portrait – From My Corner of the Universe

Portrait from Reference

May 30, 2017

I’m in the process of moving some large files over to another external drive to make room for those REF files from my camera, so while that’s moving along in the background, I thought I’d share what I was painting the last couple of days.

This was done using a reference digital painting by Larry Wilson. I decided not to make the girl an elf since I wasn’t feeling it at the time, but I do love elves! I used watercolors by Jane Davenport and Copic Markers.

portraitref1_800K portraitref2_800K

WIP Completed

March 7, 2017

This is one crazy week. Everyone in the family has a doctor visit of some kind except for the youngest child. But, she’s not in the clear. She has an orthodontics appointment next week. Finally finished the wip…I think I’m done. I might add a few stencils or stamping in the background. I’m going to give it a few days to decide.

I used a combo of things for this piece: Gesso, watercolor, Heidi Swapp Metallic Texture Paste in Rose for her hair, acrylics by Jane Davenport for skin and lips, white acrylic paint for hair and whites of eyes, Copic markers for eye color/cheeks/highlights, Tombow Calligraphy pen to draw in her face and trace, and Pentel Gel Ink in White to color her pearls and for dots in her pupils.

Copic Markers and Watercolor

January 18, 2017

I used a gift card my sister got me for my birthday + points on Amazon and got some Copic markers. This was my first time trying out Copics so I’m excited to continue using them. The portrait was pencil sketched a couple of days ago while waiting for my daughters at the dance studio. Yesterday, I felt really sick from a cold I must have caught from my youngest daughter so I laid in bed and took it slow while my husband helped with the girls (he was off work). Today, I colored with the Copics and watercolor by Jane Davenport. I also used a calligraphy pen to trace and the white Paint Over Marker to highlight. Both also by Jane Davenport. Also, I used a reference by kazanstevalexey on Instagram. My portrait doesn’t look anything like his photo but I just wanted to point it out that I didn’t freehand the portrait.
copics01182017_850

portraitref01182017_600

Sketch Using Color Pencils

January 5, 2017

A friend got me this Artist’s Loft art set for Christmas and I thought I’d play a little with the color pencils.

Can’t wait to try the other stuff!

Paper Layout: New Beginnings

February 20, 2015

I created the above paper layout by following the steps from Wilna Furstenberg at Studiocalico.com. She used gel paint in her tutorial but I don’t have gel paint so I used what was available to me, which was, gel matte medium, and acrylic paints. The intricate die cut was created by Wilna as a freebie. I used the Silhouette Portrait to cut it out and then gently removed it from the mat with an exacto knife and a plastic scraper. It’s a little time consuming but it’s one gorgeous piece of die cut.

This layout was so much fun to make. I’ve never used paint on a scrapbook page like this so it was a really great learning experience.

EOS

February 17, 2015

She loves her EOS lipbalms. She doesn’t wear them…just likes the way they look and smell.

Thought about removing the little hairs in her face but decided not to. It makes her who she is.

Brother’s Tattoo

July 28, 2014

EXIF: Nikon D90, 50mm, Exposure: (left photo: 1/3200 sec, right: 1/2500 sec), f/1.8, ISO 500, Aperture Priority, Matrix metering.

Love Her Smile

July 28, 2014

EXIF: Nikon D90, 50mm, Exposure: 1/2000 sec, f/1.8, ISO 500, Aperture priority, Matrix metering. It was slightly cloudy and rained a little.

Close Up

May 3, 2014

These days, it’s been difficult to capture my youngest. I was really happy (and surprised) when she offered to pose for a few shots, but just as quickly, after the few shots, she ran off even as I begged for “just a couple more!” Oh well. I’m happy to have gotten this shot.

My New Silhouette Portrait

August 22, 2013

Earlier this year I was looking at the Silhouette Cameo and Portrait to supplement my crafting hobby, especially the Portrait. The Portrait costs $180, which was something I didn’t have. I soon started to see giveaways for the Portrait on my Facebook feed and crafting blogs I follow so I would enter in these giveaways. I never won so I pretty much gave up for awhile. Never winning in these giveaways got depressing and I still wanted the Portrait fairly badly so I made the decision that I’d save up for it and get one on my own.

Then one morning as I was looking through my e-mails, I came across another giveaway for the Portrait. It was through crafter/graphic designer, Lori Whitlock, whom I’ve subscribed to for some time now, and in which I’ve participated in her giveaways before but didn’t win. I told myself that if I didn’t win this time that I’d stop doing them and just save hard. Well, to my surprise, I won the giveaway. A few weeks later, the Portrait arrived at my doorstep.

I am still shocked that I won this. I’ve seriously been wanting this so badly and just knew some day I’d get one. I just didn’t know when. I’m a believer that if you ask the universe for something you truly want, you shall receive. You might have to wait awhile for it but it will come. For me, the Portrait just came sooner than I had expected and I am over the moon about it! I’m very thankful for Lori for having these giveaways (she has them quite often) and for Silhouette for their generosity.