This is the latest in my adventures of eyes and fur. Two techniques I am practicing, I really want to draw things as photo like as possible. This is an ATC hand drawn with colored pencil. The ATC is available for swap.
Cat Eye ATC - Colored pencil
March 21st, 2012
Colored pencil sketches
Over the last 2 weeks I have been practicing my drawing skills once again. The peacock ATC was for a swap on swap-bot, no particular theme. It was drawn in colored pencil, my favorite medium to use right now. I struggle with backgrounds for my birds. Practice makes perfect I guess…right?
Peacock ATC - swap
Below are two addition bird drawings I added to my sketch journals. I live in a house full of macaws, however I had to resort to looking at pictures online to find one that would sit still long enough for me sketch it. Also I wanted to try doing a hawk. I am really working on improving my eyes to make them look life like and photo realistic. I do the eyes first, if I don’t like the way they come out I don’t go on with the drawing. Both are completed with colored pencil.
Blue & Gold Macaw - colored pencil drawing
Hawk - colored pencil
March 12th, 2012
March Art Updates
I have been busy as a bee lately creating mail art and ATC’s. Not too long ago I completed a megaswap ATC trade where you made 20 ATC’s to distribute to 20 different people (1 card per person). It was a grueling yet fun experience. I found I often had to turn to the web for inspiration and ideas. Unfortunately I haven’t started to create a stock of ATC’s or the process would have been a lot less cumbersome. Now I am caught up on most of my upcoming trades, except for the photography trades. I will be creating ATC’s to add to my collection so the next swaps will be a little easier on me. Recently I began scanning my ATC’s instead of photographing them. I am really happy with the results and will continue to scan in the future.
 Bluebird ATC |
 Used Postage Stamp ATC |
I have been trying my hand at sketching. Eventually I would like to be adding sketches into my daily journal. I picked birds because I like them and I think they are fairly easy to draw. This picture was created from a photo I found on the web. It was the very first thing I drew with my new set of 132 Prismacolor colored pencils. I find I really like the colored pencil medium. Watercolor is another favorite of mine. I am practicing with everything and exploring the process.
- Bird sketch
March 6th, 2012
Old Journal Pages
- Journal pages 1993-2009
I have kept a journal on and off for most of my life. As a teenager I often got into trouble because I wasn’t very good at hiding my journal and I had a snooper for a mom. I also have a hard time following through on big projects like completing a journal. Each time I took a long break from journaling I thought I needed to start a new one because the perfectionist in me thought that if I didn’t journal every day, then I messed the entire thing up and I need to start again to make the next one “right”. I realize now that perfectionism is a huge character flaw for me and I have missed out on many things because I couldn’t do them perfectly. These pages have chronicled college, boyfriends, husbands both ex and current, pets who have come and gone, exercise regimens, weight gain & loss so it’s hard to let them go. For a while I even decided to take my journal digital (today I realized I may have lost those entries due to a computer failure), hopefully I can get those entries too.
During a big decluttering phase in my life I decided it was a good idea to get rid of all those half-done journals. I stripped out the pages that were written and compiled them into a big folder. Now I am left with a stack of journal pages in all shapes and sizes and they don’t have a home. I revisited those old pages today and found some reoccurring themes, I have never been happy with my weight, I can’t stick with an exercise program and I only write when things are bothering me. I have unfortunately neglected the good times in my journals.
The journaling bug is in full force for me this year. I have learned that it’s okay to have random, unorganized journals. They don’t have to be neat, or written in every day, or censored. The also don’t have to be in chronological order (this one I struggle with still). With my new found journal knowledge I am now faced with what in the world to do with all these loose pages? I would like to keep them somewhere, and I have 2 more books that I have not ripped the pages from. Do you have any suggestions for these random pages?
**Edit** – I was able to retrieve the electronic journal…thank you Carbonite!!
February 9th, 2012
Arizona Inspired ATC’s
I really enjoy participating in Artist Trading Card (ATC) swaps. I can’t wait to see my book start to fill up with awesome ATC’s. I am currently involved in 2 different ATC swaps so last night I decided to “explore” drawing and water colors.
I wanted to make an ATC which had a cactus, since we are surrounded by them. I turned to the internet for a little inspiration and found the idea of making a 2 piece ATC set. I found the perfect picture of a jumping cholla that I shot and used it as a the model for the ATC shown below. I drew the cacuts freehand and used colored pencils to color it. I used water color pencils to paint the background. This is a 2 piece card but each looks good on their own. Just a different spin on things! I am happy with the way it turned out since I didn’t think I had any ability to draw. What do you think?
 Inspiration cactus photo |
 Jumping Cholla ATC
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I also made another Arizona inspired ATC. I chose to use a Kokopeli. We see this all over the place from t-shirts to home decor. This one was much simpler, I also added a zentangle boder to give it a little extra flair and incorporate another form of art I like to do. If I make one like this in the future I am scouting out different embellishments to make it more of a mixed-media piece. Ideas welcome!
