Tag: art

Happy New Year


The picture above is from the Art Show.   I won’t go into detail, but you can read about it here.  It was something else and I saw pieces that  had me speechless!

But enough about that.

I always look forward to the start of a New Year and 2017 is no different.  I guess it’s because it feels like a fresh start or it could be a do over.  And I take Day One of the New  Year very seriously…and by seriously, I mean resolutions.

It’s been a challenging year.  Some things great and  some things stretched me so far out of my comfort zone that I was physically uncomfortable.   But whether the things that I was resolved to accomplish came to fruition or a complete disaster, I did it.

For myself and to make myself accountable I write everything down old school.  There is just something satisfying keeping that crisp piece of paper with me in January and by December that crisp piece of paper has softened  with wear and a full of crossed off goals. Frankly, it doesn’t get any better!

I know I have talked about this before, but its worth another post.  Because submitting my work to a curator was big on my list last year and as I write this my work is hanging in gallery  now.  I didn’t win anything, but that wasn’t my goal.  My goal  was to submit a piece of art  and it happened because that goal was always in my face.

So if you want things to happen, make them happen by making those resolutions and hold yourself accountable.

I am looking forward to 2017 and I hope it will be a great year for you too!

Be Well and Happy!

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The Starving Artist Tag

starving-artist-tag

I don’t know who started this tag, but I was binge watching it on YouTube.   I love Tag videos and I remember when the Blogosphere dominated Tags.  So I figured, why should they have all the fun. So, I decide to join in myself.

So here we go!

1.   What’s your favorite experience as an Artist?  Well that’s easy enough.  Besides the process, I love it when I make someone cry when they receive the piece. Happy tears of course.  That’s when I know that I nailed it.

2.  What is your least favorite experience as an Artist?  Cleaning up my mess!!!

3.  What’s are your dreams/goals for your art?  I have gone further than I ever thought I would.  I never expected to do anything with my art except fill hours when I was a stay at home mom.  I do intend to sell my art when I have an inventory at some point but it isn’t necessary.  Since I mainly do commissions, I have very little art on hand.

4.  What is your favorite medium and why?  I don’t even have to think about this one.  Graphite, most definitely!   I love the medium because it is where I am the most comfortable since that’s where I started.  Drawing doesn’t get the credit as fine art that it should but that is an argument for another day.

5.  What inspired you to do art/why do you love it?  My Grandma was an artist, My Dad and twin sister are both artists and I always wanted to draw and paint. But what really inspired me to get started was a friend that lived in the same neighborhood.  She had all kinds of craft paint and canvas out in the dining room and it just looked like fun and it looked like SHE was having fun!  So I went to Walmart, got some cheap .50 paints, canvas, pencils and drawing pad…then I was hooked.

6.  What’s the most favorite piece you ever made and why is it special?  That would have to be a tiger cub.  It was for my nephew.

7.  Who/What are your biggest art influences?  I really don’t have any influences as of yet.  I do appreciate all art but if could paint in any style, it would be Impressionism.  One of my favorite artists is John Singer Sargent.

8.  What did you learn from being a full time artist?  I’m not a full time artist.  But the most valuable thing that I have learned is don’t sell your self  or your talent short.  You have to make enough money, so you won’t grow to dread producing art.

In my opinion, art is one of the most frivolous things a person can buy…If they haggle on the price then art is something they shouldn’t be investing in.  In all mediums!

9.  What do your family and friends think about you becoming an artist?  They are very supportive and helpful.  They are very proud of me.

10.  Was becoming an Artist your child hood dreams?  Nope, I wanted to be a writer. 

11. What advice can you give to people who want to be more artistic and creative?  Just Do It.  Don’t wait for time or permission…Go create!

12.  Were you supported to pursue art as a child?  Although I always wanted to learn to draw and paint,  I didn’t have that strong desire to.  But if I did want to be an Artist?  You can bet that my family would support me.

13.  Do you make money from your art?  Yes, I do.  I don’t market myself or advertise but I do commissions…mostly pet portraits.

Please feel free as I did and tag yourselves!

 

Be Well and Happy!

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Owl

Owl

5 x 7 Canvas panel in Acrylic

This little panel took me a while, but so worth it!  I find that I really enjoy painting owls.  I think it’s the eyes that I love painting….yep…its the eyes in any subject that I love and in any medium and these stare a hole right through, lol

And I have some exciting news!!!!

 I have been invited to submit this owl in the Miniatures and Small Works by Tidewater Artists show at Charles H. Taylor Arts Center.  I am really excited and I really don’t know what to expect, but come December I will be there 🙂

On a side note:

The palette from this POST worked like a charm.  The paint remained wet for the entire painting process!!!!  It is so worth the money!  But I do have a little warning:  Do not shake the palette or the paint colors will run in to each other, lol

Happy Halloween and have a great…but safe week!

Be Well and Happy!

