Class 17 PYH&S 2018-Intuitive Faces

Inspired by Sara Burch in her class in Paint Your Heart and Soul (link on sidebar)-Mixed Media in my medium sized mixed-media paper journal...

Forgot to photo first sketch in my journal, so I did this one in ink on plain paper, after, as first step...

Layers of paint and marks, putting on, taking off, scraping, rolling

Evolving with more layers of adding and subtracting paint and marks...

She's supposed to be abstract, and I have trouble painting very loose, so this is another stage she went through before she evolved into...

this, after a lot more rolling, scraping, adding and subtracting more layers and adjusting. The paper kind of wrinkled, so her inky tears ran sideways, but that's ok. She is what she is and was good practice and a lot of fun. I like her! Can't wait to do another one on a wood panel or canvas!

This is the last class I've completed, so far, although I have two more almost done, if my muse ever returns. I'm about ten classes behind now, because life and other things are vying for my attention. Not even going to try to catch up, but I'll pick and choose which classes to do when, and in the meantime I'll enjoy the awesome work of all my classmates on the Facebook page!

Q Doodle Sketches-Mother-Child

A couple of sketches that I did a couple of weeks ago in my small mixed media journal.

Both are sketched with a Lyra water-soluble crayon, and these are the intuitive characters that emerged from my random marks.

I will attempt to correct mistakes when I paint them, or not. Mistakes are often what gives them character!

Quirky Doodle Sketches-Fruit and Faces

Last week's sketches! Stabilo pencil in my small mixed media journal...

From week before last! Lyra water-soluble graphite crayon and a little charcoal in the same journal

I haven't  painted in 2-3 weeks now, and have barely sketched. I think my muse went on an extended vacation, or I burned myself out. Not sure which! I have been catching up on my blog posts and looking at a lot of art online to fill and inspire my creative well though, so I'm not completely artless!

So much awesome art and so many talented artists willing to share what they've learned! I am so thankful for all of them. They inspire and teach me every day!

Groundhog Visitor

We live in the country, surrounded by woods, fields, and the river is only a short walk from us, so we never know what we'll see when we look out or go out the door. Husband started out the kitchen door a few evenings ago, and we heard a chirping noise, which sounded like a bird really close by.

Our back porch is really more of a stoop, very small, and he stepped out to find this little groundhog drinking from the cat's water bowl. Startled, it ran behind our garbage can next to the porch for safety.

It would chirp at husband, but when I would go out, it would make grunting noises at me. My friend came by with her twin grandbabies, and when she stepped on the porch it hissed at them, giving her a good scare! She informed us that there was something behind our garbage can that wasn't a cat, and she didn't know what it was, but it scared her. It didn't run away though, even when they left, and through all of our going in and out.

Husband loves animals and feeds everything, and he took up with it, going out every little bit to talk to it. The cats were very curious, but cautious, about it.

Bloomer cat came on the porch and was very slowly inching toward the groundhog with her face getting very close to it. I didn't want her to scare it, so I lightly touched her side with the broom, causing her to jump about three feet, right straight up, and take off across the yard like a jet. I didn't mean to scare her so bad, but couldn't help laughing either.

Whistler groundhog stayed in his hiding spot and was still whistling periodically when we went to bed that night. He was gone the next morning. We kind of missed him. He was so cute and he made for an amusing evening in downtown Rabbit Hop!

Not too many dull moments at Rabbit Hop. Always an adventure of some kind going on. 😁

Class 13 PYH&S 2018-Intuitive Flowers

These posts are no longer in order, because I've have fallen so far behind in the classes and my posts, due to life circumstances, that I have skipped some (to come back to later), done partial post drafts, and forgotten when I did what, and, in some cases, what I did.

This is my class 13 painting, inspired by Ursula Wollenberg in Paint Your Heart and Soul 2018 (link on sidebar), Intuitive Flowers, using acrylic paints and plaster (I used flexible modeling clay).

Two colors for base on a page in my medium sized mixed-media journal, and flexible modeling paste through a stencil and let dry. The teacher used plaster and vintage looking stencils. I didn't have plaster. I did have clay, left over from another project. I also didn't have vintage stencils handy, so I used the edge of a paper doily placemat and a grape leaf stencil.

I sketched in the vase, flowers, and eggs with a stabile water soluble pencil, without following the teachers design much, because I don't like copying the teacher's work exactly and try to make it my own.

Layering acrylic paint, with drips and runs over the background and raised clay design.

Not liking the all red flowers, even if they were different shades, so added mixes of pink to some of them and more layers to the background.

Continued adding layers of acrylic and adjusting everything, but still not happy with it. Flowers too bunched up and the same, and the composition is off.

I turned one tulip into a purple hyacinth, adjusted and added a few daises and leaves, some spattering on the eggs, and added white open acrylic to the curtain, flowers, vase, and table cloth with a palette knife. Still not the best job, but I like it, and I learned a lot from Ursula!

I have a couple of other classes, that I have finished, to post, and I have two classes almost finished, but I am now about 6 classes behind and frustrated that I can't keep up with the other students, so, for now, I am blocked. Hopefully, that will change soon! In the meantime, I'm doing some quirky doodle sketches to keep in practice, but even those aren't going too well at this point.

We can't give up! Gotta' keep trying! It will pay off eventually! :)

Quirky Doodle Sketch-Floral/Landscape

A quirky doodle sketch with a Stabilo water soluble pencil in my small mixed media book. I first saw it as a landscape with lots of luscious layers, minus the small circle  at the left upper corner.

