My 2015 New Year's Resolutions

In no particular  order

1. Create everyday.

2. Finish what I start.

3. Write, anything, everyday.

4. Post to my blog at least once a week.

5. Organize my closet. Even if it takes all year. Which it probably will.
6. Create a studio/office space .
7. Move more.
8. Finish that book my brother and I started.
9. Enjoy my own company more.
10. Explore more if my surroundings.

  Just been playing around with some water media; Caran D'Ache Neo Colors 2, an inexpensive set of watercolors by Artist Loft, and my new Portfolio pastels.

  I did these last night. My dad pointed out that they could be the sun and the moon. I didn't think about that while doodling, but it's true. Light vs. dark, warm vs. cool, flaming hair vs. tight blue locks.  It occurs to me now they could be water and fire as well.

   A couple of days ago, before I did the pic I posted yesterday, I picked up a pack of Crayola Portfolio water soluble pastels.  Before I did anything serious, I thought I would experiment with them. Some I colored with then went over with a wet brush, some I colored with directly onto wet paper, and a few i tried wetting the tip of the pastel before coloring. Course, I didn't mark which way I did each section... But, least I got to play.

   They were fun to play with. The pastels were super creamy, blended easily. With water anyway. It occurs to me I didn't try blending them dry like regular oil pastels. Maybe that will be my next play date. But so far, I am glad I picked them up.

Awhile back I started a small mixed media piece. I scraped on orange paint with a pallet knife, and attached a piece of graphite colored paper using gel medium. I stenciled a swirly bit in the corner with modeling paste. And now, I'm stumped. I'm not quite sure where to go next. I'm pretty sure I want to apply color to the swirly bit. But which one? And after that, where do I go? Until I figure that out, I thought Id share what I have so far.

    A few weeks ago I bought an art journaling inspiration card deck. In addition to the cards it has a small interactive journal to go along with it. I was giving it a once over, simply seeing what the cards had to say when I came to the card about Jean-Michel Basquiat. A graffiti style artist popular in the 80s (until he OD-ed), Basquiat had a very impressionist/expressionist sort of style predominately pointing out racial and political issues.

   The card called for completing a contour outline of your face and filling each quadrant with your journaling, after perusing examples of his work online. I went online to look at his work. Instead of completing the suggested journal page, I was inspired by one of his pieces, to create my own artwork. I decided to use my new Crayola Portfolio water soluble oil pastels and my fairly newish watercolor set from Micheal's.

  The piece that inspired me.


 Source


  And here is my version (so far anyway).

 
  I screwed up on his ear. While both fretting over it and trying to figure out how to fix it I realized I could gauge his ear. Other than that I'm fairly happy with it. Part of me likes it as is, but part of me wants to add a bit more like in the original. I'm not sure what to do yet. In the mean time I think I may be working on some more abstract/impressionist portraits.

I picked up a spiral art toy at the dollar store the other day.

 

 

   

The bottom lifts off to reveal a compartment suitable for storing the little gears. 

 

 Pretty cool little toy. Especially for a buck. It should provide endless minutes of entertainment not to mention some cool little backgrounds for art journal pages or what not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Coloring with the girls I babysit I came up with this:

      Nothing fancy. Just doodling with a set of cheap crayons. But for some reason I felt like I wanted to play around with it once I got home. I sprayed the background in green. I may have slightly over sprayed. I'm still learning how to use those mists.

     After it dried I went over with more flowers using 2 different shades of blue craft paint and a hot pink tempera. Then I outlined the flowers with various markers, touched up the lips with a Letraset aquamarker and outlined the eyes with a black brush tip Sharpie. I also went over the hair with craft paint.

    Not sure if I like it. Not sure if it is done. But I had a chance to explore different materials, to let go of the world for a little bit while I played around with color. So for now, I'll put her away somewhere safe. If nothing else I can pull it out in a few years and marvel at how far I've come. Hopefully.

Awhile back I picked up a package of fine tipped plastic bottles. I filled them with a little craft paint and some slow dry blending medium. I decided to play around, just get a feel for them. When I was finished and didn't like what I had I gently folded the paper bag in half and smooshed the paint around. When I opened the paper back up I had a pretty cool Rorschach type design. What do you see?

In the middle picture I see a guy wearing headphones. In the bottom photo I see a guy wearing a gas mask.I like the image so much and like how it changes depending on how you rotate it, my goal is to scan it so I have unlimited options on how to use it.

           The other day I decided maybe I should clean off my art table, I mean the dining table, since company was coming. And of course cleaning off my art supplies means making something, right? Course these little distractions are OK when you're making something in which to store said supplies.

            I pulled out a sheet of oversize paper folded it in half. But it felt a little too flimsy so I gathered up the stack of coupons I was originally on my way to throw into the recycling.

                                     
                                        I glued the coupons to all sides of the folder.

 

  

       
 Now I have a place to store some of the pieces I'm currently working on, larger scrap pieces to add to my art, etc. I haven't decided if I am going to paint it or not. But in the meantime, I am that much closer to getting organized. And it didn't cost me a thing.

Went to Kohl's the other day...



Everything I got was on clearance and I had a coupon.

$3.40

                            Close up of the pattern.

                                         Front.

Back.  $3.40

$16.40

I also got a pair of Jockey slimming undies for $8.00.

All in all I spent about 20 bucks and saved almost $100. Not too shabby.

      Last week, I went to Micheal's to see about using my 40% off coupon. Instead, I found 50% off strung beads. I left we three different strands; small silver leaves, turquoise nuggets and mixed metal spikes attached to a bit of copper chain. It was the spikes that called to me first. One bead, three pieces of jewelry...

                                                     A charm bracelet.

                                                     A lariat style necklace.

                                       A necklace that's just a touch longer than choker.