My First Digital Angel

I have been painting lots of girls lately.  Last night I created this angel girl on my iPad using the Paper53 app.  If you are into digital art then you must try this app!  you can pencil sketch, use pen, and watercolors to draw as well as paint.  I am still getting the hang of things but its fun trying something new.  

I started out with the pencil and sketched her out.  The I added colors with the watercolor brush.  The stars were done with the pen and of course there had to be scribbles.  I always love to draw eyes and this was fun to dress them up with some makeup.  lol

I think she will find her way to a canvas eventually but for now I am enjoying this digital creation . . . my first digital angel :)

Sharing her over at Sunday Sketches hosted by the lovely Alexandra from Blue Chair Diary!

Today Lou and I went to the movies and saw "Grown Ups 2".  It was great!!  So, so funny!!  If you are an Adam Sandler fan go see it!  I guarantee you will laugh!  

xo

Progression Of An Angel . . .

 

Is it really Friday already??  lol  I have been painting more girls this time an angel.  I didnt know she was an angel when I started out.  This girl was inspired by a sketch I did a long time ago.  I think I am going to keep looking through sketches that never made it to a canvas and paint them.  

When I began I quickly painted a grey background and then loosely sketched her out with graphite.  I am trying to not get caught up in the details.  

At this point I knew I wanted her to have copper hair.  I was a bit scared to just go with it but I tried to go bold!

When it came to the wings it was Lou who suggested the patina color.  I did NOT like it at first.  But something about the patina with the copper just worked.  I used a small bottle of golden fluid in bronze to drizzle detail onto the wings.  I also lightly wrote out the words that came to me "Angels Carry Hope On Their Wings" along the left side of the canvas.  

As you can see from the first image I added lots of scribble detail and used stamps for the words.  My favorite part is when it all seems to come together.  Even when you don't think it ever will.  

Sharing with Paint Party Friday!

I have a new girl in progress that I am excited to share soon!  So be sure to check back!  

xo

Finding An Angel . . .

In a recent post I shared a photo of a heart I found in the wood of our new deck that Lou is building. You can imagine my surprise when I saw this angel as well!

Since discovering art my observation skills have heightened. I don't look at anything the same anymore. Everything I see becomes a potential photographic image or an inspiration for a mixed media piece.

Its always cool to find images like these. But to find them as part of your home makes them extra special somehow. Love and angels are not as far away as we think . . .

Wordless Wednesday

Angel Sketch Painting. . . Finally!

"And Her Heart Opened Wide"

mixed media on 8x10 canvas board

Sold

I completed this sweet angel piece yesterday. I didn't have much time this week for painting so I was happy to get in my studio and do some creating! You my recognize this sketch from a previous post. She was the third angel sketch along with my angel bride and ballerina. This was the last one I had to incorporate into a painting.

I knew I wanted to use pink and grey in the background. Then somehow purple got tossed into the mix. Funny that I didn't like how it came out at first. I was frustrated. But after stepping away for a bit I must have come back to her with fresh eyes and she looked better to me. Have any of you felt that way?

I posted her on facebook last evening and I am happy to say she sold before making it to etsy! The man who I am sending her to also has my angel ballerina painting. This will be the third piece he will have of mine. He has two little girls who really like my work. And that makes my heart happy!

Happily Back To Black And White!

Angels Bring Love
mixed media on 6x8 flat canvas board

Hi my lovely friends! Thought you would enjoy seeing some new black and white work! I hadn't done one of these pieces in a long time so it felt good to get back to it! I was inspired by my angel photo. This time I added a new love stamp over the photo after I sanded and inked it up! I also bought my first box of crayola's since childhood and broke those out to use for shading! They worked well on the matte photo paper.

The words popped into my head as I was working on the background. I quickly wrote it down on whatever paper I could find because in the past I have had moments like that lost thinking I would remember the words later.

Now I have to get back to another one I am working on today with my farmhouse photo! The photo is altered, glued, and now ready for some landscape sketching! I will share that with you all soon!

Hope you are all enjoying some creative time today! xo

Angel Collage And Exciting News!!!

I put together this digital collage the other night. I used one of my lake photos and layered my angel photo over it. I really loved the surreal feel it has. I did try adding a texture layer but it was too much. I think the leaves and trees lend enough texture to the image. Funny I never thought I would say no to texture! lol I am really having fun playing with this new medium, so much so that I am neglecting a big blank canvas that has been begging for paint!

Now for my exciting news! I have been wanting to share this for a couple of weeks but wanted to wait till I was sure it was a go. And now it is! My art will be displayed in a gallery! It is the Gallery Off Broadway in Excelsior Springs, MO. I found out about it from my sweet friend Kelly over at Kelly Berkey Designs and with her encouragement have jumped aboard! The owner Kathleen Fenton is so lovely and encouraging to new artists such as myself. You can check out the facebook page for the gallery HERE!! I have sent some of my original paintings and was excited to find out that she also loved my altered photography! So I framed a few of my favorite textured photos and sent them along as well. My work arrived there on Friday and I am so excited that it will soon be on display!

