Art Journal Page 8/28/15 - Blue Haired Girl

I recently purchased Danielle Donaldson's book Creative Girl and I have been so inspired by her beautiful style and wonderful backgrounds. I highly recommend this book. It's GORGEOUS!! The background for this girl was very much inspired by Danielle.

I began with a face I finished several months ago that was in my "envelope of faces". She came about using my usual method (pencil->ink->paint->thin ink pen for more detail).

This page was already really warped and bumpy from the previous page which was done with a very thick background of paint and gesso. So I decided it may be best to attach things to the page as opposed to working directly on the page. I decided to embrace the warped bumpiness and texture though. So I began with a green tinted paper and I crumpled it up and then straightened it out before gluing it on. Then came another textured piece of lovely paper. And then the actual painting. As an afterthought I added the circle stickers to the side. Just for fun.

Here she is with her neighbor. I have only one more full page spread to do before this journal is complete.

Art Journal Page 8/25/15 - India Revisited

For the first painting in my (ongoing) Pop Art People series I did a painting of a woman wearing a sari--in my own funky, SO NOT realistic way. Recently my daughter watched the Bollywood movie "Bride and Prejudice" and now she keeps talking about going to India. So this painting from nearly 11 years ago (!) kept coming to my mind.

I decided to do a drawing in my Art Journal inspired by her today.

I had no end point in mind when I started this drawing. I wasn't sure if I'd leave it black and white, add paint, or something else. It's very freeing and relaxing for me to work this way--just sort of free flowing, see where the drawing takes me.

I'm nearing the end of this Art Journal. Just the page facing this newest drawing and one more full page spread left. I have enjoyed every minute spent working in this book. There is something about doing art for your own sake. This book is just for me and I have no rules or expectations. I just play. I have my next Art Journal ready to go as soon as this one is complete.

Even just seeing the side of this book makes me happy. All those bumpy pages represent time spent being creative and experimenting and having fun!

Here's the process I took today:

 I started with a light pencil sketch. 

 I did the outline with a Sharpie.

 I like to go back in and thicken up lines here and there and make the joints where lines meet more organic and soft. I also added a lot more strands of hair.

Here's where I may have gone a bit too far with the Sharpie. I sort of wish I would have left the negative space around her hair white so I could have added a background color. Oh well, what are you going to do?

 And then came the color. Prisma Colored Pencils are very soft and waxy making them great for blending and getting deep, rich color!

Newest Name Sign

Mrs. Kohler's Robot (newest painting)

A friend asked me to paint a robot for her classroom. This was such a fun painting to do! I hope my friend and her students like it as much as I do.

I used my COLORING BOOK METHOD for this painting. Here's the WIP pictures...

And one more of the finished painting...