Let Me Catch You Up

Oh boy did I ever get behind on posting.  I had been doing so well and then.........

WARM WEATHER!!!!!!!

I got bit by the Spring Time Bug and have had a hard time managing my time.

I find time to work outside and to work in my art journals, but I can't seem to find time to want to sit down and work on the computer.

So this is a quick catch up of what I have been doing with Get Messy and what I did for the short time between Seasons.  

The piece above was just me playing around with dropping my Dr, P.H. Martins concentrated 

water colors onto paper and letting them mix as they would.

Below is a painting I did for my son Garrett that was from a lesson taught by Tanyalee Kahler.  I enjoyed doing this painting so much and sent it to Garrett for his birthday.

Season 014 of Get Messy began and this season is the Season of Contrast.

I am so happy this was not my first season as I probably would have not continued on with the group.

This season is much more challenging for me and is making me think much deeper about my art than what I normally do.  I find the prompts very challenging for me.  My art journaling can be and has gone very deep at times but that is usually when it is based on my own ideas rather than from a prompt.  It is hard for me to make my mind think about something that didn't cross it on it's own.  

This has been a great season for me actually because of this.  I have found I don't have as many entries in my journal this season, but the entries I do have, I have spent more time on and given greater thought to than the pages from Season of Art 101.

I am amazed though by the work of the more seasoned artists in the group.  The work has been so fascinating to look at.

This spread was based on the first prompt of week 1 about Light And Dark.

This page started out as showing the contrast between the depth of a color while using an ombre technique to take it from dark to light.

While out taking my daily walk with Onyx, I took some photos of our property.  It was such a gorgeous day and I am always just amazed that this is where I get to live.

I knew I wanted to use this photo as inspiration for a painting in my journal. 

I wanted to use my Ombre background for the base of the painting so that it would add some
extra depth to the painting.  I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

Riet taught a lesson on Intuitive Painting, which admittedly is pretty much what I always do.  But it was fun to follow her techniques and see what happened.  The biggest challenge for me when doing multiple layers is to let each one DRY COMPLETELY so the colors don't get murky and muddy. 

First Layer

Second Layer

Third Layer

Fourth Layer

Close up of the detail you can see in all the layers.

Finished page.

A minimalist feel made from multiple layers.

This was another prompt I followed.

Try the opposite style from what you normally do.

Generally my work would never be called minimalist.

I have always admired those that can do minimalist, but it doesn't usually happen for me.

This day,  I nailed it though!!!!!!!!!

And then the ever so wonderful Misty Granade stepped in with a tutorial on using size to create contrast.  This was my super simple page for that awesome tutorial.

One of the greatest things about the Get Messy Community is all of the new 

artists I am getting to know.  There is truly so much talent in this world.  It inspires me and blows me away all at the same time.  

Amy Maricle is one of the awesome artists I am lucky enough to have discovered thanks to this community.  She is wonderful and speaks my language!!!!!!

This page was created from a tutorial she did on Mini Masterpieces.  

Using either paintings you aren't happy with or in my case, the paper you use to put leftover paint on or clean your brushes off on, she encourages you to look for smaller little works of art on the paper.  For me, I used the paper and a butterfly paper punch to make my journal entry based on how out of darkness and or ugliness, beauty can appear.  

I do love how this page turned out and how I was able to recycle this piece of paper rather than throwing it all away!!!

Then lastly was my Earth Day journal spread.  

This was started while chatting it up with some of my best buddies on the digital chat and art group we have on Saturdays.  I knew I wanted the background to be a cheerful shade of blue green.  I used some acrylic paint and mostly liquid acrylic inks.  OH BOY DO I LOVE those inks.  The colors just blow me away.

I finished it up with a cheeky message for Earth Day.

So that is my catch up for this Season so far.  

I am also participating in the 100 Day Project and have chosen 

100 Day Of Committed Art Journaling.

I am working in a different little altered book journal for that and will post shortly about that.

Hope you all have a great week and keep on being creative!!!!!

Art 101 Week 6......Collage and End Of Season 13

I did it!!!!!!  

I made a promise to myself to stick with this first season of

Get Messy 

and I did it!!!!!!

