Life Book Lesson 8

I'm taking a yearlong workshop called  Life Book  hosted by artist Tamara Laporte. There are 14 teachers in addition to Tam and it has been so neat to experience the different styles. I have a couple of the lessons in progress, but this week's lesson, taught by Mystele, I've already finished. Her lesson was on layers and how they play together to create depth, both visually and emotionally in a piece even if you cannot see what's underneath. This girl does have lots going on beneath her, but I really couldn't preserve it in the skin like I like to do because it was green and she just looked like a zombie, lol! The colors are much richer in person. This was such a fun and free lesson. That's just how Mystele rolls. :D

You can find Mystele on YouTube, her website, her etsy and she offers a couple of free classes at her Ning site so you can get a taste of her process.

Now, this second girl, I did yesterday and yes, I was in one of those moods. I wanted to share this here because I completely left the layers of color underneath to show through the skin. I only added shading. These were both just  quick, rough, expressive sketches... just a way to process some emotions.

I'm linking up with Inspire Me Monday this week so I thought I'd share some of the words I tend to write as the first layer for many of my paintings. These are the ideas and thoughts that seem to ignite my creativity.

• hope
• dream
• faith
• cherish
• passion
• whatever scripture that is on my heart
• lyrics stuck in my head

So, that's a start. There's so much more craziness going on in this noggin, but that's for another day. :)

I'm also linking up with Make Something Monday. If you want to see some great creations, hop over there.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Lovin' That Ruffled Skirt...

Original mixed media painting over collage on 6 in. by 12 in. canvas panel. (1/4 inch deep)

I did a couple more girls from Christy Tomlinson's She Art 1 workshop. I did a repeat of the skirt with the dictionary pages as I had prepared too many red pages last week and wanted to use them up. Plus, it's really fun getting your fingers so dirty.

I covered the pages with red Dr. Ph. Martin's Bombay India Inks and tore it into strips when dry. Then I dipped each strip in fluid matte medium and gently crumpled them all over her skirt. The background is pages from a Bible that I found at the dollar store and her body is made of sheet music.

For both of these pieces, I used modeling paste to add the flowers around the edges to give it some texture. These girls have been a fun change of pace for me. These are both up in my  Etsy Shop. Thanks so much for stopping by!

8 x 8 inches Mixed Media on canvas panel (1/4 inch deep)

I'm linking these up to:

Cherish

6 x 8 inches Mixed Media on cradled wood panel

Just wanted to take a moment to mention that Mystele is opening up a new piece to her ning site called community hubs. She'll be offering free 2 week classes. You can head over there for the details.


I've been quite busy today and have several paintings to share this week. I love productive days like today. We had a work holiday today as my employer observes Lincoln's Birthday rather than President's Day for whatever reason. 




I tried out painting hair in a more detailed way. I think I like it, but I'm still trying to work out the colors. I spend as much time on the hair as I do the rest of the painting, lol.

This background was actually going to be for more she art, but I decided to paint instead.  The background is collaged with sheet music, dictionary pages and some Bible pages. I found the Bible at the dollar store. Can you believe you can buy an entire Bible for a dollar? 


One of the things that I learned from Mystele in Gut Art was to use things in your art that is deeply meaningful to you. There's nothing more meaningful to me than basing a piece of artwork with scripture. So, I was wondering what you all use in your art that really gets you going? Colors, ideas, words, items?


These are up in my Etsy Shop.

8 x 8 inches Mixed Media on canvas panel (1/4 inch deep)

I'm linking up this week to:

She Chose Love & She Danced

Today I worked on a couple more girls from  Christy Tomlinson's She Art 1 workshop. These are just so fun to make. I love messing with the backgrounds.

This first one has lots of texture. She's made from sheet music and the background is based with dictionary pages. Her skirt is made with strips of dictionary pages dipped in fluid matte medium and crumpled on the canvas. Loved getting my hands so messy with this. It just brings out the kindergartner in me. You can see some better shots of the texture below. The text says "She Chose Love".

7 x 14 Stretched Canvas

This next one has a sheet music background. I managed to mix up a blue paint color that matched her the patterned paper in her dress, which is a first for me. Always fun to experiment. Her collar is a piece of cotton lace.

7 x 14 Stretched Canvas

These are both up in my  Etsy Shop.

I'm linking these up to:

A Couple More Girls...

Here's a couple of new one's I've created over the last week or so. Just continuing to experiment and practice. I really enjoyed painting on these wood panels. A little different than just using paper.

These are both up in my Etsy store.

5 x 7 original mixed media on cradled wood panel

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I didn't like the original painting I had on this one... it was way overworked. I wished I had stopped sooner. So, I covered her up with some old book pages and started over.

6 x 8 original mixed media on cradled wood panel

I'm linking this up over at Paint Party Friday.

Life Book Week 1

First off, you'll want to hop over to Listening to the Squeak Inside because Kristen is giving away a little original piece of art. All you have to do is comment on her post to enter.

I'm taking a year-long workshop online   called Life Book. It is by Tamara Laporte who is joined by 14 other art teachers. This first lesson was taught by Tam on how to draw a 3/4 face and we were to focus on our positive qualities. She is so good at teaching how to draw a face. I cannot believe I drew this to be honest.

This was my first time using watercolor paper and it was a very different experience. I expected the color to move around like it does on other surfaces I've used, but this paper soaks it in and keeps it somewhat in place. I really liked it and am looking forward to more practice.

Clothed in Strength and Dignity

I've been taking Christy Tomlinson's She Art 1 which is just wonderful. Lots of great tips that can be used for more than just creating girls. The background on this one is made with pages from a Bible that I got from the dollar store and some sheet music I found at a used book sale at our local library. This one is up in my Etsy shop.

I'm a little late, but I'm linking up to Paint Party Friday and Artists in Blogland Show and Tell Saturday.

This girl was actually my first one. I love how the bottom left corner turned out. It started out very ugly! I just kept working it and it became my favorite part. This one I made with a friend in mind who is starting her own creative journey. It's been so important to me to be on this path with a friend even if we're not creating in the same way. We still both have good taste. :-)

Handmade Journal

Hi all! I wanted to share the journal I made for my daughter for Christmas. I picked out a few of my favorites, but you can check out the rest on my Flikr or view the slideshow below. I must warn you, there are about 50 images!

This was a really enjoyable project. The techniques are mostly from a workshop I took called Mixed Media Mayhem from Roben-Marie Smith. Wonderful class... great for me as a newbie just to get my feet wet. Then after the project I made in the class, my creating morphed into this. I don't think I will make it quite so large if I make another one. This one is about 100 pages and has 5 signatures. It's difficult to see in the photos, but the backgrounds on all the pages are shimmery. I added some of my favorite quotes and scripture. I have tutorials for the flowers on my other blog Kurly-Q.

Thanks for stopping by!