22nd & 8th, a Digital Watercolor

22nd & 8th

This week I worked on a digital watercolor for Leanne. It was suppose to be her grad present when she graduated from NYU last May but I had so much going on that I couldn't get it done until this week. It's the view from her window. I wanted her to have an artistic reminder of her life in NYC...where she lived when she went to NYU, graduated, fell in love, made her stage debut and started her career as a working actress. She even rode out Hurricane Sandy here. 

I did it all in Photoshop. It took 6 hours over three days and had 16 layers. I didn't save each layer so I can't show the progress like I did with the lion painting from the last post but if anyone has questions about doing a digital watercolor, feel free to email me. 

King of the Jungle

King of the Jungle

After nearly a year of traveling, hosting company and having my brother diagnosed with cancer, I finally had two weeks to do nothing but take care of myself and indulge in some art!  I started the month with a detox, (my hubby participated as well which made it much easier to stick to) eliminating coffee, tea, sugar, wheat and dairy. Treated myself to a couple of massages to help speed along the removal of toxins. Purchased a juicer, a Vitamix, dehydrator and a bread machine to make my own gluten-free flax-seed bread. All of this was spurred on by my trip this summer to the Pura Vida Spa in Costa Rica (I'll share photos of my trip in the next post). In the five days I spent there with my mom and my friend Phoebe, I ate a high alkaline diet, had body treatments and left feeling rejuvenated and a lightness of being. When I got back, the stress hit when my brother Ryan was diagnosed with a rare form of melanoma (his treatment is over, now it's just "wait and see"). Stress can take a toll, causing one (uh, yea, me) to indulge in sugary mojitos and sweets. Thus, the detox. Detoxing is suppose to clear your mind as well, improving focus and clarity. I took advantage of that and the free time to delve into some digital art, creating my third painting done entirely in Photoshop. 

Lita and I got together for a digital art Saturday a couple of weeks ago and each of us picked something to work on from a Photoshop Creative magazine. I decided on a tutorial by Emerald de Leeuw on painting animal portraits. Here's a tip: when following a tutorial where the skill level is "expert", it's probably a good idea to be an expert at Photoshop. Unfortunately, I am not, nor did I notice the skill level until after I started and got stuck trying to understand what the hell they were trying to tell me to do. I *almost* chucked the whole thing but later that night, at home, I decided to just do it on my own, feeling my way through an array of colors and brushes and applying learned oil painting techniques. 

It took me 10 days, 30 hours and 40 layers. Titled King of the Jungle, here's how I did it.

The first step was to roughly sketch out the lion. This need not be perfect, I just needed to get the placement of the eyes and mouth correct:

My starting sketch

Next, I blocked in colors. I chose a variety of yellows, oranges, deep reds and browns. I also started the eyes right away, figuring if I gave him a soul, he would stare at me and demand I finish him. :-)

Now, I used a smudge tool to blend some of the colors together and then brushed in hair using a smaller brush, also adding more definition to the eyes and mouth:

  

Now I blended all those strokes together using a smudge tool and different soft brushes:

Repeating the two previous steps:

Next it was time to start blending and adding in details:



Next I worked on mouth detail:

Now it was time to get rid of the "teddy-bear" ears by reshaping and continuing the detail work:

Finally added the whiskers and finished off detail work:

Lastly, I adjusted color balance and contrast to my liking:

I even did a version in black and white with selective color:

I could still continue to work on it, smoothing out hair, adding details but I'm pretty happy to call it done! It's come a long way from that sketch!

Here We Go Again!

Ah! It's here! Another year, another chance to keep a creative train on track.

Are we ready out there? Have you made your dream/visualization board? Or perhaps your a list maker, using pretty gel pens to write out all the goals that have been whispering into your ear this past year. Is your camera ready to capture all the magic that unfolds each and everyday right before your eyes? Are your journals ready? A blank, white page begging to be messed up with pencil, ink, watercolor, paper and glue? Or maybe your creative goals are with music, dance, programming or any other endeavor that gets you into the flow of creation. Whatever they may be, it's a new beginning, a chance to dream big, a reminder that life is worth living because we have so much we want to do!

