Paint Party Friday - 2014 Art Journal

For 2014, I started a new art journal (a red one this year!). And I am pleased to say, I have even started playing in it! I suspect most pages will have a combination of writing and images. The snowperson does already and I suspect the chickadee page will have writing added to it soon, Meanwhile I wanted to show my PPF friends what I have been painting.

January Chickadee

"Be Yourself"

Belated best wishes to everyone for a healthy, happy, prosperous and CREATIVE 2014!

Paint Party Friday - Tea for Tracey

To celebrate the Holiday Season, Paint Party Friday is hosting a Tea for our friend Tracey who has been recovering from breast cancer surgery and chemo therapy. It is great to read her posts - seeing that despite her challenges, she seems to have retained her wonderful sense of humour.

Since Tracey has been painting pictures many of her friends' tea cups, I thought I would try to paint two of my favourite Christmas mugs (full of soothing Moroccan Mint tea).

Tea for Two for Tracey

To Tracey, and all my PPF friends, I send you my warmest holiday wishes for a wonderful time with family and to a very HEALTHY 2014! 

Love

EVA

P.S. To any other of our PPF friends who have been suffering health problems, my deepest wishes for a return to good health!

P.P.S. Sorry for the lengthy absence, I don't know where this year has gone... and while I have dabbled a bit in my art journal and worked with Kristin behind the scenes at PPF, I never seemed to get a post written to participate. Hopefully this is the re-start of painting regularly!

P.P.P.S. A cleaning fairy, Tracey? Thank you , thank you - that is exactly the help I need!!! ...maybe if I can find my desk and paints beneath the clutter, I can party more at PPF!

Paint Party Friday: Inspired by a Great Blue Heron

Isn't it funny what moves the muse? What inspires us to start creating?

This week it was a photo from the birdwatching column in the newspaper a few weeks ago. Once I started working in my art journal, I couldn't stop!

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Great Blue Heron in Bloom

Great Pinky Purple Heron

Great Patterned Heron

Inspiring Photo (by Bruce di Labio)

What inspired you this week? I am looking forward to visiting my PPF friends, as time allows, over the weekend.

Happy PPF!

Paint Party Friday - Finished Last 2/4 Paintings!

Happy Easter everyone!

The abstracts I started earlier this year are finally finished! And they are even hanging on my living room wall (and the nutcracker suite of paintings put away until next December...)... Yay! It really feels good to finally finish something. Here are the last two - oblongs vs bubbles...

Colourful Oblongs #1

Colourful Oblongs #2

Hanging in my Living Room

from side - to show painted edges

left two paintings - closer-up

right two paintings - closer up

I also started doodling flowers from watercolour crayon smears. It feels happy. (I think winter has been far too long for me this year!) I did these before reading Kristin's post about the doodling/abstracted flowers tutorial. Interesting timing...

Shades of Pink

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! I will be by to visit as I can.

Paint Party Friday - 2/4 Finished Paintings and Faces #17-21

This weekend ended up being productive, at least as far as painting was concerned. I picked up the paintings I started a while ago and first added some more colour to the abstracts. Not really happy with how they were looking I decided to start doodling. And this is how they ended up:

Colourful Bubbles #1

Colourful Bubbles #2

On the mantle - to see if they work in the room where they will replace the Xmas nutcracker paintings. 

(Sides are also painted..)

Uncertain what to do with the other two - I decided to scan one, print copies on paper and play with several ideas:

initial abstract

Test #1 - more of the same?

Test #2 - similar but different?

I think I will go with the test #2 version on the other two paintings - it complements the bubbles but doesn't make it too excessive with them all hanging together. Unless I come up with some other idea, of course... or maybe you have a great suggestion???

I also continued Martha of Ayala Art's 29 Faces in February challenge and am now up to Face #20.

Ileana of XO had a little challenge to do Elizabeth Taylor. This is my third version - zen doodly. The other Lizs are on my last post.

#18

#19

#20

#21 - Trying a calligraphy marker and a profile... neither worked very well   :(

Hope everyone has a great week! I'm excited to see your efforts, and will do my best to drop by and say hi.

Sunday Sketches and Faces #15 and #16

Since I have been sketching faces, I finally have something with which to join in Sunday Sketches with Blue Chair Diary

These two faces are from a mini-challenge that Ileana gave on her blog - to try to capture Elizabeth Taylor. Here are my two tries (and the photo inspiration).

#15 - pastels

#16 - Paint pens

Photo inspiration

Didn't quite get her - but it was fun to try! I'm looking forward to visiting everyone over the next few days! 

Have a great week.

PPF and Faces #8 to #14

This week I decided to try doing faces in oil pastels. They are an interesting medium to work in. You can blend like paint so that is fun. Not sure that I quite have the hang of it, but there is a lot about them that I like - except the messiness of course!

I am still trying for the 29 Faces in February challenge to explore not only a diversity of media (though all in my "Faces" journal) but also of faces - men, women, children and different ages and races.

#8 - I think my favourite this week though this boy looked even younger in the photo

#9

#10 - Tried to do a "Black and White" (and shades of grey)

#11 - messed up her eyes and mouth - oh well...

#12

#13

#14 - For Valentine's Day - a heart shaped face

There is definitely a resemblance of my faces to all of the photos I used as inspiration, though I have yet to feel I captured a face perfectly. Sometimes though I think it is the imperfections that give these character...     ;)

Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day! See you over the weekend.