Long time no post

After a long hiatus from this blog I'm returning with some art. The long break, at least partly due to ill health, has me a little ashamed but glad to be back sharing some of the pages of my art journal.

I finished another painting for Suzi blu's class which I am pleased with. I have neglected to embellish it with transfers and rub ons and fabric but struggled to find suitable materials to do so. Instead I left it simply painted and coloured and a little sanded. The text says "bliss can be found in tiny things". The scanner does seem to bleach out a lot of the colour in the face but I don't have a digital camera at present. I like the colours and the expression on the face though.



In addition to this I have continued to do Sharpie drawings for Illustration Friday.

"Germs"


and "Flying".




I like both of these drawings although I have not been brave enough to put up a link at Illustration Friday. There are some seriously talented artists taking part over there. They are very inspiring.

And so as the nights draw in I have finished a crocheted lap blanket for snuggling under on chilly evenings. I love autumn and the desire for nesting that comes with it!

Unfortunately I lost my job last month which left me reeling with fear about to manage the festive season with so little money. I do have a little job one day a week which brings in a little money but due to a long term health problem I'm unable to take on anything else at present. On the positive side I have plenty of time to create some simple Christmas cards and for drawing when I am feeling good.

Ok that's me for now.

I'll be back soon with another Illo Friday!

Painting 2 at last

It's taken a long time and I'm not sure if it's finished. I'm brave enough to put up a second painting and I feel ok about this one. I used more watercolours and water soluble crayons for the background and then added more printed tissue paper as this worked so well before. She was also done in my large white journal too which I like a lot. I've used my own words too this time. It was a "poem" that I wrote years ago about being alone. I used to write a lot on an American diary site called Diaryland, an easy, basic way for beginners to blog their thoughts. I wrote regularly there for around 5 years before going back to writing just in paper journals again. I did however keep a copy of the entries and some seem as potent now as they did when I was in my twenties.


For the workshop I seem to have stalled however. I have not moved onto Lesson 4 yet as I have no wood to paint on at the moment. I also feel that I need to stock up on supplies for Week 4 and simply do not have the funds for that now! I will have to compromise on some parts of this lesson I'm sure.

However I have been practising my faces and features and I'm so pleased that I have learned to draw such pretty girls. I did not imagine that I could have done that just a few weeks ago. I'm also really enjoying seeing the work done by the other members of the workshop. There are some outstanding paintings being produced that really fire my imagination. Such an inspiring group of people.

Mixed Media Beginnings

It has taken me a lot of time and a lot encouragement to get to this point. Thanks to Tara and Linda for their comments. I'm still not entirely happy with the result so far but I have made a start and been brave enough to post it! It seems very dark but that may have been a reflection of mood as much as anything.

So this is my Lesson 3 painting. The words are actually lyrics from a favourite Sarah McLachlan song. I found myself singing the line about not being a disappointment several days in a row and it seemed so appropriate somehow. I used the brilliant printing on tissue technique that Linda shared on her blog. It worked really well for me. I used lots of scraps of pink and red tissue. paper. I don't have glaze medium or transparent paints so I used acrylics first. I later used some watercolours and water soluble oil pastels for more colour. The fish stamp is one of only a few that I have but I love it. Maybe because I am a Pisces! I thought the painting would turn out to be a blustery day at the beach but this did not happen.



Anyway, it's a start.

Mixed Media Nightmare

I'm really struggling with the Mixed Media part of the Suzi Blu workshop. I'm not happy with any of the pages I have done and despite the time spent they look ridiculous. In one the paint is too thick and heavy and another just lacks a certain something. A certain Suzi something.
Even Suzi's fabulous videos apparently can't help. A part of me wants to blame my supplies, a lack of a stamp, or the wrong sort of paint. In my heart I know it's just that I'm not trusting myself to let go and experiment with the supplies that I do have.
I have to try and just have fun.
Instead I have paralysed myself with fear of making something awful - and that is what has happened.
So - no pictures today.

Modify for Illustration Friday

Lesson 3 of Suzi's workshop rolled up and as usual the videos were so inspiring. However I guess I just don't have any talent for mixed media. I am embarrassed by all my efforts and simply could not put them up here or even send them to Suzi for help. I'm not too down though today. I just wanted to have some fun, so that is what I am going to do, regardless of the results.

Illustration Friday gave me "modify". I wanted to draw how our hearts modify everything. All our wishes and dreams and fears and loves. Everything comes out different once it's been through the heart. It modifies everything. Well mine does anyway...

New Sharpies!!!

I ordered a few more Sharpies. The ultra fine sort in a few of the colours that I didn't already have. I love the intensity of the colours of the Sharpie ink. The fine point Sharpies are actually quite wide and I don't enjoy them for drawing. Here is my first drawing in my new Sharpies. Note that this drawing actually has a face! My first in markers. I like the lilac shading too.

I also did another drawing for Illustration Friday. I'm still not brave enough to submit it to the site but I will put it here, where it doesn't matter if it is not good enough! The title was Idle.

The new Lesson should be up today at Suzi's academy. As it seems like it might rain here again, I'll keep on with that mixed media dream...

Monday Morning Colour Inspiration

It's grey and raining outside again and I need some colour in my world :) Here's some red, purple and orange to add a warm, strong and exotic feel to your day. I'm not a pink girl. I love orange. With red and purple it's delicious! A whole world of glorious sunsets. I want my living room to feel like this!

1. Red & 3 Greens, 2. Lightning over South Africa, 3. Christmas Red & Purple Organza Felt Heart 2, 4. Shades of red, 5. Red Africa, 6. 200608 - Assateague - 209803363_7153739694_o - sunset - awesome orange-red, 7. Purple n Orange Spray, 8. Rothko 'Orange, Red and Yellow' 1961, Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 9. Purple Rain !

