My first attempt at Lesson 2 "Painting with Abstract Lines" from the online class I'm taking at:
http://www.carlasonheim.com/elements-building-blocks-of-painting/

Watercolor, charcoal, acrylic paint, and colored pencil on watercolor paper.

Watercolor/sketch

I drew this?

Do you ever find old drawings/doodles that you don't even remember doing?  I found this one tonight. It's actually a digital collage I made from a bunch of separate doodles. I found all the separate drawings too. I don't have any memory of this! I can recognize that it's my drawing, but I totally don't remember the collage at all. I guess if I live long enough, everything will be new again.

The Mask I Wear - Art class assignment

Art class assignment - Make a newspaper collage from a black and white photograph

Title: The Mask I Wear

I used a photo of myself that I took a couple months ago. I chose the pose in which I was wearing a mask to convey that my true self is hidden from the world. Also the mask in the photo is covered in cut up book pages so I thought that it would work well and be easy to translate later for the newspaper collage piece.

I found that I really struggled with creating the collage. It was quite time consuming and the textual mask that I thought would be so easy to recreate with newspaper was very difficult for me. I didn't have enough black newsprint to recreate the very solid black area of hair so I printed out a solid black piece of paper on my printer and used that to make a cut out for the hair. I rubbed an eraser around the printed paper to rub off some of the toner, giving it a texture more in line with the newsprint. The very hardest part was translating the lips in the collage piece, I finally had to give up trying to create them solely from paper and used a marker to draw in the shapes. I then expanded my use of the marker to outline the mask and eye holes to tie the image together.

I think what I most wanted to try to suggest with this piece is that we all wear a mask. We hide behind masks of behavior, gestures, words... only letting bits and pieces of our true selves show through in certain social situations. I don't think anybody ever reveals the whole of themselves to the world, we are all guarded and masked. It's how we survive.

Cinquain Collage

I am trying to organize files on my computer and I came across this old collage/poem I had completely forgotten about.

Two Heads Are Better Than One In Dreams - Multi-Media Collage

Breathe - Mixed Media Collage

The Lovers - Mixed Media Collage

In the name of the father, the son and the holy toast

Tarot card troubles

I have had a DEVIL of a time with this one. Sadly, my muse has fled and inspiration has run dry. I can't remember the last time I had such a struggle with an art project. Here are three different versions of the card. At this point I don't know if I should just trash them all or if one of these will do. UGH!

Stock photos used courtesy of these fine folks at deviantart:
torino-stock
skitnik
~paradise234
*DiamonEyes
~borderline-stock
*wyldraven
~kallaria

Playing with watercolors again

I've gotten out my Twinkling H2O watercolors again and decided to prepare some backgrounds in this little journal I have had forever and just never seem to get around to using. Maybe some pretty colors will make me want to art up some pages?

I've lost track of how many times I've started new art journals over the years. I've got the starting thing down, it's the sticking to it and finishing one that I've never experienced.

But I am ever optimistic that there will finally be a breakthrough and I will actually complete one. I'm sure it'll happen right before I finally figure out where that one sock disappears to in the dryer, find the perfect purse,  get down to my goal weight, and fully grok the Epicurean Ideal - so I probably shouldn't hold my breath or be too disappointed when this too goes on the pile of unfinished projects.

ATC Swap Cards

Cards I made for Rita's swap. Watercolor backgrounds, rubber stamping, packing tape transfers, and illustrations cut from a 1944 McCall's magazine.

Xmas in July Tag Swap

My gift tag for a Xmas in July tag swap. I re-colorized an old photo in Photoshop and added a scanned marbled tissue paper background.

Here's the finished digital image:

I printed the image out onto some adhesive paper and mounted them onto upcycled drink coasters for a sturdy tag base. Then added some gold ink around the edges and some ribbons. Festive! :)

Here's the original image pre-Photoshopping:

Bookmark Swap

My watercolor bookmarks with magazine page spiral thingees and a quote by C.S. Lewis.

Playing with magazine pages

I am having a lot of fun making these magazine page spiral thingees. I have no idea what I'll use them for, but I love making them. I made a pair of earrings from them following this YouTube post by Mark Montano.

My earrings:

Just For Fun - ATC

I joined a new Facebook group this week called Abandoned Art and this is the first piece I plan to set free.

The Human Way

Psalm 9 Stamp & Coin Co

The Good Girl

Reverie