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Checking In…

Just for my benefit let’s pretend that there is a picture of a piece of art or at least  W.I.P. LOL

I don’t know if you would classify my life as of  late blog worthy, or exciting but it’s all I got and I don’t like being M.I.A. for long periods of time. So I thought I would check in and say HI! and fill you in on recent events.

❤ In September, I was the make up artist at the wedding of my  youngest niece.  I had a lot of fun and was extremely honored to be a part of such a special day.  For a bride to trust her face with you on one of the most important days of her life? I was touched.  The day was beautiful and made even more beautiful when I was able to spend some time with my sweetie, Alana.

My goodness, I miss my girl so much and I feel like I have this huge chunk cut out of me.   As a parent, I guess this is the sort of thing that we sign up for but man, it’s hard.  On the other hand, she is having such a good time coming in to her own and who doesn’t want that for their child.  I am trying to suck it up and I am certainly not going to lay in the middle of the road, but it’s a sad adjustment.

“Thank You God for Skype!”

❤  I have few short-term goals and personal situations that have me pretty stymied.

#1.) …..

#2.)  I’m in serious need of time management.  Yes, I am one of those girls who writes it down old school.  Now, I don’t write down,

12:00 /  Take Break

12:15 /  Pee

but  I have so many things in my life that I love doing.   I refuse to give anything up for the sake of anything else.  I just need to figure out how to have it all.

#3.)  Yep, saved the best for last.  Finally!  I have come up with 2 sets of series paintings that I want to do.  One is still an idea, but the other is ready to go, if I can figure out the scale.  Do I want to paint it on large canvas or smaller for prints?  Or two versions of the same painting?  Unless I do both sizes I will be limited either way, huh.  I have no idea if these pieces will be for competition, sale, show or print.  See what I mean?  I still have way  too many unanswered questions… (which is why you get to look at a sentence instead of art at the beginning of my post) but I guess this is a good problem to have.

I know this post, like most of my posts kept you on the edge of your seat.    If you stuck it out to the end then you are truly my BFF4L 🙂

Be Well and Happy

Tricks and Troubleshooting…

  1. Rubber shelf liners are perfect to lay under your work area.  The rubber like quality will keep your pencils from rolling in the floor and breaking.
  2. When your lead is broken in the shaft.  you can wrap the pencil in a paper towel and microwave for a few seconds at a time.  When your pencil is very warm to the touch, lay the pencil to the side until the wax/oil hardens.  (the broken pieces will melt and harden back in to one piece)
  3. Can’t find that perfect colored paper?  Simply paint your white paper with a watercolor wash for custom colors.  You may need to do a test on scrap to make sure your paper doesn’t buckle.
  4. Always wear a max when working with solvents and in a well ventilated area.  Even if the solvent is odorless the chemicals are still in the air.
  5. Dust off your pencil after every sharpening to avoid smearing the color dust on your work.
  6. Workable fixative will add more tooth to your paper.
  7. Unless the drawing aspect of your painting is off, keep going no matter how bad you think it looks.  The painting will have  ugly stages. It is during the ugly stages when most  gives up. DON’T ! Keep going until you are either satisfied or have no more tooth left to work with.  I have to remind myself of this constantly, with any medium.
  8. If you lose you whites, you can go over that area with a little gouache or a white Stabilo pencil. Be aware!  If you use these methods, your piece becomes a mixed media for contests in most cases.
  9. If your pencil is too short, super glue your pencil stump  to a longer colored pencil of the same color.
  10. I learned this lesson the hard way!  If have to trim a brand new pencil, make sure the color the number and color is on the opposite end of where you are sharpening.

 

I hope you have enjoyed this little mini series. I certainly enjoyed sharing.   If you want to learn anything that I glazed over, it can be found easily on the internet.    Best of Luck in Colored Pencil endeavors!

Other Lessons:

Color Wheel and Color Theory

Techniques 1

Techniques 2

Mixing Colors

Mapping Color

More on Colored Pencils

Be Well and Happy!

New Series!

I’m starting a new series Monday!

Getting started in Colored Pencil

So, if you would like to follow along you will need:

1.)  Colored pencils –  Most popular -Sanford’s Prismacolor

Or just use what ever you have…. If it’s student grade: The lead is much harder  and the color won’t be as vibrant as Prismacolor,  but all summer I painted in  my Zentangle and card making pencils,  which is a mix of 50 count Crayola, Michael’s Artist Loft, and Joann’s Fabric’s Simply Art.  Just get as many different colors as you can get your hands on!

Don’t think you can’t make beautiful art with student grade supplies…Because you can!

2.)  Kneaded Eraser or Poster Putty

3.)  Color Wheel

4.)  Pen and Pencil

5.)  Click Eraser

6.)  Drawing Paper or Vellum 90 lb. or above

7.)  Sharpener

8.)  Hole Punch

9.) Printer paper

10.) Rubber bands

11.) Scotch Removable Tape

12.) Blending stumps and/or Q-tips

Optional:

13.) Battery operated eraser – I LOVE LOVE LOVE MINE!  It’s only about $6.00 at Michael’s and with their weekly 40% coupon?  Buy one if you can!

