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

And Another Face Just Showed Up . . .

"the enlightenment of love" 

9x12 mixed media journal page

I have been working in a new Strathmore journal.  I went bigger this time graduating myself from a small 5x8 to a 9x12.  I wanted more room to be messy.  I smile to myself everytime I say that because a year ago I would have cringed at making a mess with paint.  

For this one I used just payne's gray and titanium white.  I only used my hand to smear it around and play with the paint.  The I stood back to see what showed up.  

I stood back and found a face.  Can you see it too??  I traced a circle around the face.  I saw 2 eyes and a splotch of white where a mouth would be.  And from there I pulled it out of the background till I was happy with it.  

As I was painting the face the words "the enlightenment of love" popped in my head so I wrote them in pen over in the right side of the finished piece.  

I have to say I am really enjoying this way of creating.  The other night I tried to draw a face and then paint it.  Oh my it was awful!!  And I mean it felt bad to create that way. At the moment I cannot plan out what a piece will look like.  I need to smear paint and see what shows up! 

Sharing today at Paint Party Friday.

xo

Letting Go Of Perfect . . .

"Letting Go Of Perfect" is the title of a technique article I wrote in the current issue of Somerset Studio Magazine (super exciting to be published again! )  And I felt it was also the right way to start off this post.  

For those of you who are long time followers of my blog you probably know about my perfectionist ways and longing to paint a perfect face.  Well, lately since the hurricane actually my art has shifted especially with the faces I am creating.  I was slowly becoming more messy with my backgrounds and recently have welcomed creating imperfect, messy faces like this latest journal page I am sharing today. I really love her.  I feel connected to her.  

I am never going to be an artist that can paint realism certainly not when it comes to portraits.  But what I did realize is that I want to create art that makes people feel.  I want to evoke emotion through my work.  And I don't think I need to paint a realistic face to do that.  This has opened up a whole new world for me and a new road to take with my painting. Not sure where it will take me but so far I am enjoying it.  

Sharing over at Paint Party Friday.  

Artist Seth Apter is hosting a charity auction over at his blog that will benefit those affected by Hurricane Sandy.  As a NY'er I am grateful that we made it through the storm unscathed unlike so many others who are homeless and suffering right now in this area.  You can find out more about the auction HERE.

xo 

Shooting Stars . . .

Shooting Stars

mixed media on 9x12 canvas board

While we were snowbound in a blizzard the past couple of days I did some painting. You may remember seeing the sketch of this girl that I shared in this blog post. I wasn't sure at the time if I wanted her gazing at the sun or moon. But the darker colors called to me and there you have it! In shading her face with my water soluble crayons I added a rose pink to the mix instead of only salmon and I like the tone it gives. I added some stamping along her top because I just love that stamp but didn't feel it would fit in the starry background.

I tried the molding paste again and originally was only going to add it to the moon but decided to use it everywhere except her face and hair. I wish I had the patience to wait for it to fully dry! For the stars I used a q-tip with some iridescent pearl and smeared it around.

For those of you in the northeast hope you are safe and the blizzard is over where you are!

Back to Some Face Painting . . .

Untitled

mixed media on 9x12 canvas board

I hope everyone had a great holiday! Ours was quiet with my husband and I spending the day home together. I made lasagna which is one of my favorites and ate way too many italian pastries from our local bakery! Right now we are watching the snow fall here in NY. There is a fire in the wood stove and the pug is sleeping in front of it. A nice place to be.

After so many abstracts I took some time the past couple of days to work on painting one of my recent sketches. You can see the original sketch HERE. Of course the painted face looks nothing like the sketch but here she is!

I had more fun with the background than the face. I used light molding paste for texture and used payne's gray with burnt sienna for the background. It was hard getting back to faces after loosening up with the abstract work!

I hope that wherever you are you are staying warm and enjoying the day!

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. . .

Love Is Falling . . . Sketch Painted!

