Holding onto Inspiration

Life has it’s ways of twisting & turning you around. This year will bring plenty for me because we will eventually be moving so my goals are set to wind in and out of the multitude of changes I am facing much like a curly ribbon. Let me say I am actually thrilled about this move, but it will surely impact my blog posts, as well as my artwork. Today I decided to share what my plans are for the year and hope my blogging friends can enjoy the journey with me.

I’ve chosen a word for the year FORWARD; this was suggested in a blog by Jane La Fazio, I’m not sure exactly why I did this (hehe) but it sounded good at the time. I’m thinking along the lines of taking this time to feed my ‘continuous learning’ habit on a more personal level and setting aside my love of teaching workshops to others because I won’t be able to set a strict schedule for anything. I’ll be continuing my focus on ‘a study of faces’, and starting a ‘moving to New Mexico Journal’ to share with everyone along the way.

If you noticed I’ve changed my photo in the header; this is our new property. It is a beautiful place and I’m so looking forward to building a new home WITH A STUDIO! Over the next several months the only thing I can promise is this is really going to be a trip. I’ll be sharing some tiny tutorials along with a lot of crazy sketches & journaling with no rhyme or reason to them, but they will reflect the curly ribbon of my life as it moves FORWARD. 

So for today you’ve got the low down on what I’m up against, and here’s a few more faces I created a couple of days ago. Have a wonderful day, and hold on to the inspiration. I’m gonna need it!

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Faces, Faces, Everywhere!

Oh my it’s been a while (once again) but I must say that yesterday was a really productive and playful day. I had loads of fun working on these faces. I don’t know if I’ll use them as backgrounds in my journal but I’m thinking some will end up on a large scale canvas, sometime in the future. Once again these started with a magazine study, but after the original very quick contour drawings they always end up developing characters of their own. Hope you enjoy!

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Sometimes it is a struggle….

It’s been more than a month since I’ve posted on my blog, not because I haven’t been sketching, drawing and painting, but because daily life has it’s way of taking over.

Since late October, my husband and I have  traveled to visit with our children and their families, finally found some property in New Mexico (more to come on this), and all the while I’ve done my best to keep up with the EDM Challenges (not always managing well) but drawing, sketching or painting on most days.

I’m pretty sure now that the changes that come with fall (including the time) really do tend to get me off track. In between the grey skies and storms I’ve spent a lot of time walking & being with the colorful leaves, crunching them beneath my feet (like a child) and sometimes painting them. At my worst, I hole up with a book and read the day away. Now here’s where my struggle comes in; the drawing, painting, reading and walking around the neighborhood doesn’t get the laundry and / or household chores completed and then I feel guilty (for a few minutes), and follow that thinking with a good ‘oh well, spring is coming’. So, the thought doesn’t last long.

I’ve also been busy (stuck) doing faces, only this time they are showing up as fast as the leaves are falling, so I just do my best to catch them in my sketches. I never know where they’ll end up at, maybe in a large format acrylic. Who knows? They must be popping into my head for a reason.

Along with all the other activities (like Christmas Cards, etc.)  I’ve taken time to play and experiment with all kinds of mediums that I don’t work in often as I break in my new journals from Stillman & Birn. I wonder just how long the childlike fascination will keep me in it’s grasp, and then giggle to myself because I know it’s part of the journey of life and the best way to get out of a rut is to let yourself play right through it thinking all the time, WOW! I should get some more watercolor pencils, and colored pencils….this is really fun!

And, of course –just in case I don’t get back until after the first of the year here’s a picture of ‘old St. Nick’ to wish you all a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.

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Illustration Friday : A Tree

I love trees, and as I meandered through my saved images I came up on several but choose to share this one of a tree I sketched in Yosemite Village a couple of years ago.

A tree in Yosemite Village, I named it ‘curly cue’.

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ART Journaling Step by Step

Every once in a while I get around to finishing a page or two that I had previously started. So today I decided I take one page through the steps of completion, especially since I haven’t posted in a while.

A month or so ago I was on a crazed mission doing many, many faces & now I can share my process through completion with you. I hope you’ll find it easy enough to try just for fun. In this case I’m thinking they can easily be used to print some postcards/note cards for myself or as gifts! All you’ll need are simple supplies: Waterproof pen, watercolor or colored pencils, and or markers.

Step one:

Complete a contour drawing of a face (or flower)  in waterproof ink using an old photo (magazine or newspaper). For sure mine never come out looking even close to the reference material no matter what, so don’t even go there.

 

Step 2:

Add Watercolor washes (or colored pencils, markers – whatever you wish)!

 

Step 3:

Using hand lettering or a stencil with pencil, add your message and design. Here I decided to add the word ‘Think” with dots, and I’ve now painted the background with brushed on ink.

