"Be True" Art Journal Portrait

Hi! Happy Tuesday. How is your week going? I think I am ready to get it started now after the post Superbowl bloat caused by too much food! I needed Monday to re-coop. :) I did find time to work on a two page spread in my art journal yesterday. My little man was a busy bee taking apart some toys with a screwdriver. Lol. I think I have a future engineer on my hands. He LOVES taking things apart and putting them together. Anything that occupies an almost 4 year old is a little slice of heaven!

So on with the pages!! I already had these two pages splashed with some color in my journal. Like many of you, I use pages in my journal for excess paint or to clean off brushes. So these pages had smeared paint and some extra book pages glued down. Doing this allows for a great jumping off point. Plus it is a little less intimidating than a blank page. I really liked the purple and blue that was already down on the page, so decided to go with that color palette. I don't use a lot of purple, but have some really pretty Americana colors I wanted to use. 

I sketched a face that I saw in the background and decided to add some very basic shaped flowers. Loose and fast is my painting mantra lately, so I kept repeating that in my head. :) Since both pages had the blues and purples I decided pretty early on that I would use both pages together. Let me just say a little something about the Strathmore Visual Journal...I am in big, fat juicy love with it. No holding back. They need to hire me and let me swoon about it for hours. Ha! I know some people may not like the fact that if you are doing a 2 page spread like this, that the coil can be seen. Do you know what I mean? When you make your own journal, alter a book, or purchase some like this - the pages are continuous. No coil ring thing...just a crease. I don't mind it at all. I love that the paper can handle just about anything. What about you? What is your favorite journal??

My goodness, I can get sidetracked! OK. Journal. Focus. :) I added acrylic paint, various stamps, and stencils to add texture. Another great find for me were these chipboard letters by Tim Holtz. The chipboard is pretty thin and bends a bit which is different from other chipboard letters I find. I picked them up awhile ago on sale at Joanns. The great thing about these letters is that I can alter them and make them any color I need.

You can see in the bottom left that I was trying out some larger, thicker white letters. They are really sparkly - so that almost got me (who's with me!? Sparkly loving girls please raise your hand). But, I stuck with my initial idea to alter the Tim Holtz letters. I used gesso to make them white. Added some purple Stickles to give them just a little glimmer. Then added some darker purple acrylic paint around the letters to give them some contrast. In the picture it is hard to see the letters, because I made them close to the background color. I really like the way they look though.

I wrote, "Be true to who you are."

So true.

Don't change for anyone you lovely person you.

Be your gorgeous self - AND shine! :)

Evolution of a Girl

I love watching or seeing the progress of a painting. Don't you? It is so interesting to see how a creative idea starts, where it goes along the way, and the final outcome. There is such beauty in the process. Sometimes, I get so fixated on the end result that the journey becomes stressed and not too enjoyable. That is not what I want. Who would want that? So I gently remind myself to relax and let things unfold naturally.

 Many times paintings (or creative projects) begin with no intention. The painting simply reveals itself as the layers build. I have to remind myself to be patient though. Even through the "ugly" stage...patience. There is beauty on the other side.

There is such beauty in just letting the art flow too...no intention...no expectation...full of possibility...full of promise. 

When paint was first laid down on this page I had no idea what it would become. It was actually just a page used to capture left over paint, excess paint from stencils, and a place to wipe my messy (happy) hands. I always have extra paper, a journal page, newspaper, book pages, or tissue paper handy when I am working on something. Any excess is slapped right down. I know I will be able to use it later. I hate wasting my paint...even the cheap craft paint! :) The page started out something like this. I forgot to take a picture of the actual background.

There it sat for weeks. Then one night while watching some horrible (Oh, but I love it!) reality TV, I sketched this face. I like keeping a notebook, journal, or random paper with me while I watch TV. You never know when inspiration will hit or when you might be bored out of your mind! :)

Yesterday, I grabbed her while my kiddies slept and painted away. I love using Caran D'Ache crayons and gesso for portraits. I rarely use white acrylic for faces. I don't know why. I just really like the way the gesso blends the colors. You can see that I am still enamored with pink hair. (I would never get pink hair. That is too scary for me. But, I love it on other girls. I think I am too old for pink hair too. Is there an age limit? Lol.)

