How to draw the side view

How to draw a body fashion sketch

How to draw hands

I used PicMonkey to add text and the cute tape.

How to Draw a Nose

I use PicMonkey to add the text and banners.

How to draw Lips

I used PicMonkey to add the text and cool scraps of paper.

How to draw eyes

How to draw a face

Start your day on a positive mindset

Working on focusing on what I have and not worry about what I don't.

Think on....

Phillipians 4:8

⁸ Finally, brethren,

whatever things are true,

whatever things are honest,

whatever things are righteous,

whatever things are clean and pure,

whatever things are friendly towards,

whatever things are of a good reputation,

if there is any excellent and

if there is anything commendable—

Take inventory and think about these things.

Good things in my life…

1. I have a loving, supportive, hard working, caring husband.
2. Isaiah and Jaelin are healthy, intelligent, funny, caring, and sweet kids.
3. We are so close to being debt free.
4. We have a savings account for the first time.
5. I have a body of art work for the first time since college.
6. I have toilet paper, towels, and plenty of underwear.
7. I have 3 friends I can trust.
8. I have health insurance.
9. I have more than enough to pay my bills.
10. God delivered me from my nightmares.
11. God saved me just in time.
12. God gave me a marriage that is very rare and precious.

Prayer…

Dear God,

Let me hear your voice and reveal to me all the limiting images and thoughts in my mind. Replace them with pictures that glorify you and accurately represent my potential. Upgrade my opinion of myself and my vision for my future so I don’t need to preserve the past. Show me how to be a faithful steward of the greatness you placed in me and to show your presence in my life. As I accept and experience your mercy and grace, help me to grasp your love as demonstrated by Jesus’ sacrifice. Amen

RESOURCES

Photo References                                  

• MorgueFile.com is a good place to find high resolution stock  photos for references. Yes, they're all completely free.  MorgueFile.com contains hundreds of photographs. All of the photos are posted by individuals who want to share their work with others – and there is no cost to you. You can download any of the free images to use for your own inspiration or as reference material for your art. The only stipulation is that you may NOT use the photo "as is" for resale products. Photographers also ask that you credit them with the photograph if you use it on a website.  
• Of course Google Images
• Pinterest

Good Books                                                                             

 

Camilla D'Errico is one of my favorite artists. Her newest 

book, "Pop Manga" is a great book to teach you how to 

draw manga style characters. She goes over tools that she

uses. I was surprised to find out that her favorite pen is a 

regular Bic pen and copy paper to draw on. So thinking that 

you need "professional" materials is not an excuse to not 

create beautiful art. She also goes over how to draw cute 

chibi characters and their mascots. Final chapter is on 

making a panels and layout for a manga. 

Stephanie Pui-Mun Law is also an awesome artist. Her book 

"DreamScapes, creating magical Angel, Fairy, Mermaid 

Worlds  with Watercolor" is a great resource for basic 

watercolor techniques, drawing hands, feet, wings, leaves, 

roses, mermaids and more. 

I like Shojo Fashion Manga Art  School because it has a lot 

of references for clothes; gloves, accessories, jackets, 

pants, skirts, shirts, guys, girls... The first part of the book 

has how to draw hair, expressions, and faces.

What is helpful in "The Art and Technique of Graffiti" by 

Scape Martinez is the sections on Color Study. 

Scape explains how to choose colors that pop against one 

another, Color combinations, drips, glow, drawing 

"iconography,"and background ideas.

Getting organized with a Pace Chart

I learned a neat way of organizing from my kids virtual school. The school calls it a "pace" chart. This helps them to stay on "pace" and for them not to fall behind in school. So I adopted their chart and made one of my own to pace myself when it comes to my art work. I'm pretty organized, but at times I can get really overwhelmed because I can see all the details and this helps me break it down into bite sized pieces.
Below is an example of one I did last year.
It is very helpful. You put the month or week on the left and then the list of tasks to be done. You can add dates - so you are creating a deadline for yourself. This is just for an aid not etched in stone. 

