Mixed media girl on a wood panel

I really enjoy using wood as a substrate. For this piece, I applied a layer of clear gesso so that the natural wood colour still shows through [On hindsight, I should have drawn a smaller face...*LOL*].

After that, I sketched my girl with a coloured pencil. Yes, I like to draw with coloured pencils because graphite gets very smudgy and drives me crazy! And I'll let you in on a secret: coloured pencils can be erased when you draw on a gessoed surface! :)

Here's my mixed media girl on a wood panel after using a variety of colorants - Prismacolor pencils, Faber Castell Polychromos coloured pencils, Daler Rowney Acrylics, Posca Paint Markers, Caran d'ache Neocolor II watersoluble crayons, Liquitex black and brown inks and lots of wet tissue.

Playing along with ARTastic Challenge to use wood veneer.

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Paint + mists + gesso = hope for the best.... *winks*

This was one of those art journal pages where I really "threw" paint + mists + gesso = hope for the best. *winks*

I started by spreading paint with an old credit card. When that dried, I went in with a stencil and mists. Next, I added a layer of super heavy gesso with another stencil for texture, The round white spots were added when I decided to clean my gesso-covered fingers on my pages. *LOL*

Of course, after all the paint-throwing, my journal pages were lacking a focal point. Given my recent obsession with faces, you know I just had to add one in right? I boldly went in with a black acrylic paint marker and then added highlights with a white acrylic paint marker.

I love that she blends in with the background and her features still stand out. What do you think?

Playing along with ARTastic Challenge.

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If I can draw, you can too!

"Drawing is like taking a line for a walk."  Paul Klee 

And these walks, I must say, are very enjoyable. Frustrating at times but always rewarding.

When I started drawing a few months ago, I was rather apprehensive about how it would turn out. The two years of compulsory art back in school didn't instill confidence as I recalled how my still life turned out. The only reason why I still got an 'A' was because I had the option to do manuscript writing in the final examination. Apparently, my penmanship was much better than my apple drawing skills! *LOL*

The thing is that we assume that a drawing needs to be realistic. Let go of that idea and start drawing! I can get realism from a photo so I'm going whimsical in my drawings! *winks*

I drew this girl on an 8x10 canvas panel and painted her with a mix of acrylic paints, inks, coloured pencils and gelatos. The background was created with a napkin and matte medium. I added some vintage curtain material as part of my girl's blouse.

Playing along with ARTastic challenge.

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So I am an art supply junkie...

So, if you didn't already know. I am an art supply junkie. 

You can tell from the colours on my girl's face that I am a heavy user. *winks*

I'm thinking this addiction could be better than hoarding right? At least I'm putting them to good use...*LOL*

Here are the art supplies I used to paint and draw my girl.... [while exercising restraint...*winks*]

Playing along with ARTastic Challenge.

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You make my heart sing!

Oh yes, Pilot Twin Markers, you make my heart sing!

I must have been sleeping under a rock...because I only discovered the Pilot Twin Markers last week. They come in a rainbow of happy colours with a fine point on one end and an extra fine point on the other. Since I can't get the fine point Sharpies locally, these are the best alternatives. Bonus: they are xylene-free! :) [Errr...with all the mixed media I do, one less chemical is a good thing right? *winks*]

They write well on glossy photos and the extra fine-tip is perfect for outlining...[Now, you know how much I LOVE outlining...*LOL*]...and they are half the price of my previous fave - the Faber Castell Pitt Pens. :)

I've been hoarding these Sassafras felt monsters for a long time....aren't they cute?

 
Playing along with ARTastic challenge.

Family photos taken during Chinese New Year courtesy of Timothy Isaac. :)

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An abstract piece...

This year, my challenge to myself is to make art that isn't bounded by a fixed display stance. You can rotate it and view it from different angles. Like this abstract canvas featuring old computer parts. 

I started with scrunched up wrapping tissue and canvas which I painted blue. Then I adhered the computer cables with lots of gel medium.

Next I went in with some Maya mists, letting the colours drip between the cables. Then I added some Liquitex ceramic stucco using The Crafter's Workshop stencil.

After that, I used my fingers to apply Art Anthology paints to the piece for some shimmer and random texture.

And then finished with gesso applied with the palm of my hand.

I was inspired by the colours at the ARTastic challenge.

P/s: Happy weekend friends! :)

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Fun monsters

So I had these fun photos of nephews #1 & #2 wearing the novelty headgears I got them. Coincidentally my friend Karen passed me some old Bam Pop patterned papers which was perfect for these photos...

The monster on the paper saved me from titling my layout "horny" boys...now that would be terrible right? *winks*

The photos I printed were way too small and had a really distracting background so I fussy-cut the silhouettes. I painted some white gesso on the background so it looked like they were standing on clouds since there were clouds on the patterned paper.

I love the doodling design on the patterned paper so I doodled similar designs on the speech bubbles. I also did the terrible doodling on the monster's eyes...*LOL*

Playing along with ARTastic Challenge and Let's Get Sketchy.

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The story about the star tortoise

So the other day, while I was out for a walk with nephew #1 and my niece, we were invited to a neighbour's compound to check out their plants and pets.

Nephew #1 is a nature lover so naturally he gravitated to the neighbour's star tortoises. He was excited to take photos of course.

The niece wasn't that excited. Check out the photo...she was a little freaked out! *LOL*

Playing along with Once upon a...sketch and ARTastic challenge.

P/s: Happy weekend friends! :)

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What they were really thinking....

So, we all know that it's hard to get a good photo of a group of kids [3 nephews +1 niece] because they are easily distracted. Here are the outtakes from my "Gangster Gang sunglasses" photo shoot...

You can see how focused the two older kids are..

Here's what they were really thinking...

1. "Yay! Everything is in my fave colour - pink!"

2. "Why are we still taking photos? Can we go see the birdies yet?"

3."This might be the cover shot. Let's smile sweetly...yeah!"

Playing along with Scrap365 and ARTastic Challenge.

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