Watercolor Roses

This is watercolor and that's a change for me - I usually paint with acrylics. But this was definitely fun to try.  It's a wet into wet technique and it is fun to watch the colors flow and blend. Kind of meditative to do.  I used my Koi pan watercolors and a waterbrush. So much less to set up and clean up than with acrylics. I just needed my paper, watercolor set, waterbrush and a paper towel!  Simple.

These watercolor roses in a heart shape was a fun try at a tutorial video from Melanie April Art.  She is a watercolor artist and has some amazing art work and classes. If you want to learn watercolor- check her out!

I need more practice for sure, but this was fun and I have painted more with watercolor since I photographed this. As I write this I want to go try it again.  :)

What's working for you lately?

Hope you have a creative weekend! Thanks for stopping by and for your comments.

-Laney

Shield

This week I am sharing a painting and a couple of journal pages based on lessons from TAOS (The Art of Sisterhood - an online class from Kara Bullock Art.)

This painting is large for me - 18 x 22 with an "icon" type look/folk art feel.  As usual, I went my own way rather than trying to copy what the teacher did in the lesson. But it was a great lesson by Lauren Rudolph.

Next up is a journal page.  This was based on a lesson from Tiare Smith.  Lots of writing in the layers - a great art journaling technique.

And last but not least is a journal page from a lesson by the lovely Jackie Barragan. About love and forgiveness.  Lots of fun layers of collage and paint and writing in this one.

Sometimes art journaling is about making a pretty piece. Sometimes it's more about the process and thoughts behind it.

Well that pretty much covers my art week. I'd love to see what you have been working on!

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday.

Redheaded Girl in Flowers

Sharing this redhead today. I have been exploring painting flowers along with faces and completed this canvas a few weeks ago. Took me some time to get it photographed and edited for the blog. Redheads have turned up on my canvases several times lately (like in this painting). Not sure where that's coming from but I'm going with it!

Still working on faces/skin tones etc. So much to learn.  ;)

Hope your week included some time for creativity! Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to seeing what you have created this week.

-Laney

Linking up with PPF.

Mixed Media Painting

This week I am sharing this painting I did in a lesson by Deanna-Strachan-Wilson in the class The Art Of Sisterhood. It was a great lesson about painting a story from your life and I love her mixed media approach to creating a painting.

There is really something therapeutic (and so much fun!) about creating in mixed media and using an intuitive approach. I started with heavy watercolor paper and included acrylics, collage, pencil, colored pencil. I scraped and brushed and rubbed paint in with my fingers. Very therapeutic and tons of fun! This painting is about 12 x 16.

Thanks for reading and commenting! I hope you are having a creative week.  :)

I'd love to see what you have been up to.

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday.

Girl and Owl

Girl and Owl

Whew! I've been busy on my little blogging break. Still enjoying the classes I am doing but taking some time to paint things I want to paint in addition to the lessons. This painting called "Girl and Owl" is one of my recent works.  I used acrylic and mixed media on watercolor paper. This is the third painting with an owl that I have done, lol!  We can hear owls outside at night and somehow they are speaking to me and ending up in my paintings. Owls have such a captivating face with their intense forward-facing eyes.

I wonder what they are saying to each other when we hear them at night? They are definitely mysterious and a little eerie. What we have outside are barred owls.

Here is a link to a short Youtube video so you can see one and hear it's call.

Thanks for stopping by. I'd love to see what you have all been up to!

Hope you are having a creative week!

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday.

More from Let's Face It.

I am still loving the LFI 2017 class with Kara Bullock (and a bunch of other instructors), but I decided to sign up for another class with just Kara in order to get more lessons from her. This painting above is my version of one of the lessons in her Nesties Class. I did this painting on canvas which was a nice change from working on paper and wood cradle board.

This painting is from Let's Face It 2017 - a lesson with Kara. It was lots of fun to bring so much color into the background.  This is on wood cradle board and I have to say I love working on these boards. There is something I love about the hard, smooth surface.  It just feels good to work on. But hen again canvas is fun, too. I guess I don't have to pick a favorite.  ;)

I can highly recommend Let's Face It or any class with Kara - she's a fantastic teacher!