And the best part was,

it was easy!!!!!!

The people I met, the new friends I have made,

have all inspired me, encouraged me,

taught me and struggled with me through it all.

Never did I not feel good enough or worthy of being a part of this community.

I HAVE FOUND MY CREATIVE TRIBE!!!!!!

This last week was all about collage which is actually how I started out my

art journaling years ago, since i doubted any ability that I may have of being able to draw.

My challenge for myself this week though, was to learn to do a more minimalist approach

to collage while still being able to get my message across.

With a lot of coaching from two dear Messians, Ashley Rodgers, and my sweet Molly, I was finally able to complete two minimalist collage pages.  I loved them so much and am so happy

I was finally able to keep myself from covering every bit of white space on my page.

This week I did a short flip-thru of my journal for Get Messy.

We start back up on April 1, my son Reed's birthday, so I have a few weeks to do some other things.

I have signed up for a week long class that started today and is being taught by 

Australian artist Tracy Verdugo, called Animal Antics.  

I'm looking forward to filling up pages of Watercolor paper with wonderful acrylic ink paintings of lovely whimsical animals.  

Wish me luck!!!!

I wish you all a most wonderful week and a very Happy Spring (today is the first day of Spring here in the States)

My Get Messy Journal 

Season 13

Art 101

Art 101 Week 5....Line Work

This week has been a weird week for me.  I have been a little under the weather, had multiple appointments to go to and a lot on my mind.  Being the introvert that I am, having to go somewhere too many times in a week can really throw me off my game.  

I surprisingly still managed to be creative and diligent about spending time in my studio but a few things went un-done.  I didn't make little prompt tags for all of my entries like I normally like to do, but that's okay.  I can always go back and make those.              

So the first prompt was "What made you want to be an artist?"  This was so easy for me because it went back to my best friend that I met when I was 13.  I met her the Summer before we started Middle School or 7th grade.  We met one time and then saw each other again once school started and we were in some classes together.  She was the most creative and artistic person I had ever met.  And what was even better was she had as crazy of an imagination as I did. We made our pencils into little dolls and would get in trouble over and over again for talking in class to each other and playing around.  She came from a very artistic German family and I idolized everything about her and what to me seemed like a very bohemian lifestyle and family.  

Karin drew these adorable little mice and would use them to illustrate her life and decorated hand written notes to me with them.  I worked and worked at learning to draw those little mice as effortlessly as she did.  But in my mind, they were always her signature mice.  

Years after we met, she made an Anniversary card for me for our years of friendship.  I did not know my mom had kept that card and when I was in my late 20's my mom gave me a huge scrapbook of "my life" and there inside was the card Karin had given me, complete with all of those lovely mice!!!!

Karin is still my best friend even though we live in different cities and don't get to see each other very often.  She grew up to be an art teacher and now has a most lovely daughter who is also a very amazing artist, as is Karin's husband.  I am so thankful that she came into my life for a million different reasons, but one of them is certainly because she introduced me to art!!!

The front of my sweet Anniversary Card from Karin.

The inside with sweet little memories.

Moving on to the first tutorial I did was EmK's on Making Every Mark Count

and using all different kinds of pens and seeing what each one can do and their own unique marks that they can make.  I loved this because I just totally dig my pens and playing with them.  There is just something that some black and sometimes white ink does to a page that I am crazy about.  This first one was just a total abstract mixed media that I then came in with my pens and doodled on.  I was really happy with it and loved the process.

                   A few, but certainly not all, of my favorite pens and the ones I used on this page.               

I had done a painting of a face and then decided I wanted to add so me pen work to it. I was amazed at how easy it was to transform the face with a few simple lines strategically placed.  My once young and youthful looking gal quickly turned into an aging, worried looking woman like myself.  I continued to use the pens to add marks to the clothes and the background and this very spontaneous, unplanned out journal entry, turned into one of my all time favorites.

The next day I went back to the prompts and decided on prompt number 4:

One Line Challenge

draw without lifting your pen.

The easiest way I knew to tackle this challenge was to try a draw a simple city-scape so that is what I did.  And I literally did not lift my pen off the paper the entire time.

