Lisa Marie Perhaps?

I was looking into one of my many half-done journals and found this girl. She was done in colored pencils first as you can see from the second image but I decided to put some acrylic flesh tone over her face. Suzi Blu uses "Santa's Flesh" by Delta Creamcoat for her Petit Dolls class. I only know this because she mentioned that in her other class I was taking at the time. She also uses Titan Buff. Both are great for mixing flesh tones. I have no idea how she really uses the Santa's Flesh but I have discovered that it is semi-opaque so therefore it makes a wonderful glaze over colored pencils. I like it! By the way, Suzi's class was great and I highly recommend it. The one I took was "The Goddess and the Poet"--of which I am neither! I am thinking about going back and doing the Petit Dolls. I am the perpetual student I guess. Learning and growing is a good thing, this Martha says!

Oh, and who I meant was Lisa Marie Presley when she was younger. Maybe there is something in the eyes that reminded me of her...maybe. Remember, she had her father's eyes.

Did you know there is a red flower in your hair?

I decided to drop back and paint a Suzi girl with the dreamier half-closed eyes. It's really interesting what I do in this little Walgreens sketch book. The pages will accept just about any medium and it has a bit of tooth that I like. It was one of those things where I started drawing while I was watching Americal Idol last night(which by the way, I am getting a little bored of) and end up with something that I actually like---and it's in the cheapest journal. But it's ok because this journal has a cute collaged cover so it's really not that crummy. I used the copic air sprayer for the background and the lettering is digi-magic (that's me messing around in Photoshop with my letterforms). She was colored with colored pencils then a light coat of acrylic over the face to smooth it out. I am still experimenting with hair---arggg....hair!

5 minute Flowers

I am still kicking around the idea of a little tutorial class on how to paint these 5 minute flowers. You would be surprised how easy it is but I do have a magic brush that helps which you really don't have to have. So maybe as spring blooms forth so will this little class.

Mardi Gras Girls

I am still playing around with different kinds of hair and some digital stamps. I drew the faces very lightly with a pencil then colored the faces with copic markers. The hair was colored in with some other markers that were close by.

These girls enjoyed their Mardi Gras wigs so much they decided to just keep them on--and their false eyelashes too.

Butterflies are Free

This is a napkin that I collaged into the Moleskine. I held my breath and drew some arms and hands--please do not look too closely or count the fingers because who know how many she has. The roughness of the napkins after it was dry really wasn't a good surface to paint on so I added a little Shiva to her face as a last coat. I wrote some of the " butterflies are free" words and others are digital. Photoshop always seems to add the finishing touches. The page actually started out really bad but I was determined not to lose this spread. This journal is the one with Suzi portraits, Misty portraits and other classes so it's a pretty important one. It's beginning to fill up. She looks like she might be a little nymph I think.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink...

This girl really does have just about everything or technique I know thrown into her. Her face was drawn with a pencil, then gesso applied and sanded down for a smooth surfice. I did this so the copic markers, which is what I colored the face with, would not be contaminated by the graphite pencil. That was an experiment which seemed to work. Then I drew the hair with a black stabillo and colored it in with colored pencils. Then I used a bit of the gesso still on my pallet to smudge the Stabillo lines from the hair and also added some white acrylic. Let's see, what else...oh, the background was some yellow paint with some Quin gold added in for the sides and Shiva for the cheeks. Love that Shiva! Then I didn't think she was fancy enough so I put her into Photoshop and incorporated some digi-magic by adding the diamond dangles and white swirly things which is one of the many many brushes I have downloaded for Photoshop. If you Google "free brushes for Photoshop" you will be so surprised and overwhelmed at how many they are out there. I love using Photoshop brushes but of course then the piece turns digital. AND here is the $64,000 question...Is it still an original as a digi-manipulated print??? Well, I think so but it's still a print. Anyway usually I print these off, cut these out and collage them into my journal or a canvas and it turns into an original again. Ok, I know you are tired of reading. Me too.

One more thing. She is done in my Rafine journal. Do any of you have a Raffine Art Sketch journal? They are fabulous! Well, I think so anyway!

