A Cheshire Farewell. . .

 

"the return makes one love the farewell" - Alfred de Musset

The Illustration Friday topic this week is FAREWELL.  After ciphering a bit about how to portray that idea without sketching a person waving, I remembered the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.  He would fade away until nothing was visible but his big smiling mouth. 

I was able to recreate that idea with a layer of vellum on top of a brightly colored girl - cutting out the mouth area allowed her face to be hazy while her lips remained vibrant!

 

Connor calls this girl Watermelon Head. . . 

Linking to Play Date Cafe Challenge,

Paper Saturdays,

Show and Tell Saturday,

Sunday Sketches,

Creative Every Day

Grungy, Graffiti Girl

Today's girl is chock full of attitude!  Don't give her a hard time though - she just might jab you with her super pointy elbow.  I myself have dangerously sharp elbows - Corey jokes that they would make good defense weapons.  Ha ha!

Modeled her off a gal in a magazine and then layered with some book quotes against pretty junk papers.

Look where she started out - on the left is how I first drew her - crazy big eyes and lips.  Walked away unhappy and then later came back, painted out her face and tried again.  I like the more normal sized features much better for this girl. 

She lives in the old ledger opposite a silhouette that was spray painted with the girl from this page (before she got stuck down for good)!

Linking to Art Journal Every Day and 

Paint Party Friday

Watercolor Portrait - Tutorial Try-outs

Couldn't resist Kristin Dudish's Tutorial Try-outs challenge this week to make a Watercolor Portrait based on the tutorial from the Grow Creative blog.

The transferred, posterized picture looks like a paint by number, doesn't it?

Those little blonde cuties are our niece and nephew from Seattle.  

Illustration Friday - TRAIN

 

"Be quiet.  I lost my TRAIN of thought."

I know I can't be the only one that seems to regularly forget what I was thinking just the moment before.  The worst part is when I walk with a purpose directly to a cabinet or drawer and then for the life of me can't remember why I am there.  That's when I make the above face - where you try looking back into your brain for the answer. It isn't until I've gone back to where I started that eventually I remember again what it was that I needed, sigh. . .

Started with some pretty junk papers and sketched a girl and fingerpainted her face.  Look closely at my newest favorite paint stick (from Kim - thanks!!) - SHARPIE Mean Streak.  It is labeled as a waterproof permanent marking stick that can mark on wet or dry surfaces and is fade resistent, nontoxic and dries within minutes.  

Linking to Creative Every Day and

Illustration Friday - TRAIN

SHE - Flash Card sketch

Got together with my good friend Kim yesterday for gabbing/shopping (the things we do best) and she gifted me with some fabulous ephemera including some vintage LONG flashcards.  A simple sketch with pencil/ink seemed just the thing to illustrate the word SHE.

The one on top is the original size of the card.  I couldn't bear to waste the "she" on the other side so I trimmed it down and rounded the corners and now have a smaller salvaged piece to use later.  Kim gave me the lecture that ephemera is to use and not to hoard so maybe I'll use the entire card next time - seems rather decadent though. . . 

Linking to Paper Saturdays and

Sunday Sketches

Picasso inspired. . . WILD

Picasso is the challenge theme at Willowing's Ning site this month and I was game to give it a try.  

This certainly qualifies as WILD in my book therefore the link to Illustration Friday.

Wish I'd been brave enough to move those features around a little more - maybe next time.  Added lots of dots to make it more me and then finished up with a cool Picasso quote.

Linking to Art Journal Every Day and

Paint Party Friday

Urban Angst

The topic at Illustration Friday this week is URBAN and I am squeaking in at the last minute with an art journal spread that is very different for me. 

Started with a pencil sketch in my ledger journal inspired by a computer screen that we saw at the Science Center in St. Louis.  Connor definitely thought I was weird for taking pictures of signage when others were taking pictures of fossils, etc.

Changed things up with patterned paper for the colorful buildings. . . 

Glued it all down and painted the middle with gesso/white paint, some stamping and stenciling.  Topped if off with a painted silhouette that

was cut from a Gap ad in a magazine and spray painted black.  Later I'll cut the middle girl out from the left side and use her on another project. 

Quote from Lemony Snicket - seems to be a favorite source of wisdom lately. 

This is definitely fun and edgy for the likes of me. 

Linking to Illustration Friday - URBAN,

Art Journal Every Day,

Paint Party Friday, and

Artists in Blogland

Spring-y Pastels. . .

LOOKIE!  A card- seems like forever since I've posted a card.  This little number boasts some of my favorite things - glitter, gem stickers, machine stitching, dry embossing and a handmade nest made of wire and pearls. 

Stamps and embellishments from A Muse Studio; background paper is from Prima Marketing; wire/pearls from my stash.

Linking to Paper Crafts Connection April Gallery Challenge.

The Elevator Princess

"THE ELEVATOR PRINCESS"

While waiting for the elevator to restart, the princess rued the day she so flippantly declared that learning a third poem was not necessary. 

I'm loving this fun little girl inspired by the Danita Art blog.   Her dress and paper pieced heart are made from some of my fun pretty junk papers.  The quote is from Lemony Snicket and the paper doilies are Maya Road.

The background is a collage of papers/map.  There is even part of an asian newspaper that I got as packaging from a gift that I purchased when we were in NYC a couple years back.  I'm in the habit of saving all snips of paper that look promising.  Even the kids bring me their wrappers from things now.   

Linking to Art Journal Every Day,

Paint Party Friday, and

Sunday Sketches

Painting on Balsa Wood. . .

A jaunt through Hobby Lobby the other day made me think of a new substrate to try for one of my girls - Balsa.  It comes in 6" x 36" in the model section of the store. 

Balsa seemed like a pretty porous material so I started with a coat of clear gesso that was sanded once dry then lightly sketched a girl on a 6" square piece of wood. 

She is painted with NeoColor crayons and Panpastels.  LOVE how the woodgrain shows through!

Linking to Creative Every Day,

Mandarin Orange Monday, and

Orange You Glad It's Friday