Tiny Art Series - Entry 12!

So I've hit a round dozen!! Doesn't sound so great now that I think about it. Maybe the goal should be 60 or something. Now THAT would be impressive.

This one is a pencil, marker, gel pen and colored pencil. I drew one fairly intricate branch with 5 flowers and 3 leaves and then manipulate/duplicated the image in Photoshop and layered it in multiple sizes to create the overall pattern.

I will hold true to the promise to create and post a grid/compilation of all 12 pieces here on the blog. But i'm also going to push forward to that lofty "60" goal as well!

Figure Drawing can be Fun

It has been all about figure drawing for me these past several days. Appreciation of the human form is healthy, right? Six packs don't hurt either. I think I finished this sketch in 10 minutes flat. I was enthusiastic. Or could it have been that I was anxious to move on to the next one? I'm not telling.

Tiny Art Series - Entry 11 + a BONUS!

It was such a gorgeous day today.... hot, but just fantastic. I worked on some large scale pieces I have yet to photograph, took a break for splashing in the slide pool thingy with the little guy, took a trip to Lowes to check out swingsets, more artwork. What could be better??

So I was ambitious and completed 2 little sketchy pieces of art for today's post.

The first piece is # 11 in the tiny art series. When I hit 12, stay tuned for the collage. That should be tomorrow if I stay on track. I did a quickie colored pencil sketch on my trusty cardstock, then scanned it in and messed around with it in Photoshop because, well, that's super-fun : )

This second piece is also a pencil sketch. I got 2 beautiful anatomy books this weekend and this is one of the first sketches that resulted. I couldn't resist.

If this evening's plans see fruition, then I will be posting a completed ink drawing I began weeks ago in tomorrow's post. Wish me luck!

Tiny Art Series - Entry 10

I thought it would be fun to do a wildly colorful portrait.

That's the only possible explanation I have for today's post! Faces are so fun, but I wanted a little free form action going on today. No rules. Bright, vivid expressionist heaven. Orange Eyelashes? You betcha.

Foot Fetish?

Bare feet are the best. The weather has been teasing us of late, but I feel absolutely gleeful at the imminent arrival of flip flop weather. What can I say? I'm a free-feet person. I hate socks, especially sleeping in 'em. It actually sends a chill up my spine to feel wool-clad feet between the bedsheets. So, here is my hippie homage to wonderous-ness of bare feet. The socks are packed away for the summer.

Pulled from the Archives

Mwah..Mwah...Mwah. My streak suffers today! No new art today. You will instead be treated to this piece from the archives. Its a hand-cut paper "tile" mosaic on canvas board in a custom salvaged barn wood frame built by my husband. The adorable thing about this piece is that my then-2-year-old son, Cooper, helped! We sat together for days affixing the tiles in that circular pattern. Coop would hand me the squares and happily tell me when I missed a spot or when I should "Go Faster!"
The tiles are all printed card stock arranged randomly and then glazed over to create the subtle bands of color. The whole thing was then dusted with metallic gold spray paint for a transparent shimmer and varnished for durability. It's pretty large too, about 24x36! There was a huge sense of satisfaction when I completed this. I never wanted to see a paper tile again. But, that was last year, and writing this is maybe giving me the bug again?

Look! It's Me!

...also had to share that sweet-sweet Tara at Handmade In Pa not only made me her featured artist for today, she also highlighted me in the article Top 10 Reasons To Shop Local and Buy Handmade! Please check 'em out. And Thank You Tara!!

I Think I am, I Think I am!

Do you keep a journal? I don't. But my art tablets and zillion notebooks for my endless to-do lists end up being even better. True, I do like me a list. But the real reason I fill notebook after notebook is because I am constantly jotting down thoughts, ideas, soundbites, sketches, doodles, compositions for new artwork and the like. In the midst of all this, I will look back to find little phrases or quotations surrounded by inked stars and exclamation points.....sooo middle school!

Last week, I put down one of these phrases on watercolor paper. It received so much positive attention, I decided I would make up some others in different color schemes. Hey, if the phrase makes ME smile, chances are, it might make a few others do the same? My friend, Linda, should know that the next one planned is "Easy-Peasy-Lemon-Squeezy." Though I'm not sure that's the "correct" spelling??

Pictured above is the one I completed tonight. It's an idea that's been pressing on my mind a lot lately. Clearly the answer to the question is that we should all determine for ourselves when we feel like we've made it; accomplished our goals. But how many of us TRULY live that ideal? And how many of us let others decide for us?

I'm gonna hang this one up in my office....and repeatedly offer up the same, good answer to myself. : )

Tiny Art Series - Entry 9

One part pencil drawing on card + One part Digital coloring = Dappled Light Butterfly?

