Inspirational

Check this website out, Dirty Footprints Studio. Her videos are fabulous to watch and she comes across as a lovely person whom you could imagine to be friends with. What I like about her videos is that she uses wonderful music and she ( I believe her name is Connie)  is not at all egotistical but down to earth she also creates wonderful colourful work.

I am currently going though a phase of 'freedom, liberating' painting and Connie has something called "Fearless" painting that is about letting go and giving it a go no matter what which is exactly what I am looking for.

Using Keri Smith's books and Connie's, website they compliment what I am tyring to achieve. Now I only wish I could attend one of Connie's classes but can't justify a flight to the States for one day. I do however, have the fortune of Keri living close and teaching at Emily Carr so may pay a visit there.

Consumer

One of Keri Smith's projects is to write a list of what I consume over a period of a day and document how one wishes to. Seems short to me!

Collages - Lips part 2

Could not help it I had to do something to jazz then up a bit. So I added pink paint and painted some lips too. Better me feels!

Collages - eyes part 2

I initially did this as a cut and paste project then the next day I came across a ball of yarn, when unraveled  it looked like eye lashes. I could not resist I had to stick them on. I also painted an eye of my own at the bottom

Pretty? Ugly?

In my art journal (I like this opposed to sketch book), I stuck magazine clippings onto a page and then painted over it with white acrylic.

 Without much thought to what I was going to paint, I delved into my acrylic paints and took colours that I liked. From there, I painted something and it started to look like a face.

 I thought there was something missing so I started to add words. I looked at the face and chose words that instantly came to mind.

 With a little bit more paint and emphasis this is the final peice.

Creating without thinking too much is wonderful fun.

Open the mind - think outside the box.

I am beginning to realise that I am very reserved with my art, more so than I ever realised. It is time to break away and loosen up a little. I believe that entering into the corporate world (as I have done so) can make people reserved taking away their inner child like qualities, taking away their creativity, thinking outside the corporate box, all the theories of the business world (which is all very well and good at times, even though I have never needed to put them in place) need to be in the back of the mind but thinking freely without feeling like an idiot is sometimes needed. When I have worked for a company that has allowed free thought I have excelled but some suppress ideas and there I survive.

So I am hoping all the collages, sketches, paintings photography will help me to look at the world in a new manner, an exciting child like manner, pretending that I have never seen it before and imagine that it is something else and then picturing what it would look like on paper, perhaps.

I think I will start video recording how I go about my work to add a new element to the potential of creative thought and it sometimes comes across better in person than writings, since some can interpret text one way and take it out of context.

Watch this space - you may see me on YouTube sometime in the near future.

xxx

Random photos

More patterns

Un-named painting

I worked on this last night, lots of fun and it really came out well, not sure where I will hang it.

Collages - patterns

Collecting patterns from a magazine is something of an eye opener. Some patterns are obvious and others I needed to look deeper. I also got my camera out looking for patterns in the garden which I intend to broaden by taking my camera everywhere with me.

Collages - eyes

The more I progressed with this collage the more I saw different ways of turning a cut and paste project into an elaborate pattern. Maybe next time.

Collages - Lips

I must confess, I am not a big fan of collages but I came across someone who produced collages (I forget the website, annoying, I know) and I was very impressed. My thought for my collage projects was not to create something fancy but to open my mind to other ways of producing art and to inspire me for something later in the future.

I started this task with nothing else in my the mind other than lips and I started cutting and pasting it in my sketch book. The more I continued I thought to myself, I wish I had not pasted them in and had arranged them until I liked what I saw then glue them together in a pattern of some sort. I am not complaining, on the contrary, it has opened my mind to the many possibilities of putting something together and seeing endless variations on one subject matter.

Incredibly busy

This week I have been very busy creating 'art' in some form or way, collages, photos, paintings, research, learning to open my mind to the world, etc. All in a days work!

The exercises that are posted above are helping me to think creatively to the point that I find it incredibly distracting and hard to get to sleep. I start a project and then think of multiple ways to recreate my original plan. My mind goes off on tangents but I need to stay focused on the task at hand. The only way for me to keep track of my thoughts is write it down.

Keri Smith - Book

Today I came across a blog that recommended art literature but the books listed did not take my fancy. I did find however, Keri Smith's books which struck me, so I immediately went to Chapters on my lunch hour and took a look in more detail about what her work is all about. At first I thought that this stuff was for kids and some of it you could do with your kids. What I actually wanted was not in stock but there were several I saw that I wanted. I opted to buy 'How to Be An Explorer Of The World'. I needed something that would open my mind to my surroundings (as many of her books do) but this one fitted the bill.

(Picture courtesy of Chapters site)

I have already started to work through it, you can easily doodle in the book and their are pages at the back for projects and it also fits nicely in a medium sized bag. It will give me something to do while I commute by train to work. They would make fab gifts which I intend to get for a few people in my life.

So far I recommend it and I can't wait to get the kids exploring with me.

Latest painting - Roses

I painted this today, over an old painting I did not like. I needed to get the acrylics out and do another painting, I am enjoying sketching but I love to paint. It is almost finished and needs my signature but it has to dry.

Terrible lighting so I took a few pics. I really need a new camera but what I have will have to do for now.

Tree Trunks

I painted this back in 2007 I can not believe it has been so long. I love this painting, sadly my camera action 

does not show the colours n its true sense. It is a large painting (I think 32x48 or close to).

Red

The start of the painted sketch.

 Not sure if I am ready to say this is completed.

E. Arden in Colour...

OK. Now I do have to blame my tools for the face thingy! I mean it started out great then somehow the water colour merged and as a result made her face look odd, plus the size of my brush did not help (it was too big, but I do not have a smaller brush - SIGH!). If I had done this in acrylics it would be easy to rectify as it is it is a sketch and I may produce this on a much large scale on canvas. I love the colours and I think this would look fabulous without the illustrative style used here.

