Jeep gets in the way of art.

Looks like I picked the wrong month to challenge myself artistically. I didn’t even make it through the first week of the "drawing a day for a month challenge"! It’s a good thing no one really reads my blog! Haha...My first excuse is that a piece of the exhaust system fell off my jeep and hit the drive shaft on the turnpike. Yea that was a good one, it sounded like the engine blew up. That killed a day to repair then a few days later it was overheating.... that took a weekend to repair. Looks like I’m still going to have to change the radiator and possibly a leaky freeze out plug.... so that wipes out next weekend. Sometimes it’s a good thing when you know how to fix stuff and sometimes it’s a curse. Sure I save money on costly repairs but sometimes it would be nice to get some one else to do the dirty work. I guess that’s just not in my nature. I like taking care of my own things. And so it goes once again life “or in this case my jeep” gets in the way of art.

One drawing a day for a month # 4

One drawing a day for a month # 3

One drawing a day for a month # 2

One drawing a day for a month #1 of 30

Drawing #1 of 30
self portrait

Brushing up on my drawing ?

The more I paint the more I’ve come to realize that my drawing skills or lack of them ...are slowing me down. It seems like I’m always correcting some sort of drawing error in my paintings and it’s starting to irk me a little, so I think I’m going to take it back to square one for a bit and brush up on my drawing skills. I figure one drawing a day for a month is a realistic goal to starters. So I'll post the good the bad and the ugly. As long as I keep drawing I should get something out of it.

WANT PEACE, OIL ON CANVAS

When I saw this picture I related to it immediately. Peace is something I always ask for but seldom ever get. Its not finished yet but hopefully one day I’ll have the peace of mind to call it finished.

THE FEAST, OIL ON CANVAS

MARRY ME, OIL ON CANVAS

The Artist in the Office by Summer Pierre

The Artist in the Office: How to Creatively Survive and Thrive Seven Days a Week (Paperback)
A guide to living a creative life from 9 to 5 and beyond.

Based on the hit handmade 'zine, The Artist in the Office is an inspirational, interactive book for any artist living in the real world. It encourages small acts of creativity and a simple shift of perspective to help readers bring their artistic selves into the workplace and thrive in all aspects of their lives.

Readers are prompted to undertake a wide range of liberating activities, from the mundane to the sublime, that won't put their 9-to- 5 job at risk, including:

•Take lunchtime adventures to rouse your spirit: a bookstore, a flower shop, or a park

•Pick one ordinary object each day and take pictures every time you see it: coffee mugs, shoes, office plants

•Get up an hour early or stay up an hour later and devote the time to your creative work. Schedule it in like any other mandatory appointment or meeting

•Collect doodles from Post-Its or notebooks and reassemble them in a sketchbook


About the Author
Summer Pierre is a consummate artist: she writes, she draws, she sings. And, most important, she knows how to reach people with her art. Summer's writing has appeared in The Time Argus, Skirt! Magazine, and Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs.

Liquin Video by Joss Van de Ven

I found a great video series by Joss Van de Ven titled Secrets of the Masters. Enter the universe of classic painting by learning the Dutch technique of the 17th century. 1) A step by step approach to makeing a good oil painting.

Liquin to the Rescue

I worked on this painting a little more this week and I just wasn’t getting the look I was going for. My dark’s were getting flat and textured when I wanted them smooth and shinny. So after staring at the darn thing for a while I grabbed the liquin and started slapping it on. That was the trick...... and off I went glazing , blending and smiling....oh yea one more thing , the liquin made the candle smoke an easy task.

two paintings linked together

I’m still working on this painting for art class, its is actually two paintings linked together. I painted the still life display from art class which was the bread, purple grapes, watermellon, apples and oranges. When I got home I went food shopping for additional produce to put in the painting and I added more items from around the house to balance out the piece. I used a limited palette of Titanium white, Quinacridone Magenta, Napthol Red, Hansa Yellow med, Phthaol Green, Phthalo Blue , Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna,

Elmo and Beer

In art class we started painting a still life of a teddy bear, but when I got it home I felt the bear could use a little help. Perhaps a few props and a good supporting actor. So I went out on a limb and had a little fun with this painting. I got a few reference pictures on line and let my imagination run a muck.

Newark Liberty International Airport Oil Painting

I took this picture a few years ago at Newark’s Liberty International Airport. I liked the composition of the picture and the movement of all the employees getting the plane ready for flight. I wanted to keep that energy so painted loosely using poppy oil as a medium this time. There are still a few more things I would like to try to do with this painting to suggest movement so I think I’ll let it dry for now a come back to it when I have a clear idea of how to get the affect I’m looking for.

smart blur filter in Photoshop

One last pass through the smart blur filter and I think thats it. The smart blur filter cleans things up and gives the piece a smooth finished look without removing to much detail.

Liquify in Photoshop

photoshop liquify tool

I added a tear in her eye using the paint brush tool and the liquify tool to get those swirling effects in the back round and on the wings .

painting in photoshop

I adjusted the brightness and contrast of the whole picture to get it to punch out more, while adding variations to the blocked in colors to give more interest and dimension.

photoshop sketching and color

I put my artistic license to work on the hair and dress.

photoshop sketching, color

I filled in the dress and wings with some colors that I thought would work together.

Photoshop sketch

Using the paint brush in Photoshop I started coloring in the face.

Sketching into Photoshop

Inspired by a conversation with a friend last night who likes to sketch fairies, I decided to give one a try. Although she likes to sketch her fairies deceased.....I just couldn't find it in myself to kill one of these things so I decided to make mine a little sad instead. lol....

I started out with a loose sketch with vine charcoal on toned paper. When the drawing was complete I took a quick digital picture and put the image onto Photoshop.

Glass palette with grayscale

I haven’t really been in the mood to paint this week, so I figured a few upgrades to the work station just might be the thing to get me going next week. I’ve been wanting a glass palette with a grayscale built in for some time now so I decided to make one. I got some scrap wood that I had left over from another project {3/4 plywood 12" x15"and some 1" strips of oak for the sides} , a 11"x14" glass from an old picture in the attic, a sheet of gray palette paper and a grayscale to go under the glass. ( I cut the grayscale from the back of a gray paper palette I ordered on line). Well there you have it a simple and inexpensive glass palette made from left over materials. I promise it won’t be this clean next week.