Advent Calendar Template 2014

November 30 will be the first Sunday of Advent, and once again, time to start drawing my Advent Calendar.  After five years of drawing them, I took a break in 2013.  But I'm really looking forward to it again for this Advent season.

I'll be posting my calendar here throughout Advent, at least weekly, and maybe more often. After my first year's Advent calendar, I wrote a post on what I learned from it, and it does a good job of explaining why I've continued.

For my previous Advent calendar drawings, click as follows:

• Here for 2012
• Here for 2011
• Here for 2010
• Here for 2009
• Here for 2008
• Here for all of my Advent and Christmas-related drawings and posts

My friend Sybil also posts her yearly Advent calendars in her prayer-drawing blog, Praying in Color.  Click here for her 2013 calendar, here for 2012, here for 2011, or here for 2010.  I'll also link to her 2014 calendar as it appears.

If you'd like to try this activity for yourself, you're invited to click here for two different templates on Sybil's blog.  One is a variation of the calendar grid I'll be using this year.  The other is a tree with different shapes for the days.  She also shows a few examples, including my 2011 calendar.  You may also enjoy her latest book, The Season of the Nativity, which is filled with ideas and simple activities for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany.

Edited November 30, 2014, to add:  For an additional template on Sybil's blog, click here.  

Bright Circles and L's

Our friends Andy and Sybil visited for the weekend, and of course Sybil and I needed to draw and color something.  We sat on the sofa after dinner and picked "rosettes with circles and L's" as the starting point for our drawings.

My doodle used the rosette steps, sort of, but my end result doesn't have a rosette shape.  It looks more like a mobile to me.  Sybil called it a molecule.  Simple and bright and a nice reminder of all our drawing times together.

• Paper, pen, and Copic marker colors: all from Sybil's travel bag, and I didn't write them down.
• Paper size: 7 x 7"

Leafy Branch with Wine Red

There's a hint of fall in the air this week, so a touch of wine red in my leafy branch. 

• Copic marker colors used: YG95,97, R56
• Pen: Copic multiliner 0.3 black
• Paper: Neenah, 3.75 x 5"
• Mat: Hero Arts grenadine layering paper,  4.25 x 5.5"

Lenten Prayer Calendar (2014) - Final

My completed prayer calendar for Lent.  Updated Easter Sunday, April 20, 2014.  As always, I'm so glad I did the calendar drawings this year.

Click here for more info, including a template link.  Also, each drawing space is small, about 1 inch wide, so you may want to click on the drawing for a better view. 

• Copic markers
• Pen: Copic multiliner 0.3 black; 0.3 cool gray for March 24-28 and April 19; 0.3 cobalt for April 6; 0.3 purple for April 7; 0.3 purple and olive for April 16; 0.3 brown and wine for April 17.
• Paper: Neenah
• Words March 5-8: Ash; Broken; Center, enter in; Peace, be still; 
• Words March 9-15: Prepare with joy; Trust; Renew; In Your mercy; Journey; Fallen; Repent and return
• Words March 16-22: Seek where he is found; Rest; Grace; Healing; Faith; Steadfast; Be born of the spirit
• Words March 23-29: For our sake; Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world; Have mercy on us, grant us peace
• Words March 30-April 5: 40 days/nights; Fasting: Live as children of the Light. Ephesians 5; Hope; So shall all be made alive; Refresh us; Gratitude 
• Words April 6-12: Lord, hear our prayer; Wait for the Lord; (no words); Love-Break-Mend-Repeat; Cast your burdens upon the Lord; Out of the depths have I called to you O Lord; For there is forgiveness with you
• Words April 7-19: Hosanna - Palm Sunday; O Savior of the world; Guide us; Amen; Body blood; Goodness and mercy; (no words)

Lenten Calendar 2014 - Templates

We're in the church season of Lent, starting on Wednesday, March 5.  My friend Sybil created two templates for a Lenten prayer calendar on her Praying in Color blog.  I'm using her calendar box format this year. 

Adding some daily words, colors, and doodles will help me focus and reflect as we move through Lent to the celebration of Easter.  To see my past Lenten prayer calendar drawings, click here.

New Year's Drawing for 2014

A New Year's doodle with bright, simple colors.  Wishing a Happy 2014 to all!

For my husband and me, this will be a year of change - in a good way - and much in our life will be new.  I expect it will sometimes feel sketchy and improvised, sometimes mismatched and a bit too vibrant.  But with all the excitement of colors and a blank piece of paper!

• Copic marker colors used: R35, YR04,21, V17, B24, YG05
• Pen: Copic multiliner 0.3 black
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to A2 size (4.25 x 5.5")
• Words: Behold, I make all things new - Revelation 21:5

Nativity with Angels

A Christmas drawing of Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus with angels. 