I kept thinking about the three hearts up top (from leftover paint & a stencil). These words came to mind....

Love will always find its way to you.

It will! I promise! If you feel like love has hit the road today...hang tight. 

It will return! It always finds its way back.)

So there you go...an evolution of a girl. Once the wasteland of excess paint with no intention to a fun little journal page. :)

Hoping you are surrounded by tons of love this weekend!

XO,

Painting Dolls and Life Book

This weeks lesson for my Life Book class is from artist Adriana Almanza. She creates big eyed, luscious lashed dolls...very whimsical and very cute. As I watched this week's video lesson, I grabbed my little portrait journal (getting close to finishing) and sketched along with her. The Life Book lessons that I have been doing (so many to work on still...yikes!) have been completed on 9x12 paper. But, I thought I'd create something small and add a portrait inspired by Adriana to my collection of faces.

 Here is my sketch, shared on Instagram.

Love her. :) 

I was super excited to have my package from Kristin arrive Saturday too! I knew I wanted to use these colors. I had never used Liquid Pearls or Stickles before, so I was dying to try them.

Have you used them? 

I had fun adding color to her.

 

 Adriana usually paints huge, black lashes on her girls. I decided to keep the lashes smaller and not as dark. I did stick some Liquid Pearls on the end of each lash. I painted over the green wings and her purple dress with it too. It is so pretty, but hard for the camera to catch (especially with these iPhone pics!). The colors are so iridescent and shiny. I added Stickles to her eyelids and headband. I LOVE how fine the glitter is when you apply it with a paintbrush. So fun! 

 You can kinda see the sparkle in this picture. I will definitely use them more and now have some new products to obsess over. :) Thank you Kristin! 

XO,

 

Catch Up Friday

Happy Friday!

I know I have said before how much I am enjoying my Life Book class with Tam Laporte. It has been so refreshing each week to have a new lesson or activity or interview to watch. The best part is being exposed to all the different instructors. I am LOVING that! I always find it so fascinating to watch an artist and her process. Very inspiring!! Tam just recently announced that there will be a Life Book 2013 too. Yay!

Even though I love the course, I am having a hard time "keeping up." I put parenthesis around that because there is NO pressure at all and the course is designed so that you have access to the videos for quite some time. BUT, I paid for the class...I want to learn...I want to do the lessons...so, I need to get my tush in gear!! :) Plus Tam is doing a giveaway to encourage us to  treat ourselves to some art time and complete a lesson that we haven't done yet. Soooo, I was minus some kids yesterday (Thank you Grandma!) and found some time to work on one of Mystele's lessons.

I had created this background a couple weeks ago...

I added more layers of acrylic, pen, stamps, doodles. I wish I had my brayer. YES! It is still missing. It must be hiding somewhere in my house with the Blue Ray remote. My son is a master at finding new homes for things! :)

Then, like magic, shapes and figures began to emerge. A story began to unfold right there on the canvas. I didn't have any idea what I wanted to do as I started. Just as Myste demonstrates...stories can be "pulled" right out of the background already created. Little pieces of the puzzle begin to emerge and pretty soon I have a little piece of my heart laid onto canvas.

I have finishing touches to add. But, I really love working this way: creating a yummy, collaged background; then throwing whatever arty goodness I can reach onto it; finally "pulling" a story from it. LOVE. (By the way - I have NO idea if I punctuated that last sentence correctly. Don't hate on me if it is wrong. Lol.)

Life Book WIP

 You can tell I like girly, whimsy, and cutesy. I'll be back to show her off when she is all done. (PS I love that the word popping through in the large flower was written by me a looooong time ago in grade school.)

Are you taking any classes that you are loving???

Joining the lovelies over at Paint Party Friday and Studio JRU! 

Time for Backgrounds

Sometimes when I am feeling a little empty creatively or just don't have a lot of time...I like to sit down and work on backgrounds. I will have about 5 or 6 going at one time. I will use my journal, wood pieces, canvas, and cardboard. I use whatever my hands can grab and just build up some yummy layers. 

