March Madness -well, Mad for Art, not basketball

As the title suggests, I don't enjoy the March basketball tournament. It did give me extra time to do some art, but I found myself being really "stuck" several times, as I tried to complete certain art journal pages. I don't know if I was stuck, because I was preoccupied with "life" events, and maybe I was suffering from some worry, or if it was just a busy month for me, and I couldn't fully wrap my head around the art I was trying to create, or if it was something totally different that I don't fully understand, but all I know, was that I struggled this past month to create.
Here are the next four weeks of pages in my Journal 52 art journal year long project. I hope you enjoy seeing them, and my thoughts behind creating them.

Week 9- Color Swatch

This week I had taken the Abstract class from Claudia Rossi, on Udemy. It was so fun! I loved her technique, and by just tweaking a few things, you can achieve some really different results. Because the prompt for this week was color swatch, I really wanted to stick with the same color family, so I used 3 different purple paints, and then blended with white, and outlined in black. The photos I took of my finished page, don't show all the movement and streaks that are in each segment. I tried rephotographing, and I still could not get a good picture of the details, so you just have to trust me that it is way more fabulous in person!

I apologize for the clips on the upper corners- I was trying to get a good picture and the breeze was blowing my pages shut.

Week 10 - Art For A Cause

Oh, I struggled with this prompt!!!!! I really wanted to create something that people who don't know anyone, or have never experienced mental illness, would be able to "feel" what it is like for someone with these illnesses, who deals with this on a regular basis. 

PLEASE NOTE: I do suffer from these illnesses, but I am doing well right now, so please don't call the authorities and tell them to watch me, because I am OK! 

I started this page with a collage paper background, then I added several kinds of washi tape, and created a bit of a grunge look to the page, then heavily distressed the page with inks. The girl is quickly sketched on a piece of old dictionary text, and I very faintly added a bit of color to her features, but I tried really hard to keep everything translucent, because I wanted her to have the feeling of invisibility. lastly I cut the words from dictionary pages, and pasted the phrase onto the page. I used a charcoal pencil to add shadowing around each word, and then the page was sealed with Mod Podge.

The words read: Please God, It's easier on everybody if I stay invisible. 

My causes: Anxiety, BiPolar, Depression

Again, please know that I am well regulated, and am sharing this as a way to bring awareness to those that may not fully understand.

Week 11 - Stars

I wanted to do this with a bit of a two-meaning page. I wanted to use actual stars in my page, but also wanted to include a "star" or celebrity, who I quoted with a saying that had some meaning to me. When I started my research on quotes, I had no idea who I would be featuring on my page, but found this great quote by Marilyn Monroe- "We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle".

It was a great quote, because we all have worth, and we all deserve to shine in our own way!

I started my page by heat embossing 3 different size star stamps that I have from Art Impressions, I have had them for years, and really enjoy that sketchy look. I used an antique gold glitter embossing powder. I then did a wash with my Bienfang Watercolor Brush Pens, in these colors: primary yellow, new gamboge, orange, vermilion and cadmium red hue. I used a bit of paper towel to take some of the wet and stark colors off, and achieve that blended look from one color to another. The image is an altered photo I found on Google images, and printed out on presentation paper, then I cut her out, outlined in black poster paint- adhered down with gel medium, then when dry, I added the hazy shadow with charcoal pencil, Added the quote with poster paint marker and then sealed with a final layer of gel medium.

Week 12 - A Day in the Life

Can I hate this page any more than I already do? I am letting go- that is the nature of art journaling- sometimes you get good ones and sometimes you don't! I started out with a tissue paper collage background- it was bright and fun and cheerful- so I doodled a bit with a black pen, to give it another layer of interest. I didn't hate it at this point, but then I got the grand idea to add a bunch of paper flowers. I was kind of going with the Donna Downey inspiration Wednesday where she added flowers all over the background, and then painted over them, creating a very chunky "mess". Well, it worked for her, but no- not for me. I didn't want to paint over my fun bright background, but adding all those bright flowers on top, just makes it look a little crazy- psychedelic even, and that is not what I had in mind. I then just took some tags and adhered them between the smaller flowers, and wrote down some of the things I do during the day. 