I spent today getting ready, preparing my art room, my camera, my journals, my lists:

I love a new journal!

My hubby and I will be dropping a little snippet about the best part of our day into this jar throughout 2013. At the end of the year, we will read them and be reminded of what a wonderful year it was!

My dream/visualization board for 2013, with room for additions!

What does one do when there are many interests, hobbies and creative pursuits? Well, roll a die of course!

This is just one way to keep creativity kickin'!

Of course, there are always non-creative goals as well (eat healthy and exercise, the old standards) and blogging more consistently is one of those goals. Sharing more of my photos, art and of myself.  I'm ready! Bring on 2013!

Posted with Blogsy

The End of Summer

It's been so busy around here and I don't even have kids going back to school! Maybe it's the end of summer, when you get that rushed feeling that the holidays are fast approaching and there are so many things you wanted to get done before they sneak up on you. Or maybe it's too many adventures scheduled too close together. Whatever the reason, summer always seems to get the best of me...I end up not being as creative, not working out as much, not eating as healthy...summer seems to be a time to indulge in vice and laziness. Maybe it's the heat, maybe it's just my DNA wanting to run barefoot, ride my bike and play outside until dark. Summer is coming to an end. And that means it's time to start being healthy, active and creative again.

Painted Roses

Summer Flowers

I got a good kick-start with this painting app for the iPhone called GLAZE. I learned about it from another photographer and have been having a grand ole time creating works of art on my iPhone. iPhoneography never ceases to amaze me and it's a great way to step back into my creative self. Enjoy the upcoming weekend everyone and above all, be safe and be creative! xo

Friends, Flamingos, a Faerie and a Farm

It seems that yesterday's Creative Saturday with Lita was sponsored by the letter F. We decided on a digital art day because we both miss working on that medium so much. With my tendinitis and her wrist pain, it's hard for both of us to work on our Wacom tablets. But, we bound our tendons with braces (hers made with a sea-sickness band...hey, whatever works!) and got down to business. Two friends working on different images side-by-side, a second eye to check for composition and color, to encourage the path and to laugh off the pain. Lita worked on a faerie and I worked on (and finished!!) two images. One was a textural work of an old, run down farm (Nichole, that one is for you!) and the other was born from a dream...a flock of flamingos in the misty morning swamp.

Flamingo Dream
Mixed Media on Watercolor Paper

The flamingos started out as an image in a dream I had which I then started as a watercolor. I scanned the watercolor into Photoshop and painted more flamingos and used brushes and textures to make the dream into reality. This is pretty much what it looked like in my dream, although it was more faded and distant. This is the second piece I've created from a dream I had. The first was this piece:

Patches & Crow

Mixed Media on Canvas

Dreams are a great source of inspiration! Now, If I could only remember more of them!

For my second image, I wanted to create a take on Andrew Wyeth's painting Christina's World but when I started working on it, I didn't want to add any figures to it. I like the scene just as a landscape. So with textures and brushes by Distressed Textures, I went to work creating a painting-like image. I was quite happy with the result and it didn't even take me that long!

Lost Summers of My Youth

Of course we couldn't have a Creative Saturday without stopping by Barnes & Noble for a little inspiration. I picked up this great watercolor book called Watercolor Secrets 200 tips and techniques for painting the easy way by Robin Berry. Her work is amazing. If you like watercolor you won't be disappointed with this book.

Have an awesome weekend everyone and remember to take some time to be creative!

Back to Creativity!

