showing my work + loving the process

I think seeing the finished product -- whether it's a journal page or painting -- is great and inspiring, I've been obsessed with documenting my process. 

Earlier this week, I picked up Austin Kleon's new book, Show Your Work. To think it took a book to help me figure out how to show my process seems a little silly, but Kleon's a master at distilling complex ideas into simple chapters that become a roadmap to invigorating creativity. 

By doing a little, every single day, your work quickly adds up. I draw and write every day in my Red Storybook, and have already filled an entire sketchbook with my quiet truths and vulnerability laid out on the page. The sketches may be complicated or terrible, but doing one every day has helped me nurture that side of me -- the side that wants to draw illustrations and paint with gouache. 

Anyway, in an effort to not only track my own progress and create a searchable diary as I grow as an artist, but to share the behind-the-scenes workings of an artist, I'll be blogging every day, except Sundays. Less tutorials, and more inspiration, influences, process, and techniques I've discovered or created. I don't want to show you how to copy what I do, rather, I want to inspire you to go out and do art that is true to your own heart. 

You can sign up to get my blog entries via email over on the sidebar. And I'll soon be linking up my Tumblr to use as a digital scrapbook of art and photography and comics and whatnot that I'm finding awesome at the moment (I know a lot of people use Pinterest, but I've found a great community on Tumblr, and cover the intersection of disability & art a bit more there). 

So here it goes! 

I recently stumbled upon the artwork & creations of Kimberly Hodges, aka Goldfish Marmalade. 

I love exploring new color palettes in my art journal as I work, and was captivated by her combinations of yellows, olives, and oranges, along with delicate pink flowers and aqua whales. I'd reblogged these placemats last week, and pulled them up yesterday when I went in to do a little painting. 

Delicious, right? 

I tried to follow her colors, but had to alter them a little bit, since I'm not a huge fan of yellow, in general. The dark green/teal, however, has been a new color to fall in love with, & I've been using it on a lot of journal pages lately. 

First, I had to prep my surfaces. 

I usually just put on some bouncy, upbeat music and start gluing down collage material, stamping with my hand-carved stamps, and randomly making marks with paint markers. 

I did something a little different this time, though. Instead of thinking up poses on my own, I grabbed a fashion magazine and flipped through until I found images I liked. I wanted to show you, also, that you don't have to perfectly copy a reference image....interpret them through YOUR style and allow them to influence shape and form. Are these amazing drawings? No. But they're how I like to draw, lately (with the thought that I'll fill in the facial features at some later point, except find that they're incredibly expressive as is). 

I also roughed in their hair with some Distress Stains. I've found that, with the backgrounds being random and the colors I add being SO fragmented, that the shapes of the girls can get lost. So I figured this may help them remain strong silhouettes. 

Of course, I work at the same time on canvases. The journal pages are supposed to catch extra paint, but end up being focused on just as much as the paintings! 

And there is before and after! A LOT of stuff gets covered up as I work. Sometimes, I let background elements show through, and sometimes, I keep adding layers until I fall in love with the canvas. I adore this little 8"x8" painting (which is available as part of my garden series!). 

And here's how the journal pages turned out! If you could see me, you'd see me swooning! I just...I can't believe how much I love what I'm painting lately....I've never been this in love & excited before!

...but not everything works out. I kept layering on this canvas and just couldn't get into the right flow. The colors weren't working, the shapes weren't helping, and I started getting frustrated. And that's okay! I know that I can come back later and start painting and still create something wonderful. Just scrape off any wet paint and leave it for another day....

Here's my worktop with drying paintings & a couple of finished ones. And of course, my giant journal catching leftover paint!

I don't do this much every day -- maybe twice or three times a week if I'm lucky, but it fuels everything else I do. This picture makes me happy....I finally am falling into my own style and colors and it's so effortless and hard to do at the same time. 

This post got a little long, but I hope it showed you something inspiring! It'll take me a couple of weeks of showing my work to get the hang of it...and I hope you stick with me!

colorful, messy, & paint-covered

I managed to get to the studio for a few hours this week, escaping errands and things-to-do and going all over the place. Even a few hours can prove relaxing and enlightening, when exploring new techniques. 