I thought of this scene on Christmas Eve as we sang O Little Town of Bethlehem.  "For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above, while mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love."  

Unfortunately, my scan lost some of the subtle pinks and lavenders in the angel wings and robes.  

• Copic marker colors used: Custom color YYR2000, Y19,26, C0, B000,01,21,24,26,32, E000,00,04,11,21,23,25,41,71, BV000,23, G000,YG61,63,91, BG90, YR24, R000,02, V000
• The outer circle is computer-printed.
• Pen: Copic 0.2 black multiliner
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to A2 size (4.25 x 5.5")

Wavy Lines and Circles

It's been awhile since I've drawn, so today is a simple doodle that was fun to play with.  A pair of wavy lines with circles in gray, green, blue, and yellow.  I colored over some with a lighter marker for the uneven effect.

• Copic marker colors used: Custom color B2000, B14,45, C0,1,2,3, G24,40,46, Y11,15,19
• Pen: black 0.3 Copic multiliner
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to A2 size (4.25 x 5.5")

Advent Calendar 2013 - Taking a Break This Year

I've been drawing annual Advent Calendars for the past five years.  Loved doing it.  This year though, I'm taking a break.   

• For Advent inspiration and two 2013 Advent calendar templates, please visit my friend Sybil's blog, Praying in Color.  
• To see my past Advent and Christmas drawings, click here.  
• My current card-making, mostly for Operation Write Home, is posted on my other blog, Mostly Markers - Cards.

Wishing everyone an Advent season filled with hope and joy!

Lenten Calendar 2013 - Templates

For Lent, which begins this year on Wednesday, February 13, my friend Sybil has posted several different Lenten prayer calendar templates on her Praying in Color blog. I'm planning to use her "path" calendar.

I may keep it very simple this year - just a daily word and some coloring.  Or maybe I'll also do some drawing and doodling.  Either way, it will help me reflect on the season and prepare for the joy of Easter.

To see my past Lenten prayer calendar drawings, click here.

Nativity with Three Kings - 2013

It's now the end of the twelve days of Christmas - today is Epiphany, when the Three Kings (also known as wise men, or magi) brought their gifts of gold, myrrh, and frankincense to the baby Jesus.  I enjoyed drawing with simple geometric shapes to start my scene.  The rich colors and stiff shapes of the Kings are a nice contrast with the softer, more natural shapes and colors of the Holy Family.

I have two more drawings that fit with the "Three Kings" story line - one taking place before and one after this.   Click here for the kings approaching Bethlehem.  And here for the angel's warning to Joseph, after the kings departed.

For all my Advent and Christmas related drawings, click on the "Advent-Christmas" label below, or in the label list to the right of the screen. 

• Copic marker colors used: 0.2 black multiliner, W1,3,5, YR14,15,27, Y15,26,27, R00,02,56,59, RV32, B63, V000,04,17, BV04,20, BG10,53,70, YG05,21,23, G14,21,43, E000,00,04,11,23,25,41,49,53,71,95
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 3-3/4 x 5"

Advent Calendar 2012

My 2012 calendar is now complete. Another year of words and pictures for the Advent season.  Along with drawing and coloring, this year I experimented with some bits of colored paper, as mentioned here.

The drawing spaces are small (about 1-5/8" high), so you may want to click on the image for a better view, especially if it looks a bit fuzzy above.

Click here for my friend Sybil's beautiful and prayerful 2012 Advent calendar, in a very different format from mine.  You can read her thoughts on her first week here and her second week here on her Praying in Color blog.

For my previous Advent calendar drawings, click as follows:

• Here for 2011
• Here for 2010
• Here for 2009
• Here for 2008
• Here for all of my Advent and Christmas-related drawings and posts

For more information about the calendar and the template, click here for my template post.

For a listing of words, sources of words, Copic colors, and other materials used,  see below (or click on "read more" to see it)

2012 Advent Calendar Update - Final Posting

For my subscribers - I've posted the final version of my 2012 Advent Calendar drawing, including Christmas Day. It's an update to the original post, which you may not see in your reader or feed.   You can find it here.  Wishing you all the blessings of the Christmas season!

2012 Advent Calendar Update - December 16

Just a note if you're a subscriber wondering about new posts for my 2012 Advent Calendar work in progress.

I've been posting it every few days, but as updates to the original post, which you may not see in your reader or feed.   You can find my current drawing here. 

