journal post 4/30/12

Monday.



Monday is kind of like my "saturday" but it still reeks of Monday. I'm so super unfocused and out of it! I'm supposed to be doing laundry and making cake right now! 



So this journal layout is pretty much just some papers put together along with some sharpie doodles. I did this while I was on the phone, actually.

For an hour. Oops.

Well there is always time to do something. Even if it's not laundry, or making dinner, or cleaning the patio, or going to the clinic, or baking a cake.

Ooh this might be one of those days where I make some extra cake and put nutella on it. You know, for eating.

STRAWBERRIES!

Pitcher part 2

I added a bit of detailing this morning. There was some struggle with it despite the fact that wavy fabric used to be one of my favourite things to draw in high school. I think I've lost a lot of patience since then.



Added a few 3D elements to it. I'm feeling kind of "done" with it today, unless I catch a second wind with the background and table. I'd like to see it framed sort of taller and narrower than it is right now. :/

Step by Step - Pitcher part 1

I started a new painting today, though I don't have a working title for it yet (that usually comes later). I took some care in the pencil drawing. The one thing about sketching details first is that they tend to disappear, even under transparent mediums like watercolour! Ha. 

 

I started by filling in flat blocks of colour (with a bit of shading but not much). I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about colour combinations and I will probably regret that!

I consider this to be the "ugly" stage. It's easy to look at the flat colours and blobby shapes and want to quit right away! If you ever feel like you're forever stuck in the "ugly" stage, usually a bit of contrast will fix it. The dark shadow on the crow's tail is appealing to me already, so we'll need more of that.

Later :3

Journal Post 4/24/12

With this page I was working from one of Kira's videos on Journaling Deep called "Dreamy Collage". I found it difficult on the right side because the base of that page was a magazine ad. Magazine pages don't take paint very well!


Well actually I found it difficult because I'm so "low energy" today. It's one of those grey, rainy days where the cats spend the whole day asleep and I can't even muster the will power to take out the trash. Or paint. Or journal.



But I did pass my driving test yesterday which is cool because it means I have the green light to save up for a car and go wherever I want. It's lame because those things sound so "adult" that I'm not sure I'm keen on having all of that responsibility!



What do you do on grey, low-energy days? Do you sit back and enjoy them, or do you just feel lazy?

Journal Post 4/23/12

I'm almost through the scrappy journal!



 I'm very glad it's so peaceful and sweet outside. The tree has fresh new leaves - the window privacy is nice! haha. Maggie is outside catching flies. I am relatively calm, which is great because another driving test is scheduled for this afternoon.



 Failing actually kind of takes a load off.



My fingers are so messed up from work that it hurts to type and paint and click things!

Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it.

Newsletter Peek

There was probably a better way to do this that didn't involve cutting a newsletter into pieces and resizing them and posting them as images (lol)

...

Sometimes I get questions about what is in the monthly newsletter to which I answer: "It's kinda like an extra blog post."

So to answer this question in further detail (albeit clumsily), here is a peek into what ends up in subscribers' inboxes:







If this is something you may be interested in,
feel free to sign up on the side --------->

Handmade Art Journal - Wire

This is the last one for a little while, or until I can get more paper :/



Things have been a little "up in the air" lately.





Available here.

Handmade Art Journal - Koi

Made a new art journal this morning! Just enough paper to make one more after this...







Available here.

Hope everyone is having a cheerful sort of day!

Video: A Cover Up

I documented a few things during the making of the last painting and decided to put the clips together into a video. Enjoy!

Step by Step - A Cover-up (part 2)

Wow, you would not BELIEVE the technological issues we've had as of late! Here's the scoop:



- John decides to update his desktop PC and splurges on a new motherboard, cpu and second disk drive
- Can't get the computer to start up, spends hours trying to fix it. The perfectly functional CD burner turns out to be incompatable. Has to buy a new one. Eventually decides the motherboard requires a brand new OS. Installs Windows7 and everything is fine. Or so we thought.
- I realize I can't use my scanner (!!!!!) because Canoscan8400F doesn't work on Windows 7 despite being "compatible". Jerk.
- I go nuts trying to force it to work. Find a bit of success finally finding a useful driver online.
- We spend hours troubleshooting, searching to absolutely no success. Find plenty of scanners on ebay because everyone else has given up already.



- Discover Virtual Machine which, get this: creates a second "computer" on the computer so that it can run a different OS. It's like... having two computers in one! It's adorable! And insane! But the solution to my problem is downgrading to a version of Windows that isn't an asshole.

