Painting My Girls And Going Bold !!

For those of you who have been following my blog for awhile you may already know how much I do not like painting faces.  I love to sketch faces but when it comes to painting them I get too anxious and I end up with a stiff neck from stressing out trying to be perfect!  Last week I saw a link someone posted on Facebook for an art video by artist Karrie Evenson.  I was not familiar with her or her work so I decided to check her out.  And boy am I glad I did!  Her work is amazing!  She has many videos up on youtube on acrylic painting.  She is all about being free and being bold in life and in your art.  One of the videos I watched was from her tv show "karrie on canvas".  She was painting a woman with wild hair.  

Watching her paint and not get all caught up in the perfection of it inspired me to give it a try and paint one of my girl sketches.  I am still on a black, white and red kick so I thought I would continue with that palette.  I went big and bold choosing a 16x20 canvas no less!  I added molding paste for texture.  The first image is how she started out.  I was so inspired that I took a small bottle of black craft paint and drizzled her hair on the canvas right out of the bottle.  Then I scratched into it.  I was shocked at how much I enjoyed it.  I decided to not get crazy with her face.  I drew on the face with my Stabilo pencil and smudged with a brush for the details.  She has no nose cause lets face it, they are really hard for me to paint!  lol  And besides, I kinda like her face this way.  

Here is the finished piece.  I just love her!!  Adding all the details was just super fun.  I used some new foam stamps for the words.  This piece has lots of texture.  I am so happy to have discovered Karrie and I hope you will visit her website.  I think  you will love her too!!  If you want to loosen up and be inspired be sure to check her out!  

I have even started a new large canvas with another girl, this time an angel.  I will share her soon!  She is almost finished!  

Sharing this piece over at Paint Party Friday.  

xo

My Girls Are Back

I startled myself when I reached for my sketchbook today.  It has been a long time.  Yes I have been doing some digital sketching, and mostly painting lately but old school pencil to paper sketching has not happened.  

I prepped a 16x20 canvas with molding paste today which prompted me to quickly sketch out this girl.  I plan to try and paint her on that canvas very loosely and with bright colors.  We will see how that goes!  Painting portraits even whimsical ones stress me out.  Silly I know.  lol

The words "she lives for love"  came to me as I finished this sketch.  And then the little heart on her face just seemed to fit.  I am loving her hair! It was my favorite part to draw in.  

I am sharing this lovely over at Sunday Sketches.  Be sure and stop by to see some great work!

I have a couple of new paintings to share. Been on a black and white kick lately.  I will share them this week!  xo

Digital Sketching On My iPhone

"she was holding hearts"

I am slowly falling in love with digital art.  This new sketch was done on my iphone using the ASKetch app.  Its my first sketching app and I really like it!  ASKetch simulates charcoal sketching.  It was difficult to get the hang of it but for the small space on an iphone screen I think I did well.  

I haven't done much sketching lately with pencil and paper.  This was really fun without the mess.  I like that this girl doesn't have facial features.  And somehow hearts always show up in my work.  I miss creating these girls.  

In my last post I talked about wanting to get an iPad for the digital art apps (and more room than my iPhone lol)  There seems to be so much you can do but part of me doesn't want another device to become addicted to. 

Do you create art on an iPad??

Linking up with Sunday Sketches :)

Missing My Girls And Hearts . . .

I only have a few more days left on these antibiotics and I will be very glad to be done.  I am not tolerating this one well.  My poor digestive system is in a tailspin.  I have even lost my appetite which is so unlike me!  Not much sleep last night so I am a bit cranky today.  I did however grab a pencil and notebook to try and sketch.  I miss these girls.  My favorite part of this one is her hair with the hearts weaved through it.  

Hope you are enjoying your weekend.  I apologize for not responding to all the wonderful comments lately.  I read each one and appreciate them oh so much.  I am just not myself as I have said before.  I haven't wanted to blog but I force myself to because it feels better when I do it. 

Sharing at Sunday Sketches.

xo

She Was Ready . . .

"She was ready to share her love . . ."

