Drawing a Three Quarter Face with Suzi

I have just started Suzi's new class, "Piety and Passion" and it's going to be really great and for me---kinda hard so far. I have only just done a few videos of lesson one and this is my first time drawing a 3/4 face. It was a struggle most of the way through this painting and I cropped her closer up because the hair was so bad. I need to just sit down and practice some 3/4 faces. It's like practicing calligraphy letterforms--practice practice practice and then your mind starts to get it. In the class we will be drawing Victorian women from the Tudor times and they were stoic, powder faced and regal. It will be fun attempting this. Actually this one was suppose to be a powder faced regal girl but she just turned out to be a hippie I think--with flowers in her hair.

New Journal--finished!

This journal was enjoyable to make. Mindlessly (well almost mindlessly) sewing stuff together while your nerves are knitting over life events is a wonderful thing. I have actually used up all my snippets and all pieces and scraps in the drawers that would fit in this journal. I had planned to sew this into a hard cover old book cover but it didn't fit after a got all the signatures together so that was just another opportunity to sew another cover together. It was rather difficult to sew the signatures but it finally came together. Now I will start to use it as a journal and write in all of the blank places.



You can see here how the Distrezz it all tool distresses the edges of the paper.







HERE is a YOUTUBE video of the book if you want to see it all. It's only about 4 minutes long.

A few more backgrounds...

Here are the last of the new backgrounds for the journal. I bound the journal yesterday after Distrezz--ing all the pages. I really like what this little machine does to the pages. I am getting a little better at sewing books now so I am happy that I have gotten over that sewing hurdle. I will take some pictures of this journal and post them in the next post. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. It's springtime here in Jacksonville with a fine yellow dust everywhere.

Backgrounds for new journal

I have been in a background mood recently and I have painted some backgrounds to go into this journal. But actually I think I will have to make another cover a la Remains of the Day journal because my pages turned out way too wide for the hard cover book I prepared. I spray painted the back of these so they would be two sided for the journal. I have not bound the journal yet because I have been waiting for my toy and it came in yesterday-it's THIS! I am so excited I am about to jump out of my skin. I just love distressed edges and finally there is a machine that will do it. It's like this--on steroids!!! It is simple and sounds loud and dangerous and works SO great! I will put up some more backgrounds tomorrow. I love to do backgrounds.

Spring Colors!

Today I was feeling rather like I needed some spring colors in my journal. I have actually been admiring some wonderful bloggy people who are using these spring colors so beautifully in their journals and I was inspired. This is the watercolor journal with the arches 140 lb paper but this is acrylic with some stamps and Zigs.

Just another girl..

She is colored with colored pencils then I added a little Santa's Flesh. I like the way this semi opaque color from Delta smoothes over the colored pencils on the face. Caran de'ache in used for the background and....my favorite... punchanella!

Greenville Fun Time

We are having such fun here in Greenville. It has been so fun just sitting around this afternoon watching baby Marc crawl around and drawing in my Greenville journal. Daddy Marc and Papa Chaunce went to the movie and we just sat around and planned out what his first birthday cake would look like. It's always hard to leave but we have to leave tomorrow. :(

Remains of the Day Journal

Here is my Remains of the Day Journal. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend starting with this first day of Spring!!!! See you next week! oxox

PS--One of these days I am going to try and figure out why my videos are cropped in Blogger so double click and it will show in Youtube. It's an HTML thing I am sure and that all computer Greek to me.

I think they might be Daisies...

This started off a watercolor with Hydrus watercolor but it needed something more so there is some acrylic on it also. Just trying to stay true to my mixed media artist status. It started off really ugly and bad. I don't think the Hydrus disperses quite as well as the tube watercolor. I outlined it with India ink then smudged it with a Stabilo. I also used Caran d'ache for the stem, some stamps with while acrylic and a little digi-magic. And of course my motto is, "When all else fails... PUNCHANELLA!"

I will be in Greenville seeing little Baby Marc until Monday so I will leave you with a video of the Remains of the Day Journal tomorrow.

Snow Cones

I felt like throwing some watercolor on my Arches 140 lb rough paper. Sometimes I just have to do that and see the color disperse and move around. Ahhh..it's wonderful. I can't get too far away from the watercolor. I sketched them out then added the blue background. Then added the color for the flowers and outlined with Sumi India ink. I think I might do another one and paint them pink. This is painted in this journal.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope you are having a wonderfully green day! 0x0x

Channeling my inner child

Sometimes I have to drop back and revisit my third grade self. She is Mattie Lou, my muse, and she loves to draw and paint simple mindless things. Sometimes simple and mindless is so...simple and mindless!

Church Girl on an envelope

She is on an envelope and I did sketch her in church (I listen better when my hands are moving since my body has to stay still---go figure) yesterday but colored her in later with colored pencils while watching Project Runway. Thank goodness for the greatest invention in TV history--the DVR!! This time they are making a garment from hardware store supplies. I am constantly amazed at their creativity under stress and Anthony Williams, one of the contestants, is hilarious and makes me laugh out loud. Well, so much for that, you might not even watch that show. In the next few days I think I will make a little video of the pages of my Remains of the Day journal. I will sew her into one of the book pages. I have had a blast making this journal--so much that I am going to make two of them. Bernie has been so patient with me. I am a rogue sewer.

Another cover---while I was at it...

