29 Faces Day 11

Didn't  have much  time  yesterday,  so  I  limited  myself  to  a  half  an  hour  for  a  face.

 

 

 

she  was  done  with  graphite,  prisma  colored  pencils,  a  little  bit  of  pitt  pens,  and  a  smidgen  of  Golden  titan  buff  on  a  book  page,  and  some  crazy  and  fun  music  in  the  background--maybe  that  explains  her  wild  hair??

 

And  to  see  more  and  even  join  in  (you  can  at  any time--the  list  keeps  growing)  visit  HERE.

 

See  you  tomorrow!

 

 

A Journal Page!....and New Etsy Pieces in My Shop!

Yes, a  real   journal  page.  Last  year, I  got  myself  a  smaller  version  of  the  Strathmore Visual Journal--it's  a  5 x 8  size--so  a little more manageable  size.   I  have  the  mixed media one--I love the paper in this--you can do anything you  want  to  it.  And  I   decided  to  use  all  of  these  art  supplies  that  I  have,  but  have  been  afraid  to touch,  because  I  don't  know  how  to  use  them.   I've  said  this  before....I  always  love  when  I'm  making  art  for  myself....I  always  like  it  (most  of  the  time).

watercolors,  Prismacolor  NuPastels (these  are  awesome  to  work  with!),  and  Prisma  colored  pencils....the  best  part--mixing  all  of  these  mediums  together.    And....this  is  actually  the  second  journal  girl  that  I've  done  in  this  book--you  can  see  the  first  one  HERE .

Plus,  I  have  2  new  art  pieces  for  my  Etsy  shop.    I'm  still  going  with  the  black,  red,  and  cream  theme  with  the  help  of  my  painted  papers,  and  some  ephemera  that  I  found  when  I  was  cleaning.

I  used  my  sketch  of  this  profile  that  I  did  last  year  again.   I  love  her  face,  so  I  copied  it  on  a  dictionary  text  page.    Don't  you  love  today's  world--what  you  can  do  with  computers,  digital  cameras,  and  printers!!   I  would  not  have  had  a  clue  how  to  use  my  art  like  this  15  years  ago.   And  on  the  subject  of  dictionary  pages---my  Favorite  collage  background--they're  very  thin,  and  the  older  ones  have  images  throughout  the  book.    I've  been  using  this  extra  large  one  that  I  think  I  paid  a  dollar  for--pages  and  pages  of  it,  and  it  doesn't  even  look  like  I've  used  it  at  all.   My  favorite  part  are  the  random  words  that  you  find  AFTER  the  artwork  is  finished.   You'll   see  the  name  Amelia  is  on  her  cheek..so  I  guess  that  must  be  her  name--right??


Okay..I'm  rambling  again....I'll  just  show  you  the  rest  of  these  art  pieces...

....on  these  very  deep  6  x 6  canvases  from  Dick  Blick

......mixing  my  painted  papers  with  stamps  and  ephemera......

.....and   I've  added  some  3D  embellishments...

So  here  are  my  2  finished  pieces  that  are  in  my  shop.   I've  had  a  very  nice  welcome  back  from   customers,  and  I  just  wanted  to  add  a  couple  of  more  items.  

So  my  "clean" art  room  is  back  to  being  a  mess  again,  but  in  a  good  way.   I'm  making  art  to  sell,  but  I'm  also  attending  my  online  art  classes, which  means  that  I   have  different  projects  all  going  on  at  the  same  time.   My  once  large  art  room  is  now  becoming  very  small...but  that's  okay.....that's  what  an  art  room  should  be  like!

CLASSES, CLASSes, CLAsses, classes.........

I  admit  it---I'm  addicted  to  them.   Currently,  I'm in  5 (well,  actually,  one  of  them  doesn't  start  until  January),  and  one  is  an  on-going  workshop,  but  still.......And  I  am  what  you  all  know  as  "the  lurker".    But.....I   am  still  learning.   Basically  what  I've  been  doing  while  I've  been  getting  ready  for  my  shows,  is  watch  the  videos  while  I'm  working  on  my  art  pieces.   I  like  to  listen  to  the  teachers  talk,  and  I'm  always  picking  up  some  good  tips.