Hope you are having a creative week!

-Laney

Linking up with PPF.

Rooster Painting

Rooster painted in Angela Anderson lesson

As I continue with my painting class for learning to paint faces I find I need a change from portraits from time to time. I do seem to have a "thing" for chickens.  I attribute that to the fact that my grandparents had a farm so I grew up with chickens, cows, pigs - there was even a goat for a while. And yes, my grandmother was one of those women who would go outside, catch a chicken, cut its head off and cook it for Sunday dinner. The expression "running around like a chicken with it's head cut off" has it's basis in reality. But let's not get too gruesome! This is about art and the beauty of a fine feathered rooster.

So as I was looking around for some painting inspiration I discovered Angela Anderson and her Youtube channel.  She has free acrylic painting lessons and I was delighted to find this Rooster class. If you are not familiar with Angela's channel I suggest you check it out. Her lessons are the "paint along with the instructor" type of lesson and I find those fun to do.

Rooster in my sketchbook

I used a mixed media spiral bound sketch book to paint in. I gessoed the paper first and it did not curl.  I used Liquitex and Golden acrylics. We did the wooden boards first. Learning to paint the boards of the barn was as much fun as painting the rooster!

Rooster Detail

The next step is to paint a chicken from my own photo using my own design. So we'll see how that goes!

I hope you've all had a creative week!  Thanks for stopping by - I'd love to see what you have been working on.

-Laney

Finding and Going Your Own Way

Finding and Going My Own Way

In Let's Face It 2017 we had a lesson from Effy Wild - which I did not follow!  Effy taught us a complex layering process - which was beautiful - but I wanted to use different media (her layers included spray inks and I just don't like them) and I did not make nearly as many layers as Effy did. In the end she "hid" the background in places and had it show through in others. I liked it showing through all over.

  

I really went my own way with this - it doesn't  resemble Effy's piece, I didn't really follow her instructions but I very much enjoyed her lesson and welcomed the inspiration.

Finding and Going My Own Way- detail

And isn't that what art is all about anyway? Finding and going your own way? 

Teachers and classes provide a wealth of information, techniques, and inspiration. These are very valuable things. Copying teachers and other artists is an incredible way to learn. But we must move from copying to finding our own voice and making the techniques and materials our own as we give expression to our own creative ideas - finding and going our own way.

Hope you are all finding and going your own way to having a great and creative weekend. As always, I'd love to see what you're working on.   :)

-Laney

Let's face It 2017 Week 4

Still loving this class.  The above painting is my effort in a lesson from Juna Biagioni. Her style is much softer and looser than mine - though loosening up is one of my goals. Despite my not being very "loose" it was a very interesting technique to learn.  The focus for these first few weeks of the class is on values and once the values part of this lesson was completed we learned about glazing for a touch of color. Obviously I am having difficulty with the eyes more than anything else. I had to redo them multiple times and finally had to decide this one was finished.  :)

Hope you are all having a great week! I'd loveto see what you have been working on.

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday

Let's Face It 2017 Week 3

Let's Face IT is proving to be quite an inspiring course.
This is my version of a great lesson from Kara Bullock. Our focus is on values for several weeks, thus the black and white.  I love Kara's technique and really want to attempt this again - need more practice! This was also my first time to paint on a wood cradle board and I liked working on that surface.

I got a better likeness to the reference photo in this sketch than I achieved in the painting.  But so far this is a fantastic learning experience!

Hope you have all had a great week! And I would love to see what you have been working on.  :)

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday

Princess of the Moon

I was inspired by Pia Rom"s Mix It Monthly Challenge this month. The theme is "texture of waves, water and pirates."  No pirates here but the "texture" of water caught my eye and my imagination. I knew I wanted this woman in the painting, then I added the moon and the next thing I knew she was holding the moon and became the "princess of the moon."  Looks like the powers of the princess and the moon are really whipping up the waves and the wind! I love when things "appear" as you are creating and the story just comes together like that.

Above is a process pic. Just getting the girl started. The waves need more work, too. I initially thought I wanted her dress to be blue before deciding that she should be wearing the same shimmery white as the moon.