I've Been Published!!--sort of

This is a show that is currently up at the Women's Center here in Jacksonville and this was in our Jacksonville Arbus Magazine which is a local art magazine. This piece actually sold and it was exciting to have them use my image in the magazine. Too bad they didn't put my name but---oh well, can't have everything!

Heart Friends

Well, I am back in the land of the living with my surgery and it was no fun at all. But yesterday after lunch I started to emerge. It's nice to have that over with.

This is actually a piece I started way back when I did one of my first workshops with Wyanne and we started painting these little girls but I never finished it. The day before my surgery I worked on it most of the day and put some finishing touches on it yesterday. I actually like the way Wyanne teaches you to draw the bodies with making little paper dolls with brads that you can shape into any position. It's helpful and I think I will pull out those paperdoll templates again and use them. This is an 11 x 14 canvas and I put black dots around the sides and used my copic air sprayer for the stencils at the top.

Angels Revisited

The two angels below have redone faces since I have improved somewhat since I painted these about a year ago. They are painted on 12 x 12 wood.

Little Red Journal

Here is the link for the Youtube video of the "Little Red Journal." I put it into Blogger but for some reason Blogger cropped the Youtube screen a bit so I decided just to give you the link. It will take you on over to Youtube.

I survived my surgery! But it doesn't feel so great right now and I hate to take medication that makes me dizzy but helps the pain. I took it earlier and had to take to the bed all day long. So my choices are pain, no dizzy... or dizzy, no pain. Well, the lesser of both evils is dizzy no pain.

Church Girls

Ok, I confess, I drew these in church but I was listening, I promise. I'm sure that people are thinking I am so spiritual taking all those notes! Well, confession is good for the soul. I think I will paint these girls on a canvas or just print them off and practice painting them or use colored pencils ala Suzi. Hey, also, guess what I did yesterday? I painted some Poppies! Remember my Poppy phase? It was nice to see that I could still paint one! I should blog it. Maybe I will. Have a great Thursday. Tomorrow morning I am having part two done of my implant tooth surgery. UGh! Six more months until I get the tooth. At least it is on the side but still shows if I smile too big. I am getting so tired of wearing my "party tooth flipper." Sorry, that's more details than you needed.
I lost a tooth while I was in London many many many years ago while in college ( I only needed a root canal but no such luck there) and the old bridge finally collapsed so---it was time for the implant.

I will post the Youtube video of the "Red Journal" on Friday because I might not be able to create any art. Unfortunately, they have to put me under. Not looking forward to it.

Butterfly Girl

Goodness, I am so glad that post is over and done with. It has bothered me all day long that I had posted something that I didn't like but hey, I want to be real here! I need to post even the more unfortunate adventures of art du jour. Not all things work out but I do learn something from every piece I paint. Just like Lisa Engelbreight said when I went to her workshop in Birmingham, "You've got to put in the brush time...and sometimes it will be bad." But you all are so sweet with your encouraging comments so I don't feel quite as bad. Anyway, this girl is better and in person she even looks better. But tomorrow I might grunge her up a bit because she is a little bit too literal or something or ..oh, what's the word I am looking for....?? I decided not to manipulate her in Photoshop because actually it's getting to be dinnertime and I am hungry! Maybe tomorrow I will put a quote on her. Any ideas? She is actually painted over a background with some lettering that I had done several months ago that was...bad. It is 12 x 12 on a deep cradle panel and I hated to waste it on....bad. I painted the sides a distressty rust color. I think I just made up another word--"distressty." Ok, maybe I will go and stick my finger in the peanut butter jar. Dangerous....

The good the bad and the...kinda ugly

I colored her face in Photoshop because I just couldn't stand her being so unattractive, it helped just a bit.
I left her with just the stabilo black pencil and gel medium.
I painted her with acrylics over the stabilo pencil.

*_______________________ *

Well, if I am committed to posting an art du jour everyday if possile then I guess I should post things that don't really turn out as well. In Sharon's class we were to use just a black stabilo pencil and gel medium and you end up with a sketchy looking gray tone thing (Sharon's was precious) but it is really a good study in shadows. It seemed like to me that once I started setting the stabilo pencil with the gel medium I had only one shot at it to get the color in place. It is surprising how much pigment these pencils will put down. But all in all it was fun and a good exercise.I did these last night but I painted the top image in Photoshop this morning because she was just really scary. This is turning out to be an interesting art journal with girls I have painted form the different classes I have taken.