Advent Calendar 2012 - First Day and Notes

Here is the drawing for my Advent calendar's first day.  For the Sundays in Advent, I like to draw candles, lighting one more candle each Sunday like the traditional Advent wreath.  In my church, blue is the color for Advent, so my candles will be blue, except for a pink or rose colored candle for the third Sunday.

For 5 years now,  I've started my calendar with the words "We are leaving ordinary time..."  These words remind me that Advent is a special time of year, looking forward to Christmas and the birth of Jesus.  And it's a fact that "ordinary time"-  the long summer and fall church season after Pentecost - has now ended. 

This year on my calendar, I decided to try something different.  I'm planning to add some bits of paper to my Copic drawing and coloring.  I've had so much fun making cards (posted on my other blog, Mostly Markers - Cards) that I thought it would be interesting to experiment with colored card stock and die cuts as part of my Advent drawings.  

Today's drawing is about 2.5 x 1.75" in size.  Click on it for a better view.  It includes some Papertrey Ink card stock - blue stripes, green leaf print, and a solid yellow-orange.  The star inside the candle flame is a hand punch, and the green wreath shape and yellow candle base are oval die cuts.  I also added some dots and lines of Copic marker - YR27, YG63, and B45. The blue words and outlines are done with a cobalt Copic 0.3 multiliner.   The calendar is printed on Neenah solar white card stock.

For more information about the calendar and the template, as well as links to past years, scroll down or click here for my template post.  And I wish all of you a joyful holiday season! 

Advent Calendar Template 2012

Next Sunday will be the first Sunday of Advent, and once again, time to start my Advent Calendar drawings.  This will be Year 5.  Each year I wonder if I'll do another one.  And then I do.  So here is my 2012 template.

This year, Christmas is on a Tuesday.  Instead of a five-wide drawing space for Christmas Day, I decided to give an extra block to each of the four Sundays, for my Advent wreath and candle drawings.  The weeks progress diagonally down the page, and I deleted the day labels from the top row.

I will post my calendar here throughout Advent, at least weekly, and maybe more often. After my first year's Advent calendar, I wrote a post on what I learned from it, and it does a good job of explaining why I've continued.

For my previous Advent calendar drawings, click as follows:

• Here for 2011
• Here for 2010
• Here for 2009
• Here for 2008
• Here for all of my Advent and Christmas-related drawings and posts

My friend Sybil also has posted her Advent calendars in past years in her prayer-drawing blog, Praying in Color.   Click here for her 2011 calendar, or click here for earlier years. I'll also link to her 2012 calendar as it appears.  Edited Nov. 26, 2012 to add:  Click here for Sybil's candle and tree templates... very different from my grid format.   

If you'd like to try this activity for yourself, you're welcome to use my 2012 template.  It's sized to print on 8-1/2 x 11" paper.  Click here to download the PDF file, or click here to download the Word version.  Both are on Google Docs.

Sparse Landscape

A sparse landscape with trees.  Few leaves, muted colors, a late November feeling.   Just a little warm-up sketch, but I like how it turned out. 

• Copic marker colors used: YR24,27, Y28, YG91,95, E23,84,87.  The drawing has more variation of colors than is seen in my scan. 
• I dabbed on colorless blender solution ("0") with terry cloth to make the mottled effect.  
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 5x7"

Berry Flourishes

Doodled lines - Flourishes with berries and leaves.  Drawn with 0.3 Copic multiliner and just three marker colors. 

• Copic marker colors used: YR14, YG95, BG57
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 5.5 x 4.25"

Tall Heart Stems

A black-and-white doodle, drawn with Copic 0.5 multiliner.  Tall stems of hearts.

For this week's Illustration Friday word, "tall."

With color added, this drawing also makes a nice greeting card, posted here on my cards blog, Mostly Markers - Cards.

Doodle with Rickrack and Chevron Lines

I'm not feeling well today, just a minor bug I'm sure, but not much energy or concentration.   Ideal conditions for drawing some lines and coloring in between them.  I enjoyed playing with the shapes and patterns. 

The idea came from a question posted by Ashley on the Papertrey Ink forum.  Since only forum participants can see it,  I'll recap the question here:  "Anyone ever use certain dies for tracing? I just thought how tracing the shapes of certain dies would make a cool background." 

So I gave it a try with the Papertrey Ink XL rickrack and chevron stripes border dies.  Aside from user error (of which there's been rather a lot today!),  it worked very well.  Nice smooth lines to trace around.  Great shapes.  And I like tracing around things, so it will be fun to use the dies that way.  Ashley, thanks for the idea!

Note: the gray is background, not part of the drawing. 

• Copic marker colors used: BV04, BG53,57, Black 100 (dots)
• Drawn with Copic 0.3 multiliner
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 5x7"