1.23.2011

Giveaway Winner and Linky Love!

Hello, friends!
I'm so glad to see some new faces commenting. 
Each and every comment made my heart smile, so thank you.
Now: For the winner...*insert drumroll*
 acryingshamex!!!
Woohooo!!! Congrats.
E-mail me at dawnraymond04(at)gmail(dot)com

Linky Love!!
Kelly Rae: Letter to Self: I've heard of Kelly Rae before, but was
re-introduced to her blog this week. Oh, the beauty and inspiration!
All I can say is, I wish I could believe like she does.
Violette: Her blog is full of color and magic and imagination.
Jane Davenport: Oohh..her blog is oodles of fun.
She uses color beautifully, and loves color pencils! 
My kinda gal :)
Kristin: Kristin from Journaling Saves
Lots of interviews and goodies on why journaling 
is good for the mind and soul.
Jane Davies: Lots of beautiful artwork and tutorials.

I'm thinking about doing a letter to myself,
to be opened at some time later...but it scares me.
What will I put? Dreaming is frightening,
mainly because I don't want to fail.

1.20.2011

More drawing practice...

REMINDER: Only three more days left to 
leave your comment on the previous post 
and win "Art Stamping Workshop" by Gloria Page!!!
 

I pray that its just the winter and that
I am an extraordinarily lazy person...
because I have been sleeping SO MUCH.
Last weekend I slept, and worked on this painting.
I won't even tell you how many hours it took
to draw all those boxes in perspective,
and there are a ton of errors still!
I didn't color the inside of the boxes because 
I was sick of it at that point.
Still. I am proud of how it turned out.
This has been my next drawing project.
I've worked on this for awhile now.
TIP: Do your sketches on tracing paper. It is cheap and very erasable.
Tonight I opened photoshop and placed my sketch
next to the actual picture.
I think seeing them side by side (and on screen)
will help me correct some of the proportion/shape errors.
And this kitty sketch is only about 2 hours into it!
I know I am not really going to make the likeness of Jack,
but I DO want to make it look like a kitten.
Big ears, small adorable face.
We shall see.


1.17.2011

Leave a comment, win a book!

I was thinking to myself,
"Self, how many people do you think read your blog?"
And I answered myself,
"Well, Self...I don't know. I have 25 followers, so at least 25 people do!"
But I also get comments from new people.
How did they find me?!
SO....GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

I've had this lovely book on my bookshelf, collecting dust.
This was HARD, as I am reluctant to let go of my precious books.
This was my first Art book.
My first foray into this crazy land of painting and journaling,
and loving (almost) every minute of it.
Gloria Page shows you how to make your own stamps,
and has MANY projects with awesome, upclose pictures
depicting all the different techniques.
Not only that, there are pages at the end of the book where you can
copy, enlarge, use to make your own stamps!

The only thing I ask of you is this.
Please leave a comment on my blog, and tell me how you found me.
And if you feel so desired (this is extra), tell me what you like or don't like.
I am genuinely curious.

I will have this giveaway open until next Sunday, the 23rd at 8:00pm.
I will then randomly pick out the winner and post it on my blog!!

Wooo! So if there are any lurkers, come out of hiding :)
Plus, I'll probably throw in a few little goodies here and there.

1.15.2011

Acceptance

A stomach virus wiped me out for most of last week.
My "schedule" to finish my Sketchbook came to a screeching halt.
Art House actually extended the deadline to Tuesday,
but I am not sending it in.
My dear friend Sophie will be sad, but thats ok.
I learned A LOT through doing this.
See, even sickness preoccupied my sketchbook!
(I love my Canada Dry symbol)
I learned that I need to come up with a more focused plan.
I chose In Flight as a theme, with the idea
that I would show my journey through the art world in my Sketchbook.
Sounds good in theory, but means that I meandered.
A lot.
Eden performed spectacularly. 
I want to have more structure next time.
Either stay with one media, or do the same type of drawings...
I don't know yet.
I also know I am going to sign up for it earlier.
I signed up as soon as I found out last year,
but many themes were already gone.
Maybe if I find a theme that really calls out to me
I will be more inspired.
I also learned that it is OK that I didn't finish.
That may not seem like a big deal,
but for me it is.
I am quick to see myself as a fraud, a failure.
I was tempted to do that when I (again) didn't finish a project.
I decided that this was a great learning experience for me.
There are many pages I don't like, or are only half finished.
I just don't want to put that out into the world,
but I will be that much better next year!
I'm still going to finish the Sketchbook,
because there are many things  I do love about it.