Now  that  I  have  a  little  bit  of  time  until  my  next  show,  I  had  to  have  some  fun  in  Jane  Davenport's  Supplies  Me  Class  with  my  prismacolor  colored  pencils  to  start--

I  was  never  really  crazy  about  working  with  these  pencils,  but  the  way  she  shows  her  method  of  using  them  is  a  lot  easier  for  me --very  liberal  and  lots  of  color,  and  then  when  you  blend  the  colors  together,  they  become  very  creamy......but  yet  still  not  completely  blended  which  is  the  look  I  really  like.  

Plus,  I've  also  been  playing  with  watercolors  and  pastels  (prismacolor  nupastel  color  sticks)--

People  will  ask  me  if  I've  ever  had  formal  training,  and  I'll  tell  them  that  I'm  self-taught,  but  that  I've  learned  so  much  from  taking online classes.

   Two  years  ago  I  was  afraid  to  even  sketch  a  face,  let  alone  use  all  of  these  different  mediums.   And  I   tell  them  that  anyone  can  learn  this  as  long  as  they  have  the  passion  for  it.

Plus,  as  much  as  I  love  making  art  for  other  people,  I  don't  have  to  tell  any  of  you,  that  there's  nothing  like  making  art  just  for  yourself!

 Okay....so....I  have yet  another  class  that  I'll  be  starting  in  November--Christy  Tomlinson's  She Art 2  Class.   I  couldn't  possibly  have  said  no  to  this  class--my  she  art  girls  were  a  big  hit  at  my  shows.   All  of  them  have  found  homes.    And  yes,  there's  one other  class  too  that's  offered  by  another  Tomlinson  lady--Sharon.   She  hasn't  even  opened  up  registration  yet,  but  when  I  saw  it  on  her  blog,  I  knew  that  this  one  was  for  me  also.   It's  called  Faces  in  Collage,  and  it's  coming  soon.   Sharon  is  one  of  my  favorite  artists.   Every  time  I  visit  her  blog,  I  am  just  amazed  at  her  talent.

So  as  you  can  see,  I'm  going  to  have  a  lot  to  keep  me  busy  this  winter.   Winters  can  be  brutal  here,  but  I  don't  mind  them  that   much  anymore    : )

A Few of My Favorite Things

When  I  was  reading  the  comments  from  my  giveaway  post (directly  below  this  one,  if  you  haven't  entered  your  name  yet),  Sue  from  Scribble-n-Paint  had  asked  me  to  post  photos  of  the  pitt  pens  and  neocolor  crayons  that  I  like  to  use.  So  I  decided  to  show  you  some  other  supplies  that  I  have  that  I  would  want  with  me  if  I  happened  to  be  deserted  on   an  island.   Keep  in  my  mind--these  are  my  favorites--but  there are  many  many  more  that  I  have  and  use.

So  I'll  start  with  the  pitt  pens  and  Caran d'Ache  neocolor  crayons--

I  also  want  to  mention  that  everything  that  I  show  you here,  I  purchased  from  Dick  Blick  online--they  really  do  have  the  best  prices--even  better  than  their  own  store.  I  compared  prices  when  I  was there,  and  it's  cheaper  to order  online  even  with  the shipping.   The  crayons  I  usually  order  individually--there  are SO  many  colors  to  choose  from,   and  they  come  in  the  soluble  and  non-soluble.  I  love  these.  When  you  combine  the  non-soluble  crayons  with   acrylics  you  get  such  a  cool  effect.

And  these  are  the  Faber-Castell  brush  tip  pitt pens--I'm  telling you--every  color  of  the  rainbow  and  then  some.  These  are  permanent  when  dry,  but  I  like  them  because  they'll   smudge with  your  finger  or wet  brush  when  you  first  apply them,  which  I  like.  I  don't  like  a  clean  line  when  I  outline--I  like  that  imperfect  look,  but  if  you  like  the clean  line,  then  they're  great  for  that  too.

