Self Portrait

Because I haven't done a lot of art in the past six months, I have had a hard time getting back into doing it. I posted (below) about the Zentangle art that got my motivation going again.

So, I decided to start a portrait of my friend's grandaughter. And, everything that could go wrong did. For whatever reason, being out of practice, fear of not remembering how to draw, or something else, I could not get the portrait going. Last weekend was conference weekend and I like to draw while I watch conference. So, I tried during Saturday's session, and I got nothing. I finished the day feeling discouraged and frustrated.

On Sunday, I decided that maybe I needed to try something else. I have drawn my children. I have drawn my husband. But, I have put off drawing myself. With all of us, I would have the whole "set" of our family. But there is something about having to look at yourself up close (and see lines and wrinkles, knowing fully that you have to put them in or it won't look like you), and I was really afraid I wouldn't like it.  It took me a long time to even pick a photo that I wanted to draw.

So, Sunday came along and I abandoned the other portrait and pulled out mine (which I had sort of sketched out over a year ago), and I got to work. It worked out amazingly well. I still pick at it and see things I want to change, but overall, I really like my portrait, and it is nice to say I have now done our whole family. And, remarkably, it only took 3-4 hours to complete the drawing. Maybe I haven't forgotten everything I learned after all.

Here is my portrait:

And, for fun, here are the portraits of my husband and children - all of us together in the blog post. :)

Zentangle

I have taken a loooong time to get myself going back into art again. Summer was so busy and I had gone almost 6 months with no drawing, no quilting, no creating. And, I could feel it. I think I need to do things like this, for my emotional well being. It is amazing how much better I feel when I do something creative.

Well, one day I saw that Blick Art (an art supply store that I love) was doing a "contest". It was really a drawing, so no talent was needed. They wanted people to turn in a piece of art each day, which was an entry to win some art supplies. I pretty much never win drawings like that, but I thought that maybe if I entered each day, it would help get my creative juices flowing. The theme was Zentangle, or Tangle art, or Zen Doodle (It has many names).  The concept is kind of like doodling. You make shapes, you fill them in with patterns and designs. There aren't really rules to it. If you google it, you will see all kinds of quality - some are absolutely incredible - animals and such that are drawn with amazing detailed patterns that give their skin a really cool texture, etc.  Mine don't do that. Some days I didn't have a lot of time to draw, but I did manage to submit 12 or 13 of them to the contest. Not bad. And, yes, it did help get my creative juices flowing again. It was fun to try out, and the idea is that you use the process to relax and to get yourself feeling creative (Thus, the name ZEN doodle).  I am glad I tried it. I didn't win anything (bummer) but I did at least jumpstart my art again.  Here are some of my favorites (I like the butterflies the best, which is funny, because I am not even a big fan of butterfly things)  Enjoy.

I apologize for the massive size of the photos.  I am trying blogger from my ipad, and I haven't figured out how to make them smaller yet.

A portrait and a landscape

Art has been sort of slow going lately. Life has been busy and there just hasn't been the time to sit down and draw much.  But, I do have a couple of pieces that were finished not too long ago. This first is a commissioned portrait that I actually mostly finished around Christmas time. Then, it got put on hold for awhile, and then I did some tweaking, waited, tweaked some more, and now it is officially finished.

Carter

 This other one is an attempt at a drawing of Zion.  I like the red rock in it, but overall the drawing is just not my favorite. But, I consider it good practice, and I will try again. For years I have tried to get the perfect photograph of a scenery in Zion, and for years it was gloomy and overcast every time I went. And yes, gloomy skies can have their own appeal artistically, but I really wanted the red rock and the blue sky.  I got some okay photos in our last trip there, but I still haven't found the perfect one. I will keep trying...

Virgin River, Zion National Park

Just for fun

Recently I finished a commissioned portrait (photos coming soon) and I decided that I wanted to do a piece that was just for fun - no obligation, no expectations, no pressure. And if it didn't work out, oh well.

I went through my photos and found one from a few years ago when I was taking a photography class. The assignment was about light. So I had my daughter read a book with a flashlight in a dark room, and ended up with a few photos that I just think are fun. In drawing them though, I thought it would work best to draw white on black instead of the usual black on white. This is actually drawn on a dark grey paper, so the black is filled in to. The grey made it easier to sketch out the drawing with black or white lines, depending on what I needed. This was also a new method for me - I hadn't tried anything quite like this and didn't really know what to expect.
I do like it though, and I had fun doing it. I have another similar photo of her looking at the book, as if she was engrossed in the reading. I think I may try that one too. This was the "oops, Mom caught me reading past bedtime" photo.  :)

I am back

Yes, I know, I have kind of been absent from this blog, and I have actually been absent from art for awhile too. It has been a long and busy winter. But, I decided to try to get the creative juices flowing by doing a quilt. I have made Minky quilts for my whole family, as well as a handful of other people, and I decided it was time to make one for myself. In picking material, I decided to be totally girly. I think it is just my response to my anti-pink-or-girly daughters. I wanted pink, and I wanted flowers. So, I made time (finally) to hide out in my room and do a little sewing.

This was the result:

I don't know if I love the design, but I bought this material so long ago (and when I had no specific plan for it) and when I went to cut material and assemble it, the pattern didn't quite work out the way I wanted. I had to just use what I had, which limited my options.
But that is okay - it is pink, it is flowery, and it is soft and warm.

Now I am working on another southwestern style quilt that I saw quite awhile ago but only recently  got the material and pattern for. Maybe I will even be posting about it soon.

I also finished a portrait that was 95% done and just needed tweaking back in December. Then, I did nothing on it until yesterday, when I finally got around to finishing the last touches. I will be posting that one soon, I hope.  And, I have a new and slightly different piece I am working on that will give me a chance to stretch my abilities a little. We will see if it actually works.:)