Here is the page. I don't like it at all anymore, but I am leaving it alone, because it was an experience, and that is OK with me.

Thanks for coming along with me on my recap of March journal pages. I am giving myself a pat on the back for sticking with this so long already. I am 12 weeks into this project, and it is only the beginning of April! I feel I have gotten to a milestone, because I have done year long projects before, but only a once a month requirement, and as of this week, I will have done a typical whole year project already and we are just starting on the month of April. Yeah! Hope to see you back here next month with my April offerings.

I welcome comments and suggestions, so if you can think of any great ideas to do something with this week 12 page, I am open to ideas!

NaNoJouMo day 25

Today's word is Gratitude. Very fitting being that it is Thanksgiving Day.
I am very blessed, and feel much gratitude for all my family and friends. It is wonderful to know that I have friends all across the globe. I know that Thanksgiving is primarily a US holiday, but I hope that all of you will take a moment to be thankful for all of your many blessings as well.
I sketched a package to represent my many blessed gifts.

NaNoJouMo day 24

Today's word is courage. I suppose you could say it takes courage to continue on, even when it gets hard. Today I sketched a kitten to go with my puppy from the other day.

NaNoJouMo day 16

Today's word is Divinity. The very first thing I think of when I hear this word, is the Candy that we make at Christmas time. I guess I am starting to get ready for the Holiday season, and have thoughts of Christmas on my brain. Here is my sketch for today.

NaNoJouMo day 14

Today's word is Portray. Today I worked on another sketch. I am finding the process a little more comfortable the more I do it. I think I will continue to practice my sketching and painting, as I am finding that it is a rewarding experience. Tomorrow I paint her.

NaNoJouMo day 11

Today's word Reverie was a very appropriate word considering today is Veterans Day. I did not create according to the word, but instead did another practice girl sketch. I do enjoy working on practice sketches, and have learned a lot doing so. I am still not sure what this page will turn out to be, but I will keep working on it a little at a time.

NaNoJouMo day 6

Today's word: Esoteric - I suppose all my posts and drawings are esoteric. Unless there are more of you out there that really do care and I don't know about it. I still maintain it is the process of creating and sharing is what has made me who I am, and not the acknowledgment of such. Either way, here is what I sketched today.

NaNoJouMo day 5

Today's word: Equanimity. Sadly I have to admit this word is not in my known vocabulary. So like any good curious soul, I looked it up. It means: composure, steadiness of mind under stress, a source of strength.
HUMMM! That is a great word. Now to see if I can make something out of it.

Well, I am not sure this is any representation of our word of the day, but I did keep my composure today as I was sketching. LOL

NaNoJouMo

NaNoJouMo stands for National Nonstop Journaling Month. Basically you do some kind of art journaling everyday for the month of November. To read the official beginning and specs on the subject check out d'blogala she is posting a new word ever day. The post about the inception of the idea is here: Intro
Today's word is Inception.

I am not necessarily working with the words, as of yet, but mostly my goal is to get something to paper each day. So today I worked on a doll face.

Feast or Famine

Well,
I know I don't blog out of obligation, but I feel like I have left you all hanging for quite awhile. I just haven't been doing much with my blog, yet I have been creating. I have just felt rather overwhelmed, and just didn't feel like I could catch my breath much less take the time to post regularly. So here is going to be a huge long post with tons of pictures of what I have been doing. Down at the bottom will be some sketches in progress, and ones that I have done just for fun, that I have been doing to practice my face structure and placement. I WELCOME any critique or suggestion, as I have only been sketching for a few months, and am picking this up on my own, and am by no means a seasoned artist. Many of these are in progress, and I feel I am "stuck" as to where to go next. I think you will see what I mean as you view them.

