Tag: art workshop

Are We to Paint What’s On the Face, Or What’s Behind It?

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first Icontrast Are We to Paint Whats On the Face, Or Whats Behind It?

Lately I’ve been insanely inspired by fashion illustration (and just plain illustration) after discovering Danny Roberts and his amazing work.  After looking through all of his work and hours of illustration images, my brain was so full the other night I simply could not sleep.  Though my body lay tired, my mind created wild illustration art.  Finally in the wee hours of the morning after getting only 2.5 hours of sleep, I surrendered and went into the studio to try my hand at the images in my head.  Thus, my first illustration piece was born.

I’m deeply fascinated by drip watercolor after seeing images from the likes of Petra Dufkova and Agnes Cecile.  Watercolor is not a medium I’m used to working with, but I’m really pining to learn how.

It’s a journey discovering who I will be as an artist.  Sometimes I feel the pressure to establish what sets me apart, and what my style will be.  There are so many artists like Misty Mawn, Juliette Crane, Lisa Ferrante, when you see their work, you know whose it is immediately.  I want to get there.  But right now I’m enjoying the journey of discovering and playing with different mediums and styles.  I’m pretty sure I’ll always be a portrait artist, mainly.

Pablo Picasso Portrait of a Poet quote e1327717190492 Are We to Paint Whats On the Face, Or Whats Behind It?

Which brings me to discover the quote by Pablo Picasso that I’m in love with…

“Are we to paint what’s on the face, what’s inside the face, or what’s behind it?”

There is so much a portrait can emote, whether realism (not my forte), impressionism, or expression painting.  Are we trying to capture the details of what one looks like, or are we trying to capture the essence of them?  I’m in love with the idea of the latter.

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~ I Am Here Poem ~
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January 27th, 2012
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Shadow and Light | Opposition Equals Beauty

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impressioncrop Shadow and Light | Opposition Equals Beauty

impression IIIstraighten Shadow and Light | Opposition Equals Beauty

I may not be the best, but I’m having fun painting!  We were instructed to do an impression portrait today, which I’ve never done before, and I cheated some.  The biggest difference to achieve impressionism is to dab your brush on, not pull it or scrub it to move the paint around.  I did about half and half.  Many times through the process I wanted to throw her away, telling myself I suck and who do I think I am trying to be an artist?  In order to get the end result, many ugly layers must go down first, to build up color and depth to make it interesting.  If we just painted one flat color (like the color of flesh) it would not be interesting and would have no shadows or light.

Kind of like life, I guess.  All of our shadows and all of our light make our beautiful selves.  Often the most interesting people are full of adventure and bumps in the road – interesting in life and art.

process collagesmall e1327539105843 Shadow and Light | Opposition Equals Beauty

I started out with a simple contour drawing – a clean slate, new to life.  Next I built up the dark areas to create shadows – the bumps and bruises along the path of life.  Then came the the light, though by no means pretty sitting right on top of the darkness.  Yeah, at this point I wanted to cry and forget about the whole thing.  How could these two worlds of shadow and light make anything pretty?  It’s when you start adding even greater light (white) to keep pulling out those highlights and blending with the dark areas.  We don’t want to cover up the dark, because we need it as a part of us forever, to make our light noticeable and brighter.  Even after, we still have to go back in and shade the areas that have become too washed out.

It’s a constant process of making sure our shadows aren’t too heavy to let any light shine, but also to make sure that we don’t completely cover up our shadows with light, because we need opposition in all things to appreciate beauty.

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January 25th, 2012
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Woodland Adventures

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photo 94crop Woodland Adventures

close up of my last journal page girl

photo 951 e1327365260529 Woodland Adventures

journal exercise

photo 97crop e1327365385921 Woodland Adventures

on our way to church Sunday

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the road less traveled

The last week we’ve had our first glimpse of the challenges of living at the top of a mountain in the woods!  While absolutely beautiful when it snows, we really do get buried.  Thankfully we’ve worked it out with our neighbors to clear our long, steep driveway when they clear theirs.  Although, that does not guarantee that we will make it up the hill if we leave and the snow dump happens while we’re gone.  A few nights ago, we could not get up the last street to our house in our two wheel drive car (why didn’t we take the truck?!) and were at the mercy of a very nice passerby who led us to a safe place to leave our car and then drove us home.  This, after helping a couple of others before us.  I love how people pull together when needed.