Love Is Falling

8x10 mixed media on canvas

This is a painting of the sketch I posted Friday (see that post here). I got caught up in my color scheme again but in the end I am happy with it.

One problem I was having with this one is in going from the sketch to painting I feel like I was unable to get the hearts to pop out. The sketch is grayscale so it was easier to get them to show up on white paper with a black pitt pen! Here I was unsure if the pink outlined with the black pitt pen is enough to make them stand out. Or perhaps I am just obsessing again and haven't stepped back long enough!

Would love your input on this!

Hope you all like the painted version as well!

Lets Fly Away . . . New Painting

Lets Fly Away

8x10 mixed media on canvas board

She started out as a sketch I did over the weekend. I was excited to paint her. My background was a little blah at first but at the end I used my distress ink (which I love) and smudged some all around with a cotton pad. Then she felt complete. I changed the color of the baloons 3 times before I settled on the pink. I used black colored pencil on the balloons and dress to give some depth and outline. The only thing I was sure of was the color of her dress. And then somehow all the rest came together. This time I didn't struggle as much with her hair. I am pleased with how it came out. The original sketch had barettes on both sides but I am on the fence about adding them. What do you think?

I find that I sometimes struggle with colors. Funny though that I originally thought I would make then pink and then tried 2 other colors I didn't like. I guess I better just let go and listen to the muse!

Listen to the Angels . . . She's Painted!

Listen to the Angels . . .

8x10 mixed media on canvas

She was calling to me yesterday. I have to admit that I freehanded the sketch onto my background. So she looks a bit different than the sketch I posted the other day. I did use that as a guide. I had fun making the background. I put down the yellow first and then mixed some red and raw umber to wipe around the outside. I like how the yellow makes her look as though she has a glow behind her. That was something I didn't plan. I am finding that most of what I do with these paintings has no plan. And that is the way it is meant to be.

I picked folk art italian sage for her shirt but wanted to leave a little of the background showing through. Have you used that color? I so love it! I wasn't sure how the lashes would come out on the painting but I used the same technique as the sketch and I really like her eyes. As you can see I am a fan of large eyes.

I have always been drawn to angels. Maybe because I feel as though those I have lost are watching over me amongst them now. I like to think that now I have my own personal angels protecting me.

Are you still amazed at the far off land that your creations seem to come from? I know I am!

Welcoming The Unexpected . . .

I almost didn't post this one. I painted her yesterday and I have to say I was unsure through the whole process. It is so different than my last one. And that bothered me. I don't know why. Sometimes I try to hard to have an image in my mind of how I want it to turn out and it never does. Maybe its because she seems darker to me. But that should be ok. This is my first stab at long hair. I also started a heart necklace and am unsure of whether to keep it or not. No title yet. I am waiting for her to tell me!

I am sure I am thinking too much . . . that is what I often do. When I finally stepped away and went back to look at her from a distance I saw how good she came out. I like the colors even though they are a little dark. Have any of you felt this way where you were not sure where a painting was going and wondered about the results? Maybe this is what happens in the process to find my style. I wonder if she is a mirror of my emotions or just her own being . . .

Dreaming And Some Birthday Love!!

First I want to take a moment to wish my new friend Silke Powers a very Happy Birthday!! She is the beautiful spirit who was the first to welcome me to this great creative blogland! I had been a stalker of her blog for a few weeks before I finally let her know I was there! During that time I was admiring her art and enjoying all of her posts! She was the one who inspired me to try painting my own faces!

There is a birthday party going on today in blogland for Silke. Find out more about it at her fabulous blog Metamorphosis (click here) and send her some birthday love if you haven't already!

For today's post I wanted to share my latest face painting "Dreaming".

This is mixed media on 8x10 canvas board. I have to say I had a little trouble with this one. I really wasn't sure where she was going but I really like how she turned out! I was trying to go for an image that would look as though she were by a window looking toward the stars . . .

Silke, I hope all your dreams come true!!