Self-portraits!

Self portraits are fun, revealing, useful, handy, instructive...and difficult!  Why do we do them?  Well, one very good reason is that we're there, we're willing (more or less), and we don't get wiggly and complain.  They can help us deal with our emotions, or just enjoy a playful mood. 

Explore expressions, too...it's hard to get a friend or family member to hold still for it, but you can sketch your own!

You can draw yourself with as much honesty as you can muster...that's what I tried to do in the top sketch.  (I'm happy to say that I LIKE patina, so I wasn't upset.)  I dealt with a very difficult time in my life by drawing a self portrait--it let me get some of that sadness outside my skin. 

I did quick sketches when involved in rehabbing the house next door or working on my shed studio...tired, dirty, and funny!

You can draw yourself as you'd like to be--younger, thinner, more hair--but why stop with the mundane?  Now's your chance...be a Medieval knight, a queen, a rock star, a mountain climber, a dancer, a tightrope walker, a Tarot card, a Pict, a native right out of Gauguin,  a nun! 

See yourself as a hobbit, Dr. Who, a Man in Black, an alien, Bigfoot, a dragon--or your favorite animal.  Draw yourself as a Steampunk hero, or someone from the Old West.

Draw your favorite outfit, or activity...put yourself in the picture!

Maybe you see yourself like this guy, which made me smile!

I wrote about some of this in one of my free art tips, ages ago, #23...you can read it here (and feel free to sign up for more tips, there will be 120 of them sometime later this week!  The signup form is here--and you'll get a newsletter full of links and news, too.)


Give it a try!  Make it simple, make it complex.  Use your favorite medium.  And then share it with us on our Artist's Journal Workshop Flickr group!

It's Time For A Visit To Autumn's Garden!

 

Autumn has arrived and there's a chill in the air!!

Well, actually, I think maybe the humidity has just dropped as the high for today is suppose to reach 92º in Florida! Still, you can see and feel the changes....you just really have to be paying attention. Of course, many of you have really begun to feel the chill and see the changes.

And all this means it's time to start preparing for An Imaginary Visit to Autumn's Garden! This class is scheduled to begin on November 18th and run through December 16th. There will be one assignment each week.

For more information and to register for the class, please click here. If you're interested in registering, I suggest you not wait as this is one of the really popular classes over at Imaginary Trips!

Day Pretties

Watercolor, Ink and Stamps
3.5 x 8.5 inches
Handbook Watercolor
Sketchbook

Have you ever created a page and it seemed lacking, like something was missing? Maybe it didn't have the oomph you thought it would have or it just looked unfinished?

This page was suppose to sizzle with all that fun, bold yellow pigment, but when I finished (before I added any background) it just didn't have it.

The most obvious fix seemed to be to add a background, but what? I had just created a page with amaryllis (here) and used text as the background and I didn't want to repeat myself. I let the sketchbook sit open on my desk so that I could see it each time I walked by.

Finally, I decided to go with stripes to help emphasis the long stems. As Kate says, "meh." I didn't much like the stripes. So out came the black pen and then I added black stripes. Still didn't like it.

Leaving the book open and continuing to study it, I had about decided it was going to have to live as it was. A little later, I was prowling around in my study on the hunt for an unrelated item when I stumbled across some stamps......and a light bulb came on.

I retrieved my sketchbook and went to work. I used tracing paper as a "shield" and stamped the background. In a few places, I drew in the stamp shape rather than try to cut a shield.

There are things I will do differently next time, but I really had fun with the process and evolution of this piece. Sometimes, we have to get outside of "normal" solutions and reach for something new to make a page successful!