Inktober is happening with LittleRavenInk

Hello!
It's been a while hasn't it? and I feel like I say this every blog post! but here I am, with my studio half overhauled in the chaos of it all there is INKTOBER!  a creative adventure I've watched from the sidelines most years, but this year I'm actually going to participate! I'm nowhere near the caliber of some of the artist I've seen participate in past years but that isn't going to stop me from inking a nook dweller!

My darling friend Julia over at Julia's Bento and I were talking art and drawing as we usually do each day...and we decided that we would tackle Inktober this year! I am heading to Melbourne for 3 days so will be tough to draw while away but I'm going to make sure I draw!

So starting October 1st I will be drawing using my various inky pens and uploading my drawings to Instagram with the hashtags #inktober2015 and also #raveninktober I may also do a Youtube video but that I'm unsure of! I will do a Friday post here on the blog showing my weeks worth of inkings!

If you are going to participate in Inktober please leave a comment below with your IG name or your blog where you're going to post your drawings I would so love to see them!

Take care! Seeya next with with some drawings!
x Courtney

Friday Pages - What I'm working on.

Well it's Friday and that means one thing! Friday Pages...Showing off what I'm working on between the pages of my little art journal! 

 

playing with my art supplies on video this page still has a long way to go before shes finished, but I am enjoying the crazy mess that's coming together at the moment!

 

playing with little creatures in amongst the paint and ink! this little love popped up holding onto the heart.

 

altering photos is my upcoming artgeeks prompt! turning ourselves into whimsy creatures to give a little fun to our photos! I am currently waiting for a spare moment to myself to get some self portraits sorted so you can see what works for this technique! so simple, and yet so much fun! 

and using some of my spare photos that I'd printed out and just having fun with colour and tapes! They are so simple, and yet these are some of my fave pages, the background is using Gelli plate prints I'd done in the past! 

speaking of which...here is one of my altered gelli plate images

and one of the previous images...before I started altering myself into a bunny

thats all from me! I'll have another friday pages post next week with some new work I've been working on! have a fantastic day!
I am thinking of turning friday pages, into a journal meme! so you can sign up on fridays, showing off your pages, I love a good page perve!
xx Courtney

Art Geeks!

enjoy the video, and get snapping and glue and laying down that colour

Inky Pages - Art Journal Spreads.

Good Evening my darlings, it's a cold Saturday night, the little ones are tucked up in bed, water bottles warming their souls, and I sit at my desk, in a scarf and green ugg boots getting things done in my altered journal. I never expected to get so attached to a book. It goes almost everywhere with me, and yes, I have shoulder pains because of it lol, but it's worth it, I sit at my little man's school with it open just working on odds and ends, washii tape in my purse, a few photos tucked into the back to whip out when I think a pages needs some love.

the below picture is a girl I created with some watercolour markers, some india ink, prismas over an old letter I had lying around. the ink from the letter did morph a bit, but it made me love it more.

a photograph, a day tag, a cute fabric off cut from some random thing in my drawer and I was rolling along with this page, the waves were drawn in the windy cold of the primary school hehe. Some of those red flowers I love so much, they have become a big part of these pages. Photograph is one of my bus stop self portraits I do on instagram sometimes.

in the last moments of last night, I grabbed my pencil and created this little long necked odd girl. I played with colouring her in today, I like the look of her, shes simple, I'll keep playing with the long necks in a few sketches to come I think

below I found an old image on a clear oht page, turned it into a little pocket. Making use of the random junk that lines my bottom drawer.

Have a beautiful Saturday evening, curl up with your journal, and the junk that lines your drawers, letters images, tags..anything if fare game...and its all part of your life.

xx Courtney

Its Cold and Wet!

Its one of those days, rather cold and wet, grey, where coats, boots and scarves come out to play their role in keeping us warm! I waited for the bus in the rain, and golly gosh it was cold! I havent posted for a few days, got a bit stuck in a rut, but slowly slowly you pull urself out, with the plans to open up a little online store bustling through my mind, I need to think about alot of things...and thus stopped me arting. 

