Pretty Flowers in a Jar

I always enjoy my watercolors. They are opposite from oils but always fun.

I think I fractured something!

Thank goodness it was only paint!  This is Julie Ford Oliver's wonderful technique of "Fracturing."  I absolutely love the look of this technique and I really hope I can do more of this. You can watch her how-to videos on Daily Paintworks. I haven't had time to paint since I have been living the
"Lollapalooza" high life recently. I am taking a little break before starting to film Lollapalooza Three so I thought I better pick up a paintbrush before I started rolling backwards.

I painted her sample painting for my first time trying it. Next time I will paint a still life and see what happens.

Easter Eve

Just sitting with my little sweeties outside on a beautiful and a bit chilly day here in Greenville, SC.

It's such a blessing having the whole family together for Easter.

Hope everyone has a blessed one too.

Doin' a happy dance right now!

I am gathering up ideas and things for  Lollapalooza Three, "Big Grig Journal"  online class. In this class it is important to find some way to write one big word which will usually be the theme of that page.  I use CalligraFun lettering most of the time but I use stamps too (hopefully the Calligraphy Police won't come get me!). Being a calligrapher I absolutely love all types of hand lettering and one of my favorite styles is Neuland---which brings me back to the stamps. In Lollapalooza Two and Three I have included a video of how to carve this alphabet into stamps to use in our journals. I give you the exempler of letterforms and show you how to carve them.

The thought occurred to me that I could possibly make a font with it--my stamped letters that is.

And through the magic of Fontifier I did it!

It's really quite simple and it only costs $9.

 In fact I have several other Fontifier fonts in other calligraphic hands that I have pinned. 

It's all installed on my computer and everything---wow. Technology is amazing--!

 Yes, I am doing a happy dance!!

Here are two more examples of my new font. 

Registration is open for Lollapalooza!

Yes, registration is now open for

 Lollapalooza One: "The Chunky Art Snippet Journal"

Lollapalooza Two: "The Spray Journal"

Lollapalooza Three: "The Big Grig Journal"

There is a special price now also.

I have even added more art tips that are not in this promo video ---
why...??? because you just might need to use them!

Like this:

I am giving you almost everything but the kitchen sink! 
It's a Lollapalooza!

Painting at Corse Gallery

I painted this 36x36 at Corse Gallery the other day. It is still there and for sale waiting to go into the trendy new restaurant down the street. I am excited about that--I have never had a painting in a restaurant before. It's a big painting that I started in Alice William's workshop that I just couldn't get to work so I decided to try again before I sent it to the dumpster. I love this vase and I love apples and I love Poppies so---I think it worked. Hopefully it will sell. That would really be exciting.

Cassie

This is Cassie. She and Amanda are first cousins and best friends. They got their red hair from their grandmother. She is 16 and is allowed to drive as long as her very responsible cousin, Amanda, goes along with her. They like to drive by Derek's house and honk the horn and drive off quickly. Their mothers (who are sisters) would surely not approve.

Derek always sees them and smiles.

Amanda and her Fastenator

This is Amanda. She just turned 15 the other day. She bought this fabulous red flower fastenator from Anthropologie on sale with her babysitting money as a present to herself. She is feeling quite gorgeous in it as she heads out to meet her friends at the movies.

Maybe... Derek will be there...

She is thinking about him.

Libby

This is Libby. She is also a bit pensive today but she is really quite a happy girl. She is enjoying her new hat. She started out quite unattractive but it's amazing how a little eye make up and lipstick will improve a face.  So true isn't it!?

Art in the strangest places...

Just as I was gathering up Bucky and my things to go home from the studio this caught my eye. I just had to take a picture of it. This is from the spray journal for Lollapalooza Two. yes, we find art in the strangest places, don't we?

Ruby

I love drawing girls and using my Copic markers. I have a formula that usually

makes for a pretty face although they all have personalities of their own. Sometimes

they look right at you and smile and other times they are bored or pensive. I never know

which girl will emerge. Sometimes one will look mad but I can usually cheer her up.

Her name is Ruby and she is a vintage 1920's girl. She is a pensive one---and maybe a bit bored.

Waipu Cove

"Lollapalooza" Update

This is just a quick update on my 3 upcoming journal workshops. If you get my email newsletter then this will be the same video as in the newsletter.

I am having a sale over at Creative Workshops so the video will give you the details.

Thanks!

