A new portrait

"Kendra"

I think I need to figure out how to better photograph my art when I am done with it. This doesn't really show this right  - the textures look funny and it accents parts of it that aren't accented in it when you look at it in real life.  I am sure the poor lighting in my house doesn't help much. But, you can get the idea of the drawing. This photo makes her look more roughly textured than the actual drawing does.

Insanity

I often will go online and look at quilt ideas and will jot down names or websites of quilts I see that I like. One day, I came across a quilt called "Storm at Sea". It is a very versatile design. Depending on the ways you lay the colors out, you can make all kinds of cool quilts - the options are quite numerous. (If you are bored, google "storm at sea quilt" and you will see several images. The most common color used in it is blue though. I have wanted to make a quilt of blues and greens for awhile, and when I found this design, I really wanted to do it. This is one of the photos I saw of a finished quilt:

What I did not know, however, is how complicated this quilt is. Cutting the shapes just right and sewing them just right is very tricky.  The diamond shapes are especially tricky - if you don't measure just right, it will throw off your whole quilt. So, I looked at patterns and templates, and even got a book on ways to make it easier, but I just couldn't bring myself to try it. I even bought material, but it overwhelmed me.

Then, I discovered a fun little toy that will cut shapes for you from material. It is like a die cutter that you may have seen for paper, but it cuts material - 4-6 layers at a time. And, they had the shapes I needed to complete the quilt. Jeff kindly got it for me for Christmas. I cut tons of shapes. I am amazed at how many small pieces of material are stacked in my craft room. But, they were fairly easy to cut, and they are all exactly the right size. 

Then, I decided to attempt to put together one block. Now I am sure there are probably ways to do this that involve less shapes, but to get them all to line up, I had to choose certain dies to get them cut just right. If a square wasn't available, four triangles would do, etc.  The single quilt block that I made required 79 pieces of material. That is why this post it titled "insanity".  I put together the block - it took a little while, but not as long as you would think for 79 pieces. And now I can officially say I completed one of 48 blocks for the quilt.  Only 47 more to go :).  I am excited though. I am sure this will take me a very long time to complete, but that is okay. I will work a little at a time until it is finished. No rush. I have a couple of other quilts I am working on anyway, so I will just do a little here and a little there and someday I will have a finished quilt. This is what my first block looks like. I love batiks, so I am using mostly that for the quilt.

Flashback - Shadows

These are some studies I did in college. I originally planned to major in art, but changed my mind when I decided I wanted to do art for fun, and not have to do it a certain way or with deadlines.  But, the first semester or two, I took a drawing class and enjoyed it.  I did these assignments and put them in a portfolio where they stayed for a long time. I had forgotten about them completely until a couple of years ago when I was cleaning out my craft/project room and went through my old art.  They aren't anything major - but when I saw them again I found myself thinking, "hey, I used to enjoy this and I did okay with art. Why am I not doing this anymore?" So, it is good to be back into drawing again. I really did miss it. I just didn't realize how much until I started back into it again.

Little Artist

This is my latest pastel drawing. It is based on a photo of my daughter when she was three.  I originally intended to have more of her picture drawn on the big paper - as if the blue crayon is just adding to what is there. But, when I drew that blue line, I liked that there is some mystery about what she was going to draw next.. My older daughter asked what it was going to be a picture of. Nobody knows but this little girl :)

The person behind the eye

This is whose eye I posted on the last entry. I wanted to give it to his mother first before putting it in here.

 This is another one of the four drawings of my friend's children. I like this one the best so far of the three. I tried some new techniques with it.

As part of the drawing process, I take photos  as I go along and try to check and make sure they are matching the photo I am using. So, as a result, I have several photos in a progression to show how the drawing develops.

This isn't totally accurate because the photos I take are sometimes dark (because I don't care about the quality) so when I brighten them in photoshop the lines look darker than they are in real life. But, you can kind of get the idea. Sorry for the inconsistency in the photo quality. That wasn't my focus at the time.
Now I have several portraits "lined up" for me to work on. I am really excited to try more faces.  This has been a good learning experience for me. 

I just want to draw

I have been in the mood to draw lately. I just want to do that and ignore all of my responsibilities. Is that bad? I have been doing a bit of "research" lately on art. I have looked into various styles and methods, and I have especially focused on portraits.   I have learned a few techniques and tricks, and it is getting better. I think I really like the challenge of making it actually look like the person. (Trust me, that is very challenging - one line off and the person can look 10 years older). I have loved taking photos for a long time, and I especially like to take pictures of my kids that capture a moment or a face they make, or that capture their personality. I guess drawing portraits is just another way to capture that. In the past few weeks I have started five drawings. I get excited about an idea and start it, and then another idea comes into my head, so I start that too. I only finished one so far, but I can't post it yet. I am excited about the others and when they are done, I will post them as I can. For now, here is a little teaser of the one I can't post yet.

I am now working on a pastel drawing, another "moment in time" drawing like the one of the girl in the snow, or the sidewalk chalk drawing. I am kind of doing a series. For lack of a creative name, I call it my "moments" series.
In addition to drawing, I have also been doing some quilting. I am starting a new quilt that I have wanted to do for awhile now. It will probably take me a looooong time to do it, so don't expect pictures any time soon. Maybe I will post a square or two when I finish to give some idea of what it will look like.  It is batik, of course (my favorite) and in all blues and greens.
So now, instead of sitting at the computer blogging this, I think I will go draw. The kids are in bed and I actually can work on it for awhile.  :)