Crafty Nuggets

You may or may not know I am a trained artist.  I did an undergrad in illustration, 1 year in an academic style painting school and I have an MFA.  Art (for me) is (mostly) serious business.  So it’s kind of…intimidating for me to make fan art.  But in an effort to create MORE and have more fun and do what I love I am taking a leap and making some fan art.

So, here is a a sketch of the 11th Doctor, done in Painter 12 in about 1.5 hours.  I work with the reference photo on one screen and my painting on the other.  Matt Smith has one of those wonderful craggy faces that is so fun to paint.  I did a sketch of Clara too but she got too mushy and I need to start over.  The challenge is finding the right reference material.

As I was getting ready for Easter this year I felt the urge to buy the kiddo a new stuffed animal.  She has A LOT of stuffed animals and she loves them dearly.  I decided that rather than dish out the 12$ for a stuffed rabbit it would be really fun to make her one.  And then, finding this awesome (free!!) pattern for Jack Rabbit Softie from The Mary Frances Project Blog sealed the deal.

Me and sewing don’t always get along.  See, with knitting I always know what is going to happen.  But with sewing I think everything is going swimmingly and then WHOOPS the bobbin was out of place!  Or, as in the case of this project, the iron spewed brown guck all over my first attempt!  Let’s just say, I often get flustered and frustrated when I sew and my ever patient husband takes over, fixes everything, and hands it back.  Lest you think I am some kind of crafting goddess…know that many of my  projects have his help!  He sewed and stuffed the feet on this bunny.  That part went  a bit over my (still getting over the stomach bug AND head cold) head.

This project taught me to use my zigzag stitch decoratively, which I hadn’t done before.  I am really happy with how she came out and I can’t wait to put her in the basket tomorrow!  She’s not perfect, but that’s why we make things, right?  Those little bumps and wrinkles are “extra love”.

All the materials for this project are from the wonderful store Home Made in Clermont New Jersey.  Yay for awesome local crafty spots!!!

So a little thing happened since my last post…I got a day job!  Needless to say I have been a little busy.  I am also teaching a still life class, chasing a toddler, and trying to make time to create.

Here is a piece I made over the holidays for a housewarming gift for our friends Kate and Mickey.  Their house is unbelievable, like a magazine.  It’s a beachy-chic loft with high ceilings and it is totally fabulous.  You should also check out Kate’s music. Her lullabies are just perfect.

Anyway, they also have a beautiful baby, Ella, the subject of this painting.  She has such soulful eyes!  This portrait is soft pastel on Wallis paper.  I wish I could work with pastel more often.  I love the way it grips the paper and the effects I can get.  The camera cannot capture the beauty of this medium.

I hope 2013 brings me more time and opportunities to create!  Coming soon, some Dr. Who fan art.  FOR REAL.

I really did not want to sketch today.  I started a new job and I am feeling stretched thin.  However, I started playing with a new brush in Corel and it was really fun.  I’m also trying to work in layers more which could be really useful for teaching to show my process. This picture is done with the “real soft pastel” brush.  I love how I can make veils of color, just like with real pastels!  I like to sneak in sneaky colors that you might not expect.

Oh and I also painted my favorite subject in the world.  I could look at this face all day.  (Although I didn’t really capture her cuteness, this was a good exercise.

Also, I know these files are kinda big, but you need to be able to zoom in a bit.  The paintings look better a little bit up close.

Knitxcore fan art.  Because promises made at knit night must be kept.

So, I am a big nerd.  I have been working on another, kinda serious project and I needed something fun.  Oh, and I got my neeeeeew WACOM!  I just wanted to play around, so I did a little bit of (first time ever putting this in public) fan art.  It’s Korra. Not too serious, just some fun with my new tools.

not the last airbender

For me, the choice is paint digitally or not paint at all.  I have been “not painting” for too long.  I miss pushing paint around, but digital allows me to work during nap without solvents, an hours cleanup, and worrying about wasting money on supplies.  And I don’t have to find storage for supplies and finished works!

I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t feeling like painting. But then, I set up a little still life.  Surprisingly, my apartment had nice light today!  It reminded me of how much I prefer to paint from life rather than a monitor.  Since I found a  spot with nice light there will be plenty of fruit paintings coming!

The only thing holding me back now is getting a new wacom tablet.

This is done from a photograph I took of Benny’s Landing, one of my favorite places to paint.   In case you are wondering, I actually look at my reference on a different monitor.  I don’t trace the photograph and I don’t pick up color from it.  That would defeat the purpose of this project which is to help me keep my skills sharp.

Also, I am going to rotate my sketches person, place, thing.  That way I will be forced to paint all types of things.  I still have a lot to learn about this program.  Right now I am very much using it “ala prima” and painting very directly.  I know there is a lot more you can do with Painter 12 but I have to learn it first!

can you smell the marshyness?

I am trying to get back to regular sketching.  I am also trying to use my tablet more and learn Painter 12.  Therefor, I am going to try to post on the blog my sketches.  Some of them may be 2 minute sketches, some may be more developed (it really depends on Calliflower’s nap length).  I am also taking suggestions for subject matter.  You can even email a picture (that you took) that you think might inspire me!  Stay tuned later today for the first sketch!

Today is a little self portrait.  Painter has a Sargent brush (!) so of course I had to play with it!

this brush was very fun to play with!

It’s been a while!  I got all swept up in my Olympic knitting project.  I started off with a different sweater but had to frog it because I could not get gauge.  So I switched to Cecily Glowik MacDonald’s pattern Breakwater.  Having knit Glowik Macdonald’s pattern before I knew I would have no problem getting this top down raglan to fit.

The sweater is knit up in Madelinetosh Tosh Sport on size three needles.This creates a very VERY structured and warm fabric.  I just might knit another one of these in a lighter yarn.  My mom has already requested one.

The striping is of my own device.  If you want to recreate it I just went from 1-5 row stripes in the light color and from 5-1 row stripes in the dark color so they would sort of make a gradient.  I used almost every speck of yarn.  Also I added a TON of length because I am tall.  The pattern said 11 inches of length from the armpit and I probably have 15.

And now here it is!  And yes, I did watch some Olympics while knitting it, thus fulfilling my sports watching quota for the next 2 years.