The Dinghy

It is so fun every month when Betty and Rynda and I get together at my studio and paint. Rynda worked on her fabulous apples while Betty and I painted the dinghy from Richard Robinson's workshop #19. This is a 12x12 and we painted from his reference photo. He is a really good online teacher and I highly recommend him if you want to learn to be a better painter.

Here are betty and Rynda at the studio.
It was fun!

Pick Your Color

I enjoy sitting down and piecing together one of these letter collages. I am gathering enough of them now to maybe put them in a handmade book. They are rather large so I will have to figure that out.

 I am busy filming the new "Lollapalooza" Journal class series and I might include these letter collages in the "Big Grid Journal" class. I really am having fun filming it so hopefully you will have fun too if you decide on any of the classes. The three classes will be : Lollapalooza One: "The Chunky Snippet Journal", Lollapalooza Two: "The Spray Journal," and Lollapalooza Three: "The Big Grid Journal".  I might combine two and three but I haven't decided yet. And I have added some other goodies to each one too. So, April 29 is the opening date. I will keep you updated. I have completed and edited #1 and working on #2 now.

How to save a painting-or at least take a stab at it!

...that is if I even saved it. I still have trouble from time to time with still lifes that I set up. This red vase is just so gorgeous--so gorgeous in fact that it was difficult to capture it as the light traveled through it to the other side. So as I was nearing the end of the painting and seeing that it was going downhill fast I decided to get out my color shaper and take some desperate measures to try and save this desperate painting.  So I decided to try Julie Ford Oliver's "Fracturing" technique (she has an Artbyte on Daily Paintworks showing how) that she does so marvelously. It was either that or scrape. So I got out my 1" color shaper and started to hack, and slash and laugh like a madwoman (because I was mad!).

So then after the slashing I cleaned my brushes and said... oh well. Then right before heading out the door I looked at it again and decided it needed just a little more torture so I decided this time to try the Iris Scott's technique of finger painting because I didn't want to wash another brush. (You will enjoy her video even if you aren't a painter.) This was actually very fun because I still had color on my palette. Anyway, I don't know if I saved it but at least it's considerably more interesting that it was.

-----------------------------------------------

PS...2:50 PM UPDATE--

I just scraped it off. Couldn't stand to look at it. 

All gone---mostly--I wiped some left over paint from my palette over it the wiped a little away from the flowers (just to beat a dead horse a little more)

I can paint something over this since I don't want to lost the wood panel.

Quick 1 Hour Study

I like to rent art videos from SmartFlix and my latest one was by Craig Nelson--Quick Studies in Oil. He says it's better to do 32 small one hour quick studies than one 32 hour long involved painting. I enjoyed his video and this is the reference from the video. I enjoyed painting it and tried to stop and not tickle it to death after an hour.

NEW WINNER!!

KATHIE never came forth to claim her prize  :( so

 I just picked another winner and that winner is 

SUSAN FROM ROANOKE VIRGINIA!!

Susan please send me your address to my email

marthalever@gmail.com

and I will send your book and exemplars out ASAP!!!

Coming April 29th

 The"Artsy Update" Newsletter will be coming 

out March 2nd and will explain more!

There is still time to sign up to get it.

Trisha Day 3

I started with a black canvas for this one just to change it up a bit. Glass is hard to paint--or not paint! I am not a favorite of dark backgrounds but that was the color in the set up. The flowers were Spider Mums except for the one at the top which was--a Peony. 

She said it wasn't necessary to define that with detail.

I learned a lot in this workshop and hopefully it will show in my paintings.

And... KATHIE

you won the giveaway but I have not heard from you. Please contact me so I can send you your book and exemplars. If I don't hear from you by Sunday I will let Mr. Random pick another name from

HERE.

Hope to hear from you!!

Trisha Day 2

 This one was very hard to paint. Trisha put a red light on the green apples and it was hard to make myself paint the colors that I saw rather than what I thought it should be.

I changed the light to regular light so this one was easier to paint. 

Ok, so Day 2 was fun!

Trisha Adams Day 1

I really enjoyed Trisha Adams' workshop this weekend. I think that she has helped me move along to seeing color much better. I enjoyed seeing her process and loved her easy-going encouraging style. This is the first of several paintings that I will show you. This one is 16x20.

Son, Zach, will be participating in One Spark here in Jacksonville in April. His business on the side is

 Original Fuzz guitar accessories. He wanted me to paint a sign from their logo for their booth.