5x7 graphite sketch

Another week has zoomed on by. Hope yours was a good one. We are enjoying lovely weather here in southern NY but I am distracted. And sketching sometimes helps.

I have a dermatologist appointment in the morning. I thought I got all of my doctor stuff out of the way over the past 2 months with my oncologist checkup, breast surgeon, and annual mammo which all turned out fine thankfully. However about a week ago a benign cyst I have had on my upper arm for 15 years decided it was time to get angry and cause a ruckus. It is painful, and inflamed. It grew back after having been removed all those years ago. And I am a nervous wreck over it. Mostly because I do not want to have surgery to remove it. UGH!!

So I tried to distract myself with this whimsical sketch that I have had running around in my head for a few days now. I love hearts and I could see this little girl hanging them on a clothesline. I was going to add color but I think I will get her on a canvas with some collage and paint.

I am sharing this girl over at Sunday Sketches. Wishing you a delightful day! I on the other hand will do my best to not continue to stress out over tomorrow! (fat chance! lol)

xo

A New Sketch And A Blog Update

"flying on wings of butterflies"

5x8 sketch done in graphite and pen

I forgot that I sketched out this girl! I had so much fun with her hair. She is similar to my girl with the hearts I shared a couple of weeks ago. I am planning on getting her to a canvas soon. I am enjoying using black pen over the graphite to make the sketch pop a bit. Those words popped into my head as I finished her up. So weird how that happens but I always welcome it!

Not sure yet of the color palette for this painting. I always get stuck at that point in the creative process which is probably why she isn't painted yet! Any suggestions? I had thought about a light blue background and her dress either yellow or white. Hmmm . . .

I wanted to take a moment and discuss blog comments. I always enjoy each and every comment I receive on my posts. And I want to reply to all of them however some of you have a "no reply" as your address so I cannot send a response. I have felt bad about that. But thanks to my friend Silke over at Metamorphosis I have now embedded my comments into my post which enables me to reply to each comment individually! So now you will find my response right below your comment. Very cool thing! :)

I am sharing this sketch over at Sunday Sketches. I hear it is the 2 year anniversary for this lovely sharing party hosted by Sophia! Happy Anniversary!!

Hold On To Love . . . New She Art!

"hold on to love"

mixed media on 8x10 gallery wrapped canvas

I shared the sketch that inspired this painting in this post. I was anxious to get her on canvas but not sure how I wanted to do it. I was inspired by techniques learned in Christy Tomlinson's She Art classes which I am still enjoying .

I am new to this background color. Its 'patina' by folk art. It is bolder than what I typically use but I do like it. I used another folk art paint "fire engine red" which I like against the blue/green of the patina.

Usually I don't take pics while I am working. This time I did so I wanted to share her beginnings! The heart you see peaking through on the left is a photo of mine that ended up getting covered by the end of the process. I just didn't like where it ended up after my girl was on the background.

I did a bit of cheating here. I decided to make a paper copy of my sketch and glue it on the canvas rather than trace with graphite paper. It was a good outline for me and then I painted over it. I had so much fun painting her hair!

I am pretty pleased with how she turned out and had so much fun adding all the little details, like the heart necklace, bracelets and the hearts on her dress. I am finding that I enjoy using my own script to add words on my art. So that was the finishing touch on this piece.

I am sharing her at Paint Party Friday this week.

I miss creating these girls! Of all the girls I have put on canvas I can easily say this one is my favorite!

Hold On To Love . . . Back to Some Whimsy :)

Aside from my digital collage addiction ( click HERE) I enjoy sketching my whimsical girls. I think I will always love to draw. No matter where my art journey takes me I know that graphite pencil and paper will never be far from my hands. And as long as I can incorporate hearts, well, that feeds my soul.

I am thinking of putting this girl on canvas with collage, acrylics and stamping. Its has been awhile since I have done a piece like that. She may have inspired me to get back to some paint. I also thought about using watercolors but collage and texture is calling me.

I am sharing this girl over at Sunday Sketches today.

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend!

xo