Self-Portrait

Okay, this is the picture I am going to try to recreate on video on Friday (Sept 16th). It doesn't have much in the way of shading but it is supposed to be simple. Believe me this is a basic portrait and can be done by beginners. The details may take a little time to get down but it is like they say, "practice, practice, practice."

If you have any interest at all, get yourself some kind of pencil that you are comfortable with like a #2 pencil that you would use in school and a piece of paper. White is always good to start with. Colored papers are fun to use every once in a while too. Like I've said before I use the Mead Academie sketchbook 8.5" x 11". So, get yourself these simple tools and follow along with the video and give it a try. Also, have fun!



My girl

 

I like to draw faces, so I drew this picture. I like making my figures with curly hair, probably because I have curly hair.

I love mountains also, and of course, clouds.

This gal has a big head. The eyes tend to be a little too high on her face. I will be showing you in a video just how to draw a face. It will be my first attempt to make a video so I hope it works out well. I hope you will check back to view it too. I plan on posting my video's on Friday's starting on the 16th.

Just so everyone is clear my artwork is copyrighted. I sign every piece of art that I make. You may not copy or use my work without proper permission. 

My Heart

I need to say a little bit about this page. I have been going through a rough time for the last four months. There has been a lot of change in our family and it has been hard. Why is change always so hard, even when it is good for you? I was feeling a little down so I have gotten used to journaling my feelings....

I colored this page then added my thoughts and feelings about my heart. This is what it says:

My heart...

A person's heart is a precious thing...

It is a secret place, sometimes strong, sometimes weak,

but always precious.

No one but the owner knows what is deep inside-

even when it is given away.

A heart knows sorrow and pain,

it also knows joy.

This is my heart, no one knows it but me...

I know joy and I know sorrow, and I know love.

Love comes in many different forms, it is child like-

happy, carefree, unconditional; It is tough

and sometimes rejected, but also deep and everlasting, mature, grown-up.

My heart has many scars, and sore spots, but someday

they will be gone and my heart will be whole,

it will be stronger, it will truly understand what real love is.

God's love is charity.

Love is an action and a feeling.

I am truly blessed to know God and to know His love.

I am truly blessed!

September 2011

Jumping for Joy!

 

I love this drawing! It is full of action and joy! What do you think? Am I right? It makes me smile.

Here is an older boy or young man, in his robe, jumping rope. I love the angle of his head/face, it was a totally different way of drawing a figure. He even has slippers on!

There isn't much in the way of shading but the drawing has dimension because of his robe flying out at the bottom. The hair gives the picture movement, along with the ties for his robe, just bouncing up and down.

This was a fun drawing to do, and I hope you like it. I used a mechanical pencil on white paper. I used my sketchbook from Mead Academie.

My Cinderella

I did another few drawings this past month and will be posting them. This is one of the drawings. It is a drawing of Cinderella by the fire. I used a mechanical pencil and white paper. I have a Mead Academie SketchBook that I sketch in. It is Heavyweight Paper, that won't fade or yellow, acid-free, lignin-free. It is ideal for sketches in pencil, pen, marker, pastel, & Charcoal. It is perfect for my drawings. I like this 8.5"x11" size. I also like drawing on bigger pads of paper which will probably come later.

I plan to post some lessons on my blog about how to draw. I also plan to do some video's so you can see how to actually do the drawings. I have a little more planning to do but will hope to have this going by the end of the month.

If you happen to have any requests let me know. I love to teach and I will try to help anyone that has a request.  

Let me know what you think of my drawing. Thanks for visiting.

My Self-Portrait Digital Scrapbook page

Hi there! I know it has been awhile, but I have been busy, honest...

This is my newest scrapbook page for the Art Journal Caravan 2011 with Tangie Baxter.

It is my self-portrait for the project. Tangie is going to collect pages from all the people in the 2011 Art Journal Caravan that participate and make them into a book. Now that is exciting, don't you think? I used many digital elements here and I will list them so everybody gets the credit they deserve.

CottageArts: background paper

Tangie Baxter: paper doll elements, butterflies, elephant, flowers, leaf set, "enjoy the journey"

Flergs (Scrapbookgraphics): string

Loriem-(Scrapbookgraphics): bird 

Shabby Miss Jenn designs (Scrapbookgraphics): paint tube

I had a lot of fun putting this page together and again, I had to do some fancy work in Photoshop CS4. I made the shadows for the paper doll and the paint tube in this program. I had to copy the items and color them a shadowy color then warp them. It really is quite easy once you've done it once or twice.

