Something About Nothing

I know I shared this face already but I thought it needed to be in this post about the faces in my sketchbook. She was the first face I attempted to draw in this sketchbook. This was an attempt to work on shadows and highlights. I like how the background developed. This face started with a tutorial for a manga drawing, and they quickly told me they wanted to be more. More fabulous. Once drawn I realized they reminded me of author and performing artist, Alok. It wasn't intentional, but perhaps a subliminal influence. I keep drawing from my head, but think I need to do more from life or photos to get things down so I can be good enough to draw "off the top of my head." The shadowing was off on her. He head looked off. I looked at some photos of people in shadow to attempt to get her right. After I drew her I realized she reminded me of actor Jane Seymour. Another attempt at drawing off the top of my head. The eyes always seem so dead. I have realized there needs to be some ...

I was thrilled to be asked by Artistcellar to participate in  a blog hop promoting  Cecilia Swatton's new line of  Kaleidoscope Stencils .   I LOVE STENCILS! And I know you all do too, so someone is going to win a set of their own.   More details on that below.   Mister loves stencils too. Well honestly he loves anything he can get his paws into! He is such a good model. I started out playing with the stencils in my sketchbook. I tried a little painting, a little doodling, all just to see what kind of project I wanted to use them in. OH!   I just noticed a funny little white seal with fangs and a party hat there on the bottom right of the doodle above! OH, or maybe it is a seagull with a bow tie and party hat?  What do you think? Anyway, I decided that one of the projects I wanted to make was a birthday card for my sister-in-law.  I took a piece of sketchbook paper which I had added color to with my...

As I was searching the internet for sketchbook ideas . . .one thing led to another which led to another which led to marbled paper.  I remembered reading about using inks on shaving cream to make marbled paper.  I didn't have instructions just a general sense of what I should do so instead of my usual hours spent researching before I do anything, I stepped out of my box and went for it. 1) A thick layer of cheap shaving cream on a plastic lid. 2) Drops of acrylic ink 3) Run the end of a paint brush through those drops to create a crazy pattern. I was too excited creating to photograph the first try so these photos are of the second run.  The shaving cream wasn't as pristine but it still made a nice print! The paper comes off the foam looking messed up. OH NO did I totally mess it up? Scrape off the shaving cream. . . . . . and there is a pretty cool image. The left is the first run and the right is the second run. The paper is from the inside co...

I bought and read Dreaming From the Journal Page by Melanie Testa back in May. I wrote a review on goodreads.com that you can read here. There are a number of exercises in the book which I didn't feel I had time to complete when I first read it so I set the book aside on my nightstand with the idea that I would make the time for the exercises soon.   Well, the time has come.  I'm trying to work on my Sketchbook Project  and thought I should do some exercises. My first project: color wheels Why color wheels?  They are such a basic project and always the first project you do in a beginner art class. I've made plenty of color wheels in the past but honestly I don't think you can ever do enough.  Each paint medium is different and more importantly the primary colors in each medium can come across differently. A color wheel gives you a feel for each individual medium you use. I started with a couple of paints I've been using on fabrics. Dal...

In the beginning there were blank pages and it was good. . . Then there were leaves. . . and a gelli plate. . . and stencils . . . and paint . . . and it was all very, very good! I decided to start my Sketchbook project off by monoprinting on all of the pages (plus a few more) using acrylic paint on a Gelli Plate.  You must try one if you haven't already.  Such a simple way of making monoprints!  I am hoping these prints will help me with the "blank page" fear I sometimes develop.  Just looking at the pages I'm afraid a new "I might ruin it" fear is developing.  The best thing will be to just dig in and go for it - after I admire the backgrounds for a few more days. I am creating a new page on my blog to collect all of my posts about my journey with The Sketchbook Project.  You will be able to see all the posts together here.

 I received a small, but special, envelope in the mail today. Inside were four little things. . .  A 5"x7" plain sketchbook, a booklet of rules and instructions, a bright orange sketchbook sleeping bag and . . .  a pencil made from reclaimed denim. I don't recall where I first heard about The Sketchbook Project - probably from someone in The Sketchbook Challenge - but I was drawn in from the get-go. (oh that was a bad, unintended pun!) The idea behind The Sketchbook Project is to bring together thousands of creative people around the world to form a traveling library of artists' books.  Once my book is full I send it to The Brooklyn Art Library where it will travel across the USA and then find a permanent house in the Library. I am all about trying new things and stretching myself and this seemed like it was right up my alley. I joined The Sketchbook Challenge from the very beginning but have been terrible about following through on every ch...