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January 23rd, 2012
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Art Journal Page of a Highly Sensitive Person

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12 01 20 Journal Page e1327179890481 Art Journal Page of a Highly Sensitive Person
Art Journal Page

Today’s art journal page is a combination of two assignments from Misty’s workshop.  I’m really happy with the color palette and some of the new techniques I tried.  This did not stitch together very well at first attempt in GIMP – but it’s too time consuming to try to get it perfect!  Down the trunk of the tree it says ‘worthy’.

After seeking out and reading some materials on the subject, I have learned that I’m a Highly Sensitive Person and subsequently found this quote by Pearl S. Buck, which I’ve incorporated in my girls wind up thingy behind her.

“A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive.

To him… a touch is a blow,
a sound is a noise,
a misfortune is a tragedy,
a joy is an ecstasy,
a friend is a lover,
a lover is a god,
and failure is death.

Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create – - – so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating.”

Everything in me resonated with this so much.

See if you are a highly sensitive person, and learn more about it by taking this Are You Highly Sensitive quiz.  I score 24 out of 27!  Being a highly sensitive person does not just mean you are hurt by people or offended easily – it has more to do with over-stimulation of lights, noises, smells being overwhelmed by too much going on around you, sensitive to violence and other people’s moods (and taking that energy on), having a rich inner world and feeling everything very deeply.  If you or your child are a HSP, it would be good to know so there is understanding and ways to set things up in life differently to assist.  HSP is often mistaken for being shy or overly introverted.

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~ I Am Here Poem ~
Shadow and Light | Opposition Equals Beauty
Are We to Paint What's On the Face, Or What's Behind It?
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January 21st, 2012
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Art Journaling, Symbols, and Cryptic Messages

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12 01 13 journal assignment scan contrast small e1326847658663 Art Journaling, Symbols, and Cryptic Messages

This art journaling assignment from Misty Mawn’s workshop was really hard for me – because we had to get loose, sloppy, and intuitive.  I’m trying to unlearn being precise and specific.  The assignment was to begin writing what we’ve learned so far.  So far in life, in our workshop, in anything.  My first freak out was where on the paper to write this.  I knew I’d be drawing a portrait over the top of it, so I decided on a circular pattern for the writing exercise.

The numbers represent the years of my life – all of them that I’ve lived so far, how long I hope to live (and how long I hope my love to live – we are passing on at the same time, you see).  I circled years that were impactful or especially life-changing – whatever came up for me in that moment.  We couldn’t over think it and we were instructed to go with our first impulses.  I look back and wonder why I didn’t circle other numbers, that in hindsight, were very life-changing.

We were instructed to doodle our favorite shape, and I found myself laying down the symbol of infinity.  I love that.  I am an eternal being, so my ages and life stages are only markers of times and places – not a countdown to anything at all.  83.5 is not the end – only the transition to new and more experience.

The girl… just another expression of my soul.

I made my own art journals for this workshop, and it wasn’t until this assignment that I used it.  Yeah – too scared to mess it up with a bad painting or sketch.  So typical me – to have something for the beauty of it, but not to enjoy the use of it for fear I’ll ruin it.

photo 80edit2 e1326848612337 Art Journaling, Symbols, and Cryptic Messages never mind my not-put-together yet studio :-)

photo 81edit e1326848788224 Art Journaling, Symbols, and Cryptic Messages3 folios per signature, 3 signatures, coptic binding with hemp cord ~ 9X12
front, back, and binding covered in handmade cotton paper from World Market

I made my journal a little small.  One, I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, being my first one, and two, I wanted to fill it up to feel like I accomplished something and 18 pages sounded mighty doable!  Done, by the end of our workshop, I’m sure. ;-)

“There is only one story of our lives and we tell it over and over again,
in a thousand different disguises, whether we know it or not.”  ~Pam Houston

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The Problem of Pain | Blaming God
White Grey and Black * The World I Live In
Woodland Adventures
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January 17th, 2012
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