Waking Early

I am not a morning person, I stay up late and I get up later than most people.  This morning I woke up early after having gone to bed earlier than usual.  It sure changes the scheme of things. I have been cleaning the studio and working on small projects. like adding new labels to some of my paper drawers. I love how they are easier to read now.

This is today's face, actually created yesterday. The dress is created with Carb Othello water soluble soft pastel pencils. I like adding just a little bit of color sometimes, it seems to mix things up a bit.

This is the cabled hat I started awhile ago.  I would have posted sooner but it is hard to photograph.  The picture does not do it justice at all.

The close up of some of the stitches. I think there is a real art to photographing textiles. The hat is very soft and warm. I know I am going to love wearing it this coming winter.

29 Faces Day 8 / Sunday sketches

Another face using those woodless pencils, I really like using them.  This one will serve two purposes, one for the 29 day face challenge and the other for Sunday sketches. click on either of these links to find out about these fun programs.

29 Faces September Day 7

Face number 7. She was drawn with the progresso graphite woodless pencils.  I decided to put all my faces on flickr.  It will be fun to see slideshow of them at months end. You can see them all at this link

New pencils

It all started with needing some new pitt pens.  Then I started looking at what else was on the shelf.

Then I found all sorts of different pencils and some had to come home with me. These pencils are called Gioconda and they are made by Koh I Noor.  There were only about 5 shades and I came home with three as they were expensive.  They are peach and brownish tones.  The felt a little like pastel pencils but I am not sure what they are.

These pencils by the same company are called Progresso. They are woodless graphite pencils with a very soft lead. They were inexpensive at 1.35 each so I thought I would give them a try too.

Here is today's face. She was rendered with the Gioconda pencils and then some Carb Othello pastel pencils that I already own. They were fun to use. Tomorrow I may try the woodless graphite ones.

Writing Thursday and Face # 5

I spent the day at a cafe working on writing and drew my 5th face for the month.  She was created with charcoal pencils. It is amazing that when you draw in public, no one looks at what you or doing or asks about it.  I always do so I see an artist so I am amazed that no one ever asks me when I am working on a drawing.

At the cafe I was looking for a new name for my main character.  She is a celtic archer and the name Zia no longer fit her. After looking at many name sites I still don't have any idea.  So I moved on to other things and did some research on the Mongolian step region. Did you know gray wolves live there? No wonder I was picking it as a location, since a gray wolf is character in the story. I also watched a video on making a map for your story.  That was fun and seems so simple to do. Its one of the things on my list to do.

29 Faces - 3 & 4

This face was painted using Inktense Pencils and water. I used some stamps in the background and just kept it simple.  I think she looks a bit melancholy. In this challenge we don't even have to finish the face but I do try to.  If I was a realistic painter it would be harder to finish these every day. Since I am doing them in my art journal the pressure is off to make them perfect and I like that.

This started out with a gelatos and water background but I pretty much covered it up. She is painted with a variety of different acrylics. She is number 4 so far.  I am caught up now I just need to do one a day to keep up with the rest of the group.  With this challenge I like to try something different if I can.  Sometimes its using different supplies or colors.  I like the color of her hair it was fun creating that.

If you just want to see the '29 faces' posts you can put those words in the search bar at the top of the blog. It might be fun to do that at the end of the month to see all the faces.

29 Faces in September

I was reading April Cole's blog and found out about this challenge called 29 faces in September and decided to take part. Its being hosted by Ayala  There is still time to join in so why don't you have alittle fun this month.  I always find that my faces get better and I am more satisfied when I do challenges like this.  First I have some collage pages to show.

These were made in that old book on whaling that I am using for a journal. Often I need to cover the whole page so its perfect for collage.

This page had lots of dark pictures so it needed to be covered in paint and lots of texture. I used heavy bodied acrylics and stamping.

I started this one with the image and built around the neutral color scheme.  I think it needs a poem or some simple words at the top.  It will sit while I figure out what that is.

This was another experiment, the page was mostly text with one small image.  I covered it with absorbent ground. Its a medium that makes any surface ready for watercolor. My idea of little squares of color was fun to do. I outlined it in black and then thought 'now what do I do with it'.  I decided to use it as a background paper.

I cut out a page in an old dictionary and drew a simple face.  She was made with gelatos and white acrylic paint. She is nothing fancy but will be my first face for the challenge.

Sunday Sketches September 3

Popping in here for Sunday Sketches. This is my lady for today. You can check out what other sketchers are doing today over at The Blue Chair Diary.

The remodel is not going as planned so it won't be a couple weeks but more like months.  We ripped up the carpet and then Dave decided to expand what we are doing. He wants to do the kitchen floor first.  So we are removing the linoleum which is a thankless job. It may take a week to do that. We need to replace part of the subfloor in the kitchen and most likely the living room. We might also sand down the textured walls and re-paint. So my blogging will be intermittent at best. I will blog at least once a week just to keep my sanity.

I decided to include this one as part of 29 faces in September. See next post for details.