Then I rotated it to a vertical position and it reminded me of flowers, maybe calla lilies, at which point I added the small circle/stamen. Not sure which I'll use when I start painting it, but I saved a photo both ways, so I can print off one and paint it both ways if I want to.

Either way, they will be done in rich luscious colors and I will have fun! 😃

Will post again when they're painted! Keep practicing, and I will try to do the same!

Altered Book Pages in Feather Journal

I finally finished these two pages in my altered book journal that I started last year!

                                                                                             

The face was sketched off with only simple lines, then I started collaging over it with whatever scrap papers I could find around my work space, and I painted in the background with acrylic paint, I think. The figure was sketched in using a bamboo sketch tool, and the page was done in mixed media following the techniques of a teacher, but I'm sorry, I can't remember which one. It stayed like this for a while.

Then I added white gesso with a palette knife and some collage to the figure page, and left it almost a year.

I came back to it the other day, and added more collage papers to the face and hair, but didn't like the way it was looking. I also cut out the pink circles with a paper punch and collaged them onto the figure page to add interest.

 

Added acrylic paint and acrylic ink over the collaged face and some details and called her done. Her eyebrows say "Beautifully Imperfect".  I added some detail work with a black gel pen,  a stabilo pencil, and the pink circles to the figure page and also called it done. 

They look much better in reality. Sorry about the photography! I like them!

Also, sorry about the underlining! I've had a heck of a time writing this post. Everytime I capitalized a letter the whole post, pictures and all, would disappear, then it happened every time I even started typing. I shut my blog down and re-opened it, which helped that part, but then it wouldn't stop underlining and the text kept changing color on me. I'm guessing that all those updates Windows 10 downloaded onto my laptop yesterday evening had something to do with it. :/

Anyway, maybe it will be straightened out when I write the next post. See you then! Keep creating! :)

Klimt Print-The Kiss

Spotted this  24" x 36" Klimt print of "The Kiss" at a yard sale from the road the other evening. The lady priced it $2.00, and I brought it home. No idea where I'm going to hang it, but all that gorgeous yellow just drew me in! It's much prettier in reality, and I don't mind that the frame has plastic instead of glass.

Altered Book Pages-Bird Sketches

Just on a whim, I sketched in a bird from memory, using India ink with a bamboo sketch tool on a page in my altered book.

I used white acrylic paint, black gel pen, charcoal, and ink until I got him to look like...

this, at which point, I added a red string and called him done!

I used a figurine as a reference for this sketch, also in the altered book with charcoal and pastel pencils. It could be much better, but ok for a sketch!

Class 19 PYH&S 2018-ATC Swap

Instead of a new class for week 19 in Paint your Heart and Soul 2018, we had a catch up and ATC (artists trading card) swap. Each participant created two atc cards and swapped with a partner. I didn't participate in the swap, because I am sooooo far behind in the classes, due to health and life happenings. I was afraid I couldn't get them done and mailed by the deadline, so I took my time and measured off two 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" (the size of a playing card, which is the required size for an atc), and played, using some of the techniques I've learned in these classes. They are on a page in the medium sized mixed media journal, where I'm painting all my work for these classes, and where I've had several "light bulb" moments since I started!

I sketched in the subjects with a bamboo sketching pen and India ink, one landscape and an intuitive face. I messed up the face, so I took an old credit card and swiped across it and went from there.

India ink sketch of three trees from memory...

I later decided to add watercolor with a brush pen. Not sure that was a good idea! Enlarged picture is bigger than actual size!

I kept scraping off and adding layers of ink, white acrylic paint, water, white paint pen, and charcoal, until I liked her, and I really do like her. Lots of texture, which I'm learning to love!

Enlarged and bigger than actual painted card. I think she's pretty amazing, and I would like to know her!

Quirky Doodle Sketches-Reclining Woman

Another quirky doodle sketch in my small mixed media sketchbook, using stabile pencil. Love her! Wondering what she's thinking about!

Playing with Ink and String

I saw a video on Facebook where the woman was dipping a string in ink, laying it between book pages, and pulling it out to make exquisite calla lily looking shapes. You lay the inked string in a squiggly pattern on a paper (she did it in a book) or page, close the book, or lay another paper with a book on top of it, press down on the top book/paper, and pull the string out the bottom to leave the image.

I need practice, but I tried it with different strings just to experiment, and got some unusual shapes! Fun!

I dipped a piece of yarn in India ink and squiggled and looped it onto a page in my altered book. The yarn was too saturated, which left blobby looking shapes at first (the darkest ones), but I pulled it through four times without re-inking and got better prints (the lightest ones). Interesting!

Then I tried a yoyo string, because it was handy, dipped in different colors of acrylic ink and made this image, also in my altered book. Nothing like the video, but still interesting shapes!

Lastly, I tried some acrylic inks with sewing thread, which left a more delicate image, and some interesting shapes, but next time I want to squiggle the thread, because you can see where I looped it in these. Still an enticing background for ephemera!

I won't say practice makes "perfect" (if there is such a thing), but it will definitely make you better!

Keep learning and practicing, and I will too!

Q Doodle Ptg-Floral in Yellow Vase

A fun little quirky doodle sketch/painting that I did in my small mixed media journal just for fun and relaxation!

From random marks to sketch...

Some inktense pencils and water added...

I didn't like the way it was going, so I added some acrylics, paint pens, etc....

I kind of liked the previous painting, but I added more acrylic paint, pens, etc., and I like it much better now!

I love doing these, because I don't torment myself with all the "rules". I don't plan on selling them or anything, so I just paint/draw what and how I feel and want to! If anyone else likes them, I'm happy! If no one else likes them, I'm still happy, because I love them! 😊

Don't give up! Keep creating what you love!