I posted this page on Scrapbookgraphics in the Art Journal Caravan gallery which you can not get to unless you are a member. So, I will post here some of the comments I already received on this page:

sbpoet said: "musical arms!"

tarthur said: A really FUN layout!  Love your text treatament, and the shadow is great! (i agree, birds are nice, too)"

sparklyduck75 said:  "You used the flip-top head!  And put your face on it!  I love it!!!  :D"

Tangie Baxter said: "oh love your "you art doll" and the way you did the rotating jouranling text! (I loved the addition of the tiny little flying elephant too ;)) Wonderful, so glad you participated!"

and

Cynthia said: "What a cool self-portrait!! Love the way you journaled and the elephant on top is the perfect, quirky touch!"

I hope you all enjoy this post! Thanks for looking. I need to ask a favor of anyone who reads my blog, please refer my blog to others that you think would enjoy reading or looking at it. I need to "get my name out there, in the world," and maybe, just maybe, someone might need my artist skills and offer me MONEY! Yeah, with your help, it might work! I would greatly appreciate any and all efforts on my behalf....THANKS

Being Happy

You know that I love clouds.

 Now aren't these beautiful?

 I took this picture while my son was driving us to the lovely town of Buffalo, Minnesota. These are big fluffy, white, clouds. I just love them. They remind me of soft cotton balls, all soft and "warm."

 I don't know why I associate fluffy and soft with warm but I do. I also associate these characteristics with a warm, loving feeling. I love fluffy, soft animals too. Bunnies, kittens, puppies, and teddy bears.

 I had a teddy bear when I was young so that is probably why I connect these things.

Comforting

love

warm

happy

I think of quilts too when I think of comforting.

 I make quilts.

 I love to piece together the top of the quilt. When I am done quilting all the layers together I like to cover up in it and "feel" the quilted fabric.

 It is very pleasing to touch.

 Does that mean that I am a tactile learner? (Learn by touch?) I am also very visual (seeing). I don't learn as well by lecture (hearing).

I hope this doesn't sound too weird.

 I am sharing these things as part of my journey into discovering what makes me happy for my Life's Lesson project.

It is very interesting to do this project and I am only on the second topic. It is a self-discovery journey like the Art Journal Caravan project I am doing with Tangie Baxter on Scrapbookgraphics.

 I am posting my scrapbook pages every so often here on my blog.

My ART Journal Caravan topics are verbs.

 It has also been an interesting journey.

My Life's Lessons topics are "Be (insert word)" I guess these can be verbs too. I am enjoying the journey.

Art Journal Caravan - Live

"There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle."  Albert Einstein. 

This is what it says on the bottom of my page here. This is one of my digital scrapbook pages from the Art Journal Caravan 2011.

I took a picture and opened it up in my photoshop CS4 program, then I altered it using some of the tools in that program. I changed up the colors, added some elements from Tangie Baxter and the AJC 2011 project folder.

The theme for this page is LIVE. I have it laid out on the page as if it says, "Live!!! a journey of discovery."

 It is my way of saying that we should look at each moment of our lives as a way to be thankful and grateful for what we have, for what we can do, for what we can see, feel, hear, touch, smell, and for what opportunities await us, etc. I could go on and on.

 Live in the moment is good too. Don't worry about things that have not come to pass and don't worry about things that are in the past. Live in the moment. Relax. Life is to short to live any other way.

 I'm not saying NOT to set goals and make plans, I'm saying to pay attention to what is going on around you and within you right now, in whatever thing you are doing. When you are driving, then focus on driving; when you are with your kids, then focus on your kids; etc. Too much time is spent on stressing about tomorrow or what we are going to do in four hours from now.

Speaking of tomorrow....I just signed up for: The SKETCHBOOK PROJECT 2012.

it will be awesome!

I will be making a sketchbook full of my artwork and it will be physically going on tour across the country and digitally throughout the digital highway! It will be totally awesome, I am so excited about this. I got this idea from Tam who just signed up to follow my blog. Thanks Tam!

Clouds

Okay, here are some......clouds.

 Do you think they look like clouds? I made the picture this brownish color. I drew it in pencil on white paper. That is the fun part of PhotoshopCS4-you can do all kinds of effects to your pictures.

I also started taking some digital pictures of clouds. It has been stormy around here lately in Minnesota. The humidity has been high all summer, but that is nothing new. What's new is the heat and humidity all over the country! Wow!

So, I am going to look forward to drawing more pictures of clouds.
 I love clouds!
 I always notice clouds when I go outside. I also notice the colors of the clouds especially at sunset.
 Have you ever noticed all the colors in the sky at sunset? It is so colorful and beautiful sometimes, well, just always!

Again, thanks for visiting!