Twilight

Kimmie, the wonderful host over at Digital Whisper.ning, posted a really nice piece of art that got me thinking. It featured a haunted house and it was for a group she belongs to called, "The Darker Side". It stayed with me all day...I just couldn't stop thinking about it. It's strange how some images can just grab us, demanding our attention!

This got me thinking about the latest trends in fiction right now, vampire fiction especially. As a kid I was terrified of vampire movies. I had to sleep with a light on; yes, I admit being a chicken! I've been meaning to start the Twilight series of books written by Stephanie Meyer. She's definitely found a following! I know her "audience" is the teen sector but I think a lot of older people enjoy reading her, too.

Anyway, after thinking about all of these things I wanted to create a somewhat darker piece of my own and came up with little montage of images. I marvel at how often I'll gravitate to different subject matter! I'm mulling all of these little bits around in my head while anticipating the next couple of workshops I'm taking. Beginning tomorrow: Suzi Blu's "The Goddess and The Poet" and over at Creative Workshops, "Faux Encaustics". Both of these look to be fantastic workshops and I'm making notes about all of these ideas I have swirling around in my head right now.

"The Goddess and The Poet" will be cool because not only are we drawing more lifelike portraits but we are adding our own poetry. What a great combination for art! And the "Faux Encaustics" looks to be really inspiring. I love encaustic work but after investigating the cost of the equipment I decided to hold off on that for awhile. From the samples that the instructor posted in her promo video it looks like the next best thing!

So maybe my next couple of pieces will have a darker theme (not vampires but not so whimsical). These workshops will give me lots of space to explore!

Jazz Baby: Finished!

I finished applying the beeswax to my painting and I LOVE the effect! It adds a dreamy, gauzy look to the piece and definitely gives it more depth. I admit I was afraid to work with the beeswax, thinking it might mess up all the hard work I've put into this piece so far. But after trying Suzi's technique I'll definitely be using it in more of my art. If you click on each photo you'll get a better look at the texture.

In Suzi's technique you don't need a small crockpot to melt your beeswax. You just take the bar of wax and a small quilting iron, hold the iron to the wax directly over where you want the wax to drip and then smooth the drips out with the iron. That way, you control where the wax goes and how much of it you want to add. So easy!

I especially like how it made her face look soft and creamy. Beautiful effect. That was one benefit of really layering on the wax pencils when we colored the doll's face. The wax base blended perfectly with the hot wax when added! Here is another view that shows more of the texture and detail of the wax:

Just for comparison, I put up this "before" photo from the last post. If you compare the two you'll be able to see the difference. So much fun!

Now I'm gearing up to do more of these with some faces I've got prepared. I'm also looking forward to Suzi's new class called, The Goddess and The Poet which starts July 15. This class teaches more lifelike portrait drawing and we will add a little poetry to the mix and see what happens.

Jazz Baby

Here is "Jazz Baby", my first Petite Dolls painting from Suzi Blu's class (see previous posts). She's all finished except for the beeswax. I wanted to get a photo of her before and after beeswax. I'm a little nervous about using the wax since I've never worked with it before. But I'll give it a whirl tonight. You can click on each photo to get a larger view.

This next photo is a closeup of the painting showing the background detail. Her hair has pearl mica flakes in it. For some reason the photo makes it look like glitter but they are actual chunks of mica. To her right is a music note that I made with a stencil and some molding paste. Then I painted it and adhered gold leaf to it. It stands out more than the photo shows. You can kind of see the iridescence of her pants in this photo. There is a blue-purple mixture of iridescent paint and some purple glitter thrown in for good measure. ;)

Here is one more closeup (sorry about the blur) of the mica flakes and the background. After I finish applying the beeswax I'll post one more photo of the completed look.

The whole idea behind the Petite Dolls paintings is they are supposed to be your dolls that have been placed onto a "shabby" background. That means lots of layers, lots of paint, collage, etc. Then you add some BOOM (gold leaf, glitter, mica flakes, iridescence, etc.). And that's a Petite Dolls painting, Suzi Blu style!

Since this was a bluesy, jazzy style of doll I wanted the colors to be darker and deeper. I went with the color palette of purple, gold, black and white. Wish me luck with the beeswax. You can drip on as much or as little as you like. I'll see where that leads me.

By the way, Suzi is starting a new class: The Poet and the Goddess on July 15. It will cover drawing more lifelike portraits and incorporating them into a painting, along with some poetry thrown in. Her videos are awesome and she's a wonderful teacher. And, yes, I've already signed up!

Les Petit Dolls: A Suzi Blu Workshop!

OK, here's what I've been up to. I found out about this awesome drawing class being taught by one of my favorite artists: Suzi Blu (see side panel for link). The class is called "Les Petit Dolls" and you learn how to draw these cute little dolls. Well, you all know I LOVE dolls of any kind: painted, stuffed, sewn, clay, etc. so I thought how cool this would be! She teaches how to draw her kind of dolls which are whimsical, kind of primitive, big eyes, exaggerated features, etc. just the type of thing I adore!

I only found out about the class on Wednesday and was so glad to see that it had just started on Monday. So I was only a few days behind. The first lesson is drawing, drawing, drawing, practicing, practicing, practicing faces. Faces of all types, shapes, etc. Then you sketch a body. She hasn't really gone into detail on the bodies yet and said not to worry too much about those. We are to submit our chosen doll to use for the workshop by today. You email your sketch to her and she will critique it. Also you are to post your faces (works in progress) in the forum for everyone to see. It is so cool because mostly everyone is a beginner. You are all in the same boat and pretty much at the same level. No stress, no intimidation, just wonderful!!

So, I've been sketching like crazy trying to come up with something I want to use as my doll for the course. Eventually, you'll shade the doll (next week's lesson), paint her, adhere her to a wood support, embellish some more and seal with bees wax. After sketching day and night, I've posted some of my favorite ones. I do have one more that's slightly off kilter. She's more for Halloween. She's a "creepy" doll but I just love her. Hubby didn't get it. (do they ever?)

So, the one at the top, Jazz Girl, I think will be the one I'll go with. I emailed her to Suzi this morning. The rest of these will probably be used at some point after I learn the technique. Who knew how much fun sketching could be? I have NEVER drawn a thing before in my life other than doodles and triangle faces, stuff like that. I can't wait for the next lesson. I've never understood the whole "shading" thing. It was always so intimidating. Suzi is an awesome teacher, btw.

One thing she stresses is DO NOT DRAW THE SAME FACE over and over. That's easy to do. She shows you how to vary the faces so you get a different look each time. Some of her dolls have completely round faces, some have angular, they are just all so different. I really tried to remember what she said and vary each girl. I noticed that most of them turn out sad. Hmm... I'll work on that.

This one was my favorite until I drew the Jazzy girl:

I've since re-drawn the lips on this next one. I think they were too big. I like the new version better. But I do like the movement. Suzi says to give your dolls movement!

This little imp is tugging at my heart to make her a body. I'm looking for inspiration right now. I have a few ideas, though:

And she was just too much fun. I'll make her a mischievous little gal:

So can you tell I'm loving this class? I'll post my creepy girl next. I have to stop calling her that. I love her. Hubby says she's too sad; I said that's the point! Duh!! If you're not into the whole Tim Burton thing you won't like her. But, I'll show her anyway. Must have some variety!