An Artist New Year's Resolution -- Staying Focused

There seems to be a lack of consistency in my work.

Acrylic on barn wood

Acrylic on cardstock with original verse

Colored Pencil

I'll do something serious that takes hours and every stroke can be critical.

Then I'll get some crazy idea to make my own canvas out of paint sticks.  Paint a picture and put a lace stencil around it.

Acrylic on a paint sticks, a frame made of stretcher strips and a doily stencil

Another "bright idea", I'll paint on barn wood!  Sounds like fun?  I turned it into something serious.

Acrylic on barn wood

Well, then I thought I'd try to lighten up on the barn wood and have some real fun.

Acrylic on barn wood

Out of no where I decide to sew on screen wire, whhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Sewing on screen wire with yarn

After that came the idea of building my own crate with paint sticks.

Crate made with paint sticks

And where ever did this come from?  I decided to do a bit of weaving!  With paint sticks!  Well, I couldn't actually weave them, but believe me I tried.

Woven organizer with paint sticks

Which then gave me the idea of weaving with paper rope..............

Woven wall hanging with paper rope and stretcher strip bar frame

And then I wanted to weave a pot, and so I wove one out of paper and then one out of a t-shirt.

vase woven from an old t-shirt

I painted on lace.............

Lace on stretched canvas

Suddenly I decided that I'd like to paint on canvas again and add something real to the painting, so.....

Acrylic on canvas with real butterflies glued to the canvas

Next, okay, let's do a bit of illustration on pages from the Bible.

Colored pencil and pastel on printout from Exodus

Let's throw in a bit of Christmas crafting, again, whyyyyyyyyyyyy?

Angel made from t-shirt, wood ball and old sheer curtain

Oooh, time to paint again!  But this time, for some reason I decided to play with black and white.....

I went serious.                                                                                                

Pencil on bristol board

Then I played around a bit...........

Pale pink paint sticks
black, gray, white acrylic

This made me think of art therapy, so I had to try my hand at that too!

 

Oh and let's not forget painting and sewing screen wire on canvas.............

And making a pair of flip flops from foam and woven t-shirt scraps.....

I decided to put my art work on products, so I opened up a Zazzle store for my fine art.

Then another for my fun art, with quotes and poetry.  

And then another for greeting cards.  

Then I threw another one in for spiritual things and of course I had to have a store for the children's art I love to do. 

 Here's one of those............

Acrylic and water color pencil on bristol board


Oh and lest I forget, I also have a store for the kitchen.  I love designing the kitchen products with my art too!

So here is my artsy resolution, ready, here goes..............

This year, 2016, I'm going to try to be more focused, try to stick to one or two things and work on perfecting those areas.  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

Wish me luck.

Art: Sometimes Experimenting Pays Off

 

This turned out to be pretty simple.  This is pencil on wood.  I wondered if I could get the surface workable for my pencil and then I wondered if I’d be able to seal it good enough without a shine and tada, it worked.

This particular piece of wood I purchased at the store.  It was already pretty smooth.

1.  Wipe away all dust and fuzz.

2.  Paint it the color you want with an acrylic and water wash.

3.  Once dry, apply two coats of white gesso, letting the first coat dry before applying the second coat.

4.  When the second coat is dry, lightly sand.

5.  Gently render your illustration with any “B” pencil.  (For me these pencils blend easier)  If you haven’t applied too much pencil or too hard, you can even erase with a gum eraser.  You can also blend with a stump if you like.

I was a bit concerned about the eyes because I had applied more pencil there and it was shiney.  But once I completed the project with step 6, it took away the sheen.

6.  With the rendering laying flat, spray with two to three thin coats of Krylon UV-Resistant Clear Acrylic Coating, letting it dry between coats.  I did this outside and laid the piece in the shed to dry and air out.  (Take my word for it, this stuff does not smell to good.)

And that’s it, I attempted to smear the pencil and it was sealed tight.

This would be great to give a gift to a man.  You don’t need a frame or glass.  I’m thinking I will try colored pencil or watercolor pencil next.  I’d like to see what happens.

Let me know if you do this and I’d like to see it.

Happy painting!