Last week, I decided to combine my love of drawing with my new mess-making technique. Every time I sit down to play, I do one tweak, one thing different, like changing up a single color or making a new kind of mark. Holding the tool different, or adding/subtracting collage elements. These may seem like little things, but done over weeks, they add up to significant changes. 

That first, square cropped image is from last week, during my first experiment in this vein, and then I decided to start playing with dresses. Now, I don't use a single paintbrush when I make these pages, which makes it thrilling to play. I've become more precise with my marks, and have learned so many new "tricks" by allowing myself the room to continually repeat the same colors and methods. Not every page needs to be "fresh" and full of new colors, or different ones. Artists do series for a reason...you can explore the same image or photo or colors for entire journals if you'd like! Why didn't I do this sooner?

I just adore this spread. It's quite giant, too! 22"x14", in the large journal. It's about a girl and her bird, both enjoying the same wind, but facing different directions, a shared wind but vastly different experiences. 

Her dress just sort of happened. Ink from the first layer bled through to color the top part, and neon pink and white paint mixed unevenly on the rest gives such a sense of texture; if you could touch it, you'd feel it. 

This is in my smaller Canson mixed-media book, 7"x9" when closed. The pages are perforated, but don't tear out easily at all. This girl is stretching toward the sun, raising a hand toward God in a search for answers. 

A friend told me this morning that nothing is random, including the figures we draw & paint in our journals. Sitting with them, writing out what comes to mind, allows us to figure out what our minds are trying to tell us. It gives me an incredible sense of comfort to think, in some part of my own mind, answers exist. 

I've been asked what I use, and it's this beautiful bouquet of Catalyst Tools! Most commonly, that medium grey one on the left and it's smaller counterpart (the latter of which is my main tool these days). I also use a pointed rubber color shaper, though that's more for cleaning and shaping paint, rather than apply it. 

I'm having such a blast! And have so many more pieces I haven't even shared yet! My iPhoto library is a colorful, messy, paint-covered compendium of just how many photos I take while working with my phone. 

BTW, I'm thinking of making either this or beginner gouache for art journalers my next online offering. Any votes on which I should choose? I'm in love with both!

The Treasure You Seek - photos from the studio

I knew this time was coming -- the day I went into the studio to work on my new abstract series and would hate the colors and canvases and journal pages I made. 

This is helpful to the entire process, though; I make notes in my art journal about the colors I enjoy and the ones I dislike, and the more I play and experiment, the better I get to know myself. I'm nearing the end of the process, though, as I've narrowed down what I enjoy, and even have canvases I've hung around my apartment because catching sight of them in the corner of my eye brings me great joy. They're little bits that boost my mood; I've been dealing with a deeper-than-ever depression as of late, and need every bit of positive emotion I can clutch in my hands. 

The lack of blog updates doesn't mean I haven't been hard-at-work. I finished a commissioned painting last week that I'm dying to share (but am waiting until the owner gets it so I don't spoil the surprise!) & have another traveling halfway around the world -- I love seeing paintings woosh from the studio. It tells the depression that the lies about my Etsy shop collecting dust are just that -- lies. I'd love to do more commissions, though, and that little painting above is available, too! 

No, instead, I have an iPhoto album full of in-process paintings & journal pages. I take a lot of pictures while I'm working, but then come home and doodle in the Red Storybook until bedtime. I need to make a schedule of some kind, figure out an easy way to blog. I have been using my Tumblr more as of late -- I think the ease of posting a picture and a little caption appeals to less-energy & more-fatigued-from-CFS me. You can follow me over there if you'd like, as I also post & reblog inspiring art or resources I find along the way. 

I thought for today I'd share my workspace at the studio. This is where I normally can be found for a handful of hours each day. i've taken to standing because my back hurts less, and I can dance around to music...though Tangie and her family have startled me on more than one occasion, so maybe I should turn the volume down!

I had the most amazing time playing with this canvas...I just put on some high-energy songs and made a mess....let the music move my brush, did big marks, sprayed water, used spray paint (Liquitex, which is low oder and real acrylic!) & kept flipping it around! 

This is one of the canvases I did and disliked, so I decided to have some fun and just see where it went. It went here, to a mermaid girl. She'll have a fake fin, as I'm really into exploring disabled fairy tale characters ATM. 

