Trying Something New

This was something totally new for me.

 I began with a Canson canvas board

which I placed on my non-stick craft sheet.

I gessoed the entire canvas in gold 

from The Crafter's Workshop.

For color I used a little yellow from the

Golden Fluid Acrylic line.

 Mostly I used a paintbrush to add layers

 of various Golden colors.

I used my fingers to blend in some areas.

 Once the background was suitable,

I added some other colors with a brush,

stamps, and I even used some medicine

bottles stamped into an inkpad

to add some texture and design to

the background.

Paint pens added a lot to this design. My only problem is the white will not dry. It is a Sharpie paint pen which should dry, but it's been two weeks and that white is still wet to the touch. Other than that - - - this turned out great!
This week, try to think out of the box. Try something that is totally different for you. Be brave and go for it! You may just be surprised! Like I was!

Skyward

 I'm having so much with this art journaling

Facebook group I'm in!

I'm trying new things,

but still the hardest part for me is the

"journaling' part of art journaling.

 And of course, I'm running behind.

The prompt was birds.

I struggled with this for a week,

wondering what to do.

Then I was cleaning out my stamping drawers,

trying to get organized once again,

and I came across this little steampunk bird stamp.

And I knew that was the bird I would use.

I mixed that with a couple other stamps, did some tangling, and came up with a suitable quote from Leonardo Da Vinci. And called it done.

I will probably add more to this spread, but for now I am happy with it. And I got to use a bunch of product that I don't use very often.
This was built in my Strathmore Mixed Media journal. Background color is a variety of Golden Fluid Acrylic paints,  Tim Holtz Distress Inks, metallic rub-on color, regular Pitt Artist Pens, and metallic Pitt Artist Pens. Stamps are from a company called Deep Red. I also used: Derwent Inktense Pencils, microns, Sharpie fine point pens, Uni-ball Signo pens, gelly roll pens, and Copic alcohol markers.

My First Completed Face :)

So much fun I had today! I'm taking a year long class called Life Book and I am really just now getting into some of the lessons. (Now that the year is coming to a close soon.) This is the very first face I've ever completed! I tried one other earlier, but never finished it. So . . . yay, me!!!!

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I love these Dylusions Ink Sprays from Dyan Reaveley! I have no idea why this photo is so dark on the left side, but don't you just love those bright colors? At this point I noticed that dark green spot in the middle, and I knew it was going to be a problem. I needed to tone it down. Dylusions are very cool because you can reactivate them with water, which is what I did. I sprayed some water right on that dark spot, and lifted some of the color with a paper towel.

Then I had this, but needed to do more. So. More water . . . 

. . . and I was happy with this. I knew I'd be adding more water and it would probably lighten up some more. So I just kept on working. Layering and layering.

Next I started laying in some more color in that top section. This will eventually be hair, flowing and colorful.

A little bit of color here and there came from Golden fluid acrylics and water, just to add a pop and fill in some areas. And I used a couple stencils to add some texture.

And the scary part began!

Add a little color and keep on building.

So I missed a whole lot of steps in the photographing. Hahaha! Sorry. I just kept filling in color and 'protecting the face.' I wish I knew how many times Tamara Laporte said 'protect the face' in the class video. Haha! and she is so right!

Layer and build and detail. So much fun! Tam said it was like thoughts flowing from her mind. All the cool, imagination and creativity. I love it!

So much fun! Frankie is coming tomorrow, so the art-making will come to a halt for a few days. I kept a few projects held back so I would have something to post. Then I want to get back to making pretty colors and awesome ladies! Hahahaha!

Sprays and Acrylics

This was so much fun!!! Other than the fact it took me three sheets of paper to get this one to work.
I am taking an online, year long art class with Tamara Laporte. This is an experimental project I worked on today. I was really excited about this project. Tam had us using Dylusions Ink Sprays (which I love and have every color in the line) but Tam was showing us a different way to use the sprays than how I normally use them. And I have been loving this particular ink-dribble-runny-lines kind of look for quite awhile now. In fact, I have one pinterest board pretty much dedicated to this same style.
This project took me about 10 minutes, once I finally figured out what I was doing :).
Built on 140 lb mixed media paper, using Dylusions ink sprays, Goldens fluid acrylics, washi tape (yay!!!), pen, stamps, and a bunch of water! Love it! Now, on to the next project!