PYH&S 2018 Class 3-Digital Collage Paint/Gelli Printing

This is my attempt at digital "Daydreams" with Lucy Brydon in the third class of PYH&S2018 (link on sidebar. Mine has no resemblance to hers. I tried to follow the instructions, but the digital merging and painting I wasn't equipped for...yet!

The first lesson in this class was on gelli plate printing, which I already was familiar with, so I used one that I had made in a class with Mystele Kirkning and haven't finished yet. I made a picture of it and uploaded it to my laptop for a base for my digital piece.

Instead of finding a suitable portrait to merge onto my print, I opted to crop and use the figure from class two, from a photo of my painting.

I finally found a photo editing app that I could figure out how to merge the two photos together in, but, as I have tried digital painting before and made a mess, I didn't try it this time. I did, however, try different filters on the merged photo, and I liked this one, called rouge. So I saved it and printed it off on a hot press 5"x 7" watercolor paper card, which I then tried to tie together in acrylic paint and stabilo pencil. 

It was looking fairly well, until I got the bright idea to spatter brown onto it, and use spray ink to achieve that. I had laid a piece of cardstock over the figure to protect it from spattering, not thinking about it leaving a straight line. And, of course, it was more a spray than spattering, but I could see through it, so I decided to use a small silk rose, dipped in iridescent gold paint to stamp a design on it, and added a hard line with a stabilo pencil, making a curtain, of sorts. I also went over the figure and flowers with the pencil, then used a water brush on them to soften the lines.

The version I'm calling done, for now. I did go back to photo editing and clarify (darken) the lines back up. I'm not happy with her, but I've learned things, and I love the process, which is the point. I can live with her. :)

Just for fun, I tried a filter, called denim, over the final version. I like it!

I also tried a warm filter over the final version! Fun stuff!

This is a picture of my Aunt Minnie, who was 100 years old last April, and had a big birthday party. I merged it onto my gelli print in photo editing, because I thought I would try the painting app on her, but decided not to, at least not now. It is also printed onto a hot press watercolor card.

As I said, I love the process of digitally collaging and painting a piece, and there were some awesome pieces created in the class. I didn't fail, because I learned from my mistakes, and I will definitely spend more time on the digital learning later, but right now, I'm on to the next class!

Fun stuff!

PS: I went back and watched Lucy's last two videos on digital painting, which I didn't watch in the beginning, because I didn't have the software to try it with. After watching them, I learned a lot about the tools and downloaded a couple of apps to try on. Fun stuff! I will be delving back in to digital painting at some point, and I will share what I come up with, Lord willing!

PYH&S 2018-Class 2-Anatomy Lesson

This painting is inspired by Leslie Wood's class on anatomy, using a limited palette, in the Paint Your Heart and Soul 2018 course (link on sidebar). I didn't paint her example, but used a magazine image for reference. I also forgot some of the things she did in her demo, like using a brayer for the background (I used my finger!). I did use a limited palette of acrylic paints, consisting of black, white, raw umber, yellow ochre, and parchment, in a mixed media sketchbook, instead of on a harder substrate.

Black, Raw Umber, and Yellow Ochre squeezed onto paper, prepped with white gesso, and smushed around with finger

The light is glaring on the brownish black background. Sorry! I forgot about lifting the paint to make stars until the paint had dried, so I dropped some orange citra solve around on the background, waited a minute, then lifted it up. A little big for stars, but the splotches added some interest, I think.

The image I used as a reference for sketching onto my background with a white stabilo pencil. Hopefully, I won't get into trouble, as I don't sell my art, and this is just for practice and learning!

I rather like this just like it is!

However, I persevered and added paint, losing some of the lines.

 

After re-working her face, tweaking some more, and adding several more layers of paint, this is where I'm calling her finished. There is more color than is showing up in her dress, and, again, the light glared on the blackish background. 

 I played around with a couple of filters in photo editing. This is a warmer filter version,

and a cooler filter version. I love this pinkish version!

She could be better, but I learned a lot from Leslie. I picked a complicated pose, but I stuck with it, and I'm kind of proud of how she turned out. I even like her expression now. So I'm calling her done, filing her away for future reference, and moving on to Lesson 3, which is working with digital apps. Looking forward to it!

I'm also still trying to catch up on a lot of other stuff, plus keep up with my posting! I need a secretary! :D

It's all good though! Keep those creative juices flowing, and have fun!

