Colored Pencil Drawing Class

My colored pencil drawing class is so much fun that I also joined for March.  I'm learning a lot about colored pencil, but I'm also enjoying the creative atmosphere and getting to know the wonderful men and women in my class.

My drawing is coming along nicely.  All the tiny swirls of layering are beginning to take shape and the face is coming to life.

Week 3 I began mottling the face (adding shadows and highlights)  This was an exciting phase after layering the basic skin tones.

Last week was even more exciting as I began making the darks darker and making the highlights brighter by adding white.  I also used a blending pencil (a pencil of wax with no pigment) to blend the colors and soften the edges.

In yesterday's class, I made the darks even darker and added lines to her face.  I added more detail to her lips and eyes and adjusted some of the colors on her forehead.  I also began adding the dark areas around her face and her headband.  I was happy to take my attention away from her face and concentrate on her headband.  

You know me and color, so I was thrilled to get away from the skin tones and pull out Canary Yellow and Poppy Red for her headband.  Next week, I'll begin working on the leaves of her headdress.

Drawing has been a quiet, contemplative experience.  I only work on this drawing during class, but I've found myself drawing in my sketchbook more and more.  It really helps to step away from your norm as a creative soul.  It's always good to see things from another perspective and engage your psyche in a different way.

Whatever your choice of medium, I hope you'll experiment with something new.  Remember to take time for yourself and "Celebrate, LOVE, and Create!"

A Beautiful Life

Creating art is a beautiful life but contrary to popular belief, the creating begins long before the paints and canvases are pulled out.  Creating begins with the appreciation for all that surrounds us, and the warehouse of appreciation I have gathered over the years is where I get my inspiration for the art I create. 

I'm a maniac about not wasting paint, so when I finished my last journal spread I spread the left over paint on the next blank pages in my journal.  "Waste not, want not", Mom always said.

What I notice immediately is the makings of a face.  Do you see it?

The second thing I notice is all the white of the left side of the spread.  I must take care of that immediately!  I put small blobs of paint directly on to the page using the same colors I used yesterday and a lot of white.

I spread the paint in a random pattern with my wet brush, and decide that I'm in the mood to do some collage.  I haven't done any collage in a while!

 As the paint dries,  I go through my file of magazine pages and images and pull out a dozen or so images that "speak" to me as possibilities for this journal spread. Once again, I have no idea where I'm going with this.

Then I go to my baggies filled with words and smaller images and see if anything feels appropriate for this spread.

I settle on a dozen or so images and words that have a possibility of making the final cut to my journaling spread. 

I begin to play with the placement of some of the images on my spread.  I'm immediately drawn to an image of an angel. 

I like the angel image a lot, but she just feels too heavy on the page. 

I attempt to lighten the image with a 50/50 mixture of white acrylic and water, but I don't like the way it looks.  So instead, I coat the image with Mod Podge and place it upside down on the page and let it dry.

Of course, an impatient Angelia doesn't let it dry completely.  I begin rubbing the image with water until the back magazine layer begins to rub off.  I've rubbed down to the paper in some spots, but I like the way it looks - very grungy and aged.

As the angel transfer continues to dry, I begin to work on the face using thick strokes of the same paints that I've applied to the background, and of course, black acrylic was bound to show up for the party! 

 I glued they eye to the palm of the hand and all the words on the page with Mod Podge.  The left side seemed a little bland, so I added the stars and swirls. 

I'm always amazed at how these intuitive spreads just seem to come together on their own, and I'm always grateful for the messages and reminders that I get from them.  "Creating art is a beautiful life" speaks volumes to me, and is a true representation of how I feel when I create and share my creations with others.

I hope you'll practice  "Happy Creating!" from intuition and let your journal spreads emerge on their own.  Choose colors and images that speak to you and let the art flow from your beautiful life!