still of the night

i actually completed a spread in a day, start to finish. for me, this is an accomplishment! especially as it is that i have recently rediscovered my creative self less than a week ago. it wasn't all that bad though, i had already built the inspiration for this spread before i finished the last one. it makes things go much smoother when that muse is already flinging ideas.

i've seen whimsies done by many an artist but i had never tried onr myself. always putting it off, never brave enough. i knew it was going to have to be a whimsy. for those of you who do not know, a whimsy is a term i've seen used in the style of a whimsical girl.  features are exaggerated and/or diminished; big head/small body, big eyes/small lips, elongated necks and extended limbs. tamara laporte has a short offering on whimsy girls in her free online course; art, heart and healing. she also offers a class that i have been dying to take called, ultimate world of whimsy. this spread has sealed the deal,  i am buying that course as soon as i have money.

so then, i happened to be looking into another class that i actually have access to, which is christy tomlinson's she art workshop, for ideas on another spread. when i stumbled across the she art phrases pdf. i have found quite a few phrases that i'd like to build pages and/or cards around, this one included. i've also started rebuilding my lists of lyrics as i love to build pages around my favorite song lyrics or lyrics that mean something to me.

so, without further delay, to the art!

my large eyed whims-me girl

i knew my girl would need a companion.
i contemplated another doll or a pet and settled on a kitty.
we'll call him nermal.

sketch complete, time to start coloring!

 

here i've watercolored the girl, kitty, and moon;
and then i have touched them up with my prismacolor pencils and blender.

 

a collage is the first layer of the background.

 

a few layers have been added. on top of the collage is water color crayons.
on top of that is white acrylic paint. once that dried i stamped some images in black permaink.

 

this picture was snapped after a few more layers.
on top of the stamping i added another layer of watercolor crayons and an additional layer of white acrylics.
after the white had dried i prepared to have some fun!
i placed white and black down to mix into gray and added some purple and blue and i intend on using my trusty
old credit card to scrape the paint all over the place.

this is actually after quite a bit of pushing and pulling the ink around for a while and then wiping some layers to give it the look i wanted it to have.

 

the finished page after refining many of the lines, shading, highlighting, stamping and writing my phrase.

well let me just say that i loved drawing my whimsical girl! i actually have another spread on the next page that i started sketching while paint was drying on this page. i will share those later, perhaps tomorrow!

my phrase was "she loved the stillness of the night". i love this phrase, it totally applies to me. i will often slip outside into my darkened yard and just enjoy the quiet stillness that is the early morning hours.

between now and friday i am going to try to complete one more spread, but i don't expect to have any posts to share over the weekend. there may be art, if i find time.

and with that, i am off to bed!

goodnight moon.

 

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edited 12:52pm 9/17/15

after posting my picture on facebook a friend brought it to my attention that i had misspelled stillness. *insert sheepish grin*

so i've uploaded the fix. :)

see! i can spell, i promise. just not at 2 a.m.!