Elizabeth Arden Inspired

I saw an Elizabeth Arden photograph in a magazine, advertising perfume. I thought it was beautiful so I am recreating it, in my style. Here is the pencil outline.

Valentine Cupcake

I like red so here is my red valentine themed cupcake.

Happy Valentines Day!

A poem by me

Society today evolves too fast

Perhaps for better or for worse

Continue to look at our troubled past

Which can never be reversed.

Are we truly ever satisfied?

Purchases from high even low

Can we really be happy

Or does this all just blow?

The world of I is so prevalent

Yet people read the notes

Is this very relevant

Or should we just put on our coats?

A designer bag here, a designer shoe there

Do we pay our mortgage off

Or do we sit in despair?

Most will just say neigh!

But is there a bigger picture

That we all seem to forget?

Generations beyond us, do they have a future?

We all need to think about the environment

Anatomy

I have finally found someone who offers 2/3 day courses on studying the anatomy. Here is the website: http://www.alanmcgowan.com/ . It is nice to know that I do not have to study for years at college to get an basic understanding of this. If I had loads of money I would go back to a decent art college and take a year out studying fineart but as it is and now that the British government have gone the North American route (because they are sheep and other political reasons that are frustrating to me) by making students pay for their education, then I will have to make do with studying it myself and wait until I return to the UK before I can take Alan McGowan's course in the beautiful city of Edinburgh.

Cup of Jo

I just love coffee...a little too much...

Cup of Jo or Cuppa Joe?

Sparkles

This is all about the sparkles so ignore the face - it was not my focus, obviously...

Self Portrait

Producing a self portrait can be challenging, people tend to see themselves differently compared to others. I composed a self-portrait in art class at school in graphite and white paint. I really did not like what I saw, perhaps it was my lack of experience using graphite at the time or I was not confident in my abilities.

I look at this piece and other than maturity the painting is very similar to what I had produced almost 20 years ago (I know, it scares me to think it has been that long!). Sadly, I recently threw the 'old' me out so I do not have it to compare but here is the latest. To me it encompasses me as a person, its subtle colours and sensitivity, a friendly face. At least that is how I see myself.

Yes, one eye is slightly smaller than the other but they are in reality (except it is slightly exaggerated in this piece).

Saatchi Online Showdown - next exhibit

I have yet again entered the Saatchi online competition, I currently stand at 1766 out of 5716 entires. This is very good and the best result I have had so far but would really like to get to the top 128 so that I can be entered into the next round of finalists.

Pretty please, vote for me...

http://www.saatchionline.com/showdown/match/showdown/4/artist/175023/art/1162923

Update: 1668 out of 5716 entries. Woohhoo! Now I need to get my ass together to get ready for the Paris Showdown - so cool. No I will not be using my sketches! (only 2 hours left to vote not much time but I am happy with this result it means people like my work).

Baby Doll Face. Hmmmm!

I dabbled with this today - not my proudest moment but I did it. Let's just say it did not turn out how I wanted it to. 

I used acrylics in my sketchbook and the paper really is not good quality for that sort of paint and I spent most of my time pulling stray bristles from a cheap paint brush. See for yourself...

Hmmmmm! I said I would post my work!!!
If I had worked on it and spent some time developing this piece then I think it would have worked in my favour, as it is, it will do and I do not wish to spend hours in a sketch book, I work on canvas for hours.

That said it has given me a better understanding of my style of painting. Depending on the medium used depends on how I paint but one thing stays in sync; my brush strokes. I have been  working towards this and I am getting to the point of understanding my own technique.

WIP - complete

I really need to use watercolour paper, this paper I am using is too thin.

Fashion obsessed?

Chanel Lippy - check

 Louboutin Shoes - check

Fendi Handbag - check

Tiffany Diamonds - check

Spoilt?

Over Indulged?

Credit or Debit?

WIP - More portraits.

A touch of colour with acrylics

I started this sketch off with the idea that it was not to have colour but...

 I could not resist so I added a few bits.

I love colour!

Changes and imperfections

Already I see a noticable change in my drawing. It is like riding a bike, a few wobbles to start but you soon get back into it and the same has happened here. This is why I have placed my 'child like' sketches onto the blog since I am using this as a diary because I know at some point they will be thrown away and forgotten, at least this way I can remind myself of my progress.

There are times in my drawings that I see imperfections, it can annoy me but then I look deeper and think actually nothing is perfect (not that I know of at least). These imperfections are helping me to become more fluid in what I do and I work with what I have and change accordingly.

There is a lot to be learnt from websites and I have found some great websites that I have listed at the bottom of this blog. I need to add more. You will see where I have drawn my inspiration from and why I am doing what I am doing.

I am signing off now until this evening.

Attitude baby

I am really getting into my sketch pad and I am really enjoying doing these little imaginary portraits.  

Here are the steps I took to get to the painted version:

Step 1: sketch

 Step 2: ink line drawing

 Step 3: A touch of paint

Line drawing has paint

I could not resist, I had to paint it...

Fashion - Line Drawing

Body Sketch

Full body sketch.

I am experimenting with some new styles and putting pen to paper when time allows with my busy schedule. I do intend to start using colour but for now I am doing what I can. I miss using colour.

Fashion Art - Sketches

I had forgotten how much fun drawing can be and I can see that my style has changed very little. As one of my lecturers put it, I have a sensitive style that matches my personality. My personality may have changed a little with age but it is not lost. Evenso, once I put the sketch pad down I see a few things developing into much more, I am terribly excited.