Example of a Pace Chart

PACE CHART ART WORK

June                                        Clean up loose ends          June 30                                       
 Work on bathroom art                     June 25
 Photograph Jazz singer for prints    June 26
Start and finish Snow white drawing  June 27
Paint roses on snow white frame       June 28
Trade out 3 art from gallery w/ 3 fairy tale art  June 29

                                                                                                           

June                                                July Fundraiser         July 30                              
Start and finish Luke and yoda
Facebook, blog, and Instagram about it
Share on blog
Photgraph Luke and Yoda for prints
Buy prints at Staples
Add artwork to website
Add $1 button for sale on website
Write up for Seminole Voice

October                                        Jazz Festival College park   Oct 10      
Get prints of Cellist
Prints of Jazz Singer
Prints of 2^nd singer
Get a smaller canvas ready to paint 2^nd singer
Paint another singer at festival
Paint Breast Cancer larger for Jill
Make 1 breast cancer music box
Facebook, blog, and Instagram about it

Visual Journaling

I am not much of a journalER...When I was a kid, I had a diary, that my brother found and he read one of my entries out loud. I was soooo embarassed that I swore I would never write down my thoughts again.

Well,(more than) a few years ago I read "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. She talked about a good way to start tapping into your creativity was to start every morning with "morning pages." 

These pages are pretty much 3 pages of notebook paper where you just write. They don't have to make sense, no worry about capitalization or punctuation. You could even throw them away after you were done (that last part perked my curiosity). Well, the point of the "morning pages" is to dump thoughts, worries and even my prayers to God onto these pages so my mind could be clear to receive those ideas that are trying to come, but are getting cut off by all the things that are tumbling around in my head. I tried them and I liked doing it. I found that it did help me to be more creative. 

Consistency is a problem for me, so I did not keep up with them.

Well, I did found something similar to the "morning pages."

       It was called "Visual Journaling." 

There is a book, however, I have not read it.
I am loving this way of journaling. It is not only "morning pages" or "brain drain" but it also involves some drawing. These 'visual journaling entries" have even inspired some new artwork ideas for me. What I love most about it is that it is always a surprise what I end up with. So, here are the steps that I follow below...

• 1. When you first wake up, write a page of whatever it is that is in your head.


• 2. I read a chapter in Proverbs or any other bible passages.


• 3.Close my eyes and let my pen move across the paper ( I try not to think about anything specific.)


• 4. I open my eyes and try to see what image or images I can find in my scribbles - just like when you find images in the clouds.


• 4. Take a sharpie and outline your images.


• For me, I am really pleased with the images I am finding.

• You can let these inspire some new artworks. 

•  I hope this helps some of you out there with creativity!

1 - 3 - 10 year Goals

Well, I had an assignment that I had to get done this week. My 1 - 3 -10 year goals. This was really hard for me because I have a hard time seeing past the end of the week. 

One thing that helped me get started writing was thinking that this plan wasn't etched in stone and to be aware that my desires may change in three, five, or ten years, so Proverbs 16:9 is probably a good verse to keep in the fore front of my mind.

Also, since I am a visual person, I used Pinterest to start a ONE, three and TEN year board. Gathering pictures was actually very helpful in getting past my thoughts of, "I don't know what the heck I'll be doing or want to do in 10 years!" because you're seeing what you want and it makes it feel it little more tangible. I found it easier to go backwards. I started with a story (below) of what I saw for myself and my family in ten years. What is nice about the Pinterest board is that I can keep adding and tweaking my goals and plans as time goes on.

So here is what I wrote and you can see my visuals on Pinterest. It is personal, but I felt I had to put it out there because it gives ME and MY GOALS more of a sense of accountability.
"...10 years from now  I see myself taking time to travel with my husband and kids to different art shows/conventions selling my, my daughter’s art work and my son's music.

My husband and I are still spending a lot of time with our kids by spending at least once a week by doing an activity like the movies or dinner with them. We are also helping my son and my daughter pursue their dreams of working in a creative field. We are able to do this because we are financially stable, have a savings, and are selling work online by receiving  orders online and Rafael has been at his job for 13 years.

We have an RV to travel in so we can see Miami, Key West and the Grand Canyon.

Rafael and I are celebrating our 30^th anniversary as we take a trip to Italy and as a bonus I have learned some Italian in the last ten years.  We are able to do this because we had finally got our passports when we had done a mission’s trip to Dominican Republic. During that trip we were able to help out in the preschool and we did ok since I had decided to brush up on My Spanish 10 years ago.

