Signs Of Spring

I saw a Quail in my yard the other day poking around underneath a fir tree.

Our snow is melting and lately we are having warmer temperatures in the 40’s. It felt like signs of Spring and inspired me to create this mixed media collage in my sketchbook:

I know the male Quail has the top plume but I couldn’t resist giving him a dress! I drew the Quail’s head and feet.

I was also inspired by the collage artist, Katherine Streeter. I hope you check out her art at KatherineStreeter.com She is also on Instagram. She has a playful style that I really enjoy. She helped me “think outside the box.”

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

May you be inspired to create something different today!

Cheers! 😃

More Fun With Fungus!

After my exploration of collage and drawing a pair of Rosy Bonnet mushrooms on Monday, I decided to try an ink doodle with Micron pens:

Next, I made a stencil of the mushroom from my pencil drawing. I wanted to use it in my Gelli-plate printing.

I decided to make a stencil of each shape with card stock and a plastic material (it is made for creating quilt patterns but I thought it might work):

Both worked for these fungus prints but I liked the results with the card stock the best. It was less slippery on the Gelli-plate and left less lines around the stencil on the prints:

It was fun trying both positive and negative shapes on deli paper and vellum paper:

I can even use the leftover card stock stencil in my art journal…

But that is fun with fungus for another day!

I hope I inspired you to explore mixed media in a subject you enjoy.

Cheers! 🙂

A Woodland Fairy

I have found new JOY with pencil sketching lately.

It has become a relaxing activity in the evening and my day does not feel complete without a quick sketch!

I find myself focusing on faces yet I am also “drawn” to nature.

This woodland fairy combines a face and nature into one sketch:

My inspiration came from the cover of this book and an oak tree in my yard:

It is one of my favorite books for learning to sketch and paint fairies.  It has so many wonderful ideas to spark my imagination!

These are the supplies I used for this drawing:

From top of the page to bottom:  A Faber-Castell Graphite Aquarelle 8B pencil, Pentel waterbrush, Pentel Graphlet 0.7 mm mechanical pencil, shading stump and a kneaded eraser.  I used a Stillman & Birn Zeta Series sketchbook.

I started with the Graphite Aquarelle pencil and added shading with the waterbrush.  I finished adding details with the 0.7 mm mechanical pencil and shading stump.  A kneaded eraser is wonderful because it doesn’t damage the paper and can be molded to erase small spaces.

I encourage you to draw every day!  Try different pencils, papers and subjects.  It will change how you see the world around you!

Cheers! 🙂

Finding Balance

I started this drawing of squares and circles recently with a Micron black pen:

I was thinking of using a drawing for one of my monthly Square Projects;  you can read more about my project here: February’s Square Project

I think we all struggle with finding balance in one or two areas of our lives.  I know I do! 😉

Sometimes I wish life was as easy as balancing lights and darks like this collage:

The collage is still waaay too busy for me, much like life is some times… and yet cutting up the original collage and rearranging the pieces helped me to focus on the whole picture, not just the annoying parts!

It also helped me create balance in this drawing:

Creating art teaches me a lot about finding balance in my life.  How about you?

My drawing is almost complete, next I will add pencil shading.

Cheers! 🙂

 

Art As Meditation

I find creating art can be a form of meditation, especially watercolor.

I started this experiment drawing random circles and squares using Stabilo water-soluble pencils and Faber-Castel watercolor pencils.  I then drew a circular pattern with a number 2 pencil to add interest.  I’m using 140 lb cold press watercolor paper.

Next, I started filling in the outlined shapes with watercolor.

I find this is a good exercise to learn how to control my brush, experiment with color mixing and the ratio of water to paint.

Progress is slow yet steady…

Taking photos of my progress, helps me to create balance, rhythm and interest.  In the two photos above, I discovered after viewing the photo on the left, I needed to add brighter red and yellow in some areas to make them pop, as shown in the photo on the right.

This is still a work in progress, but I’m enjoying the journey of discovery…

Happy Art Making!  Cheers! 🙂

 

100 Days Of Drawing Faces

I posted my 100th face on Instagram yesterday!  WHOOT!  😊 I accomplished my goal of drawing 100 faces in a little over 100 days… Phew!!

Maybe some of you recall my first face I posted on April 4th – it was a quick sketch in one continuous line:

100 days is A LOT especially when I am working full-time… (What was I thinking?!) and yet having limited time helped me to accomplish my goal because I didn’t have time to fuss over it.