Sweet Red headed sisters

These girls are a combination of colored pencils and copic markers. It's a pretty good combination because the pencil color doesn't move and the copics just seem to smooth it out a bit. I am hoping that one day that I will get up the courage to draw the rest of the body. I have done that but lately I guess it's all about the faces. I am enjoying my "faces phase" but Bernie is getting pretty lonely so I think I need to play with her a bit. I am sure that there will be "Remains of the Day" for that.

Happy Valentines Day

We are driving back to Jacksonville today from the snow in Greenville. It was beautiful--and you know we Floridians never see snow so it was fun. We didn't go out into it but it was pretty to see. I know some of you are sick to death of snow so I hope I didn't make you go UGH!

I hope your day is filled with love and happiness. oxoxoxoxoxoxox...to all!

Stencil and Fabric Journal

Here is another stencil book that I made using Teesha Moore's format for her 16 page journal I put several more signatures in this book but you can see all that in the video. It was fun to make. I love to spray paint.

The Goodbye Girl

Well, I have come to the end of this little red journal. It has been so much fun filling this one up because it is such a great size being 6x6 for each page. This girl is painted from a sketch and collaged on. I painted her with acrylics but then smoothed her out with shivas. Now on to more of Sharon's class! Sometimes my girls turn out really really ugly and I have to rip them up. It happens often. No ugly girls allowed! But sometimes one is borderline and she will slip in.

Noras's class girl on canvas

This was so fun to paint although the napkin collages didn't show up very well so I had to pop out the color with paint. I put Scripture from my old collage Bible around the sides and sat her up on some knobby legs. She is 5x5. This class is very fun and I highly recommend it! I think I will paint another one of these because it was so much fun. That's an image transfer in the background. She's thinking about the old homestead---as I frequently do.

I also just decided that the knob feet needed a little color wash so I washed over them with the blue that is in the background. Looks better I think.

Norah's Girl in the journal

I am loving Sharon's class and this is my tryout before I commit it to canvas which is prepared and ready. I have never used napkins to collage with before so I decided to try it in the journal. I am surprised that this notebook paper would even hold up to all that I did to it. The house is a gel transfer, the flowers are napkins collaged on and the face has many layers of acrylic paint. Well, I guess I am ready for the 5x5 canvas.

Oh, and guess what I bought yesterday??? A laserjet printer!!! Yay!! Now I can do great transfers. I got the cheapest HP that they had and it works great. I am excited!

Lollipop lollipop oh lolli lolli..

This is the last spread. Just the very last page left in the red journal. I will do a little video of the whole book soon. I think I will draw a face on the last page from my new class, All Norah's Art, and yes, I am still doing Misty's class too. By the time I finish these two classes I should have convinced myself that I can paint a face. I have had so much fun doing these classes but I need to stop now with the classes (yeah right) and just practice what I have learned from each teacher. Each one has a different way of painting. "Real artists" out there in the real world who have never visited or spent anytime in blogland don't know what they are missing--or that they might just learn something if they knew about some of these fabulous teachers. I am grateful for each one of them.

A cute pic, a watercolor and more in the red art journal

I was going to use this as a background for a face but I kinda liked it by itself

This girl is painted more with Suzi style and the other girl from the spread is more Misty's style start with adding in the darks first. This girl had a mishap with her hair so in my frustration I painted over her hair with the green and it looked kinda good so I went with it. Serendipity! When you add in the darks first sometimes you don't have as much control but it is a good exercise in releasing control. That's not easy for me! Have a wonderful day.

Still watching...

I am getting closer to the end of this little red journal from Lori. I have enjoyed this little 6x6 journal so much. I am so inspired by the journal pages of Judy Wise and I am thinking about doing one similar to hers in that it's chronological where I really do write something about the day. Judy is so talented and I think she is coming out with a book sometimes! YAY!

I colored this girl with copic markers and sprayed the background with my copic air brush system and some stamps.

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!