These  are  the  prisma  pencils--I  have  to  admit  that  I  don't  use  these  that  much.  This  is  how  I  first  learned  to  color  faces  from  my  Suzi  Blu  class,  and  the  way  I  like  to  use  them  is  by using  many  LIGHT  layers of them, which   takes  time (something  that  I  don't  have  right  now),  but  I'm  planning  on  playing  with  them  when  I  DO  have  the  time.  And  also,  do  you  see that  brush  in  with  them?  Well  that's  a  Loew-Cornell scrub  brush.  I  found  it  in  the  fabric  paint  dept.  at  Michael's.  When  you  dry  brush  over  your  colored  pencil  art--it  gives   a  very  soft  effect  to  the  piece--try  it--you'll see what  I  mean.

The  one  thing  that  I've  had  a  problem  with  concerning  these  pencils,  is  that  I  can  never  get  them  sharp  enough  without  breaking  them--but  no  more--  thanks  to  Katherine  from  Sleep  and  Her  Sisters.  She  showed  this  sharpener  on  her  blog--

It  really  works!!  It  opens  in  the  middle,  and  it  has  a  universal  sharpener (big  and  small  hole)  on  the  bottom  part,  and  the  top  part  has  a  color  grip  sharpener,  and  that's  the  one  that  I  use  for  the prisma  pencils--works  like  a  charm!

And  here  are  my  absolute  favorite  paints--

I  know,  I  know--the  Golden  paints  are expensive-and  worth  every  penny.  You  really don't  need  a lot  of  colors   though--you  can  mix  them  to  make  your  own   unique  color  palette.  I  get  a  few  at  a  time,  because  they  last  forever.  The  fluid  acrylics  are  my  favorite.  And  of  course  there  are  the  metallic  paints  there  too--wonderful!

Some  of  the  mediums  that  I  like  to  use--

and  some  tools  other  than  paintbrushes--my  latest  discovery--the  woodless graphite  pencil  blended  with  a  paper stump--LOVE  it!!  I use an 8B pencil--it's very dark, almost like charcoal, but not as messy.

And  I  never  make  art  without  some  kind  of  paper  involved--anywhere  from  my  own  painted  papers,  handmade   speciality  papers,  ephemera,   old   book   pages  and  sheet  music,  and  without  a  doubt--scrapbook  paper.  This  is  my  latest  purchase  from  Scrapbook.com--Graphic  45  Steampunk  Debutante  paper pad--I  know  this  post  is  long,  but  I'm  so  excited  about  these  papers.  I'll   just  show  you  some  of  the  pages,  and  I'll  shut up.

And  they're  double--sided  too--just  to  add  to  the  confusion,  and  the  last  2  pages  have  these  die-cut  punch  out  tags  and  images--

These  are  all  so  gorgeous  I  don't  even  want  to  use  them--I  just  like  to  look  at  them...but  I  have  some  ideas  going  around  in  my  head..... 

So  sorry  this post  was  so long--but  when  I  get  going  about  art  supplies,  I  just  can't  stop.  So  you  might  want  to  think  twice  when  you  ask  me  to  show  you  something  ; )  (but  ask  anyway!!!)

Giggles and Laughter

This is what Mixed Media Monday wants us to come up with this week. And here's mine:

This is my Hippie girl with a little updated shabby look, and she's on a 9 x 12 piece of wood--this has to be one of my favorite surfaces to work on.  I know, I know, you're probabyly wondering where's the humor?  I'll get to that in a minute.  I was just being a bit nostalgic this week, reliving my teen years.  I was what you would call, in my words, a "trendy" Hippie--everybody was.  I didn't live in a commune or anything, I just liked to dress like one, because that was the fashion for us teenagers way, way back then, which I'm sure irritated the heck out of the authentic Hippie.  They became mainstream--they became  part of "the Establishment", which was their main reason for being.  They wanted to change  the Establishment.

So now comes the giggle/laughter part.  They had alot of sayings, like "Make love, not war", "Tune in, turn on, and drop out", and one of my favorites was "Don't trust anyone over 30".  So what's their new motto now?

"Don't trust anyone over 90" ??