Part of the purpose for me in posting a tiny piece of art everyday is to see what comes out of the very casual nature of "quick" art. The pieces are small and don't carry any of the earnest i usually put into a larger piece which has been carefully planned and composed. Seeing what comes out of my fingers when i just allow myself to doodle is very freeing. Sometimes i like the result and sometimes i don't. And sometimes, like today, i "sorta" like the image but need to give it a little digital boost.

Some people might say digital enhancement is a way of cheating. But i'm the sorta girl who says...."i don't care what's IN the cookie as long as it tastes good." For me, the end pretty much always justifies the means.

Tiny Art Series - Entry 8

Hmmm.....What things do I like? What shall I draw today? I like to sew and embroider. Yep. And I love colored spools of thread. I like a whole drawer full of 'em. And I like paisley. It's the perfect pattern; a little bit hippie, a little refined, a bit of eastern flair.

So that's what you get. Embroidered paisleys and thread. No deep, hidden meaning. Just 2 of my favorite things in pretty, bright colors. Happy Wednesday!

Tiny Art Series - Entry 7

Looking back on the Tiny Art Series so far, I realized I am doing a LOT of yellows. So I picked a blue cardstock purposely and went from there. This was a real test for my gel pens. The orange shows up! I might love gel pens? Why did I not get on this bandwagon earlier? So that's it for today. Excuse me while I go shop for odd colored gel pens online.....I mean, do some work!...yeah - work that's due tomorrow......work. (hehe)

Tiny Art Series - Entry 6

Well, at the end of a miserable, sick, unproductive week, I thought I should motivate myself to play catch-up tomorrow. I know, it's Easter. But I have some catching up to do. Posting new artwork always makes me feel accomplished. And i thought I could handle a mini tonight. So here is #6 in the series. When I get to 12, I'm going to post a collage of them all.

This one is done in gel pen on cardstock. It was fun. The gel pens are soooo smooth!!! I highly recommend. I'll be posting to my etsy site soon! You can get there by clicking here.

Once upon a time in nanny-land......

When you go through your stacks and get organized, you find some interesting things, like this. It's one of my earliest, maybe even THE VERY first of my children's pencil sketches. There is no way this one can go without a posting. And it was a timely find since I've been a sick puppy all week and have lapsed in my daily work. (excuses, excuses - grrrrrrrr!)

Anyway, everyone who knew me in college, also knew little Samantha. She was my precious little charge when I worked as a live-out nanny back in the day. I guess this portrait of her was a real indication of what my future would be. See the date on the bottom? Yep, that says 1996!? And here we are, 13 years later and I'm still capturing kids on paper and canvas.

You can snag a piece of history for yourself, if you like. Ya'll know where to find me.

Dang! Micron Pens are Teeny!

Today's post is a work in progress. At least, I think it's progressing. Ink work with all this fine detail is TE-DI-OUS. Don't get me wrong, it can be relaxing, but around-about hour 10 I start itching to see the work complete!! This one probably has another 8 hours or so. Note to self: assess my estimating abilities once it's actually complete. I've got $10 that says I'm off by at least a couple of hours.
This piece is one of 4 in a series where I'll be using my signature curlique, art deco line art in place of hair and other textural items using pen and ink. My focus will be on composition and balance of bold and delicate lines. Stay tuned for the finished piece!

Definition of ME?

I have a hard time describing myself in 50 words or less. It either means I'm fickle or crazy interesting and dynamic. I choose to believe the latter and so I've decided...."I think maybe it's a good thing I have quite a difficult time defining myself."
I typeset this on the computer, made a print, manipulated a bit with ink directly on the print, and then placed it beneath a sheet of watercolor paper on my lightbox. Then i spent the next several hours applying each letter by hand with a tiny brush in washes of olive green, gold and sepia. If you'd like to purchase a print, you can do it here.

Bubble Baby!

Messing around with watercolors today and did this little colored pencil sketch completed with watercolor washes - haha! I'm nervous that maybe I have babies on the brain. Where else would such dimply-cute subject matter be coming from?? Ah well, if any of YOU have babies on the brain and would like to purchase a 10x10 print of this little scrubbed and tubbed lovebug, you can do so in my etsy shop here.

Nobody's Perfect

I am not keeping up too well! But here is a piece for today. I am experimenting with gel pens and sharpies after having read lots of praise for these tools in some of my favorite blogs. The gel pens are great for paper because they don't bleed and I don't have to worry about dot gain in all the tiny spaces I tend to work within. The Sharpies have awesome color, but they bleed into the paper. No worries. I actually bought them for use on non-paper surfaces anyway. Apparently, they write on just about any surface with the same brightness and great coverage. I need to draw on something outdoors!!