Changes are a Foot.

Hi.

Autumn is well and truly here.

Autumn and the forthcoming run up to my favourite time of year

 i e Christmas has raised my spirits.

After suffering a spell of artists block (the equivelant to writers block)

I have been spur'd on to make those changes I have mentioned in previous posts.

I have changed my profile name from Fuzzie Fingers to Carol Rigby and changed my profile picture.

This is due to the fact that this blog title does not reflect the work I am creating now so I have created

 a new blog with the title Pencil, Pastel and Paint.

 I know this will result in problems connecting with some blogger friends but will do my best to 

give out as much info as possible to guide you in the right direction if you wish to continue to follow

 my art.

As well as a new blog I have also ventured onto Facebook and now have a Facebook page also 

named Pencil, Pastel and Paint.

If you are on Facebook I would love it if you would connect with me by  'Liking' my page

 Pencil, Pastel and Paint.

I am in the process of getting to grips with the workings of Facebook and hope to be able to put a

 badge up on my blogs to link to my Facebook page when I learn how.

Wish me Luck.

XXX

   

Playing Catch Up

Hi

It's been a while since I was last here.

While I have been away I have not been spending a lot of time on my art.

Life sometimes get's in the way as we all know.

However I do have some things to share.

Firstly, my completed canvas from my last post.

acrylics & oil pastel on canvas

I decided to paint her dress in acrylic and oil pastel rather than collage although the neckline is made

 up of my hand painted papers.

,

I also made a little colouring book for my daughter.

She is in her 30's but still a little girl at heart which is reflected in the glitzy cover.

During my 'time out' I spent a few days in Dumfries & Galloway in Scotland.

I love this photo I captured of birds outside the cottage window.

We had a lovely few days there.

I hope to have some more things to share soon.

XXX

A Sneak Peak

Hi

This morning I picked up a box canvas that I started a while ago and put aside.

I wanted to make her face very pale but I kept looking at it and decided that she needed some colour to her skin tone.

She is in oil pastel and this is the biggest work in pastel that I have done to date measuring

 30cm x 40cm

I am itching to get out my papers and do her dress in collage but I'm not sure whether it will work.

 Or another idea is to do a coloured  acrylic glaze and scratch a pattern into it which is a technique I have done in the past on a couple of my smaller pieces.

Decisions....decisions.........

XXX

Take Two

Hi

This is a follow up post to yesterday.

Notice anything different ?

She was too young for grey hair.

XXX

Untitled

Hi

Just stopped by to share my latest page in my Moleskine Sketchbook.

Still working to improve my coloured pencil technique.

I also wanted to share this pic I took of a beautiful Sunflower that brightened up my living room this week.

Thanks for visiting and have a lovely weekend where ever you are.

XXX

All set up.

Hi

Here is my desk. All set up with my sets of watercolour pencils.

I have been studying some coloured pencil techniques on youtube and to get some practice in I thought I would try my hand at an animal portrait and took a look on google images and decided on a Jack Russell.

This is the first time I have attempted an animal portrait but I am quite pleased how it turned out.

I used a water brush to activate the first layer of watercolour pencil then left subsequent layers dry and used a 5B pencil and a paper stump to shade the body.

I hope to keep improving my shading skills with more practice but I have already picked up a lot of tips from watching some very talented coloured pencil artists on-line.

XXX

New Pencils

Hi

I have been watching a lot of reviews on coloured pencils recently and wanted to try out these Derwent pencils.

Derwent Drawing pencils are a coloured pencils with a thicker core and are a really soft creamy pencil.

They come in 24 beautifully subtle colours.

I used a combination of these and my other pencils for this colored pencil drawing.

Then I went crazy and did another oil pastel drawing in my moleskine sketchbook.

Not that much attention to detail on her dress but that was just the mood I was in. Lol!

And I don't know why she has a fish on her head !!!

XXX

Another Pencil Drawing

Hi

I have just finished another page in my Moleskine sketchbook.

XXX

Lesson Learned

Hi

I made a real 'school girl' error while doing my latest coloured pencil portrait. I merrily coloured her hair black and picked up some residue pencil on my hand and then rested it in the middle of her cheek. I tried to rectify it but not very successfully.

  coloured pencil on cotton rag handmade paper

I have been reading and watching a lot of coloured pencil reviews lately and I am thinking of possibly getting some other brands of coloured pencils to add to my collection. I am looking at the Faber Castell Polyhromos which are oil based pencils as apposed to the wax based pencils I have and also the Derwent Drawing Pencils which are thicker coloured pencils in lovely subtle colours.  First I think I will try out some singles to see if I like them before investing in a set. I will post my thoughts on them some time in the future.

