Autumn Art, Bookmark, Origami Cat, and Rough Sketch

---From Leah:

These are sort of late because Fall is almost over, but this Fall I decided to save some leaves and press them just for the fun of it. So me and two of my little sisters collected some and made a silly little project out of it. We agreed that they didn't turn out as well as we wanted, and we weren't going for anything elaborate anyways, but we had some fun making these simple little booklet things. I made a collage of the few pages they consist of. Just a little Autumn art.

---From Sarah:

I liked making my own bookmarks when I was younger. Nothing fancy usually, just a bit of a drawing with some bright words or something, and maybe a little glitter.

Now I often use one of a few orphaned cards from a scattered game to mark my place in whatever I'm reading, but I decided it would be fun to throw a little something together for a friend to whom I was sending a copy of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland.

I wanted kind of a "distressed" look (Most of the time, I really don't know what I'm doing, to be honest...), so I tore the thin cardstock and construction paper pieces instead of using the sissors. I used a pen to sketch a teapot on the inside of an old envelope and cut it out.

I tried out the simple lettering on a scrap paper before writing on the piece it belonged to...

And glued it all together with a school glue stick. Haha.

Attempted a more difficult origami pattern this week... A cat, from a pattern I found on Pinterest. It didn't work completely, but I think I got the basics?

And started on a drawing this weekend... The rough sketch is all I have right now, but I hope I won't take as long to finish it up as I usually seem to. Haha.

Time for Art?

I've had blog posts in my mind but with long term house guests here (twelve for three meals every day, eight of them kids, six of those boys) it has not been possible to put them here. But I do want to do this one, so that I am actually committed to showing some fruits next week.

I am leaving on a jet plane, in five hours, for Hispaniola! A long awaited and much needed vacation for my husband and me. And since I will be waited on there hand and foot, with no duties whatsoever, I am taking along some art supplies and hope to make something....something....with my time.

     

Taking Sarah's example I have a travel sketch journal and some pens. Taking a nudge from Katie I got the mixed media paper. I won't take ALL the paints but many. We'll see what happens!

Adios amigas!!

Baby Again

Mostly Watercolor

... with a touch of coloured pencil.

check angles

Add base washes

Bring up features.

and more

Up close watercolour is probably too harsh for a baby face. Maybe coloured pencils or pastels will be next.

I was not happy with the previous state, so added some pastel to soften the whole and make it more like baby skin.

We had our first light snow last night, after quite a bit of rain.

Almost all of the snow is gone now.

And you?

Fuzzy Fellow

Mixed Media

This is a sketch in watercolour, coloured pencils and pastels.

Watercolour washes

Add coloured pencil

Elaborate

Blessed Sunday to all.

New Class

Mixed Media Wildlife

Winter is about to set in here, so much needs to be prepared. Recorder recital this evening (beautiful Telemann piece), and various duties of home and family filled today's hours, so art projects did not fit in, but I have started watching and taking notes on an on-line video class, also from Craftsy. It has added to the stock of ideas in my head pushing for realisation.

Here are glimpses of the class notes. I hope some projects will follow.

The instructor carries out the artsy look herself and in her work. Lots of color.

I liked her wooden bead necklace, too.

Colors and creatures? YES.

Best wishes on your weekend, before the madness of next week sets in.

Brush Letter Practice Challenge

I have been a little obsessed lately with brush lettering.  I started learning calligraphy many years ago after my Mom gave me a kit for Christmas and I loved it and have practiced ever since.  Recently I have been noticing the trend of brush lettering.  It's everywhere, and it is so beautiful.  It's a little looser and more free-form than calligraphy, and yet there's something about it that is hard to capture... Brush lettering has a certain "je ne sai quoi"... a way of letters lacking uniformity and yet hanging together so well... letters going above and below the guidelines and still looking pleasing and perfect. 

I've been puzzled and fascinated and I simply must figure it out.  I've mostly been copying the beautiful lettering of others, and then trying to analyze it and figure out what makes it so good.  In the process of all that I came across this "Brush letter practice challenge" on Instagram.  Each month has a word list (this month is birds!), one for each day.  Everyone doing the challenge does that word and posts a photo on Instagram with the hashtag (#brushletterpracticechallenge) so that others can find it.  I really enjoy looking each day at what everyone else does-- all the different styles and ideas are very inspiring!