I call Tracey at least 1 month to let her know about our adventures and visit her once a year in person.

I am eating healthier and I am doing yoga 5 days a week now. I have a little DVD player that I use when I am not near a gym I play my yoga on the DVD player.

I finally learned how to deal with my frustration and I have more peace too because I am not trying to control everything by worrying, but by trusting God that He is guiding by his word and I got here because I started to meditate on God’s word that he hasn't given me a spirit of fear, but of love and a sound mind, his word is a lamp to my through my journey and a light to my path, and finally that as long as I do good and stay pliable for Him that He’ll give me the desires of my heart.

I am able to do this because I'm debt free and l finally learned to trust God with the rest of my life like I trust him in my marriage."

Maybe I'll see you on Pinterest and see your goals! Please share a link to your blog of your goals and dreams!

Progress Pics of "Vulnerable"

Sometimes people are curious to see the progress photos of art work... so here are some pics of my latest work called "Vulnerable."

I called it "Vulnerable" because when you are an artist and you begin to put your art for the world to see I feel like...

I am letting myself be vulnerable, putting my heart out there. 

Vulnerable to whatever, people's opinions, criticism, and if you  know me - you know I hate that ;)

I mean my art can be very personal sometimes, letting people know what I am feeling or what I like.

I wonder do other artists feel this way? 

Here are my progress photos.

I started out sketching it, she originally was going to have a "Skull Candy" like face, but then I changed my mind.

This one was the final sketch in pencil. I forgot to get a picture of the inking part. I usde pen and ink to draw the outlines.

Here I started the watercolors. 

Here are some shots of the finished drawing/painting.

Hope you like.

How to make a light box for tracing Update

Got a reply from Pattie Brockley has left a new comment on your post "How to make a light box for tracing": 

Your idea is great, you can use a string of white Christmas Lights, and they won't be as hot, and can be lain around the inside of the box. Also if you plug them into a plug strip, you can turn them of and on at the plug strip. Great idea, I will be making one for my calligraphy.  Thanks Pattie!



I needed to trace some of my work and I couldn't find a reasonably priced  - like less than $5.00 ;) light box anywhere so I made my own.
There were several online tutorials, but they all required too much stuff and I didn't have time to go shopping.

1. I found a cardboard box that was about 12 X 14
2. A 11 X 14 frame that had a plexiglass instead of glass (I only used the plexiglass - not the frame)
3. A light from Walmart that had a clip on it
4. Tape
5. A ruler

• I cut out a square (10X13)  just a little smaller than the 11X14 plexiglass 
• I took the box and cut out a hole on the side so I could put the light bulb contraption inside.  Make the hole large enough for the plug end of the light to go  in (so you don have a humongous large hole on the side)
• Unscrew the bulb and put it back on in side the box after you put the light bulb contraption  through the side of the box.  
•  I taped the box all around so it wouldn't come apart.
•  I taped the plexiglass to the cardboard box.
•  It was so easy it took me longer to find the materials than to make this.

You can't really see it, but on the left is where I made the hole to fit the light thing through.

I have to plug it in and out to turn it on and off - but for less than $5.00, I won't complain.

I started to trace the sketch I did on sketching paper onto my watercolor paper.

The only draw back is that I have to plug and unplug it to turn it on and off, because the light I had didn't have a light switch, but I didn't spend hardly nothing on this project and I use it all the time.

Below are some links to some other trace light box DIY tutorials. They require a little bit more materials, but you really can make this light box with a cardboard box and a piece of glass or plexiglass from a frame.

online tutorial made with a table and plexi glass.
online tutorial how to make a light box for tracing made with a frame and tupper ware box.

Masks part 2 - process

Beginning stages of painting/drawing

Final stage of painting/drawing

When I do these, I have been really been enjoying the process. I'll draw a small ink drawing of whatever, then I'll blow it up on the copier, paste it down onto sturdier paper, color it in with colored pencils, use some acrylics, a sharpie to outline, then finally cover with a thick layer of gloss to get it all shiny. unfortunately you can't see it in the scans.
 Thanks for everyone's comments! I really appreciate it. You create all alone and there is really no one to ask for feed back - well my kids, but they won't tell me if they don't like it - LOL
Next post I'll tell you the story about a seminar I went to where they made me wear a mask to McDonald's.