This is what was behind the easel. I'd been paging through my art journal to make notes on colors, what worked, what didn't, and seeing what my palette of colors looked like. Journals are for more than pretty pages -- take note of your creative endeavors so you can make more things you love! 

I've also been doing more calligraphy, and wanted to share one of the little things I made -- I'll have more tomorrow (saying this will keep me honest & posting!). 

Painted & written and then assembled in Photoshop. I just love how it looks, layered over bits from my art journal! If only they made a white brush pen!

That's what I've been up to so far this week...what about you? 

What's in my Studio/Couch Box?

I love when I get comments asking about my Couch Box, and what I may be carrying these days. Like many of you, I cycle through supplies I love, always changing as new (and new-to-me) things come into my creative life. Right now, I adore gouache for on-the-go and couch art journaling purposes, and thought I'd share what I carry with me. 

This box goes with me to and from the studio, and can usually be found next to my favorite spot on the couch. I love being able to work while being comfortable, and have even set out these supplies while in bed! It's the perfect little portable studio, and one of the vast improvements carrying this box over my other box is that things don't fall all over the place if the box tips over. 

I got this one at Wal-Mart for $9. It's in the arts&crafts section, but is identical to the tackle box of the same size sold in sporting goods. So you get your choice of colors! :) I filmed this with my iPhone, but turned on YouTube's stabilization...hopefully that makes things easier for those of you who get dizzy from phone videos. I just wanted to make something quick since I'd been asked about my current box, and thought a short vid would be easier than tons of photos and typing! 

Singing Colors

More experiments in my giant art journal with color. 

Color theory and an intense dislike of any red and green next to each other for things other than Christmas would have told me not to pair a light lime green with neon pink, but as I wanted to see how colors work next to each other, I decided to just go with it and see what happened. 

I kept many of the colors I'd already been using, but added the aforementioned lime green, neon pink, cobalt turquoise and permanent violet dark (Golden fluid).

And I have to say, putting out a palette of colors and smashing them across my art journal spread is incredibly satisfied. I put on my playlist and just get to it. I find myself laughing out loud, getting my hands incredibly covered in paint, and try making new marks in the paint with my various tools. I think the scallop shape in the above image is my new favorite -- that and the chevrons were made with the same tool; I just moved my hand differently. 

When I started this spread, I stamped onto the page with my hand-carved stamps and India ink -- it doesn't spread or smudge when you work over it -- and glued down random found papers. I love how you can see them through the stuff I drew into wet paint, a kind of half-seen text that lends to a sense of mystery.  

To say I had fun is an understatement. This spread is so textured, you can feel all the lines and thicker splotches of paint. And remember, open, this journal is 22"x14". HUGE! Full of a color explosion and tons of experimenting. I learned I love neon red & pink mixed together and my little hearts stamp and drawing in paint. Making dots with my fingers (and the sound they make as I dapple paint). 

I don't think I'll add anything, because I love it how it is. All chaotic and fun and yeah. Imagine me sighing blissfully over here. I did a small 6"x8" canvas with this palette, too, and think I'll write a quote on it when I find the right one. 

What do you think I should write on this one? Suggest some quotes for me in comments, please? 

PS. I'm loving my 30 day challenge blog/class. My students are drawing so awesomely, I can't help but be proud. 

30 Days of Friendly Faces Starts Today!

Remember the original blog post I wrote for Friendly Faces? I referred to a 30 day challenge I wanted to do after, to get people practicing and jumping outside their comfort zones. Well...it started today!

It's part of the basic class, and we're already sharing drawings in the forums. But as I was thinking about it, I thought that maybe some people are already kinda confident with their faces, but would like a guided challenge to get them drawing more regularly. I like following my intuition and know these gut feelings are usually good to go on, so I decided to run the challenge itself off a private blog so others could join just for the 30 day challenge! 

Each day, I'll be posting a prompt, example drawing, and drawing/illustration tips. These may be ways to look at your drawing, pictures & artwork that inspired the prompt and/or the example drawing, or mini-tutorials. It shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes a day to keep up, and there are some really silly prompts to keep things light and fun! 