Suzi And Norah

So I'm taking two classes right now, and they're both on faces, but they're different from one another.  I've been taking Suzi Blu's class for a little over a month now, and here's my latest goddess:

She has to be my favorite so far.  As much as I really like the whimsical , colorful art, I 'm still loving the shabby look, and as soon as I drew her face, I knew that's how this piece would turn out.  In Suzi's class the face is colored mostly with the colored pencils  (Prisma), and then  a few finishing touches with the acrylics.  You can do it however you want, but this is how she teaches it.  Also, I'm trying to get a little looser with the hair.  The way she teaches us --it's the face that is the most important--everything else is abstract--so anything goes, including the hair.  I'm still working on that part.  I do know that all of my girls have nice full heads of hair, and this one as a little natural curl to it.  Probably because I have stick straight, baby fine hair that won't do anything.

And then in Sharon's class, All Norah's Art,   we learn  how to color the face with acrylics, and mostly using Folk Art brand paints, which are inexpensive, but still work good.  This is my first face.

Now I've been only taking this class for a week, and I notice some things that I'd like to improve on, but overall,  I'm very happy with it.  I love the look of  Sharon's faces--they have an old-fashioned, vintage look to them.  And you see that house in the background?--that's an inkjet print transfer, which I 've never been successful with before.  But Sharon shows us in her step by step video (one of  7 for the just the first week alone!) how to do this, and I was so pleased that it turned out (I keep telling everybody this : ) She's very thorough with her lesson, and I love watching her paint.  Her new lesson starts today!

I love creating both of these faces--Suzi's and Sharon's-aka Norah's.  I turn on the videos and work along with them.  I know Suzi's by heart--I don't even watch her anymore--I just listen.  I talk along with her, because I know what she's going to say next.  And I'm sure it will be the same for Sharon's, once I watch them enough--right down to her Southern drawl!  Both of these classes are still available to sign up for, and I can't recommend them enough!

No fancy cooking this week to show you, but I will have some cake and ice cream. Yes....today is my birthday.  I am 56 years old today, and what are those sayings?--"You're as young as you feel", "Age is just a number", "Youth is wasted on the young"--I know there's more.  These sayings were all probably invented by "old" people to make us feel better.  But you know what--they're right.  If I live to be 100, I know one thing for sure--I will  NEVER  be old!!  So I'm off to the internet now to look for some more age sayings : )

My New Class, Suzi Face With Color, and Some Other Stuff

Okay, this might be a little long again, so I'll get right to it.  First of all , I'm very excited about my new class that I signed up for, which starts. on Feb. 5.  It's Sharon Tomlinson's--her blog is  All Norah's Art, and  she explains all about it there. I met Sharon when I was in Mystele's class last fall.  I love her style, and her faces, and yes it's another face class.  I want to learn both from her and Suzi at the same time, so I can combine what I learn and come up with my 'own' faces. 

And speaking of Suzi, I drew some more faces, and this time I put them in my brand new Moleskine journal that I bought  for the class.   And I added color with the Prismacolor pencils--

Now, just like the graphite pencils, I had to start at the beginning again with the colored pencils.  I've used them in my artwork before, but very little, and they were never the main element of the piece.  This time they are, so I had to learn how to use them.  I'm  getting more comfortable with them, but I'm still learning.  I like these pencils, and I know I'm going to want to try different colors other than what Suzi uses.  Right now, I'm basically using the colors that she suggests  .  And I was a little nervous about  "messing" up my brand new journal, but for my first time, I'm happy with them. The pages in this journal are great.  I used heavy acrylic paint on the redhead, and the paper didn't buckle at all--I love the texture also.  So this morning when I went to close the journal, I noticed one thing--it was upside down--of course, what else.  So now my first 2 page spread will be upside down, but that's okay--it's my journal--I meant to do that!

And also, I've been fooling around again with my scrapbook papers  that I made for this collage--

I found this 5 x7 framed Warren Kimble print  (where else) at a garage sale.  I originally bought it for the frame:

But I decided that I would use the whole piece and alter it.  I liked the cat, but I'm pretty sure I couldn't keep it in the art piece because of copyright issues, so I just made my own cat image, and collaged over it--

I like doing this-- recycling my art.

Okay, and then there was one other thing.  Since I've "mastered" the technique of putting utube videos up on my blog--I had to put another one on for you to watch.  And this one is worth the 2 minutes and 17 seconds to view.  This is from 1981.    If  you own a computer, you will like it!