I didn’t post everything I did like this one:

I would have liked to have more time to do more like this one, where I mixed collage and acrylics:

But I enjoyed trying a variety of art mediums:

Sprinkled with a little humor:

I think this one is one of my favorites – Picasso style:

And this one I did in watercolor with drips for hair:

I found I could draw more realistic looking faces and even my own – or at least my better half!  Lol! 🙂

I think the greatest lesson I learned is that it isn’t perfection that matters but PRACTICE!!  Daily practice does make a difference….

Especially in finding ones “style” in art!  I found I really liked creating “characters” rather than REAL people:

And yet, drawing a variety really is the best teacher!  Here is my 100th face:

I’m sure it won’t be my last…

Yet, let’s FACE it, I need a little break from drawing faces!

Cheers! 🙂

An Artistic Confession

I have a confession to make…

I’ve always wanted to be able to draw pretty faces ever since I was a young girl… BUT my faces always looked much like this drawing (eyes closed):

Until recently, drawing a face (or two or three!) EVERY DAY has really improved my drawing skills!  PRACTICE really does makes a difference!

PLUS, learning from other artists in books, YouTube videos, online classes… thank goodness there are SOOOO many great ways to learn to draw (faces) today!

I drew this face with pencil last week and I hope to paint it with watercolor:

She is my first face that I’ve drawn that I have REALLY liked loved!!  I am a little scared to paint in watercolor as I don’t want to mess her up.  I think I will scan my drawing first so I have a future reference.  🙂

My second face, I also created with pencil and used an Elegant Writer pen (with water) to create the black lines:

She reminds me of a flower, opening its petals to reveal its inner beauty – much like I hope my art does with continuous practice!

I know I have SO MUCH MORE TO LEARN but I feel like I’m starting to create some pretty faces…

Do you have a subject that YOU would like to learn how to draw better?!  I hope you give it a try!!  (And I’d love if you shared it with me!)

Cheers! 🙂

Colorful Faces

I made quick random marks in my mixed media sketchbook using watercolor and water soluble Tombow markers.  I only had a few minutes to create before I fixed dinner so I didn’t even let the page dry before I went onto the next one.  I did 10 pages in about 15 minutes.

Next, I decided to make quick one-liner sketches of faces from a magazine with ink without thinking about my backgrounds (paint had dried).  It was super fun!

Here are my 4 favorites:

Do you have a favorite?  I hope you share it with me!

Cheers!  🙂

The 100 Day Project – Drawing Faces

I decided to participate in the 100 day project on Instagram by drawing faces.  I don’t find faces an easy subject to draw so I know I will need to push through the critical voices in my head to improve my skills!  😉

I hope you will follow my progress on Instagram as art_jill_kuhn  as I will be posting most of my face sketches there.

I drew my first 3 faces with ink as a one-liner without removing the pen from the paper.  I will be experimenting in other drawing styles to keep it interesting.

I challenge you to try a 100 day project of your choice!  It is a great way to learn and have fun improving a skill such as drawing.

Cheers!  🙂

Painting On Vacation – Part 1

I thought that you might enjoy seeing my watercolor paintings in my art journal during my lake vacation.  I posted them on Instagram but I know that some of you aren’t on IG so this is for you!  And it is kind of fun to see them all together.  🙂

I have decided to show it in two posts.  Here is my first week:

I started with a simple leaf study on Sunday, July 17 and painted it 3 times.  I have the actual leaf in the photo above.  It was really fun to paint it more than once.

On Monday, July 18, I painted this view from the beach.  I haven’t done too many landscapes so it was fun to try one:

On Tuesday, July 19, I gathered a few rocks from the beach and painted them.  I found painting beach rocks to be very meditative:

When walking in the woods on Wednesday, July 20, I discovered this rare find – it is called, Indian Pipe or Ghost flower:

It was one of my more difficult subjects to paint as I had to paint the shadows.

Thursday, July 21, we had a perfectly, blue-sky kind of day!  The best weather all week.  I found this Thimbleberry Bush and clipped a couple of stems to paint:

On Friday, July 22, I painted this dragonfly from a photo I had taken previously.  I really liked how it turned out:

On Saturday, I painted this more complex subject of Bunchberries from a photo I took from a walk along a path:

I ran out of time and patience on it.  I wasn’t pleased with my background but I decided to give it a rest.  I kept reminding myself that it is about practice NOT perfection…

On Sunday, July 24, I tried another challenging subject – beach toys on the beach from this photo:

I learned a lot during my first week of painting while on vacation.  I enjoyed trying a variety of subjects and I didn’t give up when I struggled.  YAY!

I’m not sure I would have painted in watercolor EVERY day if it wasn’t for Charlie at Doodlewash who started World Watercolor Month for July.  (Note the group is now called, World Watercolor Group).   Thanks Charlie for inspiring me!

I will post my photos for the second week of my lake vacation on Thursday, August 4th.

Happy Painting!  🙂