Life Book Week 5 - Kylie's Lesson

Kylie's lesson in week 5 of Life Book was both inspirational and so much fun!
It took me 6 days to complete it and I definitely had some moments in which I wanted to rip it apart and throw it away, but I just put it away for the day and picked it up the next.
I tried to make sure that I did something on it everyday.



It started with a tissue paper and scrapbook paper collage, a layer of gesso and a layer of watered down pink acrylic paint, then a watered down layer of brown acrylic paint.


Next, I started working on the background.
These are a selection of words that I feel describe me.

I worked on clothing and color a wee bit and totally messed up my own teeth!


And finally I reached a point where I was pretty happy with my project!


I was not super happy with the paper I used underneath the face, it ended up being a lined scrapbook paper and I hadn't realized that until after I got the photo transfer of the face down, but oh well.
And, while I was burnishing the photo transfer it started to peel! Oh no!
I just went with it though.


After I finished burnishing the transfer I still had to shade it in and add some color and while it is not perfect, I really ended up liking this project! It was a really great learning experience, it inspired me, gave me a hundred more ideas, and I think that photo transfers are going to become one of my most favorite new techniques!

Yes indeedy!

30 Days in your Art Journal

I bounded into a small amount of extra money and I signed up for yet another class!
This'll probably be the last for a bit but I should have plenty to blog about with all the classes and challenges I have taken on.
Just soaking up the art, thanks.

So, my new class is 30 Days in your Art Journal with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and just two days in and I simply ADORE it!
I went to get back into my Book of Days because I had been neglecting it and I found that I was completely blocked. I was so worried about all the time I had missed and overwhelmed with the fact that I would have to make all of that up. I have been keeping up with a daily journal in my day planner, mostly these symptoms I suffer but often notes about what inspires me or what I am thankful for. But I let it go so long that all I could think about what how overwhelming it would be to catch up. And thus, I kept tucking my Book of Days back at the bottom of my stack of journals.
:(

So, last night I made a decision to wipe the slate clean and "forgive" the time I fell behind. I came up with this idea...

Picture is a little blurry, I think I had a fingerprint on my lens.

So, what I did was took a printed picture from the Star Wars: The Old Republic website, I think it was one of their wallpapers.
I simply folded it in half and tore around the edges, slapped it in the book with some Mod Podge, scribbled with watercolor crayons all around the edge, and wet that up with a brush with water and gesso on it.
When dry I wrote about the game having kept me busy and away from art for so long.
There, slate = clean!
Moving on!

The next page is the first day of my 30 Days in your Art Journal and while I have pictures of it in the process, I really don't want to share it until it's a completed page. At the very least, until I have more than a couple pictures to show off.
I am enjoying this class greatly though, I can see myself going through it a couple times through until some of the processes are ingrained as habits.

I am also still taking my Life Book course. I hit a bit of a snag with one of the lessons and lost interest for a while. But I recently wandered back in and moved on to the next lesson and am having a blast with it. I will just go back to the one I skipped later, I am sure it will hold more relevance to me at a later time.

I am also immensely enjoying my Face 2 Face class, in which Mika is teaching us how to draw faces!
This class has to be my most favorite because I am learning SO much from it, but I am taking it real slow and getting in a lot of practice tries into my sketch journal. I don't sketch everyday but I would say that I make some effort about 5 days a week.
I wont inundate you with magazine sketches until I come up with something really good!

So, there is my current class review. So far I haven't regretted a penny spent on any of my classes.
And I even have a wish list of classes to take or things to learn, including.
I hear Rhomany has a great Lettering class, I could stand to learn how to draw letters better.
And I have always wanted to take the She Art workshop by Christy Tomlinson.
And lastly, I am really interested in Angels in my Studio, a class I stumbled across while surfing blogs!

We'll see what's next as I really need some new supplies so funds may have to go towards that for a bit!