WOYWW

This week there are a couple of things on my work desk, one completed painting and one WIP.

 Here are a series of pictures of the different stages of the girl on the right.

I started with gouache and watercolour

.Then added some oil pastel.

Then I added some more gouache and watercolour and finished off with some more oil pastel.

Hope you like her.

Why not pop over and take a look at other peoples desk's by clicking on the badge in the sidebar.

Thanks for visiting. x

I'm Back..........

Yes, another post. And so soon after my last one.

That's because I have another painting to share with you.

Hope you like her.

Little Map Girl.

This months challenge over at Mix it Monthly is to use a map as one of your materials in your art work.
I have been wanting to join in all month and even though I love the look of the use of maps and was really up for the challenge every time I sat down to do something I just got a mental block. I think it was due to the colour prompt which included shades of greys and pinks. However, as we approach the end of the month  I have completed something at last.

I mostly use acrylic but in this piece I used water colours, water soluble graphite pencil,white gouache and oil pastel.

If you want to see what others have been doing with maps over at Mix it Monthly click on the badge in the side-bar and take a look.

Thanks for visiting. x

Meet Lily

As I mentioned in a previous post I have recently discovered the water soluble graphite pencil and I am having fun using it in combination with gesso.

Lily

This is my second try at  using water soluble graphite and I am quite pleased with the result of this one and I look forward to working on some more pieces.

The weather is warming up now here in the UK but yesterday was a bit blustery and the cherry blossoms were beginning to fall. It was like it was snowing pink snow......Beautiful!!!!

If this is your first visit back here since last Paint Party Friday I want to once again thank everyone who left such beautiful comments on last weeks PPF post.

If you want to see what others are up to on Paint Party Friday click on the badge in the side-bar.

Bye for now. x

Tea Bag Art.

This week for WOYWW  I am showing you a much cleaner desk than usual as my son has taken his Gcse art work to school leaving my desk empty and ready to be gradually messed up again.

This week I have been working on a painting on a tea bag. After drinking the tea when it has dried and minus the tea leaves you are left with a lovely stained bag. I attempted a tea bag painting once before and I opened it all the way up but this time I just removed the staples joining it to the string and emptied the leaves out and left the back still sealed up at the back.

I originally sketched her in graphite pencil with touches of Graphitone (water soluble graphite) to create darker areas. Her face and arms are painted in white gouache with a touch of white oil pastel and  her hair and dress in watercolour.

Afterwards I thought it would be good to add the string and tag back to the bag but I had already thrown the original one away so I replaced it with a handmade.

Something I was particularly happy with in this piece was something that it is not instantly noticeable about the shading used on her face and neck. Instead of using the usual flesh tones I just felt that an olive green would work. Especially with her white face.

In the past when I have tried to substitute natural skin tones with other colours it hasn't worked out very successfully.(Probably trying too hard.)  With this piece I just felt that the olive was the right choice and I think it works. It is very subtle but I know it's there.

For anyone who visited my desk last week and saw the beginnings of my last painting and are interested to see the finished piece you can see it here.

As always, sending a big THANK YOU to all of you who have been kind enough to leave such lovely comments, especially on my 'Moments of Happiness' post. Because of the meaning behind that painting it has become very precious to me and so have your touching comments. x

Linking this post to WOYWW.

Something New

This is my first attempt at using a Derwent Water soluble Graphitone pencil.

Although it is called a pencil it is,in fact, a graphite bar. It is not encased in wood like  an ordinary pencil.  As you can see my pencil is in two bits owing to me dropping it on the floor. But it does sharpen well as you can see.

 This little lady is in Graphitone pencil and Gesso.

One thing I have discovered is you can't seem to erase any mistakes so I am not really happy with her but I wanted to share my first attempt here and hopefully I will improve with practice.

Thanks for visiting. x

Moments of Happiness.

I am sharing this post with both Art Journal Journey and Paint Party Friday. This painting is not actually in my art journal but on a 5x7 canvas board but it fits in with the theme for AJJ which is Moments of Happiness.

I know she doesn't look very happy but the reason for my moment of happiness can be seen on top of her head.

Acrylic and a touch of oil pastel

Perched on her head is a robin. There is a little story of my late Mum and a robin which is dear to me and when I see a robin I feel closer to her and that is my 'moment of happiness.'