Over the weekend I went to an Antiques and Collectors Fair and came across some great finds.

A couple of pieces of vintage papers and a wooden cotton reel. I bought the cotton reel with the idea of making a spool book. Something I saw on Pinterest.

I also found something I have wanted for a while now. I have been wanting a Russian doll but not a new one.  I wanted one like I used to have as a child and I found one and it was complete with all the sizes right down to tiniest one you've ever seen.

So I was very pleased with myself.

XXX

Handmade Stamps

Hi

Today I made a couple of stamps from some Fun Foam.

I tried them out on some painted papers I had on my work desk.

I thought this one looked a bit plain so I added some holes with my awl. I would be interested to know what you think. Better with or without ?

The designs were inspired by seed pods. I would like to try and create some more detailed stamps but will have to get some new blades for my craft knife. I have been considering having a go at carving stamps but I am hesitating investing in stamp carving supplies in fear of dipping my fingers in  too many pies.

Thanks for visiting.

XXX

Early Start

Hi

I was determined to get started early today in my art room and I actually managed to complete a couple of projects. One of them was an idea that has been bouncing around my head for a while now.

I emigrated to Australia with my family in the 60's and lived there for three and a half years. Today kids (boys mostly) collect and swap football cards. But during my childhood in Australia we used to collect picture cards the size of playing cards. Some of them were blank on one side with a picture on and some of them were actual playing cards that had nice pictures on the back.

After seeing artists altering playing cards on-line I had the idea of making my own picture playing cards to collect  and today I did my first one,

This card was inspired by the photo of my morning cereal that I published on my blog the other day.

I then played around with some acrylic paint and some Brusho

As I sat looking at them I started thinking of the very talented artist

 Carla Sonheim's  Imaginary Creatures and found a couple of my own.

In case you can't quite make this last one out it's a little 'mouse like' creature with orange ears.

Something a little different from me but it was fun to do.

Before I go I wanted to share some photos I took of a Buddleja  that I found growing on our drive, There are a lot of bushes full of them around at this time of year but one little seed must have took root in our drive and there it was all alone and a little bedraggled so I picked it and brought it in. Unfortunately even though it was in water it didn't take long before it started to whither. But not before I took some pictures of it against some of my painted papers.

I hope you enjoyed taking a peek at what I have been up to and I hope you all had a creative weekend.

XXX

Untitled

Hello?..........

.....is there anybody there?

For a long time now I have been feeling like I need a change. So I put out the feeler's a couple of posts ago to see  if making  some changes like re-naming this blog (If you can do such a thing) or create a replacement blog would I be losing out by doing so?  Would I be losing a sizable following or connections I had built up with fellow bloggers who know me as Fuzzie Fingers?

I had help from a friend setting up this blog and when I was asked on the spot for a title. I came up with Fuzzie Fingers because I had just discovered wet felting and it referred to handling the merino wool with wet hands.

At the time I did not think of it as a 'brand' for the sake of a better word. For a while now I have wanted to branch out and promote my art on a Facebook page and even possibly try my hand at having an etsy shop but the name Fuzzie Fingers is holding me back because it does not reflect the art I do now.

I have some blog friends who don't visit every post but have visited here since my early days and one dear blog friend who visits here and comments on all my posts.  I can let these friends know of my changes so as not to loose contact with them as I value their visits and comments greatly,

 So maybe it wouldn't be that difficult to make the change after all........

.............something to think about.  

XXX

A Nice Start to the Day

Look what I found in my breakfast cereal this morning.

A tiny dried strawberry heart.

Serendipity....

( the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way)

A lovely way to start the day.
I love serendipity.

XXX

Untitled

Another page in my Moleskine sketchbook.

oil pastel

XXX

Mark Making

HI

A morning of mark making and the best time I've had in my art room for a long time.

This is the busiest my desk has looked for a long time.

I am still keeping things neutral.

Some isolated close ups.

I collected some grasses to use in my mono-printing yesterday but it didn't turn out too well. But they were great dipped in black paint for mark making.

Even on tea bags

Here is a tiny clue on another way I collect useful mark making tools.

I have recently come across the work of Leslie Avon Miller. You can see her beautiful art on her blog Textures Shapes and Color. Her work is so inspirational to me and she includes quotes and poetry in her posts all in all I find it a beautiful calm place to visit. I spent some time this morning looking back at her previous posts and it definitely set me up for a productive morning in my art room.

If you visit here I hope you like what you see and if so please let me know your thoughts. I often wonder if people visit but prefer to not leave comments. I am so grateful to my blog friends that regularly visit here but I would love to know if there are others looking at what I do.

Bye for now.

XXX