Playing With Quirky Faces . . .

I have been so enjoying my digital art that sometimes I forget where the paint is!  The past couple of days I have brought out the canvas boards, a surface I loved to paint on, the paints, and some watercolor crayons.  

Its been awhile since I have created faces and backgrounds this way.  I even got out the stamps!  On this piece I collaged pieces of one of my photographs on the left and top right.  Not sure if you can see it but the word scratched into her shirt says "Trust".  Something I continue to try and do daily . . . 

xo

Poppies And Paint Party Friday!

"Poppies"

mixed media on 11x14 wrapped canvas

available on etsy

Its Friday again my friends and I can hardly believe another week got by me! I haven't done too much creating this week but I was able to finish a canvas that had been staring at me for a couple of months. This piece actually came out of a panic attack believe it or not. lol So glad I can laugh about it now. I had the background done which is a layer of collage paper and I covered it with raw umber, then some titanium white on top with some sap green along the bottom. All I was sure of was that I wanted to do an abstract landscape.

Typically I shy away from bold colors but I thought about doing red flowers against the green. Last Sunday I started to feel anxious which is happening more often since losing bosco. So I ran and grabbed the canvas and some alizarin crimson, white, and more green. I just started slapping it around not minding that it was imperfect. I wasn't even going for poppies, I didn't know what I was doing until I stopped.

I really like the pop of the crimson against the white with that raw umber peeking through and then of course against the green its very bold. I don't often take this many different shots of a painting but I wanted to try and share the texture with you. I am loving the texture from the layer of paper and the paint.

So this is what I am sharing over at Paint Party Friday this week! And in case you missed yesterday's post, my blog is looking different because of a blogger template mishap! lol I am not sure yet what I will do with it but I am satisfied for now :)

xo

Paint Party Friday

I know I say this every week but really . . . its Friday again?! lol This week I continued with my she art class and also started a new abstract collage piece using my photography. The above canvas was a painting gone bad that I decided to use for a new piece. It had already been covered with black gesso and has soft gel medium which now is giving some texture to the canvas. The other night I just started throwing on some papers I had laying around, one of them is a tree photo of mine. I kept going till I liked the layout and yesterday I glued them all down with mod podge. ( I am in love with this stuff! lol)

I am a little antsy about having put the collage down on a black background but figure that I will probably cover it all up with paint anyway! Not sure yet of the color palette but I have it narrowed down to raw umber, titan buff, and some lightened payne's gray. Or black, white and a splash of red. What do you guys think?

Here is a photo collage painting I shared earlier in the week that inspired me to do a similar piece!

If you would like to see the progress of this painting click HERE!

So that is what I am up to lately! Can't wait to stop by and see what you are all sharing this week! And if you want to join us click HERE!

xo

New Photo Collage Painting . . .

"Seek Truth"

mixed media on 12x12 gallery wrapped canvas

available on etsy

I was pretty excited to share this painting and had to post it today! It felt really good getting back to combining my photography with mixed media. I used my tree photo that I shared for texture tuesday last week as well as its inverted image. Thought you would like to see how this came alive so here are a couple of photos showing its first stages. . .

This is how I laid down the collage. I really didn't know where it would go at this point but it took me a few minutes to find placement I was happy with. I printed out the photos on regular printer paper in black and white. And I used mod podge to glue all of them down. I am loving mod podge for collage!

This next photo is not great but I am still trying to figure out how to take good shots of my artwork! Typically I scan them but the size of this canvas prevented me from doing so. At this point I have added washes of burnt sienna and quinacridone nickel azo gold fluid acrylics. I also added some stamping as an attempt to incorporate my images into the background.

This was at the point I was scared to ruin the painting. The ugly stage almost stalled me out. But next I added payne's gray in different areas as you can see from the completed piece. I really love that color with the orange and yellow tones of the other colors. I also added more stamping with my favorite dogwood tree stamp and stenciled the butterflies on with the payne's gray. Lastly I used my caran d'ache crayons for shading. I like to use them dry and just scrub them out with a dry brush. The trees I extended down the canvas using a black pitt pen.

I feel very connected to this piece. The colors look dark yet dreamy and when I incorporate my photography it feels like there is more of me in there.

Hope you guys like it too!

xo

Find Hope - New Painting! Happy PPF!

"find hope in nature"

mixed media on 6x8 inch canvas board

available on etsy

Is it Friday already?! For this weeks Paint Party Friday I wanted to share this nature inspired piece I did the other day. It happened quite randomly. The only plan I had going in was the stamps I wanted to use. I love the texture that collage provides especially after layers of paint.

I used colors I don't typically lean toward . . . titan buff, raw sienna, and light green but I like the harmony they create with this piece. The dogwood stamp is new and I love it! It is the second painting I have used it in and I am sure not the last! lol I also like using my caran d'ache crayons for shading around the papers and the edges of the canvas board. The words always come to me during the painting process. . . "find hope in nature".

I hope you are able to spend some time with nature this weekend!

Be sure to stop by to see what wonderful work is being shared for this weeks Paint Party Friday!!

Just Click HERE!

xo

Paint Party Friday . . . Strawberry Shortcake

Good morning and Happy Paint Party Friday!! Its only my second week posting but I am having fun already! Thanks so much to all those who left a comment on last weeks PPF post. I was welcomed with open arms.

This painting was inspired by a friend's daughter who loves Strawberry Shortcake. Do you remember her? I sure do. I was a big fan back in the day. ;) I wanted to create my version of this classic character. I sketched her out and colored her in with my caran d'ache crayons and then got to work on the background. I had a lot of fun with this. I collaged some papers onto the canvas board and applied layers of pink and green paint along with white gesso. I used a paper towel to wipe away after I applied the paint. I typically don't do that but I have to say I loved the results. Between the papers and paint layers it has lots of great texture. She looks better in person . . . was fighting with my scanner to get a good image. I think I lost that battle! lol

To see all the other lovely creations for this week pop on over to the blog!

Just click HERE!

Wishing you all a great weekend!

xo

Trying To Paint My Way Out Of A Bad Week . . .

mixed media on 9x12 watercolor paper

So it has been a rough week for me. An emotional rollercoaster of sorts. It began on Saturday with my half sister's high school graduation which I cried through over my dad not living to see the day, and then Monday night my mom called with some bad news about a cousin of mine that hit way too close to home for me. Then the tears started again. Today I feel like I am finally starting to pull myself up out of the muck of it all.

Late last night I went into the studio grabbed some paint and a piece of watercolor paper and started smearing paint around with a paper towel no less. Then I added some stamping. Then I added white paint with a brayer. I grabbed my distress ink and started smearing that around the edges. And at the end I used my crayons for some shading. The words that popped up for me I quickly wrote on the paper. Kinda appropriate for the week I had. Somehow your soul just knows what to bring out of you.

It felt good to create something even if it was messy. I will be trying to link up to Paint Party Friday for the first time this week. Trying to stay positive and thats a pretty nice place to be from what I have seen! :)

Tomorrow night Lou and I are going to see Def Leppard in concert. Our 4th time! Their special guest is Heart. It is sure to be an amazing show. I am looking forward to it. It will be a great way to end a stressful week!

Wishing you all a lovely holiday weeked!

xo