Kokopeli ATC with Zentangle border
I really like these cards and I’m not sure I want to give them away. At least I will have these pictures to keep in the memory book!
January 31st, 2012
Art Swaps
I would never use the label “Artist” to describe myself. However I have found that it is a side of me that I have never truly explored. I have been completely fascinated by art journals, junk journals, scrapping, artist trading cards, mail art and probably a dozen other things I haven’t yet found. I registered to trade are on Swap-bot and started seeking out trades that interested me. There is something for everyone on this site! Both Michael and I have participated in an Artist Trading Card Swap and a mail art swap. See the pictures below for our first successful trades. I can’t wait to keep sharing the goodies we get in our mailbox!
Artist Trading Cards
 I love Paris ATC received from Michael's swap partner |
 I love Paris ATC Beth received from her swap partner |
 The I Love Paris ATC I sent to my swap partner in Peru. |
Mail Art
 Mail Art Michael received from swap partner |
 Mail Art Beth received from swap partner |
 My first mail art creation, it is also a mini album for my swap partner |
 My first mail art creation, it is also a mini-album for my swap partner. |
Overall our first swap experiences were very enjoyable and we are looking forward to many more. I am planning on taking part in a few journal swaps. Who knows…maybe eventually I will even be able to participate in the art journal swaps.
January 24th, 2012
Budding Lemons
I have had a lot of trouble focusing lately on any one thing. This year I discovered “Project Life” ironically on January 1st (talk about timing!). It is a project devoted to documenting every day life in easy manageable chunks. You can work on it daily, weekly or monthly (whatever suits you). You get out of it what you put into it. I completed week 1 easily and I derailed on week 2 due to being sick. Week 3 went by in a blur and sadly I didn’t do anything on this project. I am not going to let it get me down or let myself fall off the wagon completely. Week 4, I am back with a vengeance and proud to share a little something from my back yard. A week ago we had a lemon and a tangerine tree planted in our back yard. The lemon tree already has 2 full size lemons and I spotted a few new buds growing. I thought it would be interesting to take a weekly pictures of these buds to see how long it will be until I can eat them! I look forward to a successful year full of trying new things. My blog is my playground and I can’t wait to share it!
January 5th, 2012
Explore
This year I decided to take my friend’s advice and create a theme word for my 2012. Usually at the end of each year I start thinking about what I want to accomplish in the upcoming year. Many people call these resolutions I call them as goals. Last year for example I didn’t reach all my goals but I made great strides towards them leaving me overall in a better place than I was in during 2010. I didn’t want my goals to look like last years list and I didn’t give anytime to making my new goal list…enter theme word 2012!
I struggle with getting in my own way because if I don’t do it right or it doesn’t turn out as expected I feel like a failure. I think they call that perfectionism. What I realized is that being labeled a perfectionist is precisely why I feel like I never accomplish anything. For example, if I can’t lose 50lbs, then a 25lb weight loss to me is a failure not a success because I didn’t reach 50. See where this is going?…you guessed it…not losing a single pound. If you were to give me a magic pill that would cause me to lose 25lbs over night, I would take it and think it was great. This is why perfectionism isn’t a positive thing, it’s a negative one. After much thought I decided EXPLORE would be my word for 2012. This year it is not about checking items off a list. To me it is the year to live in the moment and enjoy the process. I would rather have partial accomplishments than none at all. What is your theme word for 2012?
January 3rd, 2010
Candles are comforting
Picture 3/365 Today I spent quite a bit of time cleaning the house. It was long over due. Typically after I clean I enjoy lighting my scented oil burner and enjoying the relaxing scents of Satsumi and Strawberry. During my cleaning I was trying to figure out what I should photograph for the project. I thought that I’d take my camera out with me on my walk/run session. I was very rushed because of dinner plans so I still didn’t manage to take any pictures. I also didn’t want another food porn picture from our meal out. After we got home I again lit my oil burner and noticed how pretty the candle looked and the accompanying reflection. Bingo!! Photo of the day. For me Candlelight, it brings a sense of calm. Maybe it’s the flicker of the flame, or maybe it’s the scent that is inviting. No matter the reason I find them very comforting, especially late at night. Please leave a comment if you like my picture! or follow my 2010 Project 365. See you tomorrow!
January 1st, 2010
Happy New Year’s
Picture 2/365 Today we were invited to celebrate New Year’s Day with friends. We had a great meal and shared many enterataining stories over the course of the evening. Our friend Red has this old Cadillac that his father bought when it was brand new. I’m sure at one time it was a prized posession. Please leave a comment if you like my picture! or follow my 2010 Project 365. See you tomorrow!