1.09.2011

Sketchbook Project Update

I had pretty much given up any hope that I was going to finish
my Sketchbook Project by the 15th.
I lost all steam after my trip to Kansas in September.
What was I thinking that I could do this?
This is dumb, who is going to see and care about this?
I did some stuff here and there, but left a lot of partially done pages.
These two drawings have been in pencil for months.
I originally did them because I was practicing drawing Legos
for a little boy I babysit for.
I was going to make him a painting, which has been sitting
half done for just as long. I sort of hate it.
Sophie, an 8 year old I babysit (little boy's sister) for
is my best supporter.
A few days ago she saw me working in the sketchbook 
and goes "Oh yeah! How many pages do you have left?"
I sheepishly looked at her and went 
"Ummm...a lot. And I haven't finished a lot of pages too.
There is no way I am going to get this done in time."
She demanded to see my Sketchbook, to which I obliged.
She marveled at my most recent drawing
My mom gave me this bizarre bird pen for Christmas,
so I brought it to work--and all the kids love it.
Sophie was amazed at how good it was and says,
"Dawn, you must be one of the BEST drawers in all of Virginia!
You have to finish this in time. You only have 9 days. Tonight
I want you to draw this pepsi bottle, and start finishing those pages."
Yep, all of this coming from an 8 year old.
She boosts my ego even though I know I am not even 
close to being one of the best drawers in Virginia!
So, I listened to Sophie.
When I saw her the next day, I showed her the sketch, which she loved.
Her next project for me to tackle was finishing ALL of my unfinished pages
(hasn't happened yet), along with drawing a Sharpie
and scissors that were on my desk.
I couldn't help but to listen and oblige.
Not finished yet, I still have to color it in.
Of course she gives me all circular objects!
Drawing circles in perspective (aka: ellipses) is HARD.
I then worked on old pages, because she asked so sweetly.
How can you let a kid down?
These spreads were unfinished since September.
We went on a Party Bus, and yes it did catch on fire
(not while we were in it),
and yes it did get caught up in a high speed police chase
(also not while we were in it).
I also got an entire beer poured all over me
by someone who was drunk and walking around a moving bus.
NOT COOL.
This page was inspired by a pair of hairbands
sitting on my bathroom counter that I 
found to be in an interesting pattern.
Funny the things that strike you.
This spread was fun.
I had previously Gesso'ed these pages,
and watercolor on top of gesso gives out an interesting texture.
The gesso is very non-porous. and I really like the effect.
That website is real! It has a step-by-step demo
on how to draw a marble and color it in with colored pencils.
Mine looks horrible in comparison, but I do like it.
I'm not sure if I didn't press hard enough,
or if it was the paper.
Lastly, I am trying to draw my cat, Jack,
from when he was a wee babe.
As you can see, its not very good!
Sure it looks like a cat...but thats about it.
Any seasoned drawers out there want to give me some pointers?
Also, while this is in my Sketchbook, I also am
drawing this for the Sketchbook Challenge
Each month for the year, this blog puts out a theme,
and you can make as many sketches that fit that theme.
They even have a flickr group!
It seems lots of people are participating in this challenge.
I really want to try and expand my drawing skills this year,
and I know myself well enough that I am going to need
a little motivation.
I so hope this is it. It looks like fun!

1.04.2011

No day but today

Hello fellow bloggers.
I've been a bad blogger of late, but I blame it on the holidays!
I've been working on my Sketchbook,
but there is no way it will get finished by the Jan 15th deadline.
Oh well.
I will finish it though. I need to take updated pictures
so I can show you guys.
I had a friend in town for NYE and she asked for a painting.
My only requirement was purples and reds,
and song lyrics from Rent.
I thought about it for a few days.
I knew I wanted to experiment more with my watercolors and ink.
From there, I wasn't sure.
So, I went through my supplies, and my little star templates stood out.
I sat down with my Sketchbook, the stars and a pencil.
A few sketches later, I decided on this layout you see above.
Next was the fun part, outlining it in ink (Micron), and detailing.
Once that part was done, I got to play with my watercolors.
I've read a lot about color theory, but when it comes down to it
I just like to mix my favorite colors and see what happens.
From here I just added layers of color until I liked what I saw.
Not very technical, but I love the outcome :)