I decided to make another cover just so I could solidify in my mind how to make one. I decided to do some lettering for the inside cover. I was going to use this for the outside cover but I got going with the writing and hated to cover it all up with fabric strips. I have started gathering for the pages and it truly is wide open what you can do at this point. But sometimes wide open can be harder than-- not wide open (for me anyway)...too many choices and decisions sometimes. That's when I just have to rely on intuitition or I get a huge pain in my head trying to decide. Oh decisions decisions...The lettering is upside down on this one. Note to self...c'est le vie!

Remains of the Day Journal

I have been working on the cover for the Remains of the Day Journal. The cover is made first and actually while I am at it I might go ahead and make another one. The class was great and Mary Ann Moss keeps your attention with the clear, concise and short videos. Great for people with short attention spans like me.
Here is the whole cover which is all ready for the insides. ARGG---that top part is not straight. Of course that is all I will see when it is finished. Note to self...just let it go, Martha and enjoy the wonkiness of it all.
It was really lots of fun and I tried not to think too hard and just grabbed stuff from the scrap pile. I hadn't used Bernie in quite a while and I was so glad that she cooperated with me. She was happy to be back at work today.
I put a button on it and actually that long strap might not need to be that long I haven't sewn it on yet. Mary Ann just wrapped it around.
It's funny how I seem to pull out the same colors all the time. Now, I will start on all the pages. That will probably take a while because everything is sewn on to the pages with little pockets and stuff. Mary Ann's journal was fabulous but everyone's will be different. I have been collecting security envelopes and I have never used a security envelope for anything other than lining the trash can but they are quite creative actually.

More Calligraphy

I am still working on this new chunky book and I am still coming across some snippets of watercolor that just needed some lettering. This one is about 5 x 7 and written with Dr. Martin's Bleedproof and outlines with a tiny micron to make it pop. Of all the art that I do which I feature in Art du Jour, this is really who I am, a calligrapher who is still learning and admiring all the wonderful artists in Blogland who are some of the best calligraphers in the land. Lisa is one such calligrapher as well as Renee. And, Oh, Lisa, thank you for the oh so sweet Sunshine Award. THANK YOU my dear!!! And one more, although she does not mention it much but Lori is one of the best too!

OH and PS... Jane Farr is incredible too!

Chunky, Funky, Scrappy, Happy Journal

This is my newest scrappy journal and I apologize for the bad video job I did. My little Flip camera is much more unsteady to use. I was editing the video and it made me a little motion sick and I had to lay down for a while. So, feel free to turn it off if the shakiness bothers you---I'll never know!

...and He will direct your paths

I have felt like being a calligrapher these past few days finding all these pieces that needed lettering on them. On this one I didn't plan anything as you can see because I ran out of room. This is on Arches Text wove paper (love Text wove!) with walnut ink. Yummy surface to write on. Yum yum...I used Dr. Martin's Bleedproof white.
Actually I am making another big chunky book with all my left over snippets and scraps. Some of the scraps just need...something...This is actually a very old scrap that I made in Judy Melvin's class many years ago. Most of you might not know who Judy Melvin is but if you are a calligrapher out there, you'll probably know! She is one of the superstar calligraphers out there and has been for many years. I love her and we were delighted to have her come here to Jacksonville.She stayed in my house so I really got to know her and pick her creative brain! It was wonderful but it was many years ago. I would love a refresher course and would love to see her again.

Sentimental Sunday

I have been gathering stuff for the "Remains of the Day"journal that I will start to put together. Sometimes I come across things that just make me smile.

The picture above is a very old tattered picture that my mother cut from the paper or a magazine of Greta Garbo--is it Greta Garbo?---well it was some very famous beautiful actress at the time in the early 1930's. Mama wanted to make the dress so she and her mother sewed the dress exactly as they could figure out. I can't remember what color she said it was.
This is the dress they made. Love the pose!

I am not sure if Mama wore it to a ball or anything but I imagine that she did.
I love this one....Mama was very beautiful...and oh so thin! How in the world did they all stay so thin back then? No processed junk food I guess..and they walked everywhere because they certainly did not have a car they could drive.
And last but not least, here I am at about 14 sitting on Cherie ( I called her "my Cherie Amour"), this beautiful Connemara pony. I am not sure if I had a first place ribbon here but I will just imagine to myself that it was. I don't know where the horse show was but I do remember that this beautiful horse had so many colors in her that she appeared to have a tinge of purple hue to her. I do remember also that she was so beautiful that she always caught the judges' eye. We rode for a farm called Rose Hill Farms located half way between West Point, Georgia and Pine Mountain. We didn't own the horses but we felt like they were ours. The saddle pad was kelly green as well as our ascots. We were quite sharp! I rode until I was about 17 and one day they had sold the farm and all of the horses. I still grieve to this day and we never knew why it happened. Good memories though.... and I SO hope horses go to heaven.

Thank you for letting me be sentimental for just a little bit. Have a wonderful Sunday and I hope you have a happy memory today!

He got left out

This little snippet was left behind yesterday and was very sad---but he is happy now. He get his very own post. Hope you are having a wonderful Saturday. We are heading on over to the Riverside Arts Market to get some fruits and veggies and look around at the art. It's a beautiful day!

Just on a Snippet Whim

This watercolor paper was staring at me from within my collage pieces drawer...
and I thought they they needed some lettering on them.
I love writing on watercolor paper with a calligraphy nib. It's bumpy and rough and wonderful.
And also remember that artists cannot fail...it is success to be one!
...and, yes, "As for me and my house...." also true....
AND how true is this one too?!!!

Just a few snippets for you!