Day 45/100 Faces – I decided to redraw yesterday’s face. The sketch turned out differently, but it was close enough. Used watercolor and Tombow dual brush pens this time.
Tag: commitment
100 Faces Day 43
Today I continued my profile practice and used Tombow dual brush pens and Spectrum Noir alcohol markers.
Daily Art Devotions: Days 22-24
I had to take a few days off to heal from multiple illnesses and a migraine, but I’m feeling better, so it’s back to making art.
For Day 22 of #DailyArtDevotions we were to go on an artist’s date which I took perusing Pinterest for mermaid inspiration which resulted in the sketch below. We also created a special pocket in our repurposed art journals to collect items that are special to us in order to create a well of inspiration. I used an art piece I had created previously and created the special well in my journal.
For Day 23, it was creating a page of gold. I created this page using only my intuition as a guide. I laid out all my gold media as well as my stencils and stamps and let my intuition do the rest. I absolutely love the results.
For Day 24, we were to collect items to fill up our well. I have been discovering all kinds of inspiring things going through my art supplies. I decided that I wanted to make a full commitment to this art journey I have begun, so I sold a bunch of things I didn’t need anymore in order to make space for a dedicated art space in my dining room. I still have much to organize, but I now have a space just to create art, and we can finally eat on the dining room table again.
Daily Art Devotions: Day 11
I know I should not be surprised by now about how just starting, even without motivation, works with creative practice, but I am. I have not been feeling well, and procrastinated in doing today’s #DailyArtDevotions #artjournal pages. But, I started with something easy – chaos – and then my creative mind took over and two hours later, I had created something I love.
For chaos, I sprayed water onto watercolor paper and then dropped several different colors of Bombay ink onto the page. This is a process that always makes me a little crazy because it never quite goes the way I want. I add too much water, too little water, too much ink, too little ink…you get the idea. Hence the representation of creative chaos.
Then an idea to put one of my favorite sketches on it as a representation of calm emerged. But it just didn’t work because keeping it on sketchbook paper would have completely covered the chaos page.
So, I decided to trace my sketch on tracing paper with my beloved blue sketch pencil, but that didn’t work because the blue pencil was too light and the mermaid was not visible over the chaos page. So, I decided to go back and trace over the traced sketch with a black technical pen. That worked.
I wasn’t sure how to affix my calm sketch over my chaos watercolor. I have tried to glue tracing paper before but did not have good results. I remembered I had some beach-themed washi tape and found the perfect one.
I love what emerged: a beautiful representation of calm over chaos.
Daily Art Devotions: Day 9
For Day 9 of the #DailyArtDevotions 40-day #artjournal journey with Elizabeth Foley, I turned my fears into flowers.
It is no wonder that I struggled mightily while creating this page. Layer after layer, it looked like a total mess. Parts of the paper even started to come up and peel off, and I had no idea how to fix it. But…I just kept going.
Maybe this experience was the Universe showing me exactly how to handle all these fears I have about creating: Just keep going in spite of the fear and something beautiful will eventually emerge.
Maybe that is the reward for not giving up.
Day Seventy-Five
Today is my 75th day of daily creative practice. I’m still dealing with a migraine, though it’s milder today, so I’m not feeling quite as celebratory as I might be otherwise.
I am proud of my accomplishment, but it is now time for me to take a break and start working on my novel again. My intention is to have a polished draft completed by December 31st. I’m not sure how an art practice will fit into my writing practice. I am hoping I have time for both, but writing will take precedence.
For my creative practice today, I wanted to represent the red thread that connects everything in my life. Though my life seems fractured and disconnected right now, I have faith one day it will all come together and make sense.
Migraine Day Three
Keeping up with my daily creative practice, but this migraine is starting to get the best of me 😦
Migraine Day Two
The migraine that started yesterday has persisted quite severely throughout today. I’ve been taking things very slowly.
Today’s sketch: the migraine
Kuan Yin: Final
Today I was feeling more energetic and focused. I finished editing a chapter of a friend’s novel, and then finished up my #KuanYin #oilpastel painting from Lucy Chen’s #EverAfter2018 lesson.
It’s interesting how creative energy ebbs and flows. Through this daily creative practice, I’m learning to create despite the energetic highs and lows. Sometimes, just the act of sitting down and starting will jumpstart the flow. Other times, I am aggravated throughout the process, and I am learning to be aware of when it is time to stop and come back to it another day. My intention with this daily practice is to create something. It does not have to be good, nor does it have to be complete.
I’ve never worked with oil pastels, and I’m amazed how they seem to transform themselves on the page. Pure magic. I adore this #KuanYin painting. She is one of my favorites so far. It helps that she came at the perfect time when I was very much in need of compassion.
Internal Compass: More Layers
I’m not feeling particularly motivated to create today. I’ve got a lot I’m still trying to process, and the kindest thing I can do for myself is to just relax and let all the loose threads I’ve got dangle for another day.
For today’s creative practice, I added two more layers to my internal compass. The layers were specifically from visions that I had during my meditation practice.
In the meditations, I saw a web with silver spirals wrapped around each strand and blue light flowing from the center through each strand. I saw a dragonfly buzzing near my right temple which I added to the North section of the compass. I saw a woman sitting in lotus pose with a spiral cord in her center and bright, white lights emanating from her like beacons, and I added her to the center Space. And throughout the meditations, there was a large, black, fierce cat alongside me. I put a picture of her hunting in the East and West and a picture of her lying in wait in the North and South.
I had this great idea to add all the images using clear gesso, but it pulled up and mixed with the blue paint making it difficult to see them. I think that worked out perfectly, though, because the feeling I get is that the blue energy is a protective barrier covering the entirety of my internal compass.
Sarah Joyce Bryant 