Miriam Badyrka is The Doodler

Doodle of the Week

A comet of medallions for you today, just keep scrolling down. I seem to be on a tear with circular doodles because there are still more in this group and there are even more to come for next week.

The word comet comes from the Greek word for hair. Ancients thought they were stars with hair streaming behind them. Or that they were supernatural beings with power following in their wake. Angels rode them on their way to heaven.

We think they are icy balls of dust rocketing through the heavens. The comet's tail only shows when it is near the sun.

We may know a lot more about the universe than our ancestors, but I think they had the better stories. How about you?

 

Doodle of the Week

...and still no painting! But only because I haven't shot the photo yet. I should never say I am going to post something, because then I somehow manage not to do it. Now I hear certain people who know me well sniggering.

Let's go back to this nice group of medallions, shall we? This is a big bunch, so click on the illustration for a larger and better view of the details.

I love this kind of doodle, where I start doing one thing and then end up doing something else. In this case, the change is from blacked in to outline, or the other way around. I don't remember which way it went.

I haven't decided if this bunch leans more towards floral or to stars. What do you think?

 

Doodle of the Week

This week's doodle is interesting because of the way it moves back and forth between dark and light. I think there are some pretty medallions in the carpet that would stand very well on their own.

I have been painting this week. Really, and in color too. I am really happy about it, I have missed it and it makes me happy when I do it. I had a goal of having a finished piece to show today, But no. I probably could have if I was only working on one, but I am working on three at the same time which slows the process, so maybe next week.

Some Catch Up Doodles

This is two weeks of doodling circles.

I haven't been able to doodle much between end of summer backpacking and a new kitten. He makes it very hard to doodle because he either thinks he should attack the pen, attack and chomp on the paper, or sleep right in the middle of the page.

Here is another large carpet doodle, but it is kind of a cheat, because I have already posted a part of this doodle. Have no fear though, it is already raining and this may signal an early start to the blogging season.

Doodle of This Week and Last

This week's doodle is an enormous group of medallions. My usual description of groups of circular images is a constellation, so I think this one is a whole galaxy! This group is about 8.5 x 45 inches. there are individual medallions that I like, but I think the notable thing about this doodle is the sheer size and variety of the whole thing.

I also owe you a doodle from last week, so here is another large ( 18 x 22 inches) carpet doodle. I like the floral element and the fact that there is one lone paisley shape.

Doodle of the Week

This week's doodle is lopsided, and it marks the return of the whales. That's right. So little doodling last week that I am not posting a completely new doodle.

This is the full version in all it's crooked glory. There are a bunch of things I like about this doodle. I like the whales and fishes. I like the double row of dots down the center. There are pods, or leaves or whatever they are, and some nice looking medallions. 

Have you ever gotten an idea, which you think is great at the time? Something that should be a fabulous shortcut? So you charge off headlong in that direction.

Midway, you discover that it is not working, as you correct one mistake after another and fudge and fix your fixes that are also not working. But, since you have already invested so much freakin' time already you are not going to go back,start over, and do it right. You just battle your way through till your only response is "good enough".

If I was feeling kinder towards myself at the moment, I would chalk it up to experience and lessons learned. Since I am not, I think I am just stubborn.

That, my friends, is why this doodle is crooked, I can't beat Photoshop.

Doodle of the Week

Here is this week's doodle, such as it is. I thought about not posting one this week. Last week was a bad doodle week. Nothing was interesting.

This doodle is not completely without charm. It has a looseness about it.  I like the medallion that appears to be emerging from the carpet. I like that the medallions are rising from the carpet like balloons floating free.

Doodle of the Week

 

A group of loose medallions. Ok, some of them are pretty sloppy.

These were done while I was in phone hell with an investment company. You know the drill. Call with a simple question, and you have to talk to 8 different people. So you spend a lot of time on hold and occasionally get disconnected before you find out what you need to know.

Perfect time to doodle, don't you think?

Doodle of the Week

Some rings in honor of the Olympics. Not really, but I was watching the Olympics when I did them.

I like several of these medallions as individual entities, but the reason I chose this group is the strong diagonal line that runs through the center.

Even though they are headed the wrong direction, they remind me of Orion's Belt. And, since there are a couple of extra stars, my next thought was that the Hunter had gotten a little pudgy. Happens to the best of us, doesn't it?

I love stars, even though I live in probably the worst place in the world for stargazing. It is cloudy here probably 3/4ths of the time, so I don't get to see them often.

In the myth I know, Orion is the child of Neptune and the Queen of the Amazons (I learned her name: Euryale). He is a mighty hunter and doer of great and wondrous deeds who claims that he can kill any animal. He is finally killed by a scorpion.

Apparently, there are a whole bunch of versions. In most of them, he does get killed by a scorpion, though not always. I found the Wikipedia entry poorly written and too hard to follow, but this does a nice job.

Ian Ridpath seems like an interesting fellow, check out his website. At the very least, I am going to have to go back and read all of his star tales.

Doodle of the Week

I am back to carpet doodles. There were some nice medallions this week, but they lost the eeny meeny miney mo pick. Besides, this carpet contains a large circle of concentric motifs.

I think this doodle is interesting because the eye is not zooming straight to the center of the circle, which is what ordinarily happens when I make large medallions. They usually dominate everything around them, and this one doesn't. It remains integrated within the carpet. Normally, concentric rings draw the eye.

Is it because the surrounding pattern is of equal weight visually, or is it because the surrounding pattern changes directions, or that the circle is off center in the design? I think it is the lack of contrast between the circle and the and the surrounding pattern, that mutes the power of the concentric circles.

Another thing that I notice about this doodle, is that there are places where I don't use retaining lines to contain the individual patterns. Look at the upper right of the carpet. Then, look at the lower left, and you can see what I am talking about. Apparently, I got lazy.