and the wiener is...

Jean of Jean's Muse blog. Congrats, Jean! I'll email you just in case you miss this post.

Here's the journal still under construction on my kitchen table. I've been working there for the last week so that I can watch the Olympics while I art.
The top center piece is the inside back (or front) cover done with mostly vintage papers, the purple/blue piece to the right and below it is the front (or back) cover, the other parts are the inside pages in various stages of being decorated with inks and stencils, and a bit of collage, and some stamping with Tangie's cool grunge stamps. I have sets 2 and 3 and love them.
I'll bind it this weekend and send it off to Jean on Tuesday.
Sorry I couldn't make one for everybody but thank you for all your nice comments, and thanks especially to those of you who signed up to follow me. Hopefully I'll keep you entertained. 

Sorry, Dina!

I've long wished I could draw better. My mother, as I've mentioned in the past, was something of an artist, doing commissions of kids and dogs and houses throughout her life in small-town Ohio. Many of her paintings hang in my house.

I've taken drawing classes. I've bought books. I've practiced. I just. don't . have. it. The drawing gene. Altho I was looking at Drawing With the Right Side of the Brain (or something like that) this morning and wondering if that would help.

When Dina Wakely posted a 'quickie face,' I decided to try and copy it. They say to draw what you see, not what you think you see.

OK.

I proceeded to do that and here's the result. You can see the resemblance, I guess. I figured y'all could use a Sunday afternoon laugh, so look at mine, and then go look at Dina's. Pretty funny.

Sorry, Dina. I tried.

art, lately

Staples had the 48pc set of Prismacolor Premiere colored pencils on closeout at a ridiculous price and... I succumbed. These are the good, creamy ones that make thick, rich colors and blend well. Not that colored pencils are my go-to mark making tool, but I've seen so much neat work using them that I figured it was time I learned how, at least a little.

While S was watching bad sci-fi the other night, I joined him on the couch with my cup of pencils and an ancient sketch pad that had one full and one partial sheet left in it. It's a Strathmore 400 series 8"x10", and I don't know how long they've been making these, but back when I bought it, it cost $1.65. I looked on Amazon just now and they're $5.75. My, how things change. 

Faces are not something I'm good at but that's what I worked on, along with a weird flower that I mostly used to try colors out on. I took a baby wipe to the flower just to see what would happen and it blends nicely. I'm actually pleased with both faces. Lips are obviously not my strong suit, or maybe I was going for the Angelina Jolie look. And don't ask me why she has a salad bowl on her head. Whatever. The pencils were fun and I feel a glimmer of light in the long, dark tunnel of my drawing skills.    

And just as I was sitting here looking at the picture after I loaded it into the post, I see that I forgot the tiny dots of white in her eyes, so I added them to the drawing. Just pretend they're there.

I made another formula mixed media piece on an 8x10 canvas board. Pretty much followed the recipe again but in different colors. This one has a fires-of-hell look about it and I toyed with a few titles for it but ended up leaving it nameless for now. I like the juxtaposition of the dapper man in the photo and the lace and cream tones against the raging background. The little zig-zaggy things top and center at right are thin bits of cross cut corrugated cardboard. I'd been cutting strips for another project and spotted them when I was looking for things to add. Sprayed one with several inks and left the other au naturel.