Blogtober Day 5!

Day 5 upon us of blogging everyday in october, and its been a hot one.

Since spring ins now in full swing, out little garden the could..is doing just that...growing day by day we have onions, zucchini, carrots, strawberries beans and a few others...its been mine and the kids daily chore to go out and water them...amazing watching them grow from just seeds!

on the art front, I'm still working on building my pages of my eclectic art journal, bit by bit, last night I attacked an pizza add that came in the mail..no bit of paper is safe!!! I also used the odd bits of paper I was testing my foam stamps on and turned it into boarder sheets with a little bit of highlighter, a sharpie and some paint!

 I've left my post a bit late today, lots of cleaning and packing boxes and of course my workout for the day which leaves me feeling like I've been hit by a mack truck most nights... but it's for a good cause. I should make one hot bride one day...one day.

so onto supplies...today is Pencils..but not just any pencils...prismacolour pencils. Another one of my supplies I literally had to save for. I bought the box of 72 I think from memory and I haven't regretted them a day I've also bought a few new colours singly from an art store. So I dub these another investment supply. I've had them for about 3 years and only had to replace my white as it does all my blending. 

Prismacolour are a very waxy pencil, highly pigmented and go onto a page like butter. They have an amazing array of colours that would keep any artist happy.

because these pencils are so waxy blending with a light coloured pencil gives you a softened look without those pencil marks that most harder leaded colour pencils have to them. You can also use a  blending marker or a solvent to break down the wax to create an almost paint like effect. This part is magic! I have fun using my copic blending marker to smooth out all the lines to give a more polished effect.

a tip I found out from Jane, you can draw onto fabric with your prismacolour pencils,  using ur iron and heat set the pencil making it permanent! I haven't tried this tip yet, but I've seen a finished product and was highly impressed.

I have a couple of pencils that I take in my pencil case at all times, to add little touches, mostly face tint colours...they are the rolls royce of pencils! I don't have my expensive 'label' branded supplies but the ones I do have...are totally worth it.

 

enjoy your nights my darlings 

xx Courtney

 

day 11 and 12 - Portraits and Desk Shot

as you can see, I am rather tired looking from my above picture, so I let my portrait slip yesterday, sleep got ahold of me instead. I did play in my journal today though to try and catch up.

a soft girl, trying to master bodies still, and they still get the better of me, but I keep trying anyway as one day they will be drawn with ease and without thinking.

not sure if i like her background though I might try and fix that aspect up later, but overall I like her.

and a quilt long necked girl, I have a think for red heads it seems! I want to do alot of line work in her background but when Im not so tired!

a shot of my copic marker box, and my favorite pencil case, giving to me by my darling besty  It comes with me in all my handbags, filled with my current colour palette. She made it herself, after we picked out fabric together many years ago now, but I love it just the same.

and a page I'm working on, when I'm not drawing faces, sometimes I like the simple pages of my life with photographs, simple painted backgrounds and a little text.
have a lovely evening
xx C

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

Faces In May - Day 3

We are off and running in the 29 faces in May challenge, and I've got to say, I'm getting really excited about it! I started stockpiling portrait photos that I liked from pintrest as reference points for my drawing. The quirky old man, was one of those photographs. He is my day three, I've been working on him all through my day even during the time I went shopping, having a tea while I was out, I sat and coloured him with my markers.

the woman opposite him was just a girl that developed while I was sitting on the couch, not sure if she will be day 4 or if I will go looking for more photographs to sketch!

a close up of my old man, he is predominately in greys, I used two shades of brown copic marker, and a prismacolour pencil as  highlights around the eyes and the shirt.

and a close up of my blue haired beauty!

how are your faces going?

xx Courtney

slowly slowly...arty art.

I'm slow off the mark these days! I need to overcome the blank stare at the open journal.
I started creating a mess of a background last friday night, whilst talking to my mumma on skype, I looked at it the next day and just went...'what the hell!' so stared at it, for a few days, then finally I just started sketching, laying colour down and trying to make something from the mess.

slowly she appeared.
I still have the opposite side of the page to fill lol, but at least I've tackled some of it. I've been thinking lately about what I want my art journal to become, just for art, or for the entire thought of documenting my life... do you have separate journals for things, or are you a one book kinda person?

on the topic of other books, I think its about time I bind my signatures into my remains of the day journal, so I'm going to attempt that some time today. Then I will be torn as to what to work in...the drama's of a journal keeper!


enjoy your Monday
x Courtney

The Artful Journey - drawing, drawing drawing.