Today in the cold, I played in my journal

I worked on the girl a week ago, and didnt like her, today I finally finished her, enough to get rid of her into my book, so created a tip in for her, she is just another stepping stone to other things I guess.

playing with washii tape and inks, taping down photographs and just making marks. 

I also had the pleasure of going to my parents place last weekend, and finally got my birthday present from my mumma, project life!!! I skuttled off to get some prints printed, and start making memories withing the confines of this amazing layout style from becky higgins, never worry though...there are lots of left over photos that didnt make the cut, and they will be smashed into my art journal covered with paint and life

because my journal..is where art and life collide.

have a lovely evening

xx Courtney

Day 8 - Inky beautiful

Armed with a spray ink, and no idea, this girl emerged she was still and silent, and a pleasure to create.

I gessoed the page, and sprayed a doiley then inked her with a cheap black pen, some pencils.

a touch of watercolour crayons.

also in the mail today, my little moo order came! a book of stickers 

and a handful little mini business cards. 

how has your Tuesday?

xx Courtney

Day 7 - Tag me Lovely!

Day 7 my darlings! and I must say I lost my mojo, I spent the day sewing up a storm to get a few sewing projects worked on, and before I knew it my day was almost over, I tried a portrait in sumi ink, and liked her..till I tried to add colour, then it all went shit-tastic! so I started again. 

I saw some of my blank tags in my odds and ends box, and grabbed one, and started sketching in an inky pen.

little watercolour marker and a touch of white pen, and I thought she was simple enough and cute enough, I will start incorporating her into the page, maybe some text/journalling above her eyes, and she will be a cute addition to my journal.

here is my desk shot, do you see the bunch of tags up the back in the odds box hehe

above shot

I painted this girl a few days ago and never got the share her...so here is my latte skinned beauty.

xx Courtney

Faces In May - Day 5

Afternoon my darlings! its day 5 in the faces of May challenge, and since I enjoyed playing with the monotone of yesterdays girl I thought I'd play with some pink acrylic ink and gesso and see what I came up with! below is my face for the day and what she developed into. Two pics from our day today.

I thought since I, working at my desk everyday this month, I'd do daily desk shots, so you can see how things morph and merge as I create.

on our outings today, I was looking for some new storage for my copics, my old square vase finally had no room left, so a quick trip to ikea, and now they all fit nicely into this one container..with dividers. once I fill that up.. I'll get a couple more!

how is your Saturday shaping up?

xx Courtney

Face Three - 29faces in May Blue Bella.

 

Afternoon my dears, it's another day, and that means another face, I've done more than one since my last post, but this girl, was a happy accident, one of my ink bottles spurng a leak, and got all over my page, where I was working on a sketch, so I ran with it, I used two shades of blue Spray inks, applying them like watercolour and then using gesso to give them the painterly look.

 

I used a graphite pencils to do all her detailing, haphazard kind of sketching, I wasn't too precious with her, it seems the more careful lines u put in the more...forced a face is.

a little bit of white paint pen, and white prismacolour pencil and she was done, very simple, very accidental, but there you have it, my face for today!

welcome to my crazy messy desk, its getting more crazy as I paint more faces, you can see the opposite page where the ink spilled.

have a lovely afternoon my dear friends, and please pop back tomorrow for whatever face appears within the pages of my little art journal.

xx Courtney

making pretty messes.

Hello Hello this Tuesday afternoon,
how are we all!? today's journal pages, are colour colour colourful! I decided to throw everything I had onto these two pages, lifting my mood with art. I think its working! I think I'm at the point where I'm done with these pages, so its time to turn them over and start another world on the next pages.
I used paints, inks, watercolours, paintpens, distress stains u name it, I just let go and let whatever happen to the pages happen, it was such a freeing experience.

why not grab your journal, and just doodle on a page, with lots of layers and colour, ignore the mistakes, just cover it with another layer, dots, flowers, scribbles anything you want. Your muse will definitely thankyou, I can assure you of this.

and if you don't like it when you're done...

