Painting the transfer-Misty transfer homework

One of our homework assignments in Misty's class this week was to transfer an image (this was was in Misty's class images) and paint it any way we wanted. Well, I have to say that there is one thing that I am very excited about...the transfer worked! It was a black and white inkjet print (I thought only laser prints would work) with Golden soft gel applied then adhered to watercolor paper. I smoothed it out with a credit card. You can see in the transfered image below that it come out rather pinkish which was really ok. This painted girl went through so many ugly stages that I almost gave up on her. At one point she looked just like Adam Lambert. If you don't know who he is...well...nuff said...

So, I started off with Caran D'ache and acrylic and that looked bad, then moved to just acrylic and that looked worse, then on to shiva....ahhhh...magical shiva! It just smoothes out everything. She doesn't really look like this beautiful girl in the picture but it was a good exercise and I will try more transfered faces. Actually the assignment wasn't to have it look like our transfer anyway.

two more girls...

She is drawn in a journal without lines (I think it is a Molskine that has a paper craft looking cover that comes in a pack of 3). My son gave them to me for Christmas and it has wonderful smooth off white pages perfect for drawing and colored pencils. She is collaged into a larger journal. I painted her face with Caran de'ache and white and Buff acrylics and painted in the background with Nickel Quin gold and Aliz crim. The leaves are stamps.
She is drawn on composition notebook paper, collaged into the bigger journal, painted with shiva sticks (love them!) and the flowers painted with Caran d'ache crayons (love them too). One of the great things about taking all these workshops is that each teacher uses a different medium so you learn how to use these mediums. I guess this girl is a mixture of Suzi's class and Misty's class which makes me happy because I want to incorporate all I learn from all teachers. And they are all so uniquely wonderful in their own way. These are the mixed mediums that I used on this piece:

1. graphite to draw face

2. colored pencils to lay down a little color then cut out and collaged into journal

3. shiva oil sticks for face (colored pencils don't show through so why use them? You don't have to--I just like to do it)

4. watercolor background in journal with stamps, ink pads and punchanella

5. Caran de'ache mixed with Titanium white and gel medium for flowers

6. extra soft black charcoal pencil for shadowing flowers

That's it!

Exotic girl

Yes, I know, she is rather exotic looking but this is from Misty's class where you put the shadows in first and build it up. She started off looking very very bad and with much finagling and with no clue what it would end up looking like this is what emerged. Maybe she is Hawaiian or maybe Spanish.

Is she any younger?

Well, maybe she is 14 or 15 but I want age 10 or 12! Thanks for all of your suggestions as to how to draw and paint a younger girl. I tried to heed them all and I SO appreciate all of your suggestions. But I don't think she turned out young enough. I started from black which I probably should not have done to try to accomplish this but I am kinda liking starting from black. Maybe her nose is not big or wide enough. Well, I'll keep trying. This is in the Moleshine journal. Tomorrow I have a few more girls painted with different techniques...Misty's and Suzi's.

More from Suzi class and Dancing Queen

I am trying so hard to make my girls younger looking. For some reason they stay around late teens or early twenties. I want to paint little girls that are about 10-or 12. I can't quite figure out what accomplishes that. Bigger eyes??? Rounder face?? Not sure. Maybe I will ask Suzi. I have tried not to bother her but maybe I will ask her that question. I am enjoying her class. I love seeing how free she is and her colors she uses. She explains things really thoroughly. This was a fun page that started off with just some stamp images and it just began to take form. I debated on whether to put the hearts on her face. I am such a realist but I am trying so hard to try something new. Hearts on the face---it's all good!
Misty's class is good too. Misty and Suzi are both are extremely talented and at either ends of the spectrum as to their painted faces. I am really amazed at both of them.