#21Embody - Learning to draw the Body days 1-4

When you try to do something you have never done before, it is really a crap shoot.  I decided to participate in #21 Embody because my plan for this year is that if I sign up for anything new, it has to be free and this is a free challenge.  Plus, and this is significant, the concept was new to me.  Drawing singular body parts, I had never tried that and it is good to have in my artistic arsenal, especially for art journaling.  Below are my interpretation of the parts of the body for the first four days, the lungs, the heart, the back and bones.

I like what I have done mostly because I was willing to try.  I was thinking this morning that I may try collage for some parts.  That is exciting because collage challenges me and I want to improve.

Lungs

Heart

The Back

Bones - Back Bone

see you tomorrow.....

What I have been up to

Been a few days since I posted.  It has been really busy around here with a lot of church related activities.  I have been able to squeeze in some art time.

For the Birds

The idea behind this 5x7 journal page was a swap hosted by Gisele Grenier.  The premise for this page was to use the Movie The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock as inspiration.  This background for this page is a wash of black and white acrylic paint.  The bare trees are drawn free hand and the birds are an assortment of Stencil girl product birds.  I forget that I can use stencils in my art projects and this one had great results.

Human Lung

the heart

The lung and the heart are works in progress, they need to be painted.  I am participating in a 21 day challenge that seemed really interesting.  It is call 21 embody and each day for 21 days you draw and paint a body part.  These represent day 1 and 2 and I will spend the next couple of hours painting them and drawing day 3's body part.  I tell you this is really interesting especially since I did not think I could really draw a realistic heart, who knew!!!!

So, I am still working through the Paint Mojo class and will post some of that by Saturday.  

see you soon, maybe tomorrow.

Paint Mojo week 1

Batch of Ephemera 1

Bundle number 1

Ephemera batch 2 - tea dyed papers

Ephemera Batch 3

Bundle 3

For the next six weeks I am going to be working through an online class, Paint Mojo.  I have been watching the video's for week one.  The first step was to put together some Ephemera bundles.  The idea is to gather papers that can be used for collage.  However, the practice is not think about what you are doing and see what comes together.  I have a lot of ephemera that has been collected over the years.  I decided to go through my stash and randomly pick out some items and put them into a bundle. 

One of my favorites is ephemera batch 2 which includes papers that were part of a bundle soaked in tea last year while attending a class with Orly Avineri and Katie Kendrick on Bainbridge Island, Washington.  For some reason the bundle did not download, but that is ok.

I think this is going to be a really eye opening experience.  I started not to post these bundles because painting was not involved.  This morning I realized that I am doing this for me and taking my readers along for the journey.  As a result, I need to show all aspects of the process and that includes painting and non-painting exercises.  There will be works in progress (WIP), swipes of paint on a page, marks and all sorts of things because the objective is not to come up with a masterpiece although that may happen.  No, the objective is learn a process I have seen and wanted to learn for a long time.

So I am going to enjoy recording this journey so that I have a record of what I have learned.  It will be swell for you to join me on this road of discovery.

see you soon.

29 Faces challenge the end Days 26-29

Day 26

Day 27

Day 28

Number 29

Holy Crapola Batman.  I did it.  29 faces in 28 days.  It was such fun. I learned a lot and think I actually grew a lot in my abilities.  I can draw a nose and ears are not too bad either.

Most important is that I kept the commitment.

My next project is working through a online class I won, Paint Mojo by Tracy Verdugo.  I am so excited to spend the next 6 weeks working and enjoying.

so, see you tomorrow.

Playing Catchup - Days 23, 24 and 25 of 29 Faces Challenge

Day 23 side braid

Day 24 Flowing hair

Day 25 - Top Bun

I had two art projects to complete and fell behind in my daily drawings.  Once the projects were completed, I started drawing faces.  I did not paint them, although, I may spend this evening painting.

I find that painting sometimes changes the look and I like the effects of the drawing.

The Challenge is almost finished; however, I am committing to drawing more faces throughout the year.  I am going to do a 100 face challenge and the best part is that I will have a 29 face head start.  In this way I hope to perfect the painting of faces.   I will post the faces as they are completed.

On the 28th I will announce my challenge for March.

see you tomorrow....

day 22 of 29 Faces Challenge

more practice with hair

Today's challenge was with hair giving volume.

see you tomorrow....

Day 21 of 29 Faces Challenge

Lady in Blue 

This is another painting inspired by Gustav Kiimt.  It was and is truly a learning experience.  Making a face standout from the dark background is a challenge that I will keep working with.  I am enjoying the challenges.

More to come.

Day 20 of 29 Faces - It's all about the hair

Day 1 of hair practice 

This week I will be working on hair.  Today's painting was done with Derwent inktense blocks.  They are really nice to work with.

Days 19 of 29 Faces Challenge: Inspired by Matisse

Keeping it Simple - end of week