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Thursday, February 28, 2013

International Women's Day

I belong to a service club "Zonta International" and as part of our volunteerism and recognizing International Women's Day on March 8th, we are preparing a breakfast for the women and children housed in our local shelter for abused women.  We will present each of the women with a yellow rose (a symbol of Zonta) and one of the canvases below that I have made. 

The background was done with my Gelli Plate and stencils.  I printed out the silhouette onto cardstock that was printed with words pertaining to women (strong, independent, beautiful, etc.).  I used additional stencils and modelling paste to add some texture elements, as well as stamping with ink and additional acrylic paint. 

Aside from hoping that they enjoy the artistic side of the gift, I also hope that they will find inspiration in the meaning to help them through there difficult times.

There will be 20 canvases in total, this is just a sample of six.







Monday, February 25, 2013

Face #23

Still a couple of faces / days behind, but almost there.  This is one of my personal favourites so far...as it sat on the mantel last night for me to look at it the thought "nailed it!" popped into my head LOL.  I think it is the best technically in terms of the features, especially the eyes which I haven't been happy with to date.  I like the pink lips in an otherwise neutral tone, and they really pop surrounded by the pink background.  I did this as a pencil sketch and then PanPastels.  I am still building my PanPastel colours...most are neutrals and I have now started to add more vibrant colours to my collection. 

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Face #22 and Art Journal Page

FACE #22 - MEDITATION
This face was done using PanPasteld over a last pull of a Gelli Plate.  The Gelli print really only picked up the "dregs" left from the print used on the art journal page below.  I decided to do her with eyes closed and when finished she looked like she was meditating.




RAINING
This art journal page started with a Gelli Plate print that I ripped in half and adhered to each page.  I then added more acrylic paints with my fingers through various stencils.  I used some hole-y drywall tape to add some small dots and then stuck the painted tape to the page as well.  Some doodling and stamping to finish the page. I tried to leave a little white space on the page, as that is something a bit difficult for me.  Despite the title of "raining" the colours of this page make me happy.



Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Faces #20 (Sad) & #21 (Tears)

Another quick sketch with watercolour crayons...I finished it and looked at it propped up across from me for a while...and then got out the Gelli Plate and added some tear drops.  I had decided that Face #20 looked sad...so Face #21 needed tears. 

Face #21

 
 
 
Face #20
 


Face #19 - Scribbles

I scribbled on the page with watercolour crayons and then just filled in some details to make a face.  No sketching first, minimal details...free and easy. I kind of like it...she's growing on me LOL.  What do you think?

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Faces #17 & #18 - Exotic

Two more faces completed for the 29 Faces Challenge.  These started as just a couple of pencil sketches that I ended up adding some watercolour crayons to in order to provide colour to the headpiece.  I recently saw some beautiful fabrics and was reminded of these gorgeous headwraps worn by African women, so this was the inspiration for these two faces.  The first one I started on a page that I had stamped a couple of sample stampings (the pattern on the bottom of a child's flip flop sandal) as it was just meant to be a scribble page...soon became a full face and I kind of liked the stamping on it. I've also been watching Carolyn Dube's (A Colourful Journey) videos on Use Your Words so I used a stencil and more watercolour crayons to add the word Exotic.


The second one was my practice for a face in profile.  I like the colours of this one.


Monday, February 18, 2013

Face #16 - In Thought

I am now officially 2 faces behind on the 29 Faces Challenge....not sure where the time has gone this long weekend.  This is just a quick sketch done on a scrap piece of paper (about 4"x5") with a regular pencil...nothing fancy...just more practice.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Faces #14 & 15

I saw Julie Fei-Fan Balzer do this in one of her Gelli Plate videos and thought it was cool, so decided to try a version of it. First, I painted a face onto my Gelli Plate. I then took a print of the face which lifted most of the paint (bottom picture). This page already had a light Gelli print on it. Then I took a 2nd print onto another Gelli print that had a bolder and more defined pattern on it (middle picture). Finally, I covered the rest of the paint on the Gelli Plate with a thin layer of paint and took a print of it. Not only did it pick up the rest of the face outline, but it also picked up the stencil design below that. The third one is the only one that I've added more details to with additional acrylic paint (top picture). I really like the second one as it is and will probably just add more details with the Gelli Plate and stamps around the edges. The bottom one...definitely needs more added to it. So for now...Faces 14 and 15 are the top and middle pics (I won't count the bottom one for now LOL).

 



 

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Sketches - Face #12 & 13

I have been practicing sketching faces...just small pieces of paper that are handy...trying to get the eyes right...the chin...the nose...the lips...the angle. The lower one of these sketches...I'm happy with the jaw line and angle... The top of the two sketches...I like the nose and the lips...still not sure about the eyes... I'm enjoying the 29 Faces Challenge...it is definitely challenging. I've never considered myself a technically good artist...I love colours and more abstract types of art rather than more detailed art. This is pushing me into uncharted waters...