The reason for the different texture you can see in her face is because I began by adhering book and patterned papers to the canvas. This is the first time I have painted on a canvas board, paper being my usual choice. This image is a good illustration of the difference in the final overall appearance but I'm still  not sure which I prefer, however, I am happy with the result of this piece.

Thank you to all who have been visiting and leaving your comments they are very much appreciated.

I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome some new followers to my blog.

WOYWW 254

Hi Everyone,
This week my usual work desk is taken up with my son's Gcse Art work. So here is what is on my temporary small work table.

The painting on my desk is one that I am slowly working on which featured in my last post.

This is my first time painting on canvas board and I am on the fence as to whether I like working on it or not. I have done a little to her since my last post but she still needs a lot of work.

I am linking this post to WOYWW.  If you do not already know all about it click on the button in the sidebar and have a look at what's on other peoples desks this week.

Thank you for visiting.

A Happy Accident

I thought I would share with you my current WIP for this weeks Paint Party Friday.

This is the first time I have worked on a canvas board. The size is 5x7 and it started out as a bit of an experiment for adhesives. Up to now I have used gel medium to adhere my papers in my mixed media pieces but I find it very thick, especially now that my container is coming to an end.

 My son is taking Gcse Art at school and he is doing a mixed media piece for his final piece of work when he goes back after the end of term break. Even though he chose it as one of his options he is not enjoying it and is not looking forward to doing his final piece. So to save him struggling with the thick remnants of my gel medium I wanted to see if he could use PVA glue, hence the experiment. But as I thought, when the paint was applied the paper lifted in parts so it's off to the shops to purchase some 'thinner' Matt Medium.

However, for me, this has resulted in what's called 'a happy accident', because after sketching in the figure and painting it in gesso the lifted piece formed an interesting shape for the nose.

I find that very exciting when something like that happens. It is like the figure is already in the painting trying to get out.  If I hadn't followed its lead I probably would have painted a very different face.

There is a hidden 'little secret' in this piece and if you look really close you may see the early stages of it. I will  reveal the secret and share the reason behind it when I post the finished painting.

I am linking this post to PAINT PARTY  FRIDAY and if you want to see what's going on over there click on the badge in the sidebar and take a look.

Thank's for visiting x

Finally Finished.

I am so pleased to report that my Fairy Lustre piece is now finished. For those of you who are not familiar with Fairy Lustreware or missed the link on a previous post click here to see  where the inspiration came from.

I Believe

I used Lumiere paints for the background and her wings and they do shimmer but you can't see it in the photo.

I used acrylic,oil pastel, charcoal pencil, mixed  foliage stamps and permanent ink in black and gold.

The finished painting is lying on my desk and has been, in various stages of progression, for a little while now so I hope this post qualifies for WOYWW even though my desk isn't actually pictured here.

Thank you for visiting. x

Fairy Lustre Update.

I was a little nervous of starting to paint my fairy but I made a start on her today and I haven't made a mess of her up to now so I thought I would show you how she is progressing.

When she is finished she will be incorporated in to my 'fairy lustre' page.

Thanks for visiting. x

Steady Progress

For Paint Party Friday I thought I would update you on my progress with my Fairyland Lustre piece.

I decided to draw my winged figure on a separate piece of paper and collage her on to the background.  I still have work to do on the background but this is how she is looking so far. As I am using my non-dominant hand I am not sure how I will manage to paint her.

If you want to see what others are doing on Paint Party Friday click on the badge in the side bar and take a look.

Thanks for visiting x

A Little Bit More for WOYWW

I just thought I would post an update on my 'fairy lustre' piece which I started last week. For reasons already mentioned in previous posts it is a slow process but this is how it looks at the moment.

There is more work to do on the stylized tree. I plan on adding more vines which were created with an acrylic stamp and black ink and for the circles I used acrylic paint and a cork from a bottle of Cava.

Since the last picture, featured in my last post, I have added a layer of Lumiere paint to the background which hasn't showed up very well in this picture. It needs more work to give that lustre effect I am looking for.
I am planning on a winged figure as the focus of the piece but can't decide whether to draw her with my non-dominant hand or to take the easy option of using  an altered collage image.

Time will tell........ x