It hard to believe that little over a year ago I was just beginning on this amazing journey with art and now I have an incredible opportunity to share my work in a new venue! I am so grateful to all of you for your encouragement and support along the way! I am having a blast!

Hubby and I are off to a local art museum on this beautiful Sunday. I am hoping to take some photos of the grounds and will be sure to post them! They may even have some texture! :)

Wishing you all an amazing day!! xo

Angel Ballerina

In staying with the theme of my angel bride I sketched out this angel ballerina! I wasn't sure how I would do drawing a ballerina but I do love her. She looks so happy and peaceful! Today I worked on a layered background. I stalled out though in the placement of some collage. But the good thing is what I don't like I can always cover up!

Hubby and I are back from a lovely dinner at our favorite italian place. The gnocchi I had are sitting in my tummy like lead! But it was so worth it. And then there was tiramisu too! Next up, some Seinfeld reruns . . . love that show! It makes us laugh. . . alot!

Thanks for the photo suggestions for the art exhibit! I will keep you posted as it gets closer!

Hope you are all enjoying the weekend my dear friends!!

Angel Bride and A Weekend Getaway

"Angel Bride"

mixed media on 8x10 canvas board

I wanted to share my latest painting with you before I head out for the weekend. I used my angel sketch and adhered her to the layers of collage, glaze, and stamping that embellish this canvas board. I used crayon for the flowers and like that it is the only color on her. I initially wasn't crazy about the pink I chose but pink to me symbolizes love so I thought it was appropriate! She will be making her way to my etsy shop soon!

This morning hubby and I are heading to Newport, RI for the weekend! It was a gift from him for Valentine's Day. Although I have been there numerous times I never tire of it! We will be staying at a beach cottage right and I don't even care how cold it will be! Just to be near the ocean calms me and makes me happy!

I won't be blogging much but you know that I will have my camera with me so there will be photos to share upon my return!! Have a lovely weekend!! xo

Angel in the Forest . . . Revisited

"Lift Me Up . . ."

mixed media on 8x10 canvas board

Thanks to all who commented on my landscape painting! I am now mulling around ideas in my head for where I want to take it next. I still have it up on the easel where I can see it and each time I pass by I stop and think. Hope to finish it soon and will post it when it is complete.

This painting I started yesterday and finished this morning. I don't think I was in the zone when I started it which made it a bit frustrating. I printed out some photos of butterflies to alter but when I had them on the canvas I hated how they looked! So out came the black gesso! I covered that all up and grabbed this photo which had been sitting on the table for over a week. It is of one of my glazed abstract paintings I had previously posted which I digitally altered in black and white.

Initially I didn't like how it came out but as always after stepping back it all came together for me. Hope you can see the angel being lifted up in the right corner of the photo!

Wishing you all a great day! Tonite I am heading to Radio City Music Hall with hubby to see Janet Jackson in concert!! So excited! She was on my list of icons I had hoped to see live someday! That someday is now!

Altered Angel . . . Using Photos of My Art

"Altered Angel"

mixed media on 6x8 inch canvas board

Its rainy here today so I have been in my studio sanding photos and painting. Some of you may remember seeing this photo in its original state. . . .as thepainting "Angel in the Shadows" Click Here to see the original painting. I had been thinking about using it for one of my altered black and white pieces. I digitally altered the image to black and white, cut it out, and began scratching it up with sandpaper. I used distress ink on the edges. Then I grabbed my water soluble black crayon to do some shading and outlining of the angel image.

I glued the photo to the gessoed board and cut up another piece of the image to add at the top. I used white gesso on a palette knife to scrape onto the background. I have a new white gel pen that I added the details with around the edges.

I have a photo of another one of my glazed paintings that is waiting in the wings to be cut up and altered! I think that will be next!

New Angel Sketch And Some Whining . . .

Thank you so much for your amazing comments on my beach cottage photo from my last post!! Oh how I wish I was there now! We have just had more snow dumped on us again here in NY and I am a bit sick of it. Speaking of sick . . . . it has been almost 2 weeks since I came down with this bug and I felt like I was getting better until yesterday when the headache and fever stuff began again! UGH! Whatever this bug is it is wanting to stick around awhile.

So for the past couple of weeks I have been unable to create and that has been frustrating. The only art I have done is some sketching. I tried to paint the other day and just couldn't do it. I miss it. Maybe it is because I am not feeling that great. It feels like I have lost it . . . like I won't be able to get back in the groove again.

On a positive note here is my latest angel sketch I did the other night. As you know I do love hearts and wanted to incorporate them into her world. The words along the side say "and her heart opened wide" I have been wanting to paint her and my other angel but for right now I have no drive to paint. Actually I have no drive to do much of anything and oh how I am tired of it! I would like my energy back . . .

And I do know that in the big scheme of things this bug I have is nothing really to complain about but sometimes you just have to vent.

Despite all that I am very thankful for all of you who brighten my days with your visits and comments! :)

More Angels . . . And A New Etsy Treasury!

I seem to be on an angel kick. I sketched this out the other night in graphite pencil. Just small 6x8 inch sketchbook. I am not sure why I gave her a bouquet as if she were a bride. It seemed to fit. I like that she doesn't have detail on her face. The words along the side popped into my head when she was done "and she said yes".

