More Book Collages

Sure To Be In Demand 

Ask Your Big Brother

Both of these collages were made from vintage book parts. I am loving this process and the different ways that the books, titles and parts inspire me. 

And I am still practicing portraits. I love using the iPad to paint and manipulate sketches I import from my sketchbook.

Photography is also calling to me again. I am wanting to get out and experiment more with different locations and subjects. I'll always find beautiful subject matter at the nature preserve. Chasing hawks is my favorite pastime while I take my morning walks.

These are a few of the things keeping me busy right now. I am enjoying the weather, the walks and the inspiration! 

Changes in 2018

So yeah, it's been a while since I posted here. I'm debating whether to delete the blog and start over. We have an ANCIENT computer that makes it practically impossible to log on and that's another reason for the lack of posts. 

I've been mainly posting my art on Instagram under the name Magpiestudiodesigns. I'm working on getting an Etsy shop put together and selling some cards/prints of my work. Right now shopping for a suitable place that will print giclee prints. 

I did finish the 100 Faces project (120 portraits!). Still continuing with the theme under the hashtag #my2018wonkyportaits on Instagram. The photos above are examples of my latest posts. I have been doing some work with the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil in the ProCreate app. I usually import my hand drawn sketches and tweak them digitally. That's easier for me than trying to draw straight on the iPad. So that's what's keeping me busy these days: learning more about ProCreate and hopefully getting a new computer this weekend. 

If I change blogs or begin a new one from scratch I'll post the link here. 

Wonky Portraits Continued

I'm up to number 30/100 in my wonky portrait series. Been having computer issues so I haven't been able to update as often as I'd like. A new computer is on the horizon! Here are a few more of my favorites. It took an entire evening (in front of the TV) to ink in this hair. Similar to another portrait with intricate line work I did on the last post. It's very relaxing though to make tiny marks and form the hair. She is my favorite in this group. Here are a few more:

This is Miss Attitude! Ha! I just finished a class on Carla Sonheim's site with Lynne Whipple called Making Faces. We did a lot of exercises where you just let go and mixed it up. Those turned out to be the best faces! Like this one. It was a contour drawing where you look at the paper only a couple of times while you draw from a reference photo. It makes for wonky proportions and uneven features. That's what I was going for and she appeared. Doesn't she look thrilled?  :)

She was another experiment in letting go (something hard for me to do!). We were to once again draw from a reference and not look at our paper more than a couple times. Then we were to add cross hatching (x's) on the face where shadows would be. Makes for an interesting take . I added washi tape for her "dress". I love the wonky lines. And of course the hair.  ;)

This is too funny. The model in the reference photo was a female. I hardly looked at my paper at all while drawing her. So I ended up with this guy! Ha! I did the exercise again with the same model and it looks more like a female, so I'll call that one the twin to this guy. Anyway The hair and the jacket were all very tiny ink lines. The jacket took a few hours. But I like the result (looks like fabric, I think). So he is twin #1. When I finish his twin sister, I'll post her as well. She actually has the look I was going for when I chose the model. You never know what you'll end up with when you don't control your drawing. That's the point of the whole exercise!  :)

Hopefully this computer will last a little longer until we can get out and find a decent new one. I want to use it as long as I can but it's life is definitely limited!

Eyes On Fire

I haven't done any sketching for a long while. I have had my sketchbook and my drawing board sitting right beside me for months, glaring at me, daring me to pick them up. Hmm... Finally, yesterday I did it. I thought I'd try sketching a model from a magazine (one of my favorite things). So I got the basic things drawn in my sketchbook and then colored her in with colored pencils.

After I scanned her into Photoshop then I had fun putting her into this piece. I "painted" her some more with Photoshop and added other elements from the Stark digital kit that I mentioned from the previous post. I was listening to my iPod while working on this and "Eyes on Fire" by Blue Foundation started playing. This verse stuck with me:

Eyes on fire

Your spine is ablaze

Felling any foe with my gaze

And just in time

In the right place

Steadily emerging with grace

I especially like the first and last lines: Eyes on fire... steadily emerging with grace. And there was my lady!

I worked on this piece all morning. I guess I was pretty engrossed with it. And since the ear buds were blaring I couldn't hear if hubby was saying anything from downstairs. I noticed my phone lit up beside me on the desk. I had a text message. It was hubby: "I'm having soup...are you going to eat today?" LOL! Pretty sad when you have to text each other to talk!

Funny how you know you enjoy something and yet you don't do it. I forgot how fun it is to just play with sketching faces. I'm not perfect but I like to do it. I like to exaggerate certain features, giving them my own twist. Then I like to place the figures I draw in a really cool background and give them a story.

Now my pencils, drawing board and sketchbook aren't glaring at me anymore. We seem to be getting along just fine!

Dreams and Songs

I've been practicing my drawing every night! Monica's classes have gotten me inspired to really stick with what I enjoy: drawing and painting/coloring faces and then using them in my art. So every night while hubby and I share our evening either listening to music or watching TV, I have my sketchbook out and draw.

I want to learn how to paint them with acrylics. Monica teaches that, too, and that's my next step. These faces have been colored with pencils: colored pencils, ink pencils, charcoal pencils, and colored graphite (a new find!) pencils. I like the soft look of them and now I want to try painting on canvas.

These are two digital layouts I put together using a couple of my latest faces. I think of these two as the sisters because they ended up looking similar. The top photo I call "Muse Song". She just looked inspiring and the song she chants is "Believe". The second photo is called "Dream Weaver". She's the one who is bringing me such vivid dreams lately: all of them inspiring and full of hope!

The Midsummer Night's Dream elements came from Tangi Baxter's "Midsummer Night's Dream" kit at Scrapbook Graphics. She is an awesome designer and I love her kits.

I'm also working hard on my Extreme Visual Journaling class with Juliana Coles. This is a totally different kind of journaling and she explains her philosophy on her website. You aren't concerned with making "pretty" journal pages. Rather, you are after what's in your soul. I like that! It forces you to deal with the issues deep inside you at your core. I'm loving, loving this class! My pages are raw and not my usual style. But I like what she says: pretty art is for your art books. This is your life! So, when I'm brave enough, I'll post a page from my journal. ;)

That's it for now. I've just received the info from Monica's class "In My Garden". Now I must go practice painting!