Blog Post Book 2017

I got my book of year long blog posts from 2017 in! I was distracted when I put it together and ordered it from Blog to Print online, and I messed a few things up, like putting the wrong year on the cover, but it's ok. It's just my way of keeping a record of my creative stuff, mostly art, and I don't sell them or anything.

I'm tickled to death with the way the pictures turned out, but because I chose the large option for them, the page formats were changed and a lot of the paragraphs don't have spaces between them. I'll have to pay more attention next year, I guess.

Anyway, I've been ordering two copies each year, one for me, and one for my mom, but since she's no longer with us this year, I'm giving her copy to her baby sister, Lela, also one of my favorite aunts. She's missing her too, and I love her dearly. Hoping she enjoys it!

Quirky Doodle Crow Painted- "Professor Byrd"

Another one of the quirky doodle sketches that I shared in a previous post at the beginning of January, which I have just finished coloring in! At least, I think he's finished. Seems like he might  need just a little something else, but I haven't figured it out yet.

Anyway, for now he's finished, and I love him, so I want you to meet "Professor Byrd"! He reminds me of a college teacher that I had, but he's named after a doctor I had in Nashville, TN when I was little, named Dr. Joe Byrd.

The original sketch in my mixed media journal.

The first layer of inktense color pencils

The addition of some colored pencils, a black stabilo pencil, a little more inktense, a black Posca paint pen, and a little gold acrylic paint brought him to life.

Series 52 is about completing one work a week, just for me, just for fun, so that I have a series of completed work at the end of the year. I hadn't thought I would use a theme, but I'm loving coloring in my quirky doodles, so I just might continue doing them as a series. We'll see!

Also shared in Creative Every Day, my FB art page, and Series 52.

"Crow Dandy"-Painted Quirky Doodle Sketch

Remember those quirky doodles I share the other day? The ones I said I would go back and color some day? Well, I decided to color in this quirky crow now, just for fun, and I l know he could be made better, but I love him!

He reminded me of a "dandy", thus the name "Crow Dandy"! :)

Mixed Media journal page; I used inktense blocks, a water brush, Posca paint markers, black stabilo pencil, colored pencils, gold gel pen, and washi tape, in my mixed media paper sketch book to bring him to life.

This image emerged from among a bunch of random marks and lines, done with my eyes closed, with no idea of what they would become when I actually looked at them, and the dressed crow spoke to me.

The base colors were lain in with Inktense blocks and a water brush, adding stripes to the background.

Polka dots were added with Posca paint markers, lines darkened with Stabilo black pencil, and more inktense block added in places. Sorry about the blurred photo!

The finished piece, after a layer of colored pencils to tone down the inks some, and a little body re-structuring. I circled all the dots and colored the buttons with a gold gel pen, which doesn't show up here, and added Washi tape over the stitched lines between the stripes. The gold stars don't show up here either. :/ The colors are more true in this photo than the one below.

The colors in this photo aren't as true as the one above it, but I took this one to show the shiny gold stuff. I tried several times to get a good photo that showed both, but couldn't. I had to hold this one up in one hand to photograph it with the other. I don't have the best lighting where I paint. :/

Anyway, I'm thankful to have had time to study and paint, uninterrupted, for several mornings in a row. I'm working on the second class in Paint Your Heart and Soul 2018, plus I'm watching and taking notes on the Twelve Days of free classes that Ivy Newport gave us for Christmas, so I can try all the stuff in them when I can. I've already learned a lot from the four classes I've watched. Plus, I'm painting stuff just for fun, such as Crow Dandy, to share in Series 52, which I was invited to join by Jeanne Oliver. So my creative plate is full, and I'm happy about it! I just hope I can keep up with it all! Its much better for my nerves than drugs and/or alcohol! :)

Sleet and snow in Rabbit Hop today, turning into ice! I know it's much worse for some of you. Stay safe and warm!

Find time to do something that makes you happy every day, even if it's only ten minutes. Your soul will thank you for it! :)

Also shared in Creative Every Day, Series 52, and my FB page (The MOXIE Rabbit Art Studio)!

PYH&S 2018-Class 1

So, this is my first painting for 2018!

It is also inspired by the first class in Paint Your Heart and Soul 2018, taught by Nikol Wikman. Her painting was acrylics on canvas, with a sponged background technique, and depicted snow capped mountains and fir trees at sunset. See the sidebar for the link to the classes!

