Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Thoughts for the New Year









Still drinking from my Santa mug...and wondering
when I will find the energy to take down the
Christmas tree.  Every year we joke about making
it a Valentine tree...
Linking up with Elizabeth's Tea Tuesday party
and having some green tea.

Best wishes to all for a 
Happy and Prosperous New Year!




 ♦  ◘



Monday, December 22, 2014

Tuesday Greetings!

Watercolor and Sharpie pen 

Wishing you all a 
wonderful holiday...
whatever holiday you
celebrate.


Week 54- Documented Life Project:
put arrows on your page

May you celebrate it with
those you love, in joy and
thanksgiving.


Art journal page- travel mug; watercolor & pen

Linking up with the T Tuesday
link party, and having some
green tea  in my travel mug
this morning.
Have a jolly week!






Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Tree Trimmings



Sharing some stitched ornaments on our
Christmas tree...




I love making little ornaments, usually
at least one each year.  The
tree is getting pretty full, and that's
the way I think it should be!




Several years ago I started making
ornaments in primarily red and white.




We have an eclectic assortment of
glass balls, country style, cross-stitched,
crocheted, and hand-made ornaments
from artistic friends.  And of course the
traditional homemade ornaments that
my children's kindergarten teacher made
with their photos on them. Where, oh where
did those little children go?!
All grown up...




Well yes, I do like some pink with
my red and white...




A lot of Santas make an appearance 
every year.




Linking up with the T Tuesday party
over at Elizabeth's.  Here is my
Santa mug and its contents:
 green tea with lemon and ginseng.




Ho! Ho! Ho!
It's almost Christmas!










Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Tutorial: Doodle a Girl's Face



Here's a tutorial on how to draw
a girl's face. Just for fun...
you can click on any picture 
for a larger view.


Start with a U-shape--
the top ends are flared out a bit
instead of parallel.


Add a short diagonal line in the center
of the U- top to bottom and left to right.
Mine is a tiny bit below center...that's ok.
This is the nose. Trust me. It will work out.



Add some curving lines above the nose for
the tops of the eyes.  They curve up a bit at the
outside edges...suggesting eyelashes.



Then add a black dot under each eyelid, and a few
extra eyelashes on each side.  Make sure each 
dot is on the same side of the 'eye.'  Both on 
the right, or both on the left, or both in the center.



Add a flattened "M-shape" beneath the nose
for the upper lip.



Add a flattened U-shape beneath the upper lip
to create the lower lip. Add eyebrows above the eyes.



The beginning of the suggestion of hair. I chose
a side part for her hair style. And I prefer
asymmetrical. Too perfect and the same on both
sides just doesn't look right to me...



Add another curving line for the top of the hair, and
some shorter curving lines to suggest the part
 in the hairstyle. Notice how high up
 the hair goes.  The eyes should end up
being half way between the chin and the top of the head.
A common distortion that beginners make is that
they don't draw enough space or volume 
between the top of the eyes and the top 
of the head.



Add a few more squiggly, curvy lines 
for additional hair, extending the lines
 you originally drew.



Add lines to portray the neck.  These are
 placed beginning/touching the jaw line, and 
 placed below/at about the center of the eyes.




Add more undulating curving lines for hair, 
varying the curls at the end of the strands.
It's more interesting if some curve out
and some curve in.

That's it! You've drawn a cute 
female face, and it wasn't hard.  Just
keep practicing and have fun.  You could
add shading or color, flowers in her hair,
or even a halo.  Let me know how you do

T is for Tutorial today...linking up with
Elizabeth for T Tuesday. Sharing my
coffee in the snowman mug today...


and another taste of 
Christmas Greetings!








Tuesday, December 2, 2014

A Taste of Christmas



I worked on some watercolor greeting cards
this week.  Above, "Antique Doll Greetings."





"Play Some Reindeer Games"...
like monopoly!
It's always fun to mix up the
fonts, add shadows and dots,
and ignore the sometimes wonkiness
of the shapes and spacing...





An Artist Trading Card from a previous year.
The photo is a bit blurry -- the scanner doesn't
like 3 D embellishments.  This was my
'pink and light green' year...and I will
glue a button on just about anything.





My nod to a beverage for Tea Tuesday
is a 'revival' of a collage in my 
Scrappy Green Journal.
This wonderful gift from Elizabeth
already had random items 
adhered to the pages (including the
IceCafe' shown above) and then I
added even more stuff to the pages.
I do prefer coffee over tea, especially
if I add chocolate to the coffee!
Join Elizabeth for T Tuesday,
and see what projects the rest
of the participants are doing.