Finally! The pool and patio renovations are finished for the most part. I'm still having a custom potting table with sink built for the patio and furniture has yet to arrive. Oh, and the pool is green right now. But let's not dwell on the negative and instead focus on the positive! I finally got a chance to enjoy a weekend at home with no workers. I processed images from my archives:

This one is from a trip to Charleston in 2009! Yes, that is how far back my unprocessed images go. :(

And one from a trip home during Christmas 2010:

My mom's cat Bozo, a tuckered out Tom who is quite the scrapper as you can tell by his poor ears.

Today was also good for traditional art. I started a painting of a dragonfly (to be shared later this week!) and completed a watercolor for Catherine Constance. We are swapping art pieces across the pond. She is sending me a little French girl drawing and I'm sending her a watercolor of my wildflower thicket. I wanted to create something that was very me and as you all know, my garden is just that! :) The hand-lettering freaked me out a bit as I was afraid I would mess up and spell something wrong and I was doing it all in ink the first time out.
But it turned out a-okay and will now be on it's way to Catherine. Catherine lives in France and is such a talented artist. Check out her blog.

"The Wildflower Thicket". Watercolor and ink on 8x8 watercolor paper. 

It felt good to be creative again. I'm not good with distractions and renovations are a big one. The only thing I managed to do while the patio was being torn up was go to the mall and Butterfly World (thus all the pictures of butterflies I've been posting on Flickr and Facebook) and I did one little sketch in my Moleskine that had a nod to Cubism and I practiced drawing hands:

Sorry for the blurry photo but I took it with the iPhone at night. :)

In the Moleskine: practicing stylized hands.

Other than that, the last few weeks have not been motivating or kind to my creative brain but I'm ready to ratchet up the creativity and go full steam ahead...at least until the driveway/walkway renovations begin in August. I do have a plan to escape somewhere fabulous when that happens. A place where I can still be creative with the camera. For now though it's back to processing photos with breaks to the art room to play with pencils and paint!

Color Challenge: Breeze Driftin' On By...

The challenge was to use lime green, hot pink and black and create something. I took on the challenge along with Nichole and Alex. Spring has been very inspiring to me this year so my piece reflects the season:

Breeze Driftin' On By...

I'd like to thank Nichole and Alex for participating! And, I've decided they both will win a Keri Smith Book! Alex, can you text or email me your addy?  Congrats girls for being creative and taking on the challenge despite your busy lives and for always supporting my creative endeavors!   

Art Journal Fun!

The last couple of weeks I've been having some fun in my various art journals! Sometimes these pages turn into works of art but most of the time, the pages are an excuse to play and experiment with different mediums and colors. I'm currently enjoying two workshops with Jane Davenport who I just adore! She gave us some advice and I quote "Be more attached to experimenting than you are to your drawing." It's advice to play, to be messy, to be creative and just let go! Yea, that's really hard for that little perfectionist that lives inside of me but I'm definitely learning to mix things up a bit. I still could get a bit more wild and free with the paint but I was really happy with the pages that showed up in my art journal this week and I'd like to share a few of them with you! (okay, it's more than a few so be prepared!)
I'm including a list of supplies that I used to create each page so you can tackle your own pages!

Shanghai Orchid

Mixed Media

For the background texture I used bits of paper with Japanese writing, tinfoil (yes! tinfoil! Be sure if you use it to crunch it up first as it sticks much better!), masking tape and tissue paper. All applied with Gesso. I then wiped the Gesso off parts of the paper so the characters would show through. Color was added with Neocolor II water-soluble wax pastels. I then added my drawing on top when dried. Her hair and kimono are 100% watercolor where as her face is a mixture of watercolor, pen, colored pencil and pan pastels. The flower in her hair was done in acrylic and applied using a sea sponge. Finally, the title was stamped in and the birds were added in Photoshop. Truly mixed media!

