The Week in Review

I've been most neglectful of you over this past week, but as holiday weekends are bound to do, my schedule became null and void in a flurry of fun, impromptu gatherings, much needed yard work, planting, workshops, well - you get the picture!

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

The weekend began on Saturday with a great cookout at my sister's house in the country (where we grew up).  It was immediate family and was much needed, long overdue time together spent catching up, having fun, and indulging in way too much yummy, down home cooking.  I forgot my camera, but the memories will linger forever.


As I predicted, the weather turned from miserable, rainy, 50 degree days to humid, 90 degree days virtually overnight.  I planted my peppers and tomato plants on Saturday, and on Sunday, I planted my Blue Lake green bean seeds.  I brought art supplies out to the deck to journal, but as it turned out, it was even too hot and humid for my Pitt pens to work!  I did manage to work on the cover a little bit before throwing in the towel.

I also started working on the inside cover.  I decided to do a schematic of both the back garden and deck box.  I still have a lot of work to do on both pages.

TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY


I spent most of these days working on the yard, grocery shopping, and spending some time with Mike.  I was also gathering supplies for my new art journaling class.

THURSDAY- MY FIRST ART JOURNALING CLASS!


This was the moment I've been working toward for such a long time.  I finally have a class and enthusiastic participants.  We had so much fun, and it's such a joyful reward to share what I know with others who are anxious to learn about creative journaling.

"Fun Journaling" Photo by Katherine Szerdy Harris

The first class was very basic - experimenting with water soluble pastels and incorporating magazine words and images.  This group of creatives embraced the entire process with remarkable ease.  I'm so happy to get the positive feedback and I'm looking forward to many more weeks with them.

My first Creative Art Journaling class

FRIDAY


Friday became another impromptu family day with my brother hanging out with me on the deck while we watched my sons Nick & Mike complete a brake job on Nick's car.  Of course, there were snacks involved and it was really good to spend the time with them.

At some point during this flurry of activity, I managed to complete another sugar skull journal spread in my moleskin journal.

Creating these little spreads has given me more ideas than I'll have time to complete on canvas - or maybe not!  I know I'm having a blast working with them, and the bright colors are scrumptious!

I completed both pages using only my Pitt pens.  I can't tell you how much I enjoy using these for small details.  They're worth every penny.  I haven't found the colored pens locally (I ordered these from Dick Blick), but I have found the black and sepia paint pens at Pat Catan's.

SATURDAY


Saturday was National Drawing Day, and I was happy to obliged by attending a colored pencil workshop with Jennifer Kosarko.  This workshop was about the technique of using watercolor pencils as a base for applying colored pencils.  This method of colored pencil drawing is "legal" and acceptable by the AWS.

Here I am working on our first project; a pineapple developed with a base of yellow and green watercolor pencils.

My completed drawing.  There are additional layers of colored pencil in the leaves using indigo blue, Tuscan red, and white.

Our project after lunch was a a little fish vignette.  Here, I'm applying the first layer of watercolor pencil (magenta).  A layer of violet and black watercolor pencil were applied, wetted to blend, and then dried before applying indigo blue.  The "black" in the fish is very rich and has lots of depth.

My completed drawing includes a wash of 2 shades of blue Neocolor II crayons for the water.  This workshop was a lot of fun!


As if my day hadn't been exciting enough, we had a cookout with close friends in the afternoon and had a great time well into the evening.  The 6 of us have a lot going on and it's sometimes a struggle for all of us to gather at the same time, but when we do, it's quality "family" time and as always, way too much food!

"We feasted like royalty"

SUNDAY


Yesterday was another fabulous day.  The humidity is gone for a couple days, and I got to spend time at the beach with a Twitter friend that I met face-to-face for the first time.  We both enjoy "shopping" for beach glass, and it was the perfect venue for getting to know each other better.  

"Melanie and I take a break from shopping for beach glass. Check out her groovy boots!"

It was a fun time with Melanie, and I hope to go shopping with her again sometime.  It was a delight to spend time chatting and getting to know her.


So, that's my week in review.  I hope you had an enjoyable holiday weekend, and I hope that as you "Celebrate, LOVE, and Create!", you embrace the love and celebration when "create" is taking a back seat.  I'm still playing "catch up", and will try to get the June journaling prompts up tomorrow.



PHOTO OF THE DAY

"Clematis"

I wasn't too busy to notice how beautifully my clematis bloomed this year!

Tuesday Tips and Techniques: Take A Workshop!

SAME MATERIALS - NEW TECHNIQUES


We all have our favorite "go to" art supplies, and no matter what your's is, there's someone using it in a way that you've probably never dreamed of before!  Taking a workshop whether online or in person, is an excellent opportunity to view your materials in a fresh, exciting way.

WORKSHOP WITH JOHN SMOLKO

"The Kiss" by John Smolko

I had such an opportunity this past Saturday when I attended a colored pencil workshop with John Smolko. (View more of John's work HERE).  The workshop was sponsored by my instructor, Jennifer Kosarco, and CPSA. The moment I viewed John's work, I knew it was a workshop that would enhance my creativity.  His work is full of color, vibrancy and movement, and I was eager to learn his technique.  

THE TECHNIQUE

The main objective of the workshop was to teach us rendering and blending with line, and color blocking in areas with line and scribbling.  We began by practicing the scribble and discussing color choices.

We continued by choosing a block letter and after drawing the letter, we began color blocking and shading the letter.  We filled in the background and were given additional information on color choices and color experimentation.  

We followed this exercise by working on portraits from photos that we brought with us.  I chose a photo from my photo file of National Geographic images.  I was captivated by this gentleman's beard, mustache, and the folds of his turban.

I would be hard pressed to describe the excitement I felt as I learned this new technique!  The very act of using line differently breathed a new life into my work, and I've been obsessed with this method of drawing since the workshop.  I've worked on this portrait every day, and I'm at a point where I'll set it aside and look at it again next week to see what I need to add.

Adding the layers of color has been a fascinating exercise in color juxtaposition and experimentation.  There are 14 colors in this drawing at this point, and some of the darker areas have up to 8 layers of color.

MAKING A TECHNIQUE YOUR OWN

The fun part about learning a new technique is "making it your own".  I'm already thinking of ways to incorporate this technique into not only my journals, but in my acrylic paintings.  How fun will it be to use this technique by squeezing craft acrylic straight out of the bottle?  I can't wait to give that a try.  In the meantime, I started using this technique on a new spread in my moleskin journal. (more on that tomorrow).

I hope you're having fun each day and finding new ways to enhance your creative muse, and I hope that if you     get an opportunity to take an art workshop, you'll give it a try.   Wherever your journey takes you, remember to "Celebrate, LOVE, and Create!"

PHOTO OF THE DAY

"Red Sky at Morning"

I took this photo early one morning about 2 weeks ago as the sun was coming up over the rooftops.  The saying "Red sky at morning, sailor take warning...", proved to be true as thunderstorms rolled in later that afternoon and evening.