i want to see you be brave

i haven't had as much creative time as i would like lately. but over the span of a week or so i have managed to complete a spread that i am exceedingly happy with. i can do this. i can still do this.

so, from start to finish, my process...

 

 

time to paint

 

 

i had some trouble with shading around her left eye and had to fix her.

 

collage background with pages of an old book

 

watercolor crayons

 

posca markers

 

finished!

 

 

i love to share my process if only a record of my learning. i love to look back over how some of my favorite spreads came together. i also love to be nosy and see what others are working on.

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.!

 

first complete spread!

it's done!

ok, it's not perfect but it is a start and i am so very pleased!

i haven't forgotten the little bit i had learned about drawing! and, really, my skills can only improve from here as my layering backgrounds is still very rough.

i'm not super happy with the size of the font and how the words came out when i watercolored them. however, i am not concerned about fixing it as i am *DONE* with this spread. i have done what i can. i feel like i am safe to "detach" and move on to my next project.

i looooooove washi tape!

the phrase means a lot to me, i spent a lot of time figuring it out. i struggle with feeling like i should be more successful or further along in life. i do struggle with acceptance. i often have to combat my introverted nature and "resting bitch face" even though i am one of those people who don't care much about what people think about me. but this phrase says i am happy just where i am with what i have. so, eat that inner critic!

my words, up close.

so, i watercolored the page with my phrase on it but it just didn't come out the way i had hoped it would. the letters are so big that they  hide so much the drip technique, which i LOVED! but all this, this is my inner critic speaking. all that matters is that i finished it and that i am happy with it how it is!

my upside down doll face. the shading may be off but i'm quite pleased that her face looks even remotely like a face!

hello funny face!

thank you for following me through my first journal spread. tomorrow... whimsies!