Mixed media - Acrylic and colored pencil on mixed media paper. 9 x 12 inches. 

Hope you are having a creative week!

-Laney

Linking up to Mix It Monthly, Art Journal Journey - Every journal page tells a story and Paint Party Friday.

Let's Face It 2017

My take on an exercise in lesson one from Kara Bullock in Let's Face It 2017

I signed up for Let's Face It 2017. This is a year long art class all about painting faces/portraits. It is led and hosted by Kara Bullock but includes 19 other teachers throughout the year.  I have been busy with these lessons. I started a couple of weeks late and have been playing catch-up with the two lessons that were already published when I joined so that I can be on schedule as the new lessons come out.

Lesson One involved sketching faces from several angles and I have enjoyed working on these faces in my sketchbook.

Profile sketch from Let's Face It 2017

If you are not familiar with this class or with Kara I recommend you check out her website.  The class is great so far and Kara is an excellent teacher.

So that's what I've been up to - and why I am late to the PPF party. I hope you have been creating something fun recently.  I'd love to see what you are working on.

-Laney

Watercolor Sketch Girls

I've been doing some sketching and "watercoloring" in my art journal and on some loose sheets of watercolor paper. A focus on flowers a few months ago, has given way to a focus on faces lately.

I do have a small studio in my home, but sometimes I prefer to be in the living room with my husband in the evenings. I often like to curl up on the couch - so messy, mixed media art journaling is not an option for those times.  Both our couch and carpet are off-white! So simple watercolor sketching is just the right thing.

I sketch with a permanent pen. I like black Pigma Micron Pens and Sharpie markers. I prefer the fine point pens. For Pigma Microns I like the .05. Then I use my travel watercolor set with a water brush for applying the color.  The water brush keeps everything neater with no chance for spilling a jar of water on the couch or carpet.  The watercolors blend and flow where you place the water and it's fun to watch the colors mingle.  :)

I'm working on shading with the watercolor. It's tricky sometimes and I am learning to "go with the flow" and let it be loose.  It's a different "feel" than acrylics.

But it's an enjoyable way to spend an evening while watching TV or talking, and it's a great way to fit some more creative time into a busy week.


I hope this inspires you to try something similar as a way of getting more creative time in your week.

Do you ever create outside the studio/dedicated art space?

-Laney

Happy Thanksgiving and PPF!

Happy PPF to all my Paint Party Friday friends!  I hope all of you in the U.S.A. had a Happy Thanksgiving.

This week I am sharing this little painting - about 4 x 6 inches. Mixed media on watercolor paper. Collage, acrylic, pencil and colored pencil, maybe some oil pastel??  LOL  I can't remember - I just grab whatever I think will work in the heat of the moment!

The background and her shirt ended up being almost the same color. Not what I was going for but I liked it after all in the end.  :)

Hope you all have a creative and enjoyable weekend!

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday.

Mixed Media Art Journaling Playtime

Sometimes there is nothing more fun (and therapeutic) than some mixed media art journaling playtime in the studio! So when I got the chance earlier this week I took advantage of a day for free play.

I started by pulling out my Gelli Arts printing plate and loaded it up with  pastel pink acrylic. Then I layed some yarn down on top of the paint and pulled the first print. In this pic above you can see the print at the top and the gelli plate with the yarn and residual paint in the bottom half of the pic.

Following a few more prints to cover the paper and create some layers, I added some stenciling with more acrylic paint.

After adding some watercolor, colored pencils, stabilo pencil and paint pens I ended up with this.

I made another page in the same manner with a different color scheme but I have had a thing for pink and red lately so this is my favorite.  This is a larger piece of watercolor paper so I'm not sure what this will end up as. Maybe a journal cover, or background, or maybe for cards.

Oh - And it passed inspection as you can see below . . .

Cats can be pretty particular, you know  ;)

I hope you got a chance for some fun and messy art play this week.

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday.

Golden October Journal Page

Hello everyone! Hope things are going well for you. Today I am sharing an art journal page.

