Illustration Friday - GOLDEN

"Every moment is a golden one for him who has the

 vision to recognize it as such."

  - Henry Miller

Started with a sketch in the car on top of a watercolored background. 

Colored her with pencils and pastels - love the ethereal look she has at this point - almost as if she is stepping out of the mist. 

BIG jolt of glitter makes for a totally different look - the topic at Illustration Friday is GOLDEN and I was determined to get the most golden sparkly hair ever! (I've been sweeping up glitter for days. . .)

Linking to Paint Party Friday,

Art Journal Every Day and

Friday Sketches

Feather

Do you paint backgrounds in your art journal ahead of time?  Most mixed media artists advise it - that way the white page isn't so daunting when you sit down to create. 

Recently I had a desire but not much time or inspiration so I watercolored several pages in my current journal.  Adding salt while it dries adds a fun texture.   

I'd never drawn a feather before and was thrilled that it turned out as well as it did.  Part of me wishes I had left it well enough alone (I say that pretty often) but in the moment I felt yellow ochre in my feather painting.  Glad I captured a pic before I added that part though. . . 

Linking to Sunday Sketches and

Creative Every Day

Illustration Friday - REPEAT

"Those who don't remember the past

 are condemned to repeat it."

Played with my new stamp again.  This time I divided up my paper and painted each of the openings.  After drying, stamping with pigment ink allows the image to show up even against darker hues.  Some paper art tape (found in the drafting section  of the art store) camouflages ragged paint edges and adds enough contrast to allow each face to "pop"! 

Linking to Illustration Friday - REPEAT,

Paint Party Friday,

Friday Sketches and

Art Journal Every Day

The Ugly Duckling. . .

So I had no eye-dea (har har) - how crazy cock-eyed this girl was until I stamped her on paper! 

Sketched a face on Speedy Carve . . .

and went to town carving it out - I do like her hair - and I think her crazy face is kinda charming.  She's my Ugly Duckling but I'm her mama and I still love her. 

Linking to Sunday Sketches and

Creative Every Day

SOC - Week 6

This is the last week for Summer of Color - oh no - what will we do with ourselves now??   This week's challenge was Raspberry & Tangerine with a Smudge, Splash or Pop of Lemon.

While the finished pic doesn't seem to show much orange it was definitely evident at the beginning of my journey.

I love the inspiration that Kristin has been giving us every week - it is always a stretch for me to use color - I tend to gravitate to neutrals and earthy colors.  This challenge has made me step out of my box. . .

Only 46 more weeks until SOC 5!

Can you tell I'm still being inspired by the Alisa Burke Flower Power class?

Linking to Paint Party Friday, 

Friday Sketches and

Art Journal Every Day

Baby afghan?

We have a new baby nephew in Washington state!!  He is such a cutie - I wish we lived closer but for now we are having to make due with pictures through Facebook.  I've been working on this baby afghan for several weeks now based on the pattern found here.  I squealed the moment I saw it and would've loved something similar when my boys were little.  

I don't crochet much (hardly ever) so I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  Here is my question to you - Would you consider this to be a baby blanket?  The non-traditional colors have some people, particularly my mother(she loves it when I pick on her on my blog - doncha mom??) shaking their collective head. 

On a completely different note here is a weird pod/plant sketch done in the car. . . 

Linking to Sunday Sketches and

Creative Every Day

SOC - Week 5

The Summer of Color Challenge this week is Red & Royal Blue

with a Smudge, Splash or Pop of Light Blue.   

This odd girl looks like she is painted for some kind of sports event - similar to those die-hard fans that support their teams to the bitter end!  Go team!

My vague reference to sports shows you how "non-sporty" my life is - I think I just like the idea of painting one's face with wild abandon and going out in public.  I'd never do it but you can scratch any weird itch in your art journal, right? 

Linking to Paint Party Friday, 

Friday Sketches, and

Art Journal Every Day

Brave Girl. . .

"You'll never do a whole lot unless you are brave enough to try." - Dolly Parton

Linking to Sunday Sketches and

Creative Every Day

1,000 Posts

(watercolor, India Ink and Sharpie paint pens on watercolor paper

painters tape gives the framed look with crisp edges)

Blogging began for me in October 2008 - mostly as a way to promote stamping/papercraft classes I was teaching at a local store.  Now, nearly 6 years later, I've amassed 1,000 posts!

Lots of things have changed since POMI's beginnings - the store has closed and I no longer teach but the biggest change has been the content of this blog.

Beginning in 2011 I discovered the wonders of mixed media!  Artists like Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, Donna Downey and Alisa Burke were a huge influence on me deciding to try my hand at painting/drawing which has become one of my most favorite ways to enjoy myself and cope with stress.

If it weren't for the Internet and generous artists willing to share their art and techniques I'd have never reached beyond my comfort zone and tried new things.  Do I have more to learn?  Absolutely.  Have I come a long way?  Yup, but I've drawn things I'd have never imagined I'd be able to - love all the quirky girls I seem to be constantly drawing!  I can't wait to see where the next 1,000 posts take me!  Thanks for visiting my little corner of the blogosphere and sharing the ride with me. 

Linking to Paint Party Friday and 

Art Journal Every Day

SOC - Week 4

The Summer of Color challenge coupled with the Illustration Friday theme of Beard makes for one weird art journal page!   I had decided to tackle the two challenges together before I found out the colors for the week - Pink & Apple Green with a Smudge, Splash or Pop of Dark Green.  What kind of bearded individual would sport those colors??

A hirsute Pringles guy - that's who!  We'd purchased retro Pringles at the store the other day but when I did a Google search I realized how they've jazzed him up over the years.  Mainly by losing the eyebrows and adding mousse/gel/texturizing cream to his hair!

Do you like the old book quote?

"Then there's a certain swing to his body as he walks along that seems to express confidence."

Yup, this fellow is chock full of joie de vivre! 

Linking to Summer of Color - Week 4 and

Illustration Friday - Beard