Something new and a coupon too

The last few weeks I've been focused on painting and shows so I decided to take a break and work on my Etsy shop. Sadly it's been neglected lately so it was time to get back to it and try something new. I just added a new section to the shop called Painting Project Singles. These are instant downloadable PDFs and they take you step by step through one painting.

To get the ball rolling I'm starting with projects from our book Creative Colored Pencil Workshop so if you have the book, you already have the first 2 projects. But for those who don't have the book, it's a great way to pick and choose which painting you want to do and you don't have to spend a lot to do it. I'll be doing some new projects in the future to add to the series so check in at the shop from time to time.

The first 2 projects focus on mixing colored pencil with other media. Above I'm combining them with oil pastel to paint a loose, impressionistic landscape. The project below is my froggy from Paynes Prairie. He's done with watercolor and colored pencil. I take you through each step with a full color photo and instructions. I also include a line drawing, the original source photo and materials list.

So check out the new listings and tell me what you think! Do you think it's a good idea? Do you have a particular subject you'd like to see in a step by step format like this? I'll be doing more landscapes for sure but I'm also thinking of doing some seasonal type things like pumpkins with gold leaf backgrounds for fall or maybe do one with a bird nest and eggs. You know how much I love painting those! I would love and appreciate your feedback so leave a comment if you're so inclined.

To introduce these 2 new projects I'm sharing a coupon for 50% off the Painting Project Singles that's good through May 31st.  Share with your friends and happy painting!

Playing

So it's a couple of weeks after the workshop and I've been busy getting back into the routine of walking at the park, classes, portrait commissions and landscape painting. In between those things I get to play with little people like these 2 lovely ladies...

I mean, look at those faces- how can I resist? Sometimes I just have to put the brushes down and pick up a puppet or a book and snuggle with little girls on my lap.

Okay, back to art stuff.... while I was at the workshop in Live Oak I was introduced to a new paper (new to me anyway). It's called TerraSkin and one of the ladies taking the class was kind enough to bring a piece of it for me to play with. It intrigued me so when I got home I ordered a pad. What is TerraSkin? It's made from rocks. That alone was enough for me to try it. Here are some basics about it from their website. 

• TerraSkin is a combination of mineral powder (>75%) and a small quantity (<25%) of non-toxic resin combined to create an environmentally friendly paper.

• The production of TerraSkin requires no water, so the TerraSkin papermaking process incurs no water pollutants.

• Used TerraSkin paper will start to degrade under the proper environmental conditions of high heat, moisture and UV light.

• Most importantly, in producing TerraSkin, the harvesting of trees is unnecessary, thereby safeguarding the natural environment’s beauty and biodiversity for all living beings.

• TerraSkin also has beautiful printing capabilities and a unique texture and feel. Because the paper is fiberless, it does not absorb ink like regular paper and also uses less ink than regular paper. Images stay much crisper and cleaner because the ink doesn’t bleed.

• TerraSkin is water – resistant and inherently strong and durable.

It was originally formulated for commercial uses such as packaging, labels, banners, printing etc.... so there isn't anything about it's use for artists on the website but if you poke around online you can find info and videos about using this stone paper.

Here is my first time playing with TerraSkin.... I wanted to try mixed media with portrait work so I figured this paper would be ideal for it. It's very similar to Yupo paper but has a slight texture where Yupo is very slick. Because of the texture it accepts colored pencil pretty well. You can't build up as many layers as you can on Canson Mi-Teintes or watercolor paper but you can do some layering. I started this one by drawing the face first with colored pencils; I did a few layers of skin tones. Then I started playing with very loose washes of blue watercolor. The paper surface is slightly porous so it absorbs a little of the paint but a lot sits on the surface and takes a while to dry.

When it was dry I started playing with acrylic paint, some right from the tube and some watered down. I also sprayed it with water while the paint was still wet. I scratched into the paint with the handle end of the brush to make some marks and then I kept layering acrylic and watercolor. At one point I splattered the blue and then sprayed it to encourage it run across the face and then let the puddles dry where they were.

The background really looks a mess but it's fun to let loose and experiment. I can always go back into it and paint some more layers over it and change the look completely. I can definitely see playing with these techniques some more. If you work on paper and like playing with mixed media, give this paper a try.

Time to pick up a brush.... 

Get your hands in some paint

Today I thought I'd show off someone else's work - my granddaughter Maxine's watercolor painting. Now that she's 2 years old and old enough to sit at my drawing table I put together a tool box of art supplies for her. When she comes over for a visit one of the first things she does is grab my hand, pull me toward my studio and say "Painting Grandma?" So of course that's what we do. 

Max loves water and really loves dipping her brushes in it and sloshing around. That's how she usually paints - with brushes. This time she decided there's a better way to work with watercolors. This particular set of pan paints has glitter in it (unfortunately, hard to see in the photo). I don't know if that's why it seems to be softer than other kids watercolors but Maxine thought it was great fun to scoop it out of the pans with her fingers and smear it around on the paper. Every once in a while I'd give the paper a mist with my sprayer just to keep things moist and moving around. She loved to feel the spray too, she kept sticking her hands in it.

There's nothing like watching the creativity of children when they get their hands on some paint and I think she has as much to teach me as I have to teach her.

The new portrait page

Just wanted to let you know that I added a new page to the blog - Portraits. There are only a few posted right now, I need to take pictures of a couple more that I did. I had pictures. Do I know where they are at the moment? No. It's been a few years since doing the pieces and at the time I only had my 35mm SLR so somewhere there are actually prints. Oh, how I love digital. Anyway, most of these portraits are done with colored pencil.

Kayla with Bubbles

colored pencil

This painting of Kayla was done on Canson pastel paper. The paper is a beautiful magenta color (I wish this pic was better. I had to take a new one from an old print so the photo isn't the best). Trying to work out the skin tones on that color of paper was a real pain in the rear!

Journey, Portrait of Kristen

mixed media

Now this one, it almost ended up in the trash. This piece is watercolor, gold leaf and colored pencil on Stonehenge printmaking paper. When I started with the watercolor washes I goofed and ended up with a splotch on the face where I didn't want it. I really wanted to keep the face pure and clean. When I tried to lift the color it wouldn't work. I was so aggravated I threw the thing down and walked away. Later I took it outside on the picnic table and just started throwing paint at it - literally. I added the gold and then just started scrubbing with the colored pencils. Sometimes it works out for the best when you attack something with a "nothing to lose" attitude.

Portrait of Sarah

colored pencil

This portrait of my daughter was done on a cream colored Stonehenge. I did this one slowly, building up the color layer by layer for a smooth, soft look.

When I can get to where the other 2 portraits are I'll take some photos of those and post them. I added the portrait page because now that I have the studio I have more time to take on commission work again. I'd especially like to play some more with the mixed media portraits. I also have some more landscapes I want to do and there's another series I'm deeply entrenched in, that I want to share soon. So many projects........... did I just say I have more time?