Pursuing Portraits and my Left Brain

 Ok, I'm putting this out there for you all to see.  I figured that if I did then maybe it would help me make progress.  I am taking an online class from  Pam Carriker called Pursuing Portraits.  I've wanted to work on sketching faces for a long time and was happy to find this class.  I have admired Pam's work and her videos for some time so I thought this would be just the thing! It's an amazing class and I'm learning so much.  I'm naturally not a right brain dominant person. When I start to create I almost have to literally turn off my left brain switch and totally concentrate on my creativity. Sketching these faces has really help me get out of that literal thinking into the creative.

This journal page is the second lesson in the class.  It's just a very quick all about me page. The photo of me is painted and sketched over to help us find features in ourselves that we would like to capture in our drawing. I'm happy with everything here except the nose....but this wasn't to be some great creative masterpiece so I'm living with it (see, learning to let my right brain take over!)

Here is one of the first drawings I did.  I'm excited to keep drawing and finding my own style :)

Check out Pam's other classes.  She has some great ones!  I think I'm going to sign up for another as well as her second Portrait one that's coming this summer!  I'll be back to show you some more once I complete the lessons!

Creating in Green

Why do I do this?  Create several things in a specific color? Who knows!  Last week it was blue now Green!  I guess it's fitting because of St. Patty's Day.


Here's two journaling pages using green!

This page below was inspired by my tag on the left.  I was playing around with some tags and ended up with this one here.  Little do you know it looked nothing like this when I started, the wonders of Gesso!

Beauty seen...

 Beauty seen is never lost. God's colors are all fast.

 This is a journal page I made using Alcohol Ink, Liquitex Ink, White India Ink, White Gel Pen, Stamps, White paint, Black Pitt Pen, Molding Past and glitter.

To make the background: First gesso a page.  Spray the dried gesso pages with rubbing alcohol and then go to town dripping on Alcohol Inks, just load up the page, over lap them and fill in as much or little as you want.  It's really fun to watch them spread and absorb.  I created the dripping on the edges after the first layer was dry.

Once dry, create to your hearts content.  I went a little crazy with the white splattering of the Liquitex White Ink!  The next day I found white blobs on the tile, needless to say.....they are still there!  It seems this is the medium I always spill or make a mess with, the hardest to get up!
 

The heart is made with Molding past and some glitter (hard to see)

Thanks for stopping in!

I've got the Blues....

Been crafting in BLUE that is!  I've been draw to this color lately which is totally different for me.

Here's two journaling pages I did using Blue:

Some layering and texture!

Ghosting

I tried my hand at a new technique I found called Ghosting.  To do this you start with a page painted with black acrylic paint.  After that use Color Wash to spray on a pattern using stencils or you can just random spray.  You need to use Color Wash and not Mists, that is very important.  After this is dry use Gesso to pounce onto the black (don't brush on) and then you will see the color bleed through the Gesso. I used another stencil (Star) to add the Gesso to specific areas.

This was my first attempt but I can see from the technique that it could make some pretty cool backgrounds for pages once I start playing around with it a bit more.

Thanks for stopping in!

Mood Changes

Last weekend my husband was being sweet and trying to be interested in what I was doing in my craft room. He wanted to see what I was doing.  I went ahead and showed him my journal which is what I have been doing the past few weeks.  As he was looking through it his comment was "Wow, those pages are so different.  You can really see how it changes according to what mood you are in."  Well, this is no news to us who create but for a guy who "Plays with Dirt" for a living and doesn't have one creative bone in his body this was quite profound.

I guess from looking at this page you will be able to determine my mood at the time. This was so different for me.  It's taken a while for it to grow on me, now I'm happy with it.

Thanks for stopping in!

MIA, I know...

Or, maybe it's MIUA (Missing in Un-action).  I'm a bad bad blogger :(  I've been on overtime mom duty this past month and it's starting to slow down so I thought I would pop in and say hi!

Just wanted to share a cool find with you all tonight.  I really love Shiva Oil Paintsticks and have really wanted to get more. (I only have 2!)  They are a bit pricey so I haven't taken the plunge yet.  I've been on the look out for something I can use in the meantime until I can buy more.  I need something that I can use my fingers with to blend and shade.

I found these.....at STAPLES!!!! Oil Pastels... Tons of color and so much cheaper.  They are so CREAMY :)  I love them.  They are easy to blend and you get so many colors! If you are looking for an alternative, give them a try!

Thanks for popping in.  I'll be back soon to show you a few journal pages I've done this past month.

 Just got to get the camera out!

Scrap N' Art Magazine

Check out the February Edition of Scrap N Art Magazine 

 I was published in the "What's Love got to do with it" Readers submission section.  

It was a mini LOVE album that I created.

Good ideas....gone bad :(

You ever find an idea you really want to try and get really excited about it?  This was it.  

Or maybe NOT!

Good idea gone bad.  

It may not be the technique it may be me.  Well, yes, it's probably me because when I saw this done I LOVED how it turned out. I didn't save where I found it because I just saw it in passing and remembered what they did.  Here's how you go about it and maybe you will have better luck than I.

Cut up magazine pieces.  I'm guessing any printed paper would work well too.

Adhere with modge podge or gel medium, whatever you like.  

Create a random pattern but cover the page.

Trace an image that you want to use.  Pick something simple unlike my complicated one.  It think that was one of my issues.  I should have started with a heart.  I may try that next.

Once you trace it go ahead and paint everything except the inside area of what you traced.  You may need extra coats of paint if you pick a light color like I did (next mistake).

After you finish the painting you can take something to sand away at the pieces so you can see the texture and remove a little bit of the paint, here and there.  

Here's my final outcome to oooh and ahhh over...NOT!

I can't believe I'm even showing you all this because I really hate it but maybe someone can do wonders with the technique.  I will try it again when I get brave.

Get your doodle on.....

I've been enjoying doodling lately.  Here's a little one I did in my journal on book paper.  I used my pencil to doodle before I attempted with the pen.  I've learned this is the easiest for me since I don't cope too well with making mistakes and having to go with the flow.

I used Faber Castell Pitt Pens, S, M, & B.  Then I went and colored in with Derwent Inktense Pencils and my water brush.  I really love the bold colors of these, I need to invest in a bigger color pack since I'm limited to what you see here. The background I used Karat Aquarell Watercolor Crayons.  A little shading was added using a soft pencil and smudge stump.