Thursday, December 27, 2012

Winter Illustrations


Above, an illustration
of the Snowball Champ
also known as my grandson~
a few days ago, enjoying the snow!
He had an awesome 'Mohawk' hat
with a Batman logo on the side.
He got a great deal of enjoyment throwing snowballs
at me...until he got me in the ear. Then I called a halt...
We laughed and giggled like crazy.



Above, an illustration of the
Snow Princess, inspired by my granddaughter.
Her sweater boot tops sported 
red sequin polka dots!
Not an exact replica of her outfit,
but it was the great color combo of
red and light blue.




Above, a color copy of a watercolor that I did
quite a while back. Came across the copy while doing
some sorting of piles of papers, and glued it into
my Smash book.  A good way to use random stuff
that is 'too good to throw away.'

Not a lot of art happening over the holidays...
just enjoyed family, and did lots of cooking and
enjoying treats! So good to have my children and
grandchildren here for Christmas Day!
I hope your holiday was joyous too.


Saturday, December 22, 2012

Angels and Mary: Reprise


Warrior Angel
Pen drawing and watercolor

Music Angel
Pen and watercolor


Sharpie pen drawings
after Berlinghieri




Pen, watercolor, collage


Theotokos:
She who gives birth to God.


Virgin of Guadalupe


Angel collage, above.
Angel is from a Christmas card.
The stained-glass window is a photo
of a local church.


Pen and watercolor.





A work in progress-above.
after Pavlovich~
'The Mother of God in the Garden of Paradise.'
I will add watercolors to this after the holidays.
 


Above, my rendition of The Black Madonna, 2009.



Above, ball point pen and watercolor of
ornaments on the Christmas tree.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas
and a joyous year!

Friday, December 7, 2012

Give Away Re-Draw. Journal Pages Too.


The Ephemera Give Away winner 
did not respond to my emails. After waiting
over a week, I am following Elizabeth's advise
and am re-drawing from the comments
originally received.

The winner is
(closing my eyes and drawing a slip of paper...
going low-tech here)
HALLE!

Congratulations! I'll be visiting
Halle's blog with the news and sending
out the goodies soon...

 
Art journaling on scrapbook paper.
Paint, Sharpie pen and white gel pen.


More drawing on scrapbook paper.


The brain image is a magazine clipping.
The flowers are my drawing/paintings.


A quote and a piece of popcorn bag.
Bottom circles are page reinforcements.


An unfinished page.
The border is a photo copy of 
a drawing I did, then colored with markers.
Inspired by illuminated manuscripts.


Flower inspired.
Magazine clippings and my drawings
on a brown envelope at page bottom.


 Vogue inspiration!
I love the magazine's graphics and layout.
I know...the clothes are often crazy,
and the models unnaturally thin.
It is another world...of money,
glamor, and designers.
Always interesting to see what the
designers come up with...more Art than
what most people would actually wear.



Wish I had the nerve
(and the pocket-book)
to wear shoes that look like
vintage cars!

Monday, November 26, 2012

Journal Pages and Give Away Winner



There is a fine line between
'Art Envy' and
'Inspiration.'
Some days there are
negative thoughts to contradict
 any sense of accomplishment.
But just keep writing and drawing.
About anything.
Everything.
Significant or just silly... 




Thanks to all who entered the
300th Post Give Away!
The winner of the ephemera is
"mothertiger."
I wonder how long it takes for a
padded envelope to reach Australia?
We will find out...


Hope your day is filled with color
and inspiration!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Ephemera Give Away



This is post number 300!
To celebrate, I am doing a
Give Away.
One person will win a package
of over 40 pieces of ephemera,
shown above and below.
The largest pieces are 9 1/2" x 7 1/2".




The Give Away Package includes
vintage wall paper, scraps of fabric, papers,
numbers, scrapbook papers, and die cut labels.
 These are things that I use in my
art journals, of which I have enough to share. 
And I expect I will discover more things to add
to the package that are not shown here!
Some labels that I drew and painted
will also be included, below.