Here at the top is my first comfort doll- created for a Paper Traders swap, it is going to a special lady, who has been through many trials this past year, and was completely done by hand. Not one machine stitch! I purchase hand-dyed batiks for the materials, and hand-beaded the body of the doll. Then stamped the face, and beaded around it with two different tones of purple beads. (hard to see the different colors in the picture) Once I got all that done, I was able to sew the body shape together and stuff her. I then beaded her arms, and added a teapot for her to hold. I sewed some cream and gold ribbon around the seam where the front and back meet, to give it a sparkly edge, and to cover the stitching, and then gave her some keys for legs. Added a filigree heart for a pocket, and a special little poem inside.
It sounds quite simple, but I worked on it for 2 weeks straight. (I know I am kind of slow)
The next project is a Tip-In Round Robin page that I did for a friend (also a Paper Traders swap) the topic was the Romance of Train Travel. I have to say this was not an easy topic for me and the first couple of cracks at it Did Not turn out well at all, so I was way behind at getting this done! I am lucky that she was patient, and kind enough to wait for me to get my act together. I decided to go a totally different route, and I was so glad I followed my muse, because I am so happy with the results. I ended up using a really mucky painted background, but I think it really added to the aged look of the pages.
The sign in was to be a train ticket, so there is a picture of that as well. It ended up being a fun project once I got my head around it.


Ok~
Here are my sketchings. (click on the pictures to see the details) If you have any comments please feel free to express them. I welcome any help, as I am learning, and need so much guidance right now, so that I can progress and grow. Thanks so much!!!
~Letha

Concrete Angel

I am still working on Round Robin Journals- this one is for Susan. Her theme is How Great Thou Art, and is to create a page that showcases our own personal style.

I actually found this a little challenging, because I am not sure that I have a particular style. I think I am kind of "all over the place" with my art, and am inspired by so many different artists and artistic styles.

I have been striving to increase my sketching skills lately, and I have not been very comfortable in sharing them, because I don't feel they are all that "good." Then I realized that I am not doing art to "impress" other people, but to "express" what is in me.

So here is what I created for Susan. It was inspired by the song Concrete Angel by Martina McBride. It is a very sad song about child abuse, and I am not sure what it is about the song that draws me to it, but it has such a powerful and deep message.

The girl is done with several layers of different weights of pencil. I used my fingers for blending- I am sure there are better techniques, but this is working for me at the moment.

(If you want to see her details-you can click on the picture to see her larger.)

The wings started as a white handmade paper with a silver swirl pattern. I used gesso, and several weights of charcoals, pencils, and lots and lots of blending, to achieve the worn look.

The background paper was also altered with gesso washes, stamped images, distress inks, more color wash and then another coat of distress inks. I printed the words from the song onto tracing paper. I have not done this before, but all the vellum I have, is really heavy weight and I wanted it to be really light, so the images would show through. I had to spray it with fixative, because I used an inkjet printer, but I love the transparentness that it has.

I think it exudes a sense of peace.

Art Journal January DAY 6

This is my art journal January Day 6 - Self Portrait.

Wow- This was at first a really intimidating prompt. But the more I thought about it the more excited I got about it. The prompt was just the "excuse" and kick in the butt I needed to push me to try to do a realistic face sketch. I feel like now I need to keep going. I am not saying it is great, but there are parts of this sketch that I am actually kind of proud of. The funny thing is, I took SuziBlu's class on Petite Dolls, and she taught us about eyes, and the part I think I did the worst job on was the eyes. Somehow they are not level, and not the same size....Well, I won't go into it, but the part I really like, which is crazy, is my chin and actually my double, double chin. I really have a chin like that, and I think I captured it quite realistically. I know that sounds really bizarre, but hey, we all have parts of us that are "real" and I am not going to hide the fact that I have a poochy chin, so I might as well be real about it- right?

Anyway, here I am in all my sketchiness :0)