Friday 30 May 2014

Paint Party Catch Up

Hi Everyone.

If you visited last Friday you will  have seen a work in progress.  This week I thought I would follow up by showing you the completed piece.



Sisters 

Another piece that I completed this week was this page in my Dylusions Journal.


This weeks post is short and sweet but looking forward to visiting other PPF party goers. If you haven't already paid a visit  and want to see some great art work click on the badge in the side bar and take a look.

Thanks for visiting. x 

Wednesday 28 May 2014

WOYWW 260


This is how my desk looks this week.




Here you can see a page I have been working on in my Dylusions Journal. I started it a while ago and used my non-dominant hand when my thumb was more painful than it is now and I left it unfinished.



I had some skin tone paint left on my palette paper from my last painting so I used it to paint her face and just carried on until it was finished.



I know I probably shouldn't say this about my own work but I LOVE this. I love her expression, I love her hair and I love the white space. I am really pleased with how it turned out.

 It is made up of acrylic, book paper, painted papers, corrugated card and I applied gesso to the background with a palette knife to create texture.

I hope you like her as much as I do, thanks for visiting. x

                                      

Monday 26 May 2014

Shades of Purple

This is my latest little painting now completed.

Sisters
Acrylic, graphite and oil pastel 
on 5x7"  watercolour paper


I did this as a sort of exercise because up to now there has only usually been one figure in my paintings and I wanted to have to consciously think about making the facial features different from one another. 
I don't always give my paintings a title because sometimes I struggle with choosing one but when I look at this it just say's one thing to me, hence the title.

As there are circles in the background I am linking this post to Art Journal Journey. Click on the badge in the side bar and take a look at the wonderful artwork on show.

Thanks for visiting. x











Thursday 22 May 2014

Art on a Spoon.

Once again its time for Paint Party Friday. If you don't already know what it's all about click on the badge in the side-bar and take a look.

If you saw my post on Wednesday you will know that I have been doing a makeover on a little wooden spoon. This is how it looks now it is finished.




Since my last post I have added the belt and refined some of the detail in her hair.  I also added a little band of multi-coloured gold flakes to her dress and some fine glitter to the background around her head.

I am pleased how she turned out and was wondering how I would display her.  I thought that a set of them would look nice in a box frame but then you wouldn't be able to see the back. I also thought she would make a good book mark.

This is a small painting that I have just started.


I hope you will pop back again to see the end result.

Thanks for visiting. x

Wednesday 21 May 2014

WOYWW 259

Here is what is on my desk this week.


Have you ever had one of those hot chocolates that are made with a chunk of chocolate on a stick melted into hot milk? Well last time I had one it wasn't on a stick but on a wooden spoon. The little plain wooden spoon was just crying out to be decorated so I brought it home and this is what it looks like now.



There is still a little more to do before it is finished.

This is the back.




The background around her head is painted in Lumiere paint, you can just about see the glimmer, and I am contemplating adding a little fine glitter. The dress was done with Yellow Ochre with an overlay of a Burnt Sienna glaze into which I scratched the flower detail.

I am linking this post to WOYWW where lots of crafters and artists share what they are working on. If you would like to see what's going on just click on the badge in the side-bar  and take a look.

Thanks for visiting. x

Saturday 17 May 2014

Changes

I was taking a look at some of my recent paintings and started noticing somethings that I wasn't happy with. So I decided to make a few alterations to them.

 Recently I posted a painting I did for Mix it Monthly and I expressed the fact in my post that I wasn't completely happy with it. I painted it in my little sketchbook and it has been lying on my desk ever since. From time to time I have been picking it up and looking at it and I disliked it so much that I considered throwing it away.

Then I thought maybe I could make some changes to it, I had nothing to loose. This is the 'offending item' as it was.


So I touched up her face and hair, changed her dress and did some work on the coffee sign and her she is now.



Now I like her.

 I did some minor changes to a couple of others too.

This is before:-



and after;-

I made some changes to the shape and colouring of her face. Whist I was originally working on this I painted a little house on a separate sheet of paper and positioned it in the background then decided against it. I have a photo of it with the house on and I may add it in again. ( I am quite enjoying improving past works!!)

Before:-





Once again I made some changes to her face. They are very subtle but I can see the difference.

When I was a child and into my early teenage years I loved to draw but felt I wasn't good at painting. I used to think that if it went wrong you had to throw it away and start again. I didn't pick up a pencil or paint brush for years and now that I have begun to create again I have learned that you can alter and re-work pieces during the process or even change them later.