Dream

Mixed Media

I did this piece during a rained-out Creative Saturday with Lita. We had made plans to go to the zoo but a big storm system put the kibosh on photography, so we stayed in and did art! The colors and the spring theme was inspired by a Mood Board I did for Jane's workshop. The background was created using paper doilies, masking tape and tissue paper all applied with Gesso (a few coats to cover the doilies). The background color was once again made using the Neocolor II. It's an easy way to get color in..just crayon up your page, take a wet brush and move the color around! So easy! I then added additional tissue paper that was patterned with birds and the word "dream" using Matte Medium (Gesso is opaque, Matte Medium is translucent) and a paper flower using Gesso and wiping part of it off. I drew the girl and did her face in colored pencil and pan pastels. Her hair was done with watercolor.

Follow Your Heart

Mixed Media

These pages are done in my Moleskine sketchbook. I've been practicing faces (see below for my practice page) and I started a new Moleskine just for that (one can never have enough journals!). The girl was done with watercolor over ink & colored pencil. The background is watercolor and gouache, the hearts and words done with markers and pens. Another tip from Jane...decorative tape is put down over the binding to stop paint from leaking through to other pages. Brilliant idea!
Here is another page from my Moleskine:

I Dream of birds and butterflies, faeries and wanderings.

The girl is done in colored pencil and the background in watercolor and gouche. Rub-on transfers added the final touch. The night I finished this I had a horrible nightmare about zombies! 

Time Marches On

Mixed media on canvas board

The background was a piece I had done during the Art & Soul that I wasn't happy with. I decided to use it to practice my faces and when I drew a face upon the work, it suddenly transformed into a piece I loved. It was inspired by my friend Nichole, who reminded me of those fun days I had in high school during band class. She is done in ink and watercolor.

Faces, faces, faces!

Practicing my proportions! Everytime you draw a face, it's never the same...a new little person emerges to greet you every time! Such fun! I also practiced figure drawing in a couple of my journals, incorporating the sketches into mixed media pages:

The Fashion Figure

Mixed Media

The background on this one was done by using Gesso and Matte Medium to layer in vintage patterns and tissue paper. Neocolor II was once again used to lay in the color. The figures were drawn on top in pencil and colored in with watercolor pencil and ink. A stamp was used at the top to add a design element.

Here's one I did for my creative soul sisters Phoebe and Nichole:

I've also been participating in the 21 Secrets Art Journal Playground and these pages were results of some of the fun challenges:

 Arabesque 

Mixed Media

Lost on top of Great Gable

Colored pencil and watercolor

That House

Watercolor

And finally, I finished up two projects for Arthouse Coop, The Note Swap and The Map Project.

For the Note Swap, I did another image of my "Lost on Great Gable" and wrote the note about being lost on top. Some stranger, somewhere in the world will get this little bit of nostalgia from me! How cool is that?

I'm not very good at drawing maps, but I decided to do my Butterfly Garden for The Map Project. What made it even more difficult is that it could only be 4x6. I did it on a watercolor postcard:

I also managed to find the time to get all my colored pencils into a reference journal so I could see how each brand reacts to different types of paper and mediums such as Gesso. It's time-consuming to do this with your art supplies but so worth it in the end as it's a great reference tool!

And continuing with that idea, I prepared my Lukas watercolor set in anticipation of Gina Rossi Armfield's upcoming watercolor workshop Creativity in Flight: 

And there you have it! Two weeks of art journaling fun! I've not caught you all up with what's been going on. This week I will be hosting my own art challenge so be sure to check back mid-week for details! Now, have a fabulous weekend and remember to take time for Creativity!

Watercolor Lessons: Earth

My watercolor lessons continue using First Steps Painting Watercolors (First Step Series) by Cathy Johnson.
This week it was all about the Earth: Rock formations, cliffs, mountains as well as learning to mix sedimentary colors to produce rust.

I really enjoyed this section of lessons. I even found a photo op on my palette:

Sedimentary

The next series of lessons is all about learning to paint buildings in landscapes. Very excited for that one as the whole reason I wanted to learn to watercolor was to be able to paint in a journal while on my travels.

For anyone who wants to learn but doesn't know where to start, I highly recommend Cathy's book!