Here is the progression. It really was fun to paint. It is 40x60.

All done. 

  Hopefully they will big the big money prize if lots of people vote for them.

And
KATHIE,
 you are the winner of the giveaway so be sure to contact me with your mailing address.

...and the winner is...

Kathie

Congratulations!!

 Please check the link on your name to make sure this is you 

and then send me your address and I will send out your book and exemplars!

Thank you all for your sweet comments. I SO SO SO appreciate all of you!

Giveaway and some Exemplars

Hey guys!! Thank you so much for all your comments. It really is quite exciting to join the ranks of the "Published!"  Jenny did a great job of assembling different talented artists and some have even been my teachers in the past so I am feeling especially blessed.

 I am not really sure why the publishers chose not to include my exemplars but those were submitted to them along with lots of other images that I will show you soon. And as I said, I would like to do a little mini workshop as to how to draw, color and use these fun versals.

So, I decided that I will do a giveaway for a signed copy of the book along with printed signed copies of the exemplars to the winner. I have added them below and you have my permission to print these out and use them as you please since they were sent in to be included in the book. 

Mr Random.org will pick the winner so you know the drill, just leave a comment saying you want the book and exemplars and you will be thrown into the hat!

I will announce the winner on Saturday night February 23.

Creative Lettering Book!

Well, one thing has been accomplished on my Art Bucket list. I have been published in a book! And this book is very special to me because it is by Jenny Doh, the former editor of Somerset Studio Magazine.
Here are a few of my pages. It is available on Amazon and I think it is just about to be released for shipment.  My sweet friend Lori is in the book too!

My specialty lettering in the book is called "Chunky Versals."  They are really fun to do and a really great element to add to journal pages. I may even do a little workshop showing you in much more detail as to how to do them.  

The book is really nice. Jenny did a great job!

Struttin'

Here is Mr. Rooster that I painted yesterday with our art group. We had such a good time painting our roosters and they are really fun to paint. It's iridescent colors are hard to capture but I did my best. He is a prize willing rooster and I think he knows it.

It's 12 x 12 on a cotton panel. It's for sale over at Daily PaintWorks if you are interested in owning him.

Made me laugh

Happy Friday! This was on a FB post of one of my sweet high school friends and it just made me laugh this morning. I bet we can all relate.

Yesterday my painting group got together at my studio and painted roosters. We had so much fun painting because each of us has our own style and it is so fun to share how we plan to tackle our painting. I will finish him up today and post him tomorrow.

Also, I am so sorry that I had to reinstate the Word Verification setting in my comments area. I just hate that thing and can't read the letters when I have to do that but I was starting to get some anonymous spam type things. In fact yesterday there were 8 of them. So I just wanted to apologize for that. I added a "Email me" gadget at the top right so please feel free to email me if you so desire to comment and I can actually get back to you much easier. If I have to do the Word Verification thing (which sometimes takes me several tries to get it) I just give up.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone has a day filled with love!!!

Pears in the Journal

I love painting pears and I love to write with a pointed pen but I have been neglecting both of these  lately since I started oil painting. I actually haven't painted with oils in about a week but I have really enjoyed doing some quick sketching.  Hubby is flying back from Miami late tonight after a business trip so I am waiting up for him.  Painting is a great way to pass the time---especially painting pears.

Potted Plants

These flower pots are a quick go-to for me when I have had to do all sorts of uncreative stuff like wash clothes and add up receipts for taxes among other Monday stuff that required my attention. When I only have 20 minutes before washing my face and going to bed these pots are just the answer when the day is almost gone and nothing was created. I hate it when a day goes by and I didn't get to pick up a paint brush.

Cezanne's Apples

It has been such a busy weekend that I had no time at all to squeeze out any oils and paint. But sometimes I can do a watercolor much quicker and easier. These are some of Cezanne's Apples from the photo image below. I love (love love love love...) his paintings with it's rich texture, depth and color. This started as a quick sketch but actually took me longer than my alloted 20 minutes for the sketches. His are painted in oils but it was fun to look at his and try to figure out what he did. My image was from the internet and it was not a crisp image so I really couldn't figure it out so well. But it was fun to paint. I always enjoy using my watercolors.  He painted many other paintings that I love (love love love love...)  and might try painting some of them with his technique---whatever that is...:))