooming, mountains in the background, and I had everything I needed in my pack- such a good feeling.

Unfortunately, my black permanent ink pen exploded on the plane, and I dripped black ink onto the sky of this doodle commemorating my desert stroll. I covered it up with gold flecks dancing in the sunset.

I like thinking of this "Night Walker" as a "Shadow bringer" -where she walks the sun sets, and stars burn in her footsteps. It's a little Sisyphus, though, like she's always chasing the sun and never quite reaching it.  Then again, I've always liked thinking of Sisyphus as reveling in the work of pushing the stone up to the top of the mountain, and gleefully watching as it rolls down again. So maybe our little "Sun chaser/Night walker/Shadow bringer" enjoys the hunt, forever following the golden purples, pinks, oranges of the setting sun as she walks across the world.

 

To win the original of this painting, share this link on your facebook page and tag Eliza Furmansky Fine Art in it so I know to put your name in my daily lottery jar. 

Add a title, story, lyric, or thought inspired by this doodle, and I'll put your name in twice!

Daily Doodle #24: Thanksgiving Doodle

Watercolor and metallic sharpie on paper. 8" x 5 1/2". 11/28/2013. Win it here.

Favorite Doodle Captions:

"It was a quiet night October 11th 1492 … the Tainos were celebrating their diversity and the wealth that the earth gave them. Life was good."

"The old sorcerer had assured Winston that he would find more questions than answers within the dream tee-pees, but he had to try anyway."

"These look like places where the colors of Joy shine from within."

If you're playing The Daily Doodle Lottery, and want to win the original of this doodle, share this link on your facebook page and tag Eliza Furmansky Fine Art in it so I know to put your name in my Daily Doodle Lottery Jar. 

Add a title, and/or some gratitude dedications and I'll put your name in twice!!