14.) A circular template of some kind.

15.)  Small black card and a small white card with a hole punched in the center

Hope to see you there!

Be Well and Happy!

You’re Beautiful!

Pink 1

Pink – Fan Art

Prisma Color on 9 x 12  98 lb.  XL Canson Mixed Media

 I know, I know…Pink didn’t sing You’re Beautiful, I am just stating a fact. 

When you draw or paint someone, the whole face is broken down into minute details.  I never realized just how beautiful people are until I started studying them.  And it isn’t just hypnotic eyes, a great set of perfectly arched brows or that square jaw that makes a person attractive.  It’s what we see as flaws that makes us beautiful and unique.  I’m not saying that you shouldn’t turn that one brow in to two…cause if ya can (male or female)  you should. And I’m definitely doing all I can to slow that clock down.  But some things should be left alone.  Take Pink for example:  What I find is her most attractive feature is her front teeth.  The left tooth is a bit crooked and sticks out the tiniest bit.  Excuse the language, but she’s such a badass (there is no other word to describe a woman who can hang from a ceiling wrapped in a rope) that to me it gives her a little bit of vulnerability.  And makes her absolutely gorgeous in my book!

On with the portrait:  Pink is my first portrait painting and she wasn’t easy, but a joy to paint. The plaid shirt is what gave me a fit.  But when things got too difficult, I would just stop, take a breather and paint a little more.  I should have timed myself, but I  definitely have a lot of days and nights invested in this head study.

This portrait ends my summer on a good note because I did what I set to do.  And that was to complete art in colored pencil.

I hope this post finds you all having a beautiful and creative weekend.  And remember, you are beautiful.  And if you don’t see it then you aren’t looking in the right places 😉

Be Well and Happy!

Tada!

colored pencil dog

Beagle

5 x 7 Colored Pencil on Canson XL Mixed Media

Well, I said I wouldn’t post any art unless it was colored pencil and here it is.  I am so pleased with how this turned out. My favorite part is the eyes.  Man, I love drawing them eyeballs, LOL…

I am learning so much and I am getting more comfortable with colored pencil, it’s still a struggle but it is more controlled (which is a good thing).  And I am very excited to start something else, as soon as I figure out what that something is 😉

You guys have a great weekend!

P.S. Colored pencil Lovers: If you are looking for a paper give the Canson XL mixed media a try.  This paper has a lot of tooth and at 7.98 a pad from Jerry’s Artarama, it’s a real bargain.

Be Well and Happy!

My Week..

Happy Friday!  I hope this finds you in good spirits and geared up for the weekend.  I am so excited because it is supposed to be beautiful  and I am hoping I can break out those sandals!  But right now, the weather still shows signs of not wanting to let winter go but I still had a pretty good week and it went a little something like:

photo (2) ~ Last weekend my sister and I trucked it to Jerry’s Artarama in Virginia Beach.  Oh my goodness what a wonderful place that is.  I was in heaven.  Jerry’s has everything anyone would need in the way of art supplies.  Although it took great restraint, I was good.  I bought some of the new and re launched (mainly deco) colors in Prismacolor, 2 drafting film erasers, a pack of pencil length extenders, a plastic palette, and 3 pads.  But believe me, they had a silk screen press that I had my eye on and I kept reading the box and circling it like a buzzard.

Now my sister on the other hand was not a good girl at all.  She almost bought out the store… well…not really but she did some major damage.  She got out of drawing  many years go but after getting chewed out by me about hundred thousand times she is finally dipping her feet back in.  She is so talented and it makes me happy that she is finding a renewed love for art.  But with that renewal of love, she had to stock her studio 😉  and the cart was jam packed!  I will not tell you the grand total but put it this way, it took almost 30 minutes for her purchase to be rang up and we laughed about how much she spent for days.  We do not spend much time together since she moved away, so it was a really nice, if our little sister was with us it would have been a perfect afternoon.   pedometer

~It is that time of year again.  I guess I should have never stopped walking but I did.  I was just tired of walking the same path and was too lazy to drive anywhere to work out.  I still am.  But I felt better when I walked so I decided to get back on the 10,000 steps a day with a 24,000 goal.

I added weighted gloves into my walk in hopes of getting rid of my bat wings.  These weights were only $10.00 at Walmart and really cool.  They close up kind of like a brace but they leave my fingers free so I can take a water bottle with me too.  Not to mention the weights provide some excellent protection.

I tried it yesterday.  I looked like an idiot walking up and down the street flexing and flapping but it was a good burn and I walked a little over 6 miles.  Today, I am so sore!!!!  My back is even sore so hopefully it will be good-bye back fat too.

~I am still working on the Discovery of Witches book.  And I think I may have to call it quits.  If you have to make yourself read a book then you are better off not reading it.  It’s really a shame, I hate to give up on a book but we will see.

Okay, that is about all the excitement that I think you can handle in one day from me.  hahaha

Be Well and Happy!