iPhoneography Inspiration To Paint

Last night, I was going through my iPhone photos and kept coming back to this photo I took of the blooming Cherry Blossoms that are starting to make its appearance everywhere. I love the colors of the pink and white against the blue sky. It is so gorgeous.... Spring is definitely in the air and I cannot wait to see more signs of spring reveal itself as we begin to see flowers in bloom and hopefully more sunshine... Because this girl needs me some SUN and I'm so looking forward to feeling its warmth up here in Northern California.

Spring, just come now already!!!

Anyways, onto what I was saying.... with Instagram and my latest favorite photo app, Tadaa, photos are instantly turned into works of art. I love playing around with the filter affects and making colors pop or give it that retro affect. If you think about it, long gone are those days when cell phones were merely used for just calling peeps, but now its used for almost everything from email, shopping, social media, planning, listening to music, watching videos.... my goodness, technology has definitely changed and evolved. But, I absolutely love the fact that smart phones have the ability to transform into a camera or video recorder. NOW, that is such a huge breakthrough for us photo geeks.:)

One thing I knew I had to do when I came across the photo above was to paint it and practice my still life painting skills. I came across another artist on Instagram--@bettyann--who has truly inspired me to learn this other concept of painting. I'm sure there are many still life artists out there who are amazing, but seeing this lady's work led me to give my hand a try at it... Betty, if you're reading, thank you for inspiring me :)

Down below is my painted picture of Spring Blossoms using Caran d' Ache Neocolor II crayons and a water brush pen and that's it. I lightly sketched out the branches and from there I painted the flowers first, then branches, and then filled in the blue sky last. I wasn't sure how it would turn out as I randomly painted the blooms with no predetermined idea of how to do it. Everything just flowed so freely, something that doesn't happen too often as I'd like. To me, although it may not seem like a big thing, it's a pretty huge accomplishment. Yay! So, here's to my first watercolor still life painting in my art journal! I have lots of practicing to do and as I go about life, I'm going to keep my eyes open and will continue to be inspired by the beauty around me and paint, paint, paint...

When In Doubt, Sketch It Out...

 There are days when I know exactly what I want to work on, whether it be a page in my art journal or a project assignment, but there are a lot of days in between when I lack the motivation or the creativity to work on anything. Lately, I've been lacking time and energy with so many changes going on in my personal life plus the fact that my boys have a whole week off from school for President's Week. Yet, I know that if I don't do something creative every day, it will get harder to get that groove back and perhaps lose focus on the goals I had set out to achieve at the beginning of 2012. Yeah, you know how they say that "Life gets in the way." I've made that same excuse so many times over the course of my creative journey and always find myself regretting that I had given up so easily. So, what was my solution? 

SKETCH. DOODLE. DRAW.

Yes, I love to paint with abandonment and make a mess in my art studio. Yes, I do love the feel of dried paint on my hands and getting my clothes dirty. I love that feeling of being a child at play, without any reservations of trying so hard not to make any mistakes. But, who says you can't bring some of your work to bed? :) 

Lately, I have been keeping a sketchbook, watercolor crayons, pitt artist pens, china marker, charcoal pencils, and a water brush pen. Then as I wind down from the day, usually around 10:30pm, I take that time to doodle and draw. If I'm still feeling up to it, I'll add some watercolor. I can go to sleep at night knowing that I haven't neglected that gift that is so special to me. The gift of being an artist. That gift that I have forgotten about for so long since my teenage years and finally found again. I realize that when we have a special gift or talent, no matter how much we forget or neglect it, it will always come back to you and offer you another chance to nurture and protect it. I know that now and I believe it will be here to stay for good. :) Thanks to Jeanne Oliver's workshop--Creatively Made--for opening my eyes to this.

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A He{ART} Journal To Remember

After our recent move, it's funny how things turn up that were buried under so much clutter. As we are finally getting settled in our new home, I had to share this journal of mine. It's not your typical diary that was a written by one person. It belongs to both my husband and I. It is more like letters that we wrote to one another prior to our engagement. Our thoughts and feelings were poured out through words and inscriptions over a span of 3 years. Sometimes we added memorabilia or personal things like ticket stubs, sketches, colorings, stickers, etc.  It turns out, as I realize more now than before, that this may be my very first 'art journal' so to speak. Emotions that we felt often displayed the colors that it reflected like when we argued or when we were happy. It was also a place where we could express ourselves creatively, making our relationship grow in ways unimaginable. Even though we could talk and laugh for hours on end, this journal was a more intimate way of conversation through artistic expression such as poetry, lyrics, and colors. Very sacred, indeed. I hope this will always be part of our legacy to our children and the future generations of our family... It holds such a valuable purpose to teach that real love is not perfect, but it also keeps no record of wrongs and is not bound by material or worldly things, but by trust, honesty, and unconditional love that God has placed in us, especially with those who are close to our hearts...

***

I always had a deep fascination for butterflies, the beauty of transformation is astoundingly amazing.

A glimpse of our back to back letters to each other in our journal...

A drawing that I drew of my dream home by the ocean....

Pressed flowers that my hubby used to decorate one of his pages...

A rough sketch of a photo of us. It was my documentation of when he was seeing me off at the airport. I left for a month to Hawaii to visit my sister...

He drew my name, graffiti style...

Lots of color and writing....

We were down to the very last pages of this journal and this is where he proposed to me....

And of course I said... YES!!

And its been 8 years since we got married and we are living happily ever after.... 

This is our purpose: To Love Each Other So Other Purposes Will Be Fulfilled 

{Doodles Unleashed} Stylized Faces | SHE Knew...

Hello!

Gah... This last week, my son and I got sick with the flu :( Hence, my long absence and lack of motivation to create... But, thank goodness we are recovering and life is slowly getting back to normal.

Just want to briefly share my final project from the last two lessons of Traci Bautista's Doodle Unleashed workshop at Strathmore. It was definitely a fun class and enjoyed every minute of it! The last two lessons were about preparing and painting a stylized face on a doodled background. I must say, I am not the best at painting faces and feel like I have a lot to work on, but overall I thought I did pretty good for an amateur. :)

I totally forgot to take photos during the whole process of creating this page so I only have photos of the final outcome. I did follow along in Traci's videos using some of her techniques so if it's not too late for you to join the workshop, you can register and still see all the videos.  I hope this inspires you and if you like what you see, please leave me a comment! No harsh criticism, k? LOL.

{Doodles Unleashed Workshop}

Stylized Faces

 SHE KNEW....

 "She was stronger than She thought She was."

Flower power.

 "SHE finally knew who she was meant to BE."

EYES. 

 LIPS.

 FACE.

 Layers and layers...

TRANSFORMED.