I completed this journal page for Art Journal Journey. It's my first time to join this challenge and the theme this month is Indian Summer/Autumn/Golden October. I must admit that this was a hard one for me. I don't use orange and yellow all that much - I prefer reds and pinks and blues and greens. This is my second try at a page that follows the prompt, the first one being an orange-y/yellow-y/red-ish/brownish blah background that I just found so uninspiring. I put it in the closet and closed the door! 

A few days later I decided to start again. 

I began by pulling out one of my favorite handmade stencils and painted gesso onto the page through the stencil.

I had used some red Dylusions spray ink on this stencil and so the gesso reactivated it giving me a tint of pink - which I liked.  :)
Then I painted the background a soft yellow, added some darker yellow and white paint through a stencil and scribbled on the page with a pencil. You can see the pink tint near the bottom of the page.

While that was drying, I gathered some collage. The face is from a Teesha Moore collage sheet and the other is cut from scrapbook paper scraps.

I needed to add more contrast (and more of my preferred colors) so I used red oil pastel to add color to the dress.

By then the background was dry so I glued the collage down with matte medium.

But it still needed some more work so I let it sit for a few days until I found this quote and added more collage to the border. I used some of my gelli printed papers for these border scallops. A few finishing touches and it felt complete.

I am glad I was able to finish the page using the prompt. It was a good exercise to find a way to make it work for me. The subject matter helped - I like making these girls - and starting out knowing I was going to make the girl motivated me. Adding pink and red made the color scheme more appealing. 

Yeah - pink and red . . . but not much orange! ;)

Happy October!

-Laney

Linking up with Art Journal Journey and Paint Party Friday.

Pink and Red Glitter House

Pink and Red Glitter House

This week I have  a new glitter house to share. This one is pink with a red roof and trim. It's based on a pattern by Howard Lamey which I modified a little.  I love adding some two story houses to the little village.  I decided to make shutters for the windows instead of window frames and I like how that turned out. The window panes are vellum colored yellow with a permanent marker and I used a white paint pen to draw the lines for the window panes.

I have also been drafting another pattern of my own. It is so much fun to create your own patterns. Once the pattern is all adjusted and finished it will be ready to make up in cardboard.

And last but not least is a journal page in progress.  I am trying to follow the prompts for Art Journal Journey this month - which is a bit of a challenge for me since I don't usually use a lot of orange and yellow. ;)  This is my second attempt at getting started. But adding a bit of pink and red is helping me along.
Do you ever have trouble finding your groove when following prompts?

Hoping your week has been creative and that you have a creative weekend too!

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday.

Another Art Journal Page

Hope everyone has had a great week.  

This week I am showing another art journal page from my Journaling by Fives journal.  (You can see more pages here.) Paint, collage, pen work - lots of layers.  Sometimes it's hard to share what you do in your art journal (and other creative work.)  At least it is for me. I enjoy sharing here and with PPF, but it's hard to share with people who may not understand or appreciate art journaling/art/etc. Seems like I was trying to tell myself it's OK.

Do you have a hard time sharing your work?

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday.

Art Journal Pages and Halloween Houses

I have still been creating glitter houses, but am taking a break from Christmas houses to make a few for Halloween.  But I thought I would share some art journal pages this week. A friend wanted to see some pages from my participation in Journaling by Fives by Shannon Green.

So here are a few of my completed pages.  I wanted to use little drawings and sketches I had done for the images instead of magazine images, etc.

And here is a look at the Halloween houses project in process.

These are purchased paper mache houses from the craft store that I have painted and just begun to decorate. I am using flickering tea lights inside the houses. I don't like flickering lights for the small Christmas houses but the flicker looks cool in the Halloween houses. 

Below is one I am making from cardboard - the same way I am doing the Christmas glitter houses - but in a larger size to go with the store bought houses.

My husband saw these skeletons at the craft store and had to have them - so they are part of the display, too. It's hard to see in the above photo, but we are planning to have two skeletons inside the larger house. I sent him outside to find some little tree branches that we could use as trees and I love the ones he came back with. We used modelling clay to help them stand up.  The glitter looks a bit better on this purple house in real life than it does in the photo, but I am going for a broken down, shabby look.  There are jack-o-lanterns, witches, bats and black cats in the works . . .

Well, that's what I have been up to. I'd love to see what you have been creating this week!

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday.