Art Journal: Self Portrait

I was so inspired by the Chuck Close self portraits on For the Love of Art I knew that I HAD to make my own. I used my avatar photo for the self portrait part and have been doodling away in the squares whenever I have a few minutes. I have been doodling in pen (more zentangle-y?). I can’t wait to start adding color. I’m not sure that I’m going to used colored pencils like Kristin suggested. I think that watercolor or markers would work better for me.
BTW, if you’re keeping track (I am) this is a pinterest project.

Halloween in July

I know more traditionally it’s Christmas in July, but not at my house, now is prime Halloween planning time.  I have been scouting around for some new Halloween Decor and accessories, it’s hard to sort through all the cutesy crap, but here are a few of my favorites.
As I mentions on the Facebook Page I have also been working on designs for a new cemetery set.  Here is a sneak peek of the one I’m working on now.I still need to add some text, but it’s almost finished.  This inspiration for this drawing was the fence picture.  I have a collection of tombstone pictures that I use as a starting point for all of my drawings.  Once the drawing is finished I scan it into the computer and do some editing and resizing and then it will be ready to go.  I am 1/3 done with the new set, if everything goes well I should have them all done by next weekend. 
Have a super crafty weekend!

Zentangle Part 2

Good news, after getting some more supplies I went back and fixed my original not pictured one from yesterday.  The key was some white gel pens, I just blacked out the parts I didn’t like and went back in with the white pens, I love the negative effect too!  I need more practice, there are parts that I really love and others, not so much.  I may need to fill an entire sketch book with these, sooooooo relaxing.

If you want to see some patterns and their names check out TanglePatterns (I like how the patterns scroll across the top) and here is another great resource Zentangle Patterns, I’m sure there are more great sites like these, leave a link for you favorite, I’m hoping to move to more complex patterns next.

Zentangles

Zentangles are everywhere these days, I’m surprised that this is the first time that I made one myself.  If you do an image search on Google the results are inspiring and varied. 

I decided to uses several different pens to get different thicknesses for a little more interest.  Zentangle one was a partial failure and will not be shown, it seems I was trying to hard to make it arty.  I would also like to note that if you are trying to hard the process is not as fun as when you just relax and doodle.  Once I got it figured out it was fun and relaxing.  I think I could easily fill a whole book of these, and I just might.  I would like to make one and incorporate words next.  I definitely need some new, special pens for this and maybe a new sketchbook too! 

Have you tried making zentangles? what did you think of the process? and do you have any tips for a newbie like me?

More Bag Sketches

After considering the advice I received from Christy and Ashley I decided to redesign the front.  I pared it down a little bit (I was sad to get rid of the sparrows), so I could make the banner and skull larger.I think I almost have it.  The skull needs to come down a bit and I might try to squeeze some scissors in there too!

I think the other design had too much going on and since it was smaller it would have been harder to embellish and there will be some serious embellishing!

Let me know what you guys think!

Sketches for the Crafty Chica Challenge

I am working on the painted design for my beach bag for the Crafty Chica Challenge.  I have the bag pattern all ready to go, but first I need to paint the design.  I want to use the “tattoo flash” style that I used for my back patch, but I wanted a new design.

This is what I have for the front, but I think it needs something else/more/different.  I like the top and the bottom, but I need to work on the middle.  I can’t decide if I should add more stuff, start over on the middle portion, or revert back to the design for the back patch. I like the back, maybe the front is just too busy.  I need some advice, what should I do with the design for the front and how does the shape of the bag look?  Leave me a comment and help me decide!

Instant Cemetery Can Design

Today I worked on the master copy for my instant cemetery can wrappers. Last year I just mod podged mini tombstones onto a paint can that I painted black, this year I want something fancier. I got my watercolors and went to work creating a molted background and while I was at it I made a new label for the lid too, ransom note style.I’ll have to tweak them a little when I print them, but I really like how they came out. I’ll also be including a paint can key this year, to make opening the can easier, I really pound those lids on ;-)!

My other achievement was installing a new shower head, the old one was like having someone spit on you, terrible pressure, the new one is a water saver and it really amps up the pressure, I can’t wait to take a shower!

18 and Life

So, my mom and I are talking and she tells me that since we bought a house she’s going to bring some of my things from high school that she has been storing.  She mentions “that picture of that lady with the words” and some other stuff.

Hmmmmmmm…that lady with the words?…

I would like to present Sebastian Bach from Skid Row (if you need a refresher, Skid Row wiki entry) This was a high school art project that somehow has survived for over 15 years, it is a little rumpled at the bottom and the edges have masking tape residue on them, that’s pretty good for some drawing paper and sharpie markers.  I spent some time looking for the original picture, I know I probably got it from Metal Edge, but I gave up after about 30 pages.

Yes, those are the words from all the songs on their self titled album.  There were some other interesting pieces in the collection that she brought me and I will be sharing more “finds” in the near future.  So, what was you favorite band in the late 80’s, early 90’s?

Everyone Needs a Mask

I like to doodle in my sketchbook, mostly line drawings, that's how the instant cemetery started. I was thinking that Crafterella sounds like a superhero name, so now I need a mask.

I doodled this up, this is a "rough" version. I think I need to make some more. Any mask is going to need sequins or rhinestones or glitter. I think one with fabulous eye make up would be nice, that way I don't have to really wear any. I think I'll need a cape too, like in that car commercial (the fine print says the cape isn't included with the car purchase, if it was I would so buy that car). Yes, this is really how my mind works.

Instant Cemetery - Finished

I finished my first instant cemetery set, complete with four new tombstones. It seemed like it took forever to get everything cut out, but everything else went pretty fast.

This is one of the new drawings and my favorite, I am really excited how this one turned out, super creepy.

Photographing the cemetery was a little difficult because I wanted to show it lit by candles. I think they turned out good.

I always make a matching tin to store everything in. I just shrink everything down and decoupage it on to the tin and then finish it with a satin finish sealer. I tried something new this time, decoupaging is supposed to be done with laser copies because ink jet copies run when you put the modge podge on. Here in the sticks where I live there really isn't anywhere to get a laser copy, so I used the satin sealer to seal the copies, it worked great there wasn't any smudging!!!

I think I'm going to keep working on new drawings for these, maybe I can make enough to have several different sets.

Instant Cemeteries

Halloween is my favorite holiday and so there is a lot of Halloween crafting at my house. I have quite a large collection of Halloween books and magazines, a few years ago I purchased this book, Halloween: A Grown-Up's Guide to Creative Costumes, Devilish Decor & Fabulous Festivities by Joanne O'Sullivan.There are a lot of really great projects in this book, but my favorite was the instant cemeteries. I loved it the moment I saw it, but the instructions said to find clip art on the internet or in books and I just could not find anything I liked, so I decided to draw my own.

Here's the cemetery I sent irasema for the Halloween '07 swap (BTW thank you for taking such an awesome picture irasema!!!) These drawings were inspired by cemeteries that I've been to and pictures that I've seen. This is a set of eleven. I've decide to add a few more tombstones to the collection this year and so I have been looking at pictures online and from my collection.

Here are two that I completed last night, I still need to modify the sizes, but I think they will go well with the rest of the tombstones. Once I get all the drawing finished I mount them and put fold able stands on the backs and then I customize a recycle tin to store them in.