So today being November 4th, I have done 4 days.  I practice the word on graph paper with a brush pen over and over until I am reasonably satisfied, then I do the word in my watercolor sketchbook with watercolors and a brush.  Oddly enough, I find the real brush easier to control than the brushpen.  I have thought of investing in colored brushpens, but I have lots of beautiful watercolors and they are so fun to work with.

Here are my Instagram photos so far.  I'll post more throughout the month.

I have a lot to learn, but hopefully a month of daily practice will get me some improvement...

Free and Short

Take a Class, Any Class

We all want to improve. We want to make progress. We want to see gains in what we do. That usually means looking for some means to push us to those strides of improvement. That is often a class.

To re-iterate, there are many free and short classes available for anyone to use. Most of us do not have the amount of time we would like to devote to our art, but we really have no excuse to do nothing - meaning we can all do something.

This evening I decided to do one of the free CRAFTSY online classes, just to check the quality and content. Here is the summary for you:

I took notes.....

.... on the five lessons, each about fifteen to twenty minutes long (unless my computer was stalling... grrr)

... so you have the gist here....

.... though I would recommend you see it for your self. No cost.

Then I drew along with the instructor as he "mapped" his series of models.

This is from the video of the instructor working. I am not showing you my first one, because I was not quite ready.

Then I found myself a piece of charcoal and some scrap papers and worked along. This is the instructor's "map" - that is, the roughed in areas of darks to establish the head form and thus the essential likeness.

Mine doesn't look like the instructors, but he had as long was he wanted and I did mine in five or so minutes, and much smaller. This one needs a more triangular head, a much longer nose, smaller eyes, less forehead, not-lopsided mouth, etc.

model - Tessa - and instructor's "map"

mine of Tessa

Model - James - and instructor's "map"

Mine of James. I can, of course, see much to change and improve in these sketches, but the idea of the class is good: to see large shapes of dark and light first, and then work features into those shapes afterward.

I hope you are inspired to get out your charcoal and find shapes. Take a class!

Für Elisa

.... and Mary

Everybody hum: de,da,de,da,de,da, de, da, dummmmm, de,da, de dum, de dum de dum. Repeat, etc.
OK, now....

Some of us were talking about quick children's portraits. I did one this evening, not quite in the manner I had talked about, but in a simple way. Note that I don't know this little boy, so am guessing on his character and personal look. Also my computer has been less than cooperative, so my references are anything but ideal. But the likeness is not that crucial here.

Here are the steps:

Find a cute boy. Decide on crop of image.

Enlarge sketch with grid method. (You see I was just using scraps from around my desk.)

Thus. Note that the head was at an angle, which is crucial to note to get the proportions lined up.

Scribble pencil on back of grid drawing and trace sketch onto watercolour paper, in this case.

Dig out the watercolour palette from under the stacks and see if suitable colors are on it. Yes. Good. Find a brush, too. Always keep a container of water handy. Paper towels, too. Check, check, check, ready.....

Put down some tones to suggest form and background. Let them blend. I used four colors here: a yellow ochre,  a random red, a blue and a cadmium yellow. And a touch of burnt siena with blue in the eyes. That needs to dry-

While it did, I did a lot of other things that moms do, plus I found a piece of mono print paper from some weeks ago (more on which another time), added some stamping to it, and cut out a horse shape. This probably will turn into something later.

Then I collected some coloured pencils in skin tones. I did not end up using the pen. That will be for another method, another time.

One by one I added colors to model the features. Ochre.

A peach tone

Pink - always necessary at corners of eyes, on ears, temples, upper lip, and half tones of shadows.
These pictures seem to have been taken foreshortened, so the head looks compressed. This boy actually has a relatively long narrow head...... 

.... more like this. The pencil is a warm blue

Tuscan red

Getting closer. Adjust tones.

Call it done. In the original picture the boy was squinting and slightly frowning in concentration, but I changed that, opening his eyes and adjusting the look. Now if one could SEE the subject, it would be more helpful.

Who is next?