Studio News And An Art Store Haul!

 I am excited to share some publishing news with you!  One of my favorite "heart art" pieces was recently published in the June issue of Somerset Studio Gallery on newsstands now!  I had the great honor of writing a mini article of my process for this painting.  

Very exciting to see my work in print!  This piece "you are loved"  was so much fun to create.  I hope you pick up a copy and if you try the tutorial please come back and share a link so we can see what beauty you have created!

In other news I recently took a much needed trip to Michael's for some new supplies.  Sometimes I just like to go the art store to peruse the aisles.  It is a good way for me to loose myself and turn off my brain, much like painting does.  

I picked up some light colors of folk art craft paint (sometimes its just fun to not have to think about mixing your own colors) and new stencils.  I went crazy for these new Tim Holtz stencils!  Love the grunge and of course love to use letters in my mixed media pieces.  I also grabbed a set of liquitex paint pens in black, white, and gray.  Paint pens are new to me so I am excited to try them out.  I love to write on my pieces with something permanent.  These should do the trick.  

Hope all is well in your world these days.  Tune in later this week to see what I conjure up on canvas with the new supplies!  

xo

Process of a Journal Page

I have recently started art journaling.  I am not too consistent with it however it does come in handy when I need what I call a "mind spill".  And yesterday morning was one of those moments.  I find I can let go of perfection more if I am using a page in a journal.  This rings especially true when it comes to painting faces.  

The process for this girl went something like this . . . 

- prep page with gesso

-add a layer of words stamps (oh how I love to stamp!)

-using a black stabilo pencil sketch out a face

-add water and using a palette knife drag with water through the pencil color

- go back in with more pencil to define areas of the face

-add white gesso to the eyes and highlights of the face.

-use a black faber castell gelato to darken the lines and add water for drips

- using a pitt pen scribble some words

-drag palette knife through leftover gesso and "stamp" it over the page

What are your favorite supplies to use for art journaling? Please do share!

xo

Wordless Wednesday . . . Sort Of

Quick Face Painting

As you can see I kinda abandoned the pink girl for this gal who showed up in my journal last night.  I am finding that one neocolor II crayon and some white gesso is a fun quick way to paint a face.  And of course I would guess that it could work for anything you want to draw.  I may try this technique with some other sketching of hearts, figures, or some whimsy.  

I drew the face out quickly using the crayon to fill in the darkest areas, then sprayed some water over the whole page which activates the them quite nicely.  while that was still a bit wet I went back in with the white gesso to blend the crayon.  This was a back and forth process between the adding crayon and then gesso till I got the contrast I liked.  As you can see I also added some scratches while  everything was wet to grunge it up a bit.  The color I used was prussian blue.  I have to say though that the gesso dries very quickly so next time I may sub in titanium white acrylic instead.  

Would love to hear what you like to use for quick face painting!

xo

Beginnings of Her . . .

I can't recall the last time I tried to paint a face.  It was something I enjoyed and then I seemed to just drop it.  Not sure why. Possibly out of frustration.  I become easily impatient with most things in life and my art is no exception.  

Late last night before bed I grabbed a neocolor 2 and quickly sketched out this girl.  I added water with a q-tip and smudged the water around, went back in with a little more crayon.  My plan is to go back in with some white gesso and see what happens.  I kinda like her expression already.  I love that she was not planned, she is just what came out of my hand as I sketched.  

If I can shut down the critiquing gremlins I may get her done.  Something simple, something small, and hopefully something inspiring . . . 

xo

Love Art

"love should be"

Here is hoping you all had a lovely Valentine's Day.  I created this heart art on that day I suppose feeling inspired by all things Valentine.  Then again I never need a reason to create hearts, they often are the subject of my art!  

This piece was created digitally on my iPad in Procreate.  Upon discovering some brushes I somehow had missed in Procreate I had fun using them to paint this heart.  I also used an ink pen to scribble the words across the canvas.  

The original piece was completed in black and white.  Of course I had to put it through a few filter apps and was happy with this red toned heart as the final image.  Pixlromatic was used for the filters.  

Do you use Procreate?  If not its a great app for drawing, painting, and even layering images.  Lots of fun to be had in this app!  Would love to hear if you have tried it!

xoxo

Happy New Year!

"Untitled"
shot with iPhone 4, processed in snapseed

I think I should make a resolution to blog more!  Then again I typically despise new year's resolutions.  Too much pressure.  The beginning of yet another year always evokes feelings of newness, a way to reinvent ourselves or our work, and a way to move forward. 

Every New Year's Eve I feel pressure for that one night to be perfect.  To move gracefully into another year without a hitch, in the perfect mood, and feeling complete bliss.  What if all that doesn't happen?  What then?  So I decided this year to remember that each moment of everyday is a way to begin again.  Not just big holiday's, birthday's, and the like but every moment we are given.  I have struggled with that for most of my life.  I can only promise myself that I will try.  

As for my artwork, I have been excitedly trying out new techniques in both my digital art and mixed media!  Learning in more online classes than I like to admit!  2014 closed with an amazing opportunity to digitally design the book cover art for an upcoming publication which I cannot share just yet!  

As you may have noticed I have added pages in the toolbar at the top of my blog.  I have toyed with the idea of a website but for the meantime I will be adding details to each of those pages so I can share more with you guys!  Let me know how you like the new header image as well!  

I am loving Instagram as an easy quick way to share my art and works in progress as well as snippets into my personal life.   Look me up under @cathybueti to follow me!

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