Strange though because angels don't get married! But then again I suppose they can do anything they want! Right? :)

Speaking of angels . . . my angel photo card is featured in a beautiful etsy treasury Cupid's Collection by Karla Ruth!

Angels indeed are everywhere!

Snow Angel . . . New Abstract

"Snow Angel"

acrylic glazes on 5x5 inch birch wood

prints available on etsy

This was hubby's idea. The other night he told me I should paint a snow angel for one of my glazed abstracts. Those are his favorite paintings of mine. Typically I have been going to the canvas and just letting images appear. But for this one I did a light sketch on the gessoed wood and used a glaze of payne's gray around the outside of the angel. I used paper towel to wipe away any gray that got on the angel image which ended up being the scratch marks you see on the wings and above the head. I added some charcoal pencil at the end to shade and outline the angel details.

Although I sketched the image on this one I do see two other images in the top left and top right which for me looks like more angels! Do you see them?

Angel in the Forest . . . A New Abstract

Angel in the Forest

acrylic glazes on 8x12 birch wood

Hope everyone is having a good weekend! Thanks for the nice comments on my last post! I am so happy you are all enjoying my wood abstracts! I had some time today to work on another one.

This time as you can see I used different colors! Although I stayed with the burnt sienna I added sap green and naples yellow. I saw these colors in my head last night. And as I was glazing and blending in the bottom right I saw images appear. In this one I see what looks like a man holding up an angel with tiny wings!

What do you see?

Angel In The Shadows . . . Do You See What I See?

"angel in the shadows"

acrylic glaze on 5x5" birch wood

prints available in my etsy shop

Saturday I asked my hubby for a piece of birch wood. He always has some laying around in the garage. I wanted to try painting on a wood surface for the first time. So he brought me a 5x5 inch piece of scrap he had.

I added a coat of gesso first and when it was dry just tried adding some paint. I made glazes of my two favorite colors of the moment payne's and burnt sienna. I was just practicing adding paint to this new surface to see what it would do. I immediately felt the difference in how the paint moved on the wood and when I tried blending the paint I ended up just smooshing it around. I noticed that it gathered in some areas and wiped away on others. I liked how it looked with the wood grain showing through the glaze. It was all random. I was in no way hoping for a piece of art to come out of this. At one point I became very frustrated that I couldn't move the paint the same way as on a canvas wondering if I even liked painting on a wood surface.

I walked away and left it be till later on that night. When I went to go check on it my hubby got to it first and told me he loved it. I thought he was crazy until I looked at what came through. We both saw the image of a woman to the right who looks as if she is leaning up against a wall. Below her looks like rocks and water. I was shocked at the image and the depth that this piece has all without me trying to do anything but smear some paint around. It almost looks ghostly to me. It looked completely different to me when it was dry. This has become one of my favorite pieces!

So tell me . . . what do you see?

Your Light . . . New Painting

Your Light . . .

9x12 mixed media on canvas board

available on etsy

I finally had the chance yesterday to paint her! You can see the original sketch HERE. I used my new caran d'ache crayons and love them! Much creamier than the starter set I had been using. I used some molding paste for the angel wings and added a shimmery titan buff color to them.

I had fun creating her and hope to start on my other angel this week! She is the one with the heart tears. I am seeing lots of pinks and white for her. . .

Your Light . . . More Sketching!

Although I have yet to get painting my other girl I did have time to do some sketching. I really like her. She has a different look to her eyes and face than the past few I have done. And I like that! I don't know how it happened but that is the fun part! Not sure which of my angels I will paint first!

Hope all of you had a great weekend! And many thanks as always for your lovely comments on the blue heart I shared in my last post!

Tears of Love . . . New Sketch

I drew her up the other nite. I knew I wanted to make her an angel and saw hearts involved somehow. I struggled with the hair. At first I wanted her to have an updo but it wasn't working out! I originally had a halo above her head and took that out as it seemed too much to me.

The heart shaped tears were an afterthought. The tears came first and then the words that I scribbled in the top left corner which read "tears of love fell from her eyes." I will most likely collage those onto the background.

I hope to paint her this weekend!

PS . . . I finally ordered the caran d'ache watersoluble crayons last night! So excited to get them! lol

Look Into My Eyes . . . Sketch Is Painted!

Look Into My Eyes . . .

8x10 mixed media on canvas board

Once again, thanks to all of you for your nice comments on my last post! I finally had a chance today to paint her! So here she is all dolled up (as my grandma would say) !

You all know how much I struggle with color palettes. Well, I have to say with this one I decided to go with lighter colors. And I really like the tone of the painting. I thought that pink with white would be too blah which is why I have been making myself crazy with picking darker colors, complimentary colors etc when this is truly what I love. So I should do it right?! :)

These words were written in the top left of my last sketch. I didn't want to forget them. And in the sketch I had a barette in her hair. What do you guys think? I am on the fence as to whether she needs it . . .

It is also my first time painting this type of eye. I have so much fun with the eyes. Especially when it comes to lashes, shadowing and that kind of stuff. To me its like makeup! lol

Well, I hope you all like her painted as much as you did sketched!