 

 

Step 4:

Now finish up with whatever you’d like to use pencils, pens, colors. Whatever suits your fancy.

 

 

 

Here I’ve used Faber-Castell Pitt Pens (one of my fav’s). And, I’m thinking this can be used for special notes to my friends who have survived breast cancer, or a gift of note cards to them so they can share with others.

Have a wonderful day, and keep sketching my friends!

 

 

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Illustration Friday Challenges

Once again it’s been a couple of weeks since I managed to catch up long enough to actually complete & be ready to post a submission to IF. This week..finally! Plus I had a lot of fun doing it. A few minutes in my studio to sketch the bottom two rows (about 1/3 of the length) of my prize purchase of a bookshelf (going out of business at Borders) for my studio. I am truly in love with this bookshelf and of course all the reference books, magazines & such that it holds. I hope you enjoy my submission, as much as I enjoyed doing it and writing about it.

In my studio you will find…….

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Falling into ART Journaling, what’s next?

Yes I am a journal junkie, and sometimes I wonder just where I’m going in my art. I’ve been actively involved in Travel Journaling (it seems like forever), making art, doing the Travel Journaling thing, and teaching workshops. All along the way I’ve been buying all kinds of reference books that lead me more into the Art Journaling – Mixed Media style. I devour these books yet I can’t seem to just let go, and fall into the mixed media habit, and what I mean by this is the use of all kinds of materials, tearing up, and pasting down. Yet my inner child is telling me this is what I need to do,  just let go, and let the kid out. As I continue to contemplate just letting go, here’s a couple of pages where I have only swished on some ink to get the bright colors and ‘journaled a few thoughts’. I’m sure sometime soon I’ll get to the point where I can do the backgrounds without thinking I have to draw it in first. See, it’s like I’m beginning to fall into it.

Illustration Friday’s Post for “TALL”

I think most of my friends know that I’m also doing art challenges with Illustration Friday’s FB Group. It’s a great way to keep your mind working. Each week a word is posted and I do my thing and ‘illustrate’ it. This piece is for the word challenge ‘TALL’. Hope you enjoy!

Very tall, long, long legs!

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Travel Journaling: Reno or ‘bust!

Just completed a short trip into Reno, NV! I of course reverted to my standard ‘dairy style’ of journaling the tid-bits of the day on the fly. I love documenting the daily minutia, and thus started out with a 2 page spread with a hand drawn map to fill in as we drove along.

Page 1 of map

Page 2 of map spread

During our stay at the Grand Sierra Casino & Resort, I did several sketches in the early morning hours near the Starbucks 🙂 of course, while I sipped on my morning latte and listened to the great background music! I had fun sketching folks, but often they catch on and try to cover their faces….so, I gave up on the folks and just did sketches of the immediate area. I painted them in watercolor after we returned home.

Casino Sketch

AM walk for latte 🙂

I was thrilled to stop in Boomtown on the way back. I actually recouped my previous losses. Then, on the way back home a bit of sketching in the van while Norm drove. We really had a great trip, nice & relaxing and by the way if you ever make a trip there make sure you do the National Automobile Museum. It’s awesome!

Have a great day, and keep sketching my friends!

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ART Journaling or Travel Journaling ‘what’s the difference’?

Over the past week I’ve been busy working on my background ‘faces’ project and began thinking about how the differences in process are directly connected to ‘my personal journey’. As I observed  the changes in my habits (ha) first I realized that ANY change can be just the boost you need to rekindle the fire in your journaling. In this case fire is good, and I believe these changes have helped me become more creative. Although now, instead of 1 journal with everything in it, I have again slipped back into separate journals. It seems to be something I do periodically, really don’t have a clue as to why.

A background page ‘face’ painted & ready to go!

I Am Thankful for Life! EDM#42

A journal page complete!

One journal now is more or less just for writing, and it’s not really up to date.  It’s just there in case I decide to write more extensively, and at the moment I have 3 different ART  journals going with mixes of the Everyday Matters Challenges, Illustration Friday works, and many, many faces all in various degrees of completion to use  for backgrounds.  I’m thinking, ah, this craziness must be because we haven’t taken a road trip in a while, I’ll know soon because we’re getting ready for one.  So, I now recognize that for me the difference truly is in the process I use and preparing backgrounds to journal INTO for me is ART JOURNALING, and doing illustrative journaling ‘on the go’, as it happens or where I am at the time seems to enable me to document my life and thoughts more along the TRAVEL JOURNALING path. Well at least I think I have it isolated in my mine anyway.

I hope you enjoy, and maybe try making some for yourself.  It’s the little sparks that start the fire.  I’m looking forward to this upcoming road trip because I think it will validate my current thoughts, and of course my TRAVEL JOURNAL will become fodder for an upcoming entry.

Keep playing, it’s good for your soul.

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