If you would like to be in the drawing,
please leave a comment on this post.
Make sure your contact information is accessible-
either shown on your blog, or leave your email address
in your comment.  I will draw the winner's name
on Sunday at midnight, Nov. 25, 2012.
I will post the winner's name on my blog the following week.
 Thanks to all my visitors, especially those
who leave comments. You are an encouragement!
It is a terrific way to 'meet' other artists...I love
finding new blogs and websites, and see
what creative things you are doing.
Leave a comment, and good luck!


Friday, November 9, 2012

Pop Ups and Links






Experiencing some problems with my blog,
and would appreciate any suggestions
on how to fix them!

A bunch of links have been created in
my blog text which I did not put there.
Sorry for the annoyance of this!
I have noticed it on some other blogs too...
will try to figure out how to remove these
as I did not authorize these ads.
Also getting a lot of pop-up ads 
on my computer, so will have to do some
investigation and 'house-cleaning.'

Any ideas on how to deal with this
would be very appreciated!
Please leave a comment if you
know how to fix this...I would love your help!

***

Post script:
I changed my password,
scanned the computer with two different
anti-virus programs and neither helped.
We finally just removed the FireFox browser
from the computer and are now using Chrome,
which seems to be working much better.
I did remember to make a list of all of my
Bookmarks on Firefox before we took it off,
so I'll still be able to find all the 
cool blogs and sites I've found.
What are your tips for preventing or fixing
a similar issue?


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Collages: Fabric, Painted Paper Scraps


The little Bits and Pieces
journal is filling up.
Cover collage shown above.



Two collages in the Bits and Pieces journal,
(above and below) using painted papers
and scraps. I drew a 'wonky' bit of
pen border around the collages.



Below, Smash book pages.
The Smash book products seem to be
an outgrowth from the scrapbooking industry,
with a little more randomness. Basically 
I just use it as an art journal, enjoying the
spiral bound cardstock pages.



If I like the background provided, I 
incorporate it into the page. If not,
I just cover it up.

These two pages also are scraps of stuff
I've saved as "too good to throw away."
The fashion drawing came from notes
that I carried around in my purse until it was
full, then it became collage fodder.


Notes to myself, sketches from Christmas projects,
scrapbook papers and stickers, patterned tape,
a pocket made from an envelope.



The flap of the pocket open and the
loose leaf notes partially shown.
I still need to finish the bit of collage
on the inside of the pocket flap.
The sketch shown was for a fabric collage
that I made for gifts in 2010, and I've 
noticed that the image has turned up
on Pinterest. You can see the post here.

Tag, you're it!


Sunday, October 28, 2012

Watercolor Journal Pages



Watercolor borders for visual journal pages.
These are actually the back of scrapbook
papers. Not an ideal surface to paint on, 
but flattened out ok after drying and pressing
under a stack of books.

I painted this from a view from my living 
room window. Covered the back of my couch
with a piece of paper and set my journal,
watercolors and bowl of water on the couch
back.  I stood up on my knees and
sketched with pen, then added watercolors.


The left side of the spread
with text added...



How do you overcome
a gray day, or a "gray mood?"


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Visual Journal Pages~collage and painting


Collaged visual journal page.
Watercolor background with drawings
in Sharpie pen. Fabric and my own
drawings are glued onto the page.




Scrapbook paper background,
quotes, and drawings with
watercolor.




Acrylic and watercolor both
find a home in my journals.
***
Below, an atc for
Halloween: "a murder of crows."
I discovered that a flock of crows can
also be called a 'murder.'  It's a term
used in the book I'm reading right now-
"A Dance With Dragons" by
George R.R. Martin.
Awesome medieval novel!



Journal pages in a smaller
journal, drawn in pencil



inked in with Sharpie pen,
colored with watercolor pencils


then water applied.
The color gets brighter when
the water is applied, and
often the pencil strokes are
still visible in the finished piece.



What are you working on?


Friday, October 19, 2012

Collage


"An Eye For Flowers"
5" x 7" collage
Painted papers, vintage ephemera
on watercolor paper.



"Adjusted"
5" x 7" collage
Painted papers and vintage ephemera
on watercolor paper.
Brown paper has touches of gold
mist which does not show in the scan.
(Click on any image to enlarge)