Friday, February 23, 2018

a plethora of faces

Here are my faces for February, I know a few of you asked which digital program I am using. This one is called Sketchbook. It's a free program on IPad as I'm not ready to pay for one yet although it does have upgrades that you have to pay for. Do be careful, some say they are free but after you load them you find out it's a free trial and then they want you to subscribe. I immediately delete those. Also, for those who have tried digital drawing but then gave up, I totally understand. It is all about learning something new and my only advice is to keep plugging away at it.

This is a pic heavy post but since I've actually kept up with the challenge means I have a lot of pictures to share, lol

day 9
Influenced by Kae Pea's drawing style, you will see several...
day 10
day 11
Occasionally getting inspiration from a random artist
day 12
Then back to Kae Pea's style
day 13

day 14

Then I decided to create a whimsical portrait of Kae Pea herself!
day 15

And then back to trying to draw realistic portraits
day 16

And one of pure fantasy
day 17
And back to doing realistic portraits
day 18
day 19


day 20


day 21
The first time I have missed a day!

day22
my birthday!

BTW, I am off the couch, off the crutches and doing so much better!
Linking all my faces to







Friday, February 16, 2018

New life

Didn't you love it as a kid? A bonifide "do over"?
Well, in art, we can also re-think our art, and breathe in some new life to it!

Sometimes, it happens while working on a piece, maybe you sleep on it over night and wake up with a different plan. Sometimes you create something and just know it wasn't your best effort, and it sits there like a big white elephant in the room, staring at you every day, thinking, 
why did she abandon me? Doesn't she love me?

Sighs the artist, yes I love you but I didn't have the time...the direction...I was lost.
until now...


I totally love the redesign, just some simple touches with paper, paint and embossing powder and it has a new life breathed into it. I love the Art Deco Alphabet stencil, very cool lettering. I felt I need to jazz up the word "ART" a little so it could hold it's own next to the sophisticated "MATTERS".



I know you can easily see that I collaged the background with text paper, but did you notice that I also added assorted papers  to the paintbrushes and a few inspiring stamped words too!

The base was really easy to create with some Van Gogh Painting washi tape which I sealed with some Deco-page paste, added some Exotic Orient washi tape to the brush, a little bit of Dresden trim and some Mirror Gold embossing powder and I love it!

And speaking of embossing powder I covered the mug completely with all sorts of different Baked Textured powders designed by Seth Apter of The Altered Page and wow, it has a lot of dimension and depth now.

And some awesome products from DecoArt which helped me to pull it all together.

Now, guess who is also feeling a bit neglected now?

Linking up to Paint Party Friday where no one feels neglected!

Thursday, February 8, 2018

#DayAFaceFeb

Thank you to everyone who posted healing wishes for me last Friday. I'm currently still on crutches but every day is an improvement so I am doing OK. Linking up my new found love...digital art this week to Paint Party Friday.

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I admit I have attempted doing the 29 faces challenges before but I've never completed them...
Not. Once.
But being one that never gives up I'm going to try again. I have new factors to add in...a banged up knee that I'm having to keep elevated which means trips back to the art room are challenging. BUT I got myself an IPad for Christmas with the intention of learning digital art so I am going to try and do a digital face every day and I figure this will be a great way to learn!

Day 1
I downloaded a free APP called Sketches which is really made for children and doodling. This fact seem to make it less daunting and I just played with the brushes and trying to figure out how it works.  Hopefully as I improve I will get the courage up to download a better APP.
Day 2
Upped my game a little bit, now learning how the different brushes lay over one another. Also learning how to mix the colors. I am quite fascinated by this new art form and find it to be addicting! 
day 3
I am noticing that my hand falls asleep while drawing, which is the same thing that happens when I try and something like zen-doodling. I think I am gripping the pen too hard, it doesn't happen when I paint or draw normally...I think I stress and grip...
day 4
I decided to be brave and download a more "adult" program, well one with more bells and whistles anyway. I also wanted to sketch men so I tried Bob Ross. It's funny in a bad way, lol, but I'll keep working on this. I call this Bob Ross on Botox, 😜
day 5
Playing around with my new program, trying to learn how to use things. I was trying a new style by emulating Tina Berning but got side tracked playing with the digital brushes, lol Definitely loose.

day 6
Today I am feeling more comfortable with the digital brushes, I accidentally tilted the paper but cannot figure out how to do it on purpose, lol Each day has it's own learning curves for sure! I did notice that my hand didn't fall asleep so I must be relaxing a little more. 😜

day 7
So excited that I have now discovered how to tilt my "paper" and the enlarge it so I can work on details better. Little steps sure can make one feel accomplished as long as you are stepping in the right direction!
day 8
Well today I learned how to work the symetry feature, which was pretty darn cool for drawing a face. This is a feature I could learn to love although it feels like cheating a bit, however I got over that guilty feeling cause I liked it too much, lol I'm learning how to create png pictures and the fill background...it's a lot harder than one would think...


Friday, February 2, 2018

Facebook tests and art journaling

Please do excuse the fact that I am re-posting an older post for Paint Party Friday but today I will be going to pick up my crutches.
What's old, fat and goes splat...Sandee tripping over her own feet!
Oh well, anyway back to elevating and icing my knee, I'll be sure to visit all of you since I'll be on the couch computer for the rest of the week-end! I look forward to having ya'll inspire me back to a quick recovery and get back to arting again real soon!
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I'm always looking for new ways to add journaling to my pages and I think I have found a new and fun way! At least it is for me since I like to play around with the Facebook tests. I find them to be basically upbeat and positive on the whole and sometimes they actually fit so I keep those and do an art journal page about them.




tiny crow

So this is fun and this way I get to keep all those tests that I want to keep and look back over them .