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 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.

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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!!!

Art 101 Week 3....Acrylics!!!!!!

ACRYLICS!!!!!!!!

One of my favorites!!!  Do I say that about everything art related?

Anyway, week 3 was all things Acrylic!!!  Mixing, layering, building texture with, stamping into.

So many wonderful things to do with Acrylics.

Here are this weeks pages from my journal.

Enjoy!!!!!!

Prompt 2
Mixing Acrylics
and
Color Creating

Prompt 3
Layers

Words to remember:

Thank you Vincent!!!

Prompt 4
Layer on Layers

Prompt 4

Pam Garrison's For the Love of Layers

After walking away from it for a day,

I came back and looked at it with fresh eyes

and a city-scape complete with a flag of flowers and

a roof top flower garden appeared.

I have so enjoyd being apart of Get Messy this past 3 weeks.  I am learning so much and have found so much joy in creating.  Considering my art was something that I usually only went to in a time of sadness and grief, it is so nice to be creating through all emotions.

Come on Week 4.....show me what ya got!!!!