A new free mixed media tutorial for you!

YAY!
Everyone likes a freebie, right?  I thought I'd go over this mixed media piece, since it' was somewhat of a challenge for me.  I had a lot of fun making it. :)  It's a stretched canvas, 12x12".  I started by spilling paint and dribbling and spreading.  I don't have a picture of that part.  It's just to cover the dreaded white space quickly.

I then tried to see some possibilities in the forms that came up, but nothing really struck me.  I painted in a face outline and some flowers.  Looked like crap, so I decided to cover the mess with some pages from a paperback book I once wrote.  Then I spread some thin paint over those to make them blend in better.  I now had a background I could work with, and I kept thinking what now?  I had an old journal page with a face that I liked.  I was not about to cut up my journal though, so I made a regular photocopy on printer paper.  It came out really pale...  We're going to pick up the canvas with some pictures now, but I took a photo of the journal page so that you could see the original:

 

I used colored pencils on this drawing.  I was trying to learn shading by going over the page lightly with various colors.  I was happy with the result. 

 Then I decided to cut up and glue the photocopy to the canvas. Scary, and I was a bit worried about the paper wrinkling with the Mod-Podge that I spread liberally on the back, To my surprise, it didn't wrinkle, but I got some patches from the glue, so when I spread paint on the face, pale spots showed up.

  

 

You can see here how pale the face is to start.  I brought out my Prismacolors and shaded the face some, and then I blended it with the background colors with paints and a baby wipe.  I like to have uniform colors pretty much.

Above you can see the odd spots that I covered with green and yellow just to get rid of them.  I gently added a tiny bit of paint to the eyes, and painted on the hair. Nothing fancy...  I saw some greenery that could stay on the right hand side and outlined them in white.  She was going to read a book, so I painted some yellow book covers at the bottom.

Can't say I liked the "blemishes" on her face, so I blended and smoothed that with some white paint when the green paint had dried.

I outlined the book and stamped on the letters with Staz-on ink.  The bird is decorative paper, which I painted with light blue paint.  The legs are painted on.  I painted a faint outline to the girl's eyes.  I didn't want them to stand out more than the rest, but they looked kind of pale.

I added on more lettering by tearing out paperback pages and stamping them with words.  Reading gave her ideas for her own stories.  And to break up the space in front of the bird, I cut out a piece of paper for bunting and painted that to match.

I enjoyed using the photocopy for the face.  I made sure it was very well glued down, with NO air pockets.  I don't know how well it will hold up in the long run, but I plan to varnish the whole thing with acrylic varnish.  I also found it interesting that the face ended up so different than the original even though they are identical.

Since I'm both an artist and a writer, I'm often torn between the two.  Should I be writing more, or do more art?  It's not easy to have several interests.  I just take it day by day.  I will soon have a new fantasy story out on Amazon, the sequel to Trials of Hallion, Two of Swords.  I actually painted the book cover for it.  When it's complete with graphics, which an artist friend of mine will create, I will put up a picture.  Writing is more of a chore.  Once you start a manuscript you can't just write randomly.  You have to follow a schedule every day to get anywhere.  Writing a book is a massive effort!

With mixed media art or painting, I can flow more, and I like that.  And I like lots of color!  :)
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New painting...

I have been on a roll lately creatively speaking.  I felt I was getting nowhere, so I started making up to-do lists every day, and it has helped immensely.  Not only do I write down the chores, but also the art hours.  That way they won't be frittered away on nonsense.  Life could so easily consist of habits and social media, but I really want to develop myself and my skills.  Now I'm getting a lot more art produced and it feels really good!  So, if you're stuck with whatever fuels your passion, try writing a list, scheduling in the boring but also the fun parts.  It really works!  You have to hold yourself accountable or get an accountability partner if you lack discipline.  Once your discipline muscle has gotten a workout, it gets easier to follow through.  Just be good to yourself!  LOVE everything about you, and stick with your passion in life.

Peace out!

PEACE original acrylic painting 8x8"

Phoenix rising...or crazy bird

Mixed media piece 10x10" 

Crazy bird

Birds and poppies....

Seems that I've been into birds and poppies lately.  They say you create your own symbols as you go along on the artistic path and birds are definitely one of my symbols.  They can mean many things but mainly I think of freedom and lightness when I see them flying.  You don't see many white birds in the wild, but I like to paint at least one white bird in the crowd.  Looking at the wonders of birds in general, it's easy to see the superiority of Mother Nature's creation.  A painting is only a small echo of the natural "glory," but at least I hope the delight for the subject shines through.

Poppies are deliciously elegant, and the long stems seem unable to hold up those glorious red heads, yet they are perfect in every way.  An abstract rendition is very easy to paint.  Most people will immediately see the resemblance but I did have someone ask if those were lips...  All in the eye of the beholder, right?

My art journaling has been addictive for quite a while, but I have to keep stocking up my etsy shop.  I'm planning to add more paintings soon.  This piece is available now in my shop, here.

                            6" panels with 1.5" deep edges, painted black.

Nature's Bounty... painting/collage

This is a commission I just finished, and the lady is very happy with it.  Yay!  Commissions are not easy because you tread a fine line between what you want to paint, and what they want.  But, all you can do is your best and hope they like it.  It's always a challenge, and as far as I know, challenges are good! :)

Nature's Bounty:

 

Then there's the real nature's bounty, a frangipani I snapped in the back yard.  So pretty! 

 

Enjoying the summer and her bounty of flowers and other gorgeous expressions....

Goddess or Angel of Creativity....

You choose the name for my latest painting!  She doesn't have wings, but she is an angel ... or goddess.
36X24" acrylic painting on canvas.  It evolved intuitively as I had an abstract that I'd thrown paint at before.  The face and the symbols came out of the initial spatters.  A fun way to create.... :)  Of course there are lots of dots!

FLY FREE!

FLY FREE is the name of this collage, and I like that idea very much. :) It's a 12x12" piece on canvas, layered paper and paint.

Copper wire rocks!

I made a simple bracelet with copper wire and red coral beads. I just love the color combo they create. Check out the rock upon which I placed the bracelet for the photo. The rock is from Cayuga Lake in the Fingerlakes region of New York. I used to live by that lake and seemed to have a knack for finding rocks with holes in them. Ages and ages ago, there were creatures that got trapped in the forming rock and the softer part they presented got soaked away by water and time. That's the "scientific" explanation, but some believe the holes are magical. I've never had a magical experience with them, but they sure are beautiful! That's enough for me. I have a few I brought with me to Florida, where there are no REAL rocks, only soft sandstone.

Bailey was sitting on my table in my studio trying to get to this crazed bird that was pecking on my window every 20 minutes for the entire day. It's a Summer Tanager, native to Florida. I got a picture, but the quality is not good. It's been coming back now and again, pecking, pecking. I especially don't like the early morning pecking!

Creative ideas taking flight...

Got myself into a collage last night, and it was FUN! I was going to paint, but I had this collage that had been partially finished sitting around. I got the idea on how to finish it, so I went for it. Sometimes it takes time to get a piece just the way you like it.

Project underway....

I started a collage, couldn't get anywhere with it so I painted over it with these "angel wing" birds. In my art journal I had doodled an angel whose wing morphed into a bird. Then I thought I'd try it on a larger surface with more birds, and this is what I came up with so far. It isn't finished, but it's fun to see the progress, though I admit it's another weird painting....