I spent the morning out and about alone today. Was a lovely change, I walked around slowly, got a few things bought for a swap partner, bought myself a moleskine sketchbook just to do some paper comparisons...bought my sister a gift before I leave on the weekend.

and I had lunch alone for the first time in a very long time, while I ate...I arted. Working on the last page in my journal, before I can go on, once this journal is finished, it's off to the library for a display cabinet of my work. (kind of surreal lol)

here is where I'm at with the spread.
I sat at my sister's adding inky flowers while we chatted, we are having dinner there tonight, as a good bye dinner, although I know she doesn't want it labelled like that... I'll miss her, I hope she knows that.



so I'm getting my blog in early, so that when I come home I can work more on the canvas, small bursts of art on that thing, sitting on the floor is hard! I'm no spring chicken now! hehe

see you tomorrow with more art! the countdown is on!!!
xx Courtney.

The Artful Journey day 24 - pencils in the bed.

a little art in bed while watching project runway, and since I hadn't done any art for the day I started colouring in the last double page in my journal..almost another journal finished with one ready to be started!!


I think I'll do a little watercolour on her tomorrow if I get time.
all my stuff has been moved from the house and once the last of the furniture has gone it will be cleaning time..then I am done in ye ole Inverell.

thats all from me today, back to snuggling and tv watching.
xx Courtney

The Artful Journey day 21 - shade me slowly

Well I've been having a little fun late last night and during lunch time today...yesterday in the world of Jane, was blending day... to create a face from just shading no definite lines. So I sat and followed the video watching Jane add so much beautiful colour to her girls face.

these are my first two attempts at blending without having a face drawn first..and i must say I am in lurveee, I think from now on.. I'll work in colour...and just go with it.
I feel that I'm growing more and more each day within my art... I don't feel like a one trick pony anymore



I hope to fill my sketchbooks with leaps and bounds just like this one...for they make it all worth it, I'll always be a student of art..there will never be a moment where I go..I have grown all I can grow..this is my limit...art is limitless.
xXx Courtney

The Artful Journey Day 14 - the quiet arting.

A quiet Wednesday night, just the tea and the pencils and the drawings. This week is coloured pencil week over on Jane's course, and we are all getting into the swing of it with faces and happy images using our pencils.



I'm enjoying drawing with a different style to my own, trying to bend it to my own style..whatever that may be. I still feel I'm chasing my own style, trying to grasp it and call it my own..one day I'll just know..that's my work and my work alone.






the little teacups, had fun today with some big brushes and some small piles of paint..I do however have little painty footprints outside my back verandah now heheh kinda cute!

Miss Lily..is happiest lately when shes arting..much like her mumma.
that's me for the night. I have so much to catch up on, few pages of Christy's course and more face practice, but tomorrow I'm off to the boy's parents place for the day, I think I'll take my sketch book and my pencils and get a little art done.

pop on over to Traci's blog to see what shes creating for Get Your Art On.
xx Courtney

a glimpse...

Even though I haven't been posting my pages as of late, I have been creating them! So I thought it was time to show off a few of my faves. I did get a few days behind with my stupid cold! but I caught up and I am back on track!

I started working on a few double page spreads, for things that I liked to show off a little, so I worked on them two days running to make them one complete work. Below is a double spread, gessoed pages, old book pages, a magazine cut out I'd been hoarding in my folders of things I like. Inks and penwork.

another double spread, this image I found in one of the many homey magazine I read, I cut it out and filed it away maybe a year or so ago, it became a beautiful backdrop for a work on changes, perspective and direction. A photograph of mine features on the left hand side the weather vane

a little bird house image, some stamping washii tape of win and some penwork.
I've been practicing my drawing as of late, getting my faces right...soon I should move onto bodies lol, cant have books full of floating heads! so did a little collage work, using one of my drawings, the face was coloured with Prisma Pencils (which oh my goddess are the absolute sex of pencils) some random scrapbooking paper, some prints from frankie pages and of course penwork.
and last one for this post, more of my girls, in this face I used Gamsole to smooth out the pencils to let it blend in, it was a new experience and Im still unsure if I like how it looks or not, but its growth artistically. Involved in this page are the following - Book pages, Distress Inks, prisma pencils, Gesso and penwork.

that is all from the collage book for today, I shall be back with the progress of my lily quilt. My dear friend ellie is waiting to see how I'm going with her!

xx Courtney