Contour Lines Coloring Book

Disclaimer: The above page and the ones following are contour sketches for a coloring book for a drawing practice assignment in the Misty workshop, and they were done quickly, so don't expect too much. :)

They are supposed to be contour sketches, but mine turned out to be mostly contour/line sketches, done with pencil on a 9x12" mixed media paper. Each sketch is the base for whatever form of media I choose to use to develop a finished mixed media page, or, if I choose, I can just texture and paint them, etc.

I know, on the one above I didn't leave room for the flowers and they are quirky and squatting. I will fix that when I actually start working on it, probably. Or maybe not...I like quirky...

I stopped at twelve, though I could have easily kept going. For the time being they are clipped together in the order I drew them and to a page in my journal. Most of them are objects I could see around my work table. The faces emerged from my imagination. I can't wait to see how the pages develop when I start playing with them, she said, clapping her hands in glee.

Sorry, this face is not from my imagination. It's my little Pekingese angel, Kibbles Marie, my constant companion for almost sixteen years, who left us in 1997, and whom I still miss every single day.

I will try to remember to repost the sketch with the finished page as I do them. Hope at least one of them made you smile. :)

Doris Personified

Several weeks ago I shared a pencil drawing of an animal from a b/w photo, which happened to be of our donkey, Doris, for a class assignment in Misty Mawn's workshop. Another part of that class was to use the same drawing to personify the animal.

Doris was looking like a bit of a card shark to me, so I gave him a cigar, a couple of real cards, some washi tape, some mixed media color, and a fabric partner in crime. Notice that the cards are the Joker and the Jack, both of which suit him to a t.

I should have cleaned up the edges before taking the photo, but I didn't. :/ It's a journal page, so I may or may not do something else to it. Anyway it was a fun page to do, and I like it.

Hope it made you smile. :)

You can go here http://creativeeveryday.com/creativeeveryday/2012/03/creative-every-day-check-in-march-19-25.html to click on the links to see a lot of wonderful creative blogs.

Backgrounds with Traci Bautista

Some of the background pages I created for the free Strathmore online workshop, Doodles Unleashed with Tracy Bautista, which is still going on. I think it's once a week for four weeks. I shared a finished journal page a few weeks ago.

The classes are still up for a while longer, and you can still view the videos, but I don't think Traci is now available for answering questions, etc.

The page above was made with a really soft, squishy latex ball covered in soft spikes. I dipped it in blue/white acrylic paint and stamped it all over the page. Wouldn't it make great mums?

This page was made by laying found objects on the paper and spraying ink over them, then lifting them up. I love it!

I used spray inks, rice check cereal, pasta shells and twists, dried beans, a rubber band, and netting off a turkey breast, which I cut into sort of a heart shape. Love it!

Spray ink, netting, wild turkey feather, strings, stencil, etc. Love it!

Spray ink, stencils, rice chex cereal, spiral pasta, paper strips, macaroni shells, the metal trim off a boot heel, and pencil marks. Basics for an interesting page. Love it!

Spray ink, feather, stencils, black marker, with which I wrote, "You're never too old too dream" down the page vertically, wrote it again horizontally across the first one.

This page was used to save excess fluid acrylic paint on, then I decided a banana might make an interesting stamp (I was about to eat one at the time) and painted one side of it, then stamped it on the page a few times. Later I added some squishy spiked ball stamping over everything. Can't say I love it, but it might be interesting to layer collage or something over later.

I was just looking at these again before I post and I think the banana stamp would make an interesting tree trunk. Possibly?

Another page with excess paint, banana stamping, and I've forgotten what else, but it's all good. Kind of interesting with the little yellow face that appeared all by itself. A little too busy for me, but the good thing about mixed media, you can always layer something you like better over it or cut it up to use in another piece.

These pages were all done on mixed media paper, which I have bound into a journal.

What I love about mixed media is that you can use anything and everything. Of course, the down side to that is that you tend to save ANYthing and EVERYthing to do it with! :)

Journey Journal pages

The theme for these journal pages is "On my journey I need...", and they are inspired by Misty's workshop. In fact, this was the last class, and since I couldn't keep up with all the assignments as we went, I'm going back to do the ones I skipped, so there will be a lot of posts following that are inspired by Misty. I learned so much that I want to try, plus my head is spinning with new ideas and experiments. Between Misty Mawn, Katie Kendrick, and Connie Hozvicka's workshops I'm not likely to run out of art projects or ideas soon. Never mind the ideas from other places on the web!

Some of the best things I've picked up though are learning to let go of me during the processes and being fearless; not trying to achieve perfection, but character in my art through intuition; not being afraid to experiment and try, a new found confidence, and the knowledge that whatever I don't like can always be covered up with something else, or recycled into another piece. I'm better equipped to express myself and as Misty says, "Layer it until I love it."

This piece, for example, has tons of layers of paint, pencil, metallic pens, stamps, paper cut outs, pastels, transfers, doodling, black marker. In short, everything but the kitchen sink, and, who knows, I may decide to add it sometime. Anyway, I layered it until I loved it...at least for now. "On my journey I need" is written on the angel cutout and around the pages. Pastels gave it kind of a dusty look. I wish the metallic pen squiggles on the flowers and leaves showed up better in the photo, but it is what it is.

Hope something on here made you smile! :)

Go here to see the work of  some wonderful artists participating in Creative Every Day. Just click on their link and it'll take you right to their blog and some awesome work!

Mix Med Clay Icon

My attempt at a mixed-media clay icon, inspired by Misty, and I love playing with clay, I might add. The sculpture is one of the main reasons I took the workshop, and I wasn't disappointed. I need a lot of practice still, but I don't think that'll be a problem.

The head and halo, of sorts, was fashioned  from air-dry clay onto the base. I used a piece of cardboard, because it was handy and I was learning, but some of the other students used a wooden base, which would actually work better, because my cardboard wound up kind of warping on me by the time everything was thoroughly dry, even though I gessoed it beforehand. (I know, sentence run on, but that's ok, just this once. :))

I tried making her facial features out of seperate pieces, but by the time I got them integrated into the face, they had disappeared. Like I said, I need practice. :)

The button jar finally got some use as I found flat buttons, beads, and lace to add to the clay halo while it was still wet, and I glued a piece of unruyu rice paper around her face for a scarf (a little too stiff and short, but it worked), and I found some wide lace to glue with gel medium to the background.

Everything was left to dry for a day or two, before I added fluid acrylic paint and inks to everything.

 Lastly, I found the ribbon rose trilogy in a scrap box, glued it on, and added a porcelin media that I found in another box to the roses, which gives them a porcelin look and feel, and left all to dry another day. The background lace could use some more bringing out, but all in all I'm happy with her character and all, despite the cardboard curve on the sides. The process and learning is what I love and this was a lot of fun. Don't be afraid to try!