I would love to hear what you think of the changes.

Thanks for visiting. x

Friday 16 May 2014

Book Cover Update

In my last post I shared the beginnings of a cover I am creating for a little handmade sketchbook.

This is how it is looking so far.



Since the last post I have added some stenciling to the background and then started work on the figure. There is still work to do on her, she needs hair colour and dress detail and a little more refining. At the moment her hair and dress are just painted with gesso.

When it is finished I will give it a coat of acrylic wax to help protect it as I intend to fill the book with full page paintings of different faces and figures. I will probably drive myself crazy trying to keep the cover clean.  I know I probably should complete the pages first and then add the cover but I know I will want to put the book together first.

I am linking this post to Paint Party Friday and if you visited last Friday and want to see the finished painting from last week, you can see it here.

Why not go and see what other artistic bloggers are doing by clicking on the badge in the side-bar.

Thanks for visiting. x


Wednesday 14 May 2014

WOYWW 258

Don't the weeks fly. This is what is on my work desk this week.


This is the beginning of a cover for a new handmade sketch book I am making.


I have used Halo Pink Gold Lumiere paint which doesn't show up at all on these pictures so it looks better in person  than it does here. I have used book paper and some lovely wrapping paper,stamped some circles with a wine cork and acrylic paint and some foliage with black ink.

It needs a lot more work for it to look like the way I envisaged  it. Hopefully some more layers will help to improve it......... watch this space! x

Thanks for visiting. x

Saturday 10 May 2014

It's Gone to her Head

Her coffee that is.



As mentioned in my last post, when she was a WIP, I have slightly adjusted the eyes and I prefer them now. I painted her in acrylics, and then used oil pastels, inktense pencils and charcoal pencil.

I am linking this post to Mix it Monthly were the theme for this months challenge is Cafe/Coffee.

Thanks for visiting. x



Friday 9 May 2014

A sneak Peek

In my last post I mentioned a piece I was working on and seeing as its Paint Party Friday I thought I would show you a sneak peek. She is still a work in progress and I don't want to give to much away because it is for a monthly challenge over at Mix It Monthly.


At the moment I think she is a little wide eyed so I may alter her eye lids a little.

If you want to see other works over at Paint Party Friday click on the badge in the side-bar and take a look.

Thanks for visiting. x

Wednesday 7 May 2014

WOYWW 257

I seem to be in a very disorganized mood at the moment and that is reflected in the state of my desk this week.


The blue patterned book you can see is a handmade sketchbook I made a while ago and inside is the beginnings of something I am doing for Mix it up Monthly.  I am keeping that under wraps for now so I thought I would show you a couple of pages of quick sketches I did when trying out some different dress ideas for future paintings.


I have been getting so many lovely comments recently and I want to send out a heartfelt thankyou  to all that have been so kind enough to share their thoughts on my work.

If you would like to see what's on other peoples desks click on the badge in the side-bar and take a look.

Thanks for visiting. x

Saturday 3 May 2014

Circles

I am really enjoying taking part in the challenges that I have joined  this year. Anyone who is thinking of taking up one of the many challenges out there in blogland I can recommend it. I feel my art has improved because of them. Not only that but I have made a lot of new blog friends as a result.

Over at Art Journal Journey the theme for this month is Circles.




I did this in my Dylusions Journal and I had the idea of using masking tape to make a smaller elongated painting. I am sure I used my low tack masking tape but when I took it off it took half the page off with it.

For this piece I used acrylics, with a touch of oil pastel. I used moulding paste and a stencil for the square pattern to create some texture.

I want to take this opportunity, once again to thank everyone for your lovely comments. They mean a lot.

Thanks for visiting. x


Friday 2 May 2014

Is it Friday Already?

All week I have felt like it was Thursday and then Friday just crept up on me.

Today I am linking this post to PPF and Mix it up Monthly. The theme for this month over at Mix it up Monthly is Cafe/coffee.  It started first with a sketch in my little sketchbook and I then ended up turning the original sketch into the final painting.



She is painted in acrylic, inktense pencil and oil pastels. I didn't spend a lot of time on this and the more I look at it the more I realise that I'm not really happy with it.

This is a subject which is close to my heart as I love to visit my local  coffee house for a latte. In fact that is where I am off to now.

Thanks for visiting x