Work in Progress: A Fheiceáil

I just wanted to give you a sneak peak of a drawing I'm working on.  It's almost done and should be up on my website soon.  If you haven't been, check out www.ravenmaidcreative.com.  

Exploration: Pens vs. Sens

     Hi, there.  Sorry it's been a while.  Last week turned out to be quite busy and I had no super awesome ideas.  As of last night, I didn't have any super awesome ideas so I turned to one of my go-to books, How to Be an Explorer of the World by Keri Smith.  She has a whole line of pretty cool books filled with all sorts of fun ideas and exercises including this one.

Draw on That: Diapers

Baby diaper art at a friend's shower.

Adventures of a School Photographer: This Week in Sketches

     This week turned out to be a bit busier than I expected, which is a good thing especially for my checkbook, but I still found a few spare moments to get some sketching in.  Better to sketch and keep my hands busy than sit and twiddle my thumbs, I suppose.  When on break, I broke out my strategically placed sketchbooks and tried out some exercises from some art books I have.  

This one is sometimes called a "soundscape," which I took to mean a drawing with the sounds labeled.  I was sitting in an auditorium waiting for the craziness to start and this is from my point of view.

This is another exercise about observing ten things about your surroundings you didn't really see or notice before you sat down.  

Smartphone Fingerpainting: Fire Extinguisher

On break earlier today: doodling in the digital age.  Enjoy.

Sunday School: Tombs and Cocoons

     Today, I tried to teach the kiddos about Easter and had them make paper butterflies as a symbol of the Resurrection.  This is one that I made.  I feel that whenever one begins to take art way too seriously, they should pick up some crayons and go to town.  Remember that joy you had as a kid in just creating and making marks.  Art that is made with that same joy is true art.

"Every child is an artist.  The problem is staying an artist once we grow up." -Picasso

Work in Progress: Lily

    Every year, a semi-local gallery hosts a juried show where all works submitted must have a lily theme.  Unlike most years, I'm not waiting until the last minute and am getting some pieces going early.  I'm still experimenting with gessoed panel and have begun a lily painting on one.  On one hand, I really like the smoothness, but I noticed the paint seems to dry much faster on it.  Either, I'll have to get my hands on some acrylic extender or learn to work with this texture.  Anyway, it might not look like much now, but hopefully it'll turn out alright and be hanging in Stonewall soon.  We'll see, I guess.