Painting is different than drawing.. While I’ve been learning to draw with a graphite pencil transferring this into acrylic paint is a little bit of a learning curve… But I think I’m getting the hang of things, plus I can always just paint over the canvas and start over if I don’t like how things turn out. lol..

What new thing have you tried? Maybe you want to learn to cook, to draw, to write? Go ahead and take the steps to learn.. I purchased a book and started reading. You don’t need a class to get started, just start something today.

I started with a blank 11 by 14 canvas and sketched out the image of my girl in charcoal. I outlined her image with burnt umber paint. Then I proceeded to add color to the canvas using an old key card. After I created the background I wanted I proceeded to color in her face using acrylic paint. Then her hair and details were painted.

Finally I used stamps to place Dream Big and went over the words with red and copper paint. I’m letting the painting rest for a little while before I do anything else, but I wanted to share what I have created so far…

Have you made a dream happen lately? If not take the steps to make a dream come true, it is never to late!

Hayden was wearing a T-Shirt and shorts in the photo but I decided to have my girl wearing a dress. I’m still working on refining her look. But I want to use an image like this for a couple of projects I have in mind…

I see images differently now. I’m looking at the shadows that the light creates. I’m seeing things that I didn’t see before and I’m learning.

What have you learned lately about the world around you? Have you found a way to incorporate what you see into your art? It is never too late to learn something new. Just decide what it is you want to do, and before you know it you have gone and done what you want to do that is new!

So I decided to make hand drawn cards for both of these themes. I cut watercolor paper to the proper ATC size of 2.5 by 3.5 inches. Then I set about drawing the eyes using the techniques I’ve learned from the book and another source. http://willowing.ning.com/group/theheartofart Tammy has a free course she offered in October 2010 that taught people how to heal through their art. I found some great tips in her online course. So I combined some of the information from the book and from Tammy’s class to make my first hand drawn eye’s ATC.

I used a Faber-Castel 2B drawing pencil, liquitex, prismacolor colored pencils and Faber-Castell PITT artist pen to finish the eye drawing.

The Peace ATC I used a Steadtler compass to draw a circle then a second circle inside. The I used a Faber-Castel 2B drawing pencil to draw the inside lines to complete the peace symbol. Next I pulled out my liquitex colored pencils and started filling in the colors that I thought would look good on the peace symbol and around the outside. I used a small tortillion to blend the colors.

Both of these cards were very easy to make. A lot easier than I thought it would be, since these were both hand drawn cards. I guess I have had so many years of fear bottled up keeping me from drawing that now that I’m letting go of those fears and letting my hands draw it is easier for me.

Don’t let your fears keep you from doing something you have always dreamed of doing. Learn that new thing, go on a trip you have dreamed about for years. It will take some work to make the dream happen, but it will be worth every step you take.

So what are the fears that are keeping you from doing what you have always dreamed of doing?

Reflecting back, I have not been a person who drew. Maybe a little when I was a child. When I was in High School I took one semester of Art and while I was in that class I didn’t get a lot of encouragement. I have always been a crafter, someone that would make something out of various items, but not a person who could draw.

So on Saturday I was in the local hobby supply Lee Hammond’s Big Book of Drawing, I also picked up a sketch journal.

Last night I started reading the first few pages of the book, where the book teaches how to use graphing and then goes into shading.

One of the projects was to practice blending a sphere. I didn’t have the suggested pencil so I used a charcoal pencil – soft and I didn’t have the Tortillion for blending so I used a paper towel wrapped around a paint brush.

While this is my first attempt at drawing, I think I did pretty good!

My word of enCOURAGEment to you; go ahead pick up the paint brush, colored pencils, sewing needle, etc and create. It is never too late to learn something new. If you have the desire to learn you will find a way to succeed. If I can find drawing courage you can find the courage you need for anything you want to try.

What new artistic endeavor will you try? Please feel free to share with me.

Aspire to be Amazing!

Linda

The weather in Oklahoma is turning nice. The sun is out and it is getting warmer. When that happens it makes me think back to when I was a kid and mom would have us hang the laundry out on the clothes line to dry. I loved how the clothes would smell when we took the clothes down. It also saved money to dry the clothes outside! lol

Thinking about the good old days made me want to create that same feeling on my ATC.

Watch the following video to see how the card was made.

What does this sunny weather remind you of from your youth? If you could do something that  you used to do as a kid what would that activity be that you would do today?

Thanks for stopping by my site.

Aspire to be Amazing!

Linda

Spend an hour with Linda, chat & watch as she shows you how to use metal tape to make wearable art Jewelry Metal Tag.

She will use: Metal Tape, stamps, alcohol ink and a few other supplies. Come join the show, laugh and learn with Linda.

I found some awesome paper from K & Company and use that as my foundation 2.5 by 3.5 inch card.

Love was stamped in black Stazon ink and then punched with my McGill label punch. I used a little Distressed ink around the edges and my glitter gel pen to finish the look of the word Love.

I found the lock and key charms in my stash and added jump rings so that these could hang from the earring.  The earring was glued to the paper using Glossy Accents from Ranger Inks, as well as the rhinestones.

The green heart is a metal heart. The metal is from an aluminum  soda can, I cut the shape, emboss the metal and then painted this green. The heart was mounted using pop dots or also known as 3D dots.

Next time you walk by something that you think is trash on the ground, stop and pick up the item. You never know when something just might become a treasured art piece.

Have you ever made art from something that you “found”? If so tell me about what you found and what you made with the item.

Thanks for stopping by and reading.

Blessings

Linda

I will be sharing how I use metal in my artwork and Jonathan will be using the techniques I share in his art journal.

I hope you are able to join us tonight!

For those that were unable to attend the show here is the recorded show:

I had a wonderful time! I look forward to creating my own show soon! Keep checking for more information!

So grab some scraps of papers and you can make one too even if you don’t have all of the tools that I have!

The basic idea is to gather the colors you want to use as the foundation of your art. Since this was a Primary Colors theme I chose papers that were red, yellow and blue. Then I pulled out my rubber stamps and black ink and started over stamping on the paper. It didn’t matter if the paper had a design or not, I was adding another texture to the paper. Once I stamped all of the scraps I then cut the paper in to strips, and again the size or width of the strips didn’t matter, this is a random design.

Once all of the strips were lined up I used carpet tape to adhere these into a design. If you don’t have carpet tape a double sided tape would work, or you could just glue each piece down (which will take a little longer and you have to put glue on the entire strip of paper). Then after I got the tape filled with paper I filled in the spaces with glitter. I cut the piece down to the size I wanted the finished art to be and proceeded to embossing.

Embossing with regular powder is easy or even UTEE (to make the artwork shine). If you don’t have either you could use Glossy Accents or Diamond glaze or other finishes that will dry clear and shinny, another favorite of mine Golden Gel medium in low and high gloss.

Take this project and use it to make something out of your scraps or even your trash. It is a great projects for kids – use magazines or junk mail. Free items are great to use in art for kids! Could use a laminator or even packing tape to make the pieces shiny if making this project with kids..

Then let me know what you created. Leave a comment telling me about what you have done. How you changed up your project etc…

Just have fun! There is no right or wrong.

Blessings

Linda