Monday, February 11, 2013

An Accidental Face #11

OK...a little bit of a cheat for my face today. I was doing some prints with my Gelli Plate on the weekend and had a happy accident...there is a really cool face in one of the prints. I've shown the whole print below as well as a close up of the face. Part of me wants to add to it...paint around it or something... but I'm so afraid I might ruin it. So for the time being I am going to leave it as is.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Face #10

Face #10 for the 29 Faces Challenge. Not sure how I feel about it yet...chin not quite right...nose and lips not quite right...not sure about the eye either LOL

Gelli Plate on a Snow Day

On Friday we got about a foot of snow. The teenager next door used his snow blower to clear my driveway and then I promptly got stuck in the road as that hadn't been cleared yet. After getting out of the neighbourhood, all of the main roads were clear and it was actually a beautiful sunny day. I ran a few errands and then came home (snow plow had cleared the road by this time) but then decided it was a good day for a Gelli Plate marathon. That wasn't my intention at first...I thought I'd just try a few pages, finish a few others...but before I knew it I had an unbelievable stack of pages on my table. I am well and truly hooked. I've decided to put together a few journals as gifts so will start on that soon. So here is about 1/3 of the pages I finished...my favourites. Let me know which ones you like best. Can you see the face in this one? I've included a closeup to help you find it.
I added some sketchy flowers to this one...

Friday, February 8, 2013

Moody Blues - Faces #8 & #9

Last night was my art journal group and it seemed like the blue paint was permanently in my hand. I started doing some Gelli prints and when I had covered my allotted space (and some of the space beside me) with prints I stopped and moved on to trying a new face. I wasn't feeling too inspired at first, so I picked up a 4x6 card that I had done a Gelli print on last week and started doodling on it. I wasn't too pleased with it so moved on to a clean page in my journal. I smeared some fleshtone paint across my page and waited for it to dry...and for inspiration to hit. The paint dried and still no inspiration...so back to my doodle. I smeared two shades of blue and some magenta on the page with a credit card and waited for it to dry. Then I doodled curls / wavy hair on the page. I then glued my 4x6 card onto the page...the colours were the same but the pattern different. I'm not thrilled with it...but I don't hate it LOL. Back to the fleshtone page...I sketched out a face...it turned out to be a man (didn't see that coming as I don't think I've drawn a man for 30 years). I used PanPastels to shade the face...decided he was going to be a bald man as I wasn't sure about doing a man's hair and the white at the top of his head where the fleshtone ended look a bit like a shiny pate :). And before I knew it the blue paint was back in my hand and being smeared across the page (I guess I was also in a smearing mood). I decided I was done...but as my bald blue man kept looking back at me from the tabletop I suddenly grabbed some light blue and green, put a couple of dabs on my scrap paper, rolled my brayer into to paint, rolled most of it off again and then rolled the brayer over his face...a few times LOL, all the while my friend was saying "what are you doing?" and "are you sure?". And then I kind of liked it...although my daughter asked me to turn the page when I put it up on the mantel last night (I always do that to look to see if a page is really finished)...she thought he was creepy LOL. I guess I had it in my head that I would get progressively better at drawing faces while participaing in this challenge...I've decided that is not the case LOL and it's just about trying different things and having fun. So now I'm a day ahead of myself in the 29 faces challenge...only 20 more to go!

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Face #7

I tried something a little different with this face. I started off with a paper that I had cleaned my brayer on while doing Gelli prints. It had a little pink, green and blue on it. Then I sprayed some Dylusions ink sprays on it using some chipboard flourishes as masks. I then lightly sketched in the face...painted with acrylics and filled in the flourishes with magenta before outlining in a black paint pen. Something a bit different for me..but I like it...and I felt happy that another face is finished. I can hardly believe I'm keeping up daily with this challenge LOL.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Gelli Plate Print meets 29 Faces

Last night I was feeling a little antsy about doing Face #6 for the 29 Faces challenge. Faces 1-5 were easy because they were already done during the last few weeks before I had even heard of 29 Faces. So there I was waiting for inspiration to hit...for the creative juices to flow...and then I fell asleep LOL. When I woke up almost an hour later, I felt even more under pressure (self-induced of course LOL). I started looking through the Gelli Plate prints that I had made over the last couple of weeks. One of my favourites was a single layer print in black and gold. I had thought I might use it for a scrapbook layout, but as I looked at it I could see what looked to me like the outline of a face...long dark hair...jawline...neck...eyes (ok...only one eye...). So, with a thin brush and some paint I drew and filled in the details of what I was seeing. I kept it simple, allowing the shading and colouring of the original print to remain the same. I added a little to define neck shadows, but that was it. I have included the original print below...can you see what I saw when I started this face?

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

29 Faces Art Challenge

I've decided to participate in the 29 Faces Art Challenge (http://29faces.blogspot.com.au/p/contact.html) in order to challenge myself to work on faces. Since it hasn't been that long since I started trying faces, I'm going submit my faces to date in one post and then go from there with new pieces. There are so many things I'd like to try...different styles, mediums, backgrounds...so hopefully I will be able to try a lot of these before the month is finished. And of course, there are so many talented artists out there that have inspired me to try new things. "> These are shown in order from most recent to the first try. Like a lot of people I have the most trouble with the eyes...but with practice I hope to get better. This challenge will definitely help.