The backgrounds come pretty easily. I love working on them. I can really stick to my "don't think too much" rule when I am working on backgrounds. There are times when I want something very specific on a canvas and I will really plan that out. But, for the most part it just comes to me as I go. 

Look! I used all the slips with names from my giveaway for my first layer! :)

Then, when I have a creative burst, I have several different pieces to grab and work on top of. Like I said, I don't always work like that. But it sure does end some of my "creative blocks." :)

 One of my favorite tools...well, maybe a mild obsession...is a brayer. Oh, how I love the way a brayer can spread paint in a completely random yet beautiful way. I love the effect, don't you? Unfortunately my beloved brayer has gone missing. A certain little 3 year old loves to lurk around all my art goodies (what 3 year old wouldn't!) and I have a sneaking suspicion that he has found a lovely place for my brayer. A place no one can find! :) He loves putting keys in toy boxes, camera SD cards in his sister's Barbie house, and you should see all the things he has hidden behind the couch. Anyways, I have been working without one for over a month...and I think it is time to get a new one. You know it will turn up a day after I rip open the new one. It always happens like that!! :)

I was wondering...are you a "start to finish" artist or do you work on several things at once? Any favorite background tools in your artistic stash? 

Problem and Solution

Problem...

A wee bit of creative mojo loss and a big, blank, white page staring at me.

Solution....

Grab a sweet little pencil and sketch away. Remember to go for it. 

Don't be afraid to put the lines down. Play!!

Work fast and don't think about it too much.

Have fun and use that imagination to create something whimsical...

a big eyed girl perhaps?

Then throw down some of that color with yummy 

Caran D'ache crayons and Inktense pencils. 

Channel all that inspiration...

(Thank you Traci, Danielle, Tam, Kylie, Kristin, Mystele, Jennibellie, & so many more!)

& quiet my inner critic.

Just have fun. Don't care about the crooked eyes...imperfect is beautiful. :)

Snap some pictures with my iPhone to capture it and she is done.

Well, for now. 

I'll be back to add more. 

But, for now...she makes me smile. :)

What is making you smile today?

Sharing some art...

I had so much fun working on this piece! 

I have wanted to try some of the things I learned & was inspired by during Christy Tomlinson's She Art class. I love how Christy works. She is fast & doodles a ton (not to mention - a super teacher). Like I said before, sometimes I think a bit too much which slows me down. I am working on speeding up a bit & enjoying more freedom in my art play. I used an old board from the back of a frame & started throwing down some background.

Turquoise...my favorite!

I knew I wanted to make a little girl. I tend to do a lot of children's art. I try lots of different things, but I always make my way back to sweet little girls. :) So I made a large round head with some old book paper. (So funny - the background paper is a Finding Nemo book that my son ripped apart. Normally, I would be a little upset. But I was like, 

"Ewwww, Thank you little guy!" ) 

Hmm, the bird just doesn't look right down there!

Then I just started playing. I saw a little ponytail on the side of her head and went with it. I loved adding the little doodles here and there. Plus the rub ons! Yum! Yum! I love using them. Christy uses them a lot, and she has great rub ons in her Scarlet Lime shop. You should check it out. But I warn you...you will want to shop! :)

Adding more and more!

I see several artists who create girls without faces. I love it! I have done many pieces like that as well and I always like the way they turn out. There is something very sweet about her featureless face. My hubby thought her cheeks were the beginning of Tim Burton big eyes...

now that I look at it - I can see that. 

But, they are cheeks!! :)

Here she is all finished. I added one of my favorite verses, stuck on some cutie epoxy stickers for flower tops, stamped away, and added more doodles. I love the way she turned out. I had such a fabulous time making her...I can't wait to make some more. This sweet thing is going to look adorable framed & hanging in my daughter's room. She will hang next to the cutest piece ever that I bought my SugarBean for Christmas by Danielle Fraser (LOVE her!).

I hope you had a day full of rejoicing!

Big Art-filled Hugs,

Jen

This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24