You can get access to the 30 day challenge blog for $15. Or click here to join us for the full class experience, with forums, for $28. Either way, I hope to see you there!

“I have just had the best time and learned heaps from Samie Kira about faces, especially her secret trick!”

— Jan B.

30 Days of Friendly Faces Challenge
$15

Journal Girl Ning Email

make a new dream daily (color & mark-making #2)

Here's more color and mark-making, this time, in my giant journal. 

(It's an 11"x14" Strathmore mixed-media art journal. This link has the BEST price for them!)

I originally was just using it to clean off the Catalyst tools, but then I grabbed it and started playing! Paint + my kick-ass inspiring playlist = the best warm up time ever! 

Here's my set up, including my tools. I was asked what a color shaper was -- it's the one on the far left. It has a flexible tip that smooshes the paint around. It doesn't allow for very detailed work, or even much control, really, but that was the point. 

I've been working on loosening up the faces I draw, getting away from mechanical pencils and small lines. I want to capture the emotions on a face, or the idea of a face, rather than the details. And this tool allowed me to be messy and general and get in a little shading. In fact, I even ventured outside my comfort zone and used purple to shade....imagine that! 

The palette for this spread (and some pieces on artist's board I'll share next week) was: 

•  Blick Matte Acrylics: Teal Green/Amethyst/Red Violet Deep
• Golden: Neon Red& Pink (mixed together/Diarylide Yellow/Vat Orange
• Other: Primary Magenta/Yellow Ocher/Dark Titanium White/White 

I kinda went crazy with colors, but was able to see which worked together well and which didn't, and also, which ones I thought I liked and which I didn't. For example, there was blue on my palette, but I put down a little bit and hated it, so stopped using it. My idea has been to use colors near each other on the color wheel, so have a few more combinations to explore. 

I really love how this exercise is not only allowing me to experiment with mark making & using tools instead of brushes, but seems to be the foundation of finding what colors I'll work with for the next long while. I'm working on another little woodworking project for my gouache paints, and I discovered something important tonight: I don't need to carry/use every color I own. This makes it easier to pack, knowing which you love and which you don't, and in what situation you'd use each in, and I think will make for more harmonious paintings & journal pages overall. 

Now here's the spread after I wrote on it with white gouache and a bamboo brush. Notice how opaque and matte the words are -- have I mentioned I'm in love with gouache? Cause I am! 

I could keep posting pics, but don't want to overwhelm anyone! Plus, I have 30 Days of Friendly Faces starting on Monday, and that means a whole PDF to get done & passworded blog to set up. It's part of the class, but I'm thinking I may put just this challenge up as a separate piece. Are there any people out there who want to take just the guided challenge? Let me know! 

And let me know if you're enjoying these posts! I'm in love with all the stuff I'm doing, lately, and am just bursting to share! I wish we had transporters so you could all just come hang out!

Experiments In Color & Magic

I find certain magic happens in those last minutes we're in our art spaces - when there's paint left on the palette that we just can't waste, paper we'd usually never use but have close by, when there isn't much time left and we want to squeeze out the most creative juice we can before playtime is over. 

If you follow my Instagram feed (or Facebook), you get a little peek into my process (and usually the mess I make while playing!); I take a LOT of pictures while working - to gain perspective on what I'm doing, to document the process so I can repeat it, and yes...to have blog photos!  

Anyway, over the next week, I'll be sharing the work I've been giddy over - stuff I look at when I'm done and can't help but smile. It's awesome when we create art journal pages we love, but it's brilliant when we can't stop making more!  

I decided to stick with a set color palette for two sessions. Why? To see all the different ways I could incorporate the colors! I wanted to see how they behave as part of my own little class on color theory and experimentation!  

Here are the colors I used:

neon red/teal green/bright aqua green/yellow ocher/dark titanium white/white

Oh, and to paint with? Catalyst tools! Just the small and medium of the grey tools, and the blue wedge. That's it!  

Here are some progress shots of my first experiments with this all! 

And here are two finished paintings! Final details were added with gouache & I pulled out the silver leaf! I was working on ledger paper and half-finished canvases in the studio...and don't be afraid to mess something up in order to keep playing! 

Both are available, and I'll be making prints soon! 

Friday, I'll have more eye candy for you all!