This takes practice.

Can't wait to get my drawing pencils today. It will be so much easier to try to shade areas with some softer lead. 

Lips...

These aren't perfect by any means, but I am feeling more comfortable looking for the light and dark spaces in objects. My drawing pencils will be delivered tomorrow and I can't wait to try sketching with some of those, instead of my regular mechanical pencil. It's tough to shade with.

My first face sketch.

This drawing thing is becoming addictive. Seriously addictive. I found the hair to be the hardest part, even harder than the eyes. (and they are tough) All in all, happy with the face, not happy with the hair. The video I watched on youtube for instruction is here.

Unity KOM arrived!

Couldn't resist playing with the dress stamp a bit...

More sketch lessons this evening...

This is my first ever attempt at sketching a shoe. The lesson was supposed to teach you how to use watercolor to achieve a patent leather look on the sketch. Not perfect, but it was fun and I feel like I learned something new.

An attempt at sketching...

My son can draw just about anything. He is amazingly talented and I have always wished I could master it or at least be good enough at it to use some in my art. It has always scared me in the past, but I have decided it is something I want to get better at. There are some amazing youtube videos out there that teach the concept of drawing faces, which is the first thing I would like to learn. This is an attempt I made this morning. I do not have good paper (this was a notepad) or a good pencil & eraser, but I was happy with how it turned out.

This one was harder. Trying to somewhat match the size of the eye socket and pupil was a challenge I didn't quite achieve. 

Artist Skyline

Imagine it, achieve it.

I used the Penny Black Skyline stamp and a word stamp from Unity Stamp Company. Also used Weathered Wood and Pumice Stone Distress inks, along with Adirondack Mushroom ink. I went on a sequin hunt last weekend and found some matte silver sequins. Love the matte finish with this artwork.

Skyline Exploration

I've said it before, I'll say it again. I love this Penny Black stamp. Something about it begs me to experiment with the variations in the building heights and the shading, windows, etc. I used Distress Walnut Ink, Evergreen Bough & Pumice Stone for this, along with a brown colored pencil for some light outlines.

My first Unity Stamp Company order arrived.

I thought this set would make great note cards and I wasn't disappointed. I was very impressed with the quality of the stamps and the packaging was very nice.  Find this set called Triple Tree Line here. I stamped the image on 140lb watercolor paper with Staz On (cut with a Spellbinders die) and colored it in with Distress Inks.

Daring Adventure

This is another piece inspired by the day 1 lesson from the Watercolor for Card Makers class I've been taking. I used black Distress ink and Distress stain in Brushed Pewter. The stamp is from Stampin Up and the stencil I used is from Mister Huey's. Thought about finishing it off with some sequins and rhinestones, but decided to use this as a graduation card for a young man instead. I thought simple worked better in that case.

Modern Art

Those who know me, would know this is completely different than what I would normally do. This piece was inspired by a lesson from day 1 of the Watercolor for Card Makers class I've been taking. I used Distress inks in Black & Fired Brick and Distress stain in Brushed Pewter for this piece. The word stamp is from Stampin Up.

Bonus Day lesson from Watercolor for Card Makers

This is my favorite art I've ever created.

It was about 2004. At the time, I was doing samples for Oxford Impressions rubber stamp company, so most of these stamps were from that line. This is an 8x10 canvas. This was back in the day before we had things like Cuttlebug & Sizzix, so the texture in the upper corner was a piece of wall paper. 

This piece was subsequently published in Somerset Studio. In 2007, as a lark, I entered this piece in Kirkland's search for the Next Great American Artist. The winner would create art for their stores nationwide. I ended up in the top 10 finalists with this piece and won a $500 gift card. To date, that is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me art-wise. 

"We'll Always Have Paris" by Kim Jolley

It's a Soul thing.

Creating is a passion of mine. At times, I can't sleep for thinking about what I want to try next. I did not start this piece with the intention of it having almost a grunge feel, but it evolved in to that. Again, this piece is inspired by a class I am taking over at onlinecardclasses.com. The main technique is watercolor and the flowers are stamped images from Stampin Up's Everything Eleanor set.

The flourish image is from Stampabilities and the quote is from Stampers Anonymous. Prang watercolors and Distress inks were used to color images and the background.

Watercoloring with Stamps: a work in progress

I almost thought about this too late this morning. I am going to post the finished project in a later post, but here are a couple of photos of a piece using Stampin Up's Everything Eleanor set. Again, taking complete inspiration from Sanketi.

After this, I started bringing in the deeper colors, including black watercolor and Distress inks in Pine Needles and Forrest Moss. 

Another attempt at lesson 5 from online watercolor card class: Postmark Tulip

I used various Prang watercolors and Distress inks. After the piece dried, I thought the flowers looked too dull and flat. So, I painted each bloom, stem & leaves with Inkssentials Matte Accents. I like this product for a low gloss effect. After that dried, I still felt like I wanted something else. I ended up lightly applying some Distress Stickles in Fired Brick & Peeled Paint. I am happy with the end result.

online watercolor card class

This is something I have never done before. I have been enjoying playing around with watercolor for a couple of months and love the medium. I stumbled across a very affordable online class over at www.onlinecardclasses.com  last Monday and immediately signed up. I normally just watch free videos on youtube, but gladly paid for this class.  The fact that some of my favorite artists would be sharing their expertise was a definite plus. The pictures below are from a class assignment taught by someone I have been admiring for a long time. Her blog is http://sanketij.blogspot.com/ and she is a master at using watercolor and rubber stamps to create a very artistic look. So glad I signed up.

Nature's Silver tag for swap

Various Distress inks and stains. Embossing powder on the stamped image. Distress inks & stains were used to dye the ribbon.

Butterfly Tag for swap

I used various products and techniques on this tag. A combination of Inktense Blocks and regular watercolor was used to color the tag and the butterfly, along with some Distress inks used randomly on the tag. Ribbon was dyed using Distress inks. An old book page, part of a doily and random scraps of paper were also used. Also used a tiny bit of Distress Stickles.