Art Mode
November 10, 2021
Using the ART mode on the Olympus PEN E-PL8 mirrorless camera. I think I’m in love with the vibrant colors.
Tag: art
Happy 4th
July 4, 2020
Portrait Draw In Your Style
June 17, 2019
In April I tried to follow through with an Instragam “draw in your style” type drawing. Draw in your style is where an artist shares a drawing and others follow along by either drawing it in their style or try to draw it the way the artist drew (which is how I did it). I managed to sketch the drawing but it wasn’t until late May that I was able to color it. Originally, I was going to paint in Photoshop but I’m really stiff with digital painting so I decided to just watecolor. Maybe another time.
Here’s mine next to the original piece by the original artist.
Sketch:
Close-up:
I used mainly the Daniel Smith watercolors I added to the Schmincke set.
I hope to do more of these. They really help me practice my drawing and painting.
Girl Portrait In Watercolor
January 28, 2019
A watercolor from a reference sketch.
This was the watercolor set I used. The Shmincke Academie was a holiday set from a year ago. I ordered it through Ebay but then realized the same set was also sold on Etsy by the same person (Etsy is my preferred place to buy internationally…I just maneuver the site a lot smoother). I would love the new 125th anniversary Schmincke Horadam set but I’m not anywhere near professional, so maybe some day. I added the few paints I purchased by Daniel Smith and Windsor & Newton’s Cotman to the set. The Daniel Smith is pricey but I love how smooth it goes on paper and how well it blends. Not pictured but I also used a Micron fine liner in .05 to darken her eyebrows, eyes, and nose, and a white pen for the light in her eyes.
Mixed Media Layouts
June 14, 2017
My kids have been busy with summer activities so I haven’t had much time to do anything really. Both the girls have left the world of dance. One moved on to Poms and the other to swim – although swim is only for the summer. I haven’t decided if I’ll be putting her in anything in the fall and winter. She isn’t too enthusiastic about physical activities, except for maybe running, but even that I don’t think she takes very seriously. I’m still looking for a voice coach for her because she’s very passionate about singing but I just can’t seem to find anyone in the area.
With the “no time” I have, I’ve somehow managed to finish four layouts I’ve tried to finish since March. These layouts are from a year-long course I’ve been taking online by Wilna Furstenberg who is an amazing artist. I’m actually taking two of her online classes: Art to Heart and Artventure. Art to Heart focuses on the self following scriptures from the bible and Artventure focuses on family. I’ve learned so much from these courses. I’ve learned not to be afraid to mix different types of media and it’s been very fun and stress relieving, except for the journaling part. I always have a hard time journaling. I find that strange because I love to write. The mind is so mysterious.
Here are the latest layouts. As mentioned, they were started in March and I completed them earlier this week.
Here are close ups.
On a side note, I purchased a couple of different coloring media: Derwent Watersoluble Pencils and Caran D’ache Neocolor II Watersoluble Pastels. I’ve been watching YouTube videos on these two products and comparing them to Prima Marketing and a few other brands with similar items. I chose to go with these two because they’ve been in the market longer and I wanted to get a feel for them before trying the newer brands.
Flower Girl Watercolor
January 19, 2017
I’m taking a free class through Jane Davenport. I believe these are sample classes to get a feel for her products and her art style. I’m liking it and find it fun and inspirational to practice my drawings using different techniques. I have a few items of Jane’s but didn’t purchase any facial stamps or inks. I have quite a few brands of inks around the study, plus, I bought a really nice set of Dr. Ph. Martin’s Hydrus Watercolors a few months back with a 60% discount coupon at Michael’s that I really should start using. Also, instead of using Jane’s calligraphy pen, which I do have, I decided to use the Tombow Calligraphy thick liner pen. I tested the two and Jane’s pen smears under water while Tombow’s didn’t. I think I was supposed to go with the smeared look but I just didn’t want that look for now.
Quick Sketch and Mixed Media Art Journal
January 11, 2017
Sometimes I like to sketch starting with the nose. This was one of them. Most the time I start with the eyes but for some reason I was itching to get the nose right first.
Two birthday’s ago my husband surprised me with a beautiful leather covered unlined journal. It was so beautiful that I was afraid to mark in it, but last week, I made the plunge and created my first mixed-media art journal page! I used gesso, matte medium, gauche, acrylics, hard pastels, and ink pens.
Shaman Bells Water Color and Ink Pen
March 9, 2016
These Shaman bells are used in Hmong spiritual rituals. I am not Shaman so I am not familiar with the rituals. I only know that they are used but I have no idea how and what for. Another term for the spirit calling is “jingle bells,” or in Hmong, Hu Plig (pronounced, who-plee).
A sketch and a concept composite
December 1, 2015
A couple of creative things I did last month.
Sketched a girl with the idea that she fell upon an island of pig-nosed humans. They took her and converted her nose to one of theirs because it benefited her in that she would be able to smell danger and poison and such much easier and quicker then a tiny human nose. I definitely need more practice because it’s not exactly the way I like it.
The composite above was done for a contest in which I didn’t win but I enjoyed making it because I realized how much I’ve missed working on my computer and with the Wacom tablet and pen. Took me about 5 hours to complete, which included looking for stock photos. The face and arms are actually me. I had taken a set of photos of myself a couple months ahead with plans to use them for concept. I’m really glad I was able to use one for this.
Impasto
March 11, 2015
I’m taking an online class at Studio Calico called Color Theory by Wilna Furstenberg. It’s a crafty paint type of class and it’s strictly fun but I’m learning a lot more than I had imagined. The first week covered impasto.
I didn’t have pink acrylic paint (is there such a thing as pink acrylic paint?) so I mixed white and red to get the pink. Initially, the pink was lighter than the darker color you see in the photos so I just added a bit more red to the mix. I used Regular Gel Matte by Golden Artist Colors as the thickener. For the black ink splatters, I didn’t have black in the little bottle Wilna used so I mixed a little water with black acrylic paint and used a brush to fling the color where I wanted the splatters. The paper with the stamp ink is by Bazzill called Avalanche. They have little ridges instead of the canvas texture. The heart stickers and white stars stickers were from a Facebook swap, the little beads with the hole in them came from a Hello Kitty Scrapbook Kit my daughter didn’t want, and the butterflies are from my Martha Stewart Butterfly puncher. The intricate flower cutout and the words (live, laugh, love) are cut files created by Wilna Furstenberg. I didn’t use a glue gun like Wilna does even though I do have one. I may start using it but for now I use the matte medium, Mod Podge, and E6000 as my glues.
From My Corner of the Universe 