I went back with my Copic markers and colored in my little city-scape that was built with one line.

Next tutorial was Elizabeth's Complete a Found Image.

Here, Elizabeth encouraged us to learn to do more actual drawing in our journals.  To start, she suggested taking an image from our stacks of magazine images or any other paper images, tear it in half and then complete the other half ourselves by drawing it out using our own creativeness to complete it in any fashion.  While I am not too good at this, I had fun with it just the same.  I chose a farm scene with goats and a fence and then completed it in my own way.  I was blown away though with many of the other Get Messy Commuinty gals' pages using this technique.  There were some amazing pages created!!!!!

This little page I did in my journal is now one of my all time favorites.  Probably because it is fairly minimalist for me and understated.  I just love it and love using my Pentel Pigment Ink brush pen to draw the dadelions.  I love this pen.  It is one of my most favorites and I swear it makes me draw better than I ever thought possible.

Make a Wish and Blow Before the Wind Carries Them Away!

And lastly, I decided to take the advice from Prompt 3

Create A Practice Habit.

I also went to the recommended Brandi Kincaid's doodling class and had so much fun.

I now am trying to make a daily habit out of doodling and making doodles in my journal a way of not      forgetting  a day gone by.

This was a great week with journaling even if it was a challenge sometimes to show up.  Most importantly  I showed up everyday and for the most part found it all super helpful.

In 30 minutes I am getting ready to participate in my first Get Messy Digi Hangout and spend two hours working in my journal and chatting with lovely ladies all over the world.  So exciting!!!!!

Wishing  you all a most wonderful week.  Here in the States we turn out clocks ahead one hour so our days will be longer, with more sunlight!!!!  Spring can't be far off now!!!!!

Art 101 Week 4.........Felt Tips

 

Week 4 and I am still going strong!!!

I have to say I am quite proud of myself for showing up everyday and doing the work.

As much as I love making art and being creative, sometimes I do forget to give myself the time to do it and this community has only made me want to show up everyday.  And I can feel my confidence growing in my work and my fear of showing what I do and being good enough, slipping away!!!

This week was all about using felt tip markers in our journals and using line to express our feelings in our drawings.

Above is my collection of markers that I have gathered over the years.  I love them all and they all add something a little different to my pages.

Following Jules tutorial on Expressive lines I did two drawings of "myself" and used lines to try and express an emotion.  A very simple and understated entry for me but I loved it!!!!!!

Another prompt I followed was " Your Life in Lines", illustrate your life in lines.

As will be painfully obvious in these drawings, I am NOT an illustrator!!!! But I sure would love to be.  It was so much fun recording a few little bits of a day for me in illustrated drawings.  I think if nothing else, I have at least come up with an illustration that shall represent "me".  I like my gal and have fun dressing her in stripes and florals.

I decided to try using the line sketching technique to sketch faces.  So, rather than drawing faces in a continuous drawing action, I did more of a true sketch with quickly placing lines down.  I looked at drawings by artist Lewis Rossignol and tried to recreate his syle using this technique.  While my sketches don't look any thing like his, I love how they turned out and am going to keep working at this.  Here are a few I drew in my little sketch book.

The one below was a quick sketch I did of a guy that was on television at the time I was sitting and sketching.  I do better when I have a drawing to look at rather than a moving target, hahaha.

.

And lastly, my wonderful new friend Sasha had the great idea to play a game with all of us interested in the Get Messy Community.  She started by giving a prompt on instagram and someone would take that prompt and then leave a prompt for the next person.  The prompt I took was "add a face to your page" and the prompt I left for the next person was "paint with a color you don't like."  I was apparently feeling a different side to my creating and this poor jumbled soul is was appeared on my page.  I have had my lovely niece and her fiance visiting with us all weekend so I grabbed a few minutes to do this while they were napping.

SHE

She made things.

She made boundaries.

She did her best to enjoy.

She came to terms with her limitations.

I have again truly enjoyed these past 4 weeks of showing up daily to work in my journal.  I cannot wait to see how this year unfolds in my art and then to surround myself with all the juicy, full journals I have at the end of the year!!!!!

Have a great week everyone and thanks for stopping by!!!