Collaged Face-Misty homework

This was fun to do, if you don't mind little bits of paper flying everywhere. I transfered a face on to wood and started tearing pieces from magazine pages that I had torn out with the same values. I think it turned out pretty cool looking although I don't know if I would be of the artistic mindset to do alot of these. But I should just try one more though

Misty class-Shiva sticks

In the journal with graphite first then shiva.
I really like the oil sticks the best of all the mediums to paint a face. I drew the face with graphite pencil first, then colored pencils to get some color down then add shiva oil sticks. I drew her in the composition notebook and pasted her into one of my larger journals over a watercolor wash. Then added stamps and punchanella. I love shive oil sticks. They are creamy and dreamy!!! It may just become my medium of choice for faces. You can also paint the face with acrylics then add shiva as a final coat to smooth everything out as long as the acrylic is dry.

Also, I have signed up for another faces class by Sharon Tomlinson of All Norah's Art! I have actually been waiting for her to do a class ever since I found her blog some time ago. I don't buy clothes or go to the malls anymore--I buy art classes! I get paint all over my clothes anyway---:)
Have a great weekend!

One more...

Still using graphite and colored pencils. This method is easier for me. Then Suzi adds paints to it also but I didn't add paint to this one. But she does look fairly young, maybe 13. I want 10!!! It's just another look. Both are a good method, Suzi's and Misty's. Suzi's is easier for me at this point but I am going to work on Misty's techniques.

This is a journal page with magazine clippings and a girl I painted and collaged her on. ( I think she felt she wasn't perfect so she decided to go and get lip collagen injections.) Either that or I am subliminally painting myself with my own mysteriously puffy lips from some mysterious unknown allergen or----whatever! Actually I am much better now since I have taken the gluten out of my diet. But that is another story....

This journal page was actually a fun and serendipitous time of collagilating. She looks as if she has a scarf on which was totally unplanned and ---I do love a scarf. I painted this girl following Suzi instruction. Am I getting dizzy doing both classes??--yes, just a bit.

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.

A younger girl!! And a few more journal pages...

*****This is actually a little later addition to the post. As K said in the comments pearls might have been too old for a little girl so I changed them to pink. That was a good suggestion because it gave the opportunity to repeat the pink just a bit. Now they are just beads.

OK, well, this little girl went down a few years. Thanks so much for all of your suggestions and I think it helped. In the sketch she looks about 7 and painted she looks about 9 or 10. Yay! I printed her out on 300 lb watercolor paper (and prayed as it went through!) then I painted her with a dry brush acrylic. You can still see the lines form the notebook. You would think I could draw in something else without lines if I am planning on using it! There is just something about lines that is extremely comforting to me. It must go back to my calligraphy roots.
Below are two more spreads in the journal that I did a few days ago.
Again, I pasted another girl into my journal from the composition notebook. I was just going to leave her in grayscale but then decided to put a little bit of color on her with colored pencils. I guess I am in a pink mood. I do like pink and green together.

This was a page in the journal that just had some thick acrylic splotches in the background so I decided to draw another Gypsy. Actually I painted her about a week ago in Suzi's and forgot to blog her. I did put her up on Flickr though. I gessoed her face and added some skin tone then completed her as Suzi has taught us using colored pencils. It gives a different texture and I actually had a heck of a time getting the waxy colored pencils to mark over the slick acrylic. Clear gesso would have been the answer but I thought of it too late.

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.

Peace like a River

I am debating whether to put more writing. I will leave it for now. She is another girl I sketched on the sofa while watching "24". It's intense so I like to sketch when I watch it. Don't we all hope that there is a "Jack Bauer" working out there under cover for our gov't? Some of you probably have no idea what I am talking about! I glued her into the Moleskine journal. This is how I heard someone pronounce that:
Mole-ska-na: with a long "a" over the second "a" and the accent on the second syllable---but who knows. This person seemed like she knew.

Have a blessed Sunday everyone.

Saturday Page

I sometimes draw and doodle in my composition notebook and it turns out to be a face I like so I decided to tear her out and paste her in the journal. So here is the Friday night and Saturday morning page. This is couch art actually. As we watch TV I have some art stuff around. My hands just won't stop. Is that a good thing?? Maybe...maybe not. Sometimes I need to do some laundry and vacuum the floor. Oh so many distractions! Have a great weekend!!