The Masters

Have you been board lately with your art, or your just not sure what colors to do in your art work? You need a pick me up?

Go to the masters. Pick up a book at the library, go online or maybe you have an art history book.

Find your favorite artist. Identify with that artist. Look closely why you like this particular drawing or painting. Learn and observe the line qualities, the paint strokes, which color is next to which color, what shapes make the landscape or body, is the character sad or happy, is the painting dull and dark or bright and lifelike.

Then, when you sit down at your paper or canvas, select the colors that artist used and apply those to your piece.

Recently, when I was working on a collage for a class, I really was unsure about my faces. They look out of proportion a bit, I wasn't sure about the color and the noses; feeling the noses are too big. My daughter even tells me that I draw big lips or noses. Well, I went to Gaugin's pieces, and noticed that I had a touch of him in my pieces; the colors, the style with the black outline, the dark skin tones of the women, and the bit of out of proportion of his faces. My faces are still not in proportion properly though, I am not saying Gaguin's pieces are out of proportion:) But I felt better about my piece and have a goal to keep working at.

I don't have to like every single piece I ever work on. Some of my pieces just don't sit right with me at first, and later, rub off on me. Others I just still do not like, but I am growing and learning. I don't think I ever want to be so accomplished that I build up with pride.

Tassels

I have always wanted to make tassels out of embroidery thread, but this time I made one out of burlap and twine. Tassels are kind of fun, you can hang them up anywhere; a vase, a knob on a hutch, a door know, in your car window, on shades in your windows, add one to a collage or a journal.
I added tassels to my Pinterest.

Make Garland Balls

I love making stuff, like taking a styrofoam ball, and covering it with plastic holly. I had these plastic hollies for Christmas going up my staircase with greens. I was going to store them away for next year, but I thought, well I only spent $5.00 on them from the Dollar Store, so why not take them apart and glue them to the styrofoam ball and then my next purchase is a clay pot to stick the ball covered ivy in to make like a Pottery Barn decortion that costs $25-$35.00 and next year I can buy new holly for $5.00. I will show the results once I get the whole project done.

These balls are big today for decoration; place them in a bowl with all kinds of balls covered with twine, fabric, pine cones, ivy, sea shells.

Marshalls has great wooden bowls to load these balls in.

Homemade Bird's Nest

I havn't been just collaging, but making other things like paper flowers (roses), birds nests, cooking...

Paper rose

Painting Noses on Portraits

As you can see, my nose on this gal just felt too large and I have never just wiped something off of a painting like I did this day, applied a light color acrylic and gesso, and dried it with my handy dandy hair dryer, then redrew and repainted. Yes, that was even when the eyes were done, but I just needed too. The nostrils were just too wide and originally the model's nose was not that wide.

This all takes practice, so bare with me in these illustrations. If you look closely you will see differences.

Three different Collages, Three different Girls

Mystele, Kylie and Tam, I think I will call these girls after my teachers in Life Book.

Layer upon layer of papers, watercolor crayons, inks, gesso, acrylics...

If you want to know how I did them, let me know, I would love to help!