Mine is acrylics on mixed media paper, prepped with white gesso, in a journal. I didn't have the colors that she suggested, so I used what I had, and I wish I had used a canvas instead of paper. I think it would have been easier and looked better, but anyway, I thought it was done except for fine tuning in the photo above. We used a kitchen sponge for the background/first layer, then brushes and palette knives for the rest.

Photo using Ott desk light and overhead fluorescent light

Photo using fluorescent light only

The next day I started fine tuning and wound up going over the whole thing again. Still not happy with it, but like it better, I think.

I used Nikol's techniques, but adapted the landscape to fit where I live in Tennessee on the river. We live on top of the limestone bluffs with the caves in them. We also have rocks and trees on the river banks, and lots of ceder trees on top of the bluffs and bushes below them.

When I was very young, in the fifties, there was a rock crusher located in front of these bluffs and they mined the rock out of the bluffs. They drove dump trucks all back in the caves and hauled out rock to be crushed, loaded on barges and hauled away.

My dad worked there for a while, and it was within walking distance of our house, so  he came home for lunch every day, and I would run across the yard to meet him, delighted to see him, and he always met me grinning.

There was a country store across the road from our house, run by our neighbors, the Churchwells, who were more like family to us. Daddy's co-workers would go there, get bologna sandwiches, or whatever, and sit on the front porch of the store to eat. They would pick at me and tease me when I came running to meet daddy.

Good memories! I didn't do it justice, and I'm not really happy with the painting, but I learned stuff, so I'm happy about that. It was a good class, Nikol! :)

The two pictures above were made using an overhead fluorescent light with and without an Ott desk lamp. I think I have them captioned right. I think I prefer the one with the deeper colors on the right, but that may be because I'm looking through brown cataracts, and I don't have the best lighting for painting. That doesn't stop me from trying though! :)

Also shared on Creative Every Day,  my FB page, and the PYH&S page.

Creative Everyday Challenge 2018

I decided to sign up again for the Creative Every Day Challenge (see link on sidebar) again this year. I used to do it every year, but life got busy, and I skipped the last two years. I have remained a member of the Facebook group though and enjoyed what the others were creating. It's a place where we can share our creative endeavors and learn from one another. Not a class, but a place which encourages us to do something creative every day and a place to share it if we want to. Some very talented people! Fun stuff!

I also watched the first class videos of the year long course Paint Your Heart and Soul 2018 (link on the sidebar), in which Nikol Wikman teaches a lovely sunset landscape in acrylics. There are 25 teachers with different techniques, styles, and subject matter with 50 classes over 50 weeks, one a week. They can be taken in any order you like. I'm going to try to actually do them all, because you learn something from every teacher, even if it's something you don't think you care for. I've learned that from taking many online classes over the years.

I'm trying to decide, though, whether to do the work on mixed media paper in a journal, or on a substrate that I could give as a gift, or sell if I should ever decide to. I'm leaning toward the journal, because I'm short on space right now!

Journal Cover I did in mixed media a couple of years ago:
 

Anyway, I'm just rattling, so I'll stop for now, and post something creative when it's finished!

First Sketches of 2018

My first intuitive doodle sketches of the new year! I haven't done any art in several days, and I have a new year long class starting tomorrow, called Paint Your Heart and Soul 2018 (see the link on the sidebar), besides two or three classes I'm in the middle of. These five warm up sketches completed this sketchbook of mixed media paper, and were sketched in black Stabilo marks all pencil, which I can later use a brush and water on, like watercolor. I can also add watercolor or acrylic paint.

 I love doing these sketches, warm-up or not. It is fascinating to see what images emerge out of random lines and marks on a page.

Maybe tomorrow I can do some warm-ups with paint to get back into my art and classes. I want to get back into painting/drawing at least a few minutes every day.

I also prepped and published last year's blog posts in a book this evening. I checked everything numerous times to be sure I had it right, and thinking I did, clicked submit and paid out. I later realized I had put 2018 in the cover instead of 2017, and it can't be changed now. Boy, am I glad that I just printed two copies for myself! I will, however have to change the 8 to a 7 on a laminated cover. :/

Anyway, I'm off to a good start, creative wise, this year. Hopefully, it will continue, and I will learn and actually finish a lot of work! Wish me luck! Thanks in advance!

Hope you are all safe and warm in these frigid temperatures! Keep your creative juices flowing! I hope to! :D

Also shared on my FB page, Series 52 group, and Creative Everyday 2018.

NEW YEAR-NEW ADVENTURES IN ART!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2018!!!

May we all have a year filled with faith, music, laughter, love, and creativity!