Monday, October 20, 2014

Let Soul Speak

I have promised myself that this would be the last straight-on face I would draw or paint until I have practiced the 3/4 profile.  That said, I really like how she came out!  The quote, by Rumi, says, "Let soul speak with the silent articulation of a face." I experimented with crackle medium over the top of the finished face and stenciled images, then rubbed paint into the resulting cracks.  I love the "old masters-look" result.  A lot of shine on this page, so it was hard to get good pics that show the true color without glare. Her hair is actually quinacridone magneta with fluorescent pink highlights, and the green in the background is much darker than it appears.



Here are some in-progress pics.

 


Friday, October 17, 2014

Collecting wisdom

This is my first attempt at drawing and painting an owl.  I fretted over this - my inner critic wreaked havoc with me.  I know it's an ok owl, but I don't especially like it.  I do like how the shading in the moon came out though...
The quote, a Zen proverb, reads, "Sometimes simply by sitting the owl collects wisdom."

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Shadow and Light

I struggled with this one - specifically the tree.  I finally decided to let it be before I totally ruined it!
I created the stencil of the crow from a piece of clip art.
I included two pictures because the first one shows the vibrant color on the left-facing page, and the second one shows more detail on the right-facing page as well as the true color of the sun circle.
The quote is from Rumi: "Sometimes the shadow stays next to the light; sometimes it disappears into the light."




Embrace every moment

An online friend of mine, Andrea Gilsdorf, sent me the gift of Jane Davenport's video Whimsical Faces.  It taught me a lot, and here is the first journal spread I've created using some of her techniques.  There's also the influence of Effy Wild in this spread.