Well guess what, it freaking worked. In your face, windows 7! hahahahahahahaha! I BEAT YOU.

So now if I want to scan something, I have to "start up" my second "virtual computer" and use it there and save files into a shared folder, but it's significantly better than buying a new scanner all because Canon doesn't feel like updating their crap.



*Deep breath*



But now it's 11pm and all I've got to show for all of those hours is a low-res scan. I will have to install photo editing software onto the virtual computer which is only a bit of a drag, but then I'll actually be able to get 300dpi images.

MsPaint just... it just doesn't get the job done.

Step by Step - A Cover-up (part 1)

It's difficult to see pencil drawings but I didn't get to the colouring part yet today.



I wanted to attach some text papers, so I covered up bits in the middle and went around the butterflies on the bottom of the circle.



I think the trap is probably the most important part of the image and so I decided to go in and do that first. Usually it's not a good idea to focus on one part of the image, because you might spend hours on one little bit, then discover that the image just... doesn't work, and thus end up wasting a lot of time.

But I was the least sure about what was going to happen in the middle so I dove in, just in case something went awry. So far, so good.

Journal Post 4/11/12

I do love these little half strips that show up sometimes in the journals :3



Hahaha I was distracted by my two cats. If one must have a cat, one must have two because it's much more entertaining and puzzling. I don't yet understand how they can spend two minutes grooming each other sweetly and then suddenly break out into a catfight.



Oh! So I signed up for this project just because it was free, and rarely does anything come free for canadians so I was pretty tickled about that!

It's free for a reason - they send you some mystery materials but also a Prismacolor product as one huge walking advertisement, but hey, the advantages go both ways on this one. It sounds kind of fun!

You use the materials to make a small piece of art, and then you leave it in a public space for a stranger to pick up. Sounds adorable, though... where do you leave objects in public without it being considered "litter"? Perhaps that is the truly creative aspect of it?

Hurry up, they're running out of spaces pretty quick O_O

Handmade Art Journal - Golden

Here is another art journal - I have materials to make two more after this one and then I will stop for a bit.



Since the art show I admit that I've been feeling a bit self conscious with my pricing! Mine were not the smallest pieces, but they were the least expensive ones by far.

I don't think they were incorrect (I use a wage + overhead equation for accuracy and consistency), but I feel a bit uncomfortable. Researching helpful websites didn't pull up any more information than what I'd already learned, it's just that the numbers were inexplicably inflated. I feel lost in pricing, yet certain in my numbers.

Is everything so subjective as the art itself?

Journal Post 4/5/12

Last night at the gallery was pretty fun I guess! There were other artists there so that was very good, though the social fatigue kicked in pretty early on. I always feel really rude whenever I start retreating into myself halfway through social events.



It all seems so meaningless today, but if someone told me years ago that I would be sitting and journaling in a gallery with other artists, supervising our show, I would have scoffed. If only we could see these occurances as the big scary steps that they were before!



It's so frustrating, being unable to shake these heavy feelings of doubt and loss. I really don't feel much like doing anything today. I can't believe I still have a weekend of work ahead of me! It's impossible! It just can't be done.

ArtSpacific Show

Well I feel much better now!

Last night was pretty cool (even though I had to go it alone) and one thing that tends to happen at these shows is that I get to see all of the other artwork that I was "competing" with, and every visit is seriously humbling.



The work is always so amazing that I can never figure out how on earth I managed to fit in! Congratulations to all of the winners because you all deserve it! It's breathtaking.

I couldn't really choose a favourite so I just voted arbitrarily. Social events are always such a challenge for me, especially the kind where everyone already seems so tight knit. Still, I managed to practice my HORRIBLE social skills and actually remember a couple of names so there's that.



Tonight, if my calendar has not failed me, I will be back again from 7pm-9pm to hang out at the show. All by my lonesome!! Well not, really, there is another show next door so there might be more chatting involved who knows?

I'm bringing a few things in case I want to work on something, and a few supplies so if you're in the area and want some kind of small demo, come on in and keep me company! :3

Handmade Art Journal - One Wish

I am just about to go check out the show in Delta and see if there are any nice snacks, so I will just leave this here.



I admit that this journal appears in the exact opposite sort of mood I've been in all week. Does painting zig zag rainbows help? No, not really.







It's not perfect, but it's pretty cute. Available here.