(image found via pintrest)
thats what the gesso is for...

Creative Space Thursday - Trust the Mess

for once I'm on point with getting my art snapped for a creative space post! usually I remember its thursday by the time it's almost all over with, I started a little bit of art last night, trying to get back on the wagon now that I'm on meds again, it seems such an effort to art! which was one of the things I worried about...but my man is making sure he keeps my fire alive even when I am stuck in limbo.

I was sat at my desk last night starting at my journal for what seemed like eternity, then I just picked up my aqua brush opened my watercolours and started laying colour down...when in doubt just put colour onto your page and go from there.
I knew I wanted to make something as my last message to Jane from my art course.
The most amazing thing was those three words, trust the mess, everything is a learning process and everything cant be fixed or simply covered up.

I fell in love with my prisma pencils again, using them in a way I never had before.

Jane made me face my copic fear, finally using the markers and bending them to my will not theirs. I loosened up and let go of being perfect, or trying to art like others and just created for the pure love it it.

I learnt to accept that not every thing I create in my journal is going to be shaded beautifully, or drawn perfectly, that each day I put pen to paper I'm growing as an artist.

I also love that my palette has grown to colours I would normally never use, and now they are spilling onto my pages like liquid rainbows... simple little things that may not seem much to many...but give me so much hope for what is to come in my artistic journey.

this woman, has changed me on the inside.
that's enough from me for today
enjoy the other creative spaces over at Our Creative Space

I shall try make some more art tonight...something will get done, if the boy has anything to say about it lol.
xxox Courtney

On My desk - Art Journal Love.

It's been a week, indeed it has, I just needed a little time to get used to a few changes. So even though my journal was with me everyday, I didnt put pencil to paper, I could feel the void though...so yesterday I started...

there are many layers to this spread, as the original layer I didnt like, there is a full girl under there hehe I finished her and then started covering her up with magazine images. Paint, gesso, inks, stains and some drawing...and this little thing emerged.


this is my last assignment for Jane's Supplies me course, I've learned a heap, and I've also signed up for her I heart drawing class too, to continue to learn more formed ways of the figures and faces.


enjoy your Friday, I might be back tomorrow with more art, depending on how I feel!
xox Courtney

Side Faces and Acrylic Paint.

Over on Jane's lovely little art nook, its acrylic paint week, so the last two days I've gotten into the spirit of things, using mostly paint and a little bit of inky pen and a smidge of prismacolour pencil for acents.

I've always said, side faces make me their minion, I've had the desire to draw girls from a different view than side on for longer than I care to admit.

so here is my little mermaid inspire sea goddess.

I used alot of acrylic paints watered down and layered over and over, distress stain for her hair mixed with watered down paint, some inky pen for a few little detail touches, and a little pencil for some shading where I felt it needed it.

also a hand made spray ink background, tomorrow I will add some more, I'm off to watch the last harry potter on the couch with the boy, yes I've already seen it but I don't care!


enjoy your night
see you tomorrow with more art.
x Courtney

Wednesday morning...

after the morning routine is over, and the boy is off to work for the day and the little ones are happily playing , I crawl back into bed for a little bit to do a little art in bed...not everyday but some days I just need that time.

still just working on my 3/4 turned face, little difficult but with time and alot of sketches I'll get the hang of it!

that's all from me for today, I have to get into cooking dinner and tidying up!
take care my darlings
tomorrow I get to do a little supply shopping while my two men, big and small get hair cuts, so miss boo and I will hit the art store!
xx Courtney

Just Playing in my journal.

I've had a few rough days, with the kids having their moments, their little worlds turned upside down with the move, so when I need to just escape a little at night, I open my journal.

Playing with colours and water, copics..crayons..whatever I felt like baiscally.


a little odd girl, with antlers in her hair, and a house for a body... I was feeling strange that day..and it showed.


not as detailed as my last entry in the journal but still beautiful in its own right.

Tomorrow I'll post some of my 3/4 turned faces I've done one so far quickly but tomorrow I hope to draw a bigger version, the are a challenge

xx Courtney