I'm waiting for a sofa to be delivered. I'm not even sure it's going to turn up after some problems with their payment system. I'm going to enjoy sitting in my window and shading faces. I have a whole cast of characters to create!

A Satisfying Saturday

I've been practicing my faces. I want to have the shading really sorted before moving on to the next lesson.
Another face done ...


No paint this time, just pencils. I wanted to practise the proportions and the shading. It looks a bit scrappy. But I like it. I used more cream on this one because I did it in my white paper journal. It still needs more shading now I look at it again! I also want to add something to the hair.

I also finished a crocheted top yesterday and added little heart shaped buttons from the new shop.





It's not bad for my first piece of crocheted clothing. I'm keen to find a new project now!

Lesson 2 homework continues with paint

So I added the paint for the hair this morning. I also seem to have missed out the whole shirt thing. (I added a last minute sort of orange shirt between the hair!). The face disappears a little with the bright red paint but I guess further layers will finally do it justice. I am a little disappointed with her.



Clearly I need more practice so it's back to the drawing tonight and out with the ruler and pencils again!

In other news the wind was so strong down on the sea this evening there were numerous windsurfers and kite surfers whizzing up and down! I tried to get a picture on my phone but the battery gave up before I could snap them! I love watching the surfers in the huge dark waves, the clouds all shifting heavily overhead. We bought tea and struggled to walk an adventurous wookie while supping steaming tea!

Lesson 2 with Suzi Blu

The feedback from Suzi was good for the last face so I have moved on to Lesson 2 with her friendly advice!

Last night, with the bf cooking dinner and the Wookie asleep at my feet I sharpened my coloured pencils to dangerous but very satisfying points and watched the new videos. I drew some more faces in my journal and started to add some colour.

Mostly graphite with some colour:

Then some graphite more colour. As usual the scanner has bleached out some colour but those pink cheeks still seem cute! I'm so impressed with what I have achieved in such a short time. Suzi's instruction has been fantastic.

The next step is to add paint but it was simply too late last night to be setting out paints. The downside of having a wookie in the house is that no art or craft supplies can be left out. Anything plastic especially would become a toy/snack. :) So tonight the paint comes out and I'm glad i invested in some Stewart Gill paints last summer. Their sparkle is going to be yummy in my new faces!

Lesson Homework continues with a face!

This has taken some time and I am not entirely happy with the nose or the shading. However I'm about to post to Suzi Blu for some help.
This is the first scan I took...



And with a bit more shading...



There is still some work to be done. The scan always look so bright and struggle to show the gradients of shading but I can see how much more it needs.
On we go...

Homework Part 2

A sleepy Sunday afternoon spent drawing noses, eyes and mouths! I have grey fingertips and a problem with my eye shapes!

Despite that I do have a small effort towards a face that doesn't look too bad. Next stage: The Face :-/
Don't tell anyone but I ordered more Sharpies today. Ultra Fine Point. In Tangerine, Red, Yellow, Aqua and Green. They are costly. They are worth every penny! Hmmm.

Tango

What a hard subject for a beginner! I just can't draw people and dancing people even more so. So I made an effort and looked at loads of images of Tangoing couples. My attempt is by my own admission, poor. However when I put up this blog, it was to record all my art regardless of how good or bad I thought it was. So uncensored it will remain and here is the disastrous and embarrassing sketch I did for "Tango" for Illustration Friday.

Cross hatching Exercises!

So I have watched the first of FOUR videos for the first week! I spent the afternoon on the sofa armed with tea, chocolate and a 2H pencil. I practised the greyscale charts with different pencils and then turned the page. I made a greyscale with a 2H and then did some more crosshatching and then to the sphere! It took 2 episodes of The Guardian and half a packet of smarties to finish this! Unfortunately the scan just doesn't show the darks very well so it's lost some of it's depth I think. Pity. It took a long time but I don't think it's too bad. Maybe I spent TOO long on it? Uh oh self doubt creeping in. (Shut up!)



Anyway, it's on to the next video.
The next Illustration Friday is up too.

Welcome to the Suzi dome!

Well the first videos are up! I'm so excited. I've only watched the first of the FOUR videos and have plenty to be going on with! First we are learning crosshatching and greyscales. This is all new to me so I'm excited but trying not to overwhelmed with all that I must learn before I can even think about faces. I now have no second thoughts about signing up. It's going to be worth every penny.
No art to post today though. I will put up my practice crosshatching but not tonight. It's already getting late and I have an early start tomorrow. It's pyjamas and a few pages of PopCo before sleep. Goodnight!

Hollow Girl

My first Illustration Friday picture. Drawn with Sharpies and Markers. Started off as a doodle and warped into something bigger. Drawings with Markers are a bit of an obsession lately.



The lack of a face is so telling! Suzi Blu I need your help! I'm so excited about the workshop. Only 1 day to go.

An Arty Start

This blog is really about me learning to share some of my art and creations. Last night I completed the lask week of "The Artist's Way". This is amazing as I have tried twice before and failed to get past week 8. This achievement has given me motivation to continue and I have joined "The Goddess and the Poet" Workshop with Suzi Blu which starts on Wednesday! I'm also an avid follower of Illustration Friday however tonight was the first time I actually created a piece of work for the website. I'm too chicken to enter it there though!

Instead I have created this blog, a corner of Planet Kore, where the grass is green under bare feet, the water runs clear in narrow streams and tiny birds sing noisily in the trees. If you stay 'til dusk there may be hedgehogs. At night there is always sleepwalking.