Finally, 13 is here!!!

Here is face #13 "Bold" for the 29 faces challenge.

 She went through many changes for the last 3 days ( 1 hour each day), and I wish I would have been able to make her eyelashes better, and that my glitter paint were in a better condition, even though I just opened it for this project. Another thing to my liking is that some of the paper shows and compliment the piece very nicely. 

In a way this is a good study for painting drapery, something I really need to practice. 

More and more faces and grounds to play with!!!!

Here trying to catch up. I stayed behind a bit again, because the grounds I am trying out needed 24 hours to dry before using them.

Face #10

This cute "Fae Princess" is a mixed media piece. I used Caran D'Ache gouache studio set, colored pencils, Sharpie paint marker and a bit of acrylic over a paper treated with Daniel Smith transparent watercolor ground. Here I used the gouache very diluted, making it transparent like watercolors.

I still don't know how I feel about this ground. I didn't find it to be too absorbent, although I did not use a very thick layer on the paper. I put two coats of this ground on the papers. It is indeed better than untreated paper; maybe some more experimentation, on other surfaces, is in order to give a final verdict about this. It does dry clear, which give you the advantage of using the substrate color to your advantage. It does comes with a white finish though. 

Face #11, "Forest Fae" was also created on paper treated with Daniel Smith transparent watercolor ground  but with this one I only used gouache. I really like her too, she looks innocent and sweet to me; maybe is that huge bright eye.

 Here I took advantage of the green of the paper, as it also inspired the color scheme. So the fact that the watercolor ground was transparent helped me here.

For face #12

The surface Martha Stewart stucco ground was used. I really enjoy working on textured surface. I feel it give a certain character and interest to the pieces. This ground too need 24 hrs to dry before using it.
I wish I would have applied it more uneven, an also used less concentrated acrylic so it has more dimension. Even though, I like the old weathered look it has. I will continue exploring this idea in other pieces.

Playing with acrylic grounds and mediums

Here are my faces #7 and #8. I fell behind and now I am trying to catch up. Still experimenting with my supplies.

Face #7 was done in acrylics over a red canvas fabric treated with clear gesso. I used Liquitex Slow-Dri Blending gel. I like how it helps me blend better, but I am still playing with the medium/paint ratio. I have some tackiness due to too much medium.

In the case of #8 I used acrylic grounds for pastel by Golden. It can be use with any drawing media plus they say also acrylics and oil. I did found difficult and almost impossible to erase the graphite from this, however it provided a nice texture to the smooth paper I have there.

"Prayer": face 6 of 29 faces challenge

Here is my face #6, titled "Prayer". I prepared the paper with two thin coats of clear gesso. I was going to do it in color but then decided to go for a grey monochromatic color scheme. I think I worked great because the hearts from the paper stand out a bit and direct the eye to her. Plus the blueish undertone of the paint symbolized the "feeling blue" sentiment. When I feel blue I pray and then I am back to color.

Hands are always a challenge for me, and at first I wasn't sure to add it or not, but it was asking for it. It didn't feel finish nor did it conveyed the emotion and story I wanted. So I decided to add it. Not the best hand, but it does help to make the picture complete.

Patterned paper as inspiration

My new schetchbook/art journal for the 29 Faces 2016 challenge have prove to be a great idea. The patterned paper have been a source of inspiration at different stages of the drawing/painting process. Although this is only the second face, my sketchbook have provided me direction, inspiration and freedom.

Since I first saw the paper used for this face, I knew I wanted to draw a male. Because the paper is tick and textured, and was already stretched/glued to the chipboard page, I decided to dive right in with acrylic paint without preparing it with gesso. I did a light sketch of the face first, then I decided to use a limited number of colors as part of a challenge and experimenting process. The colors were, scarlet red, yellow ochre, ultramarine blue and unbleached titanium white. From there I mixed all my colors, adjusting with the unbleached titanium white.

In the middle of the process I realized that the paper was looking like the sea and no more like blue painted wood. That motivated me even more and filled me with excitement about this page. I only added a little blue around him to make it a bit darker and make him part of the page a little bit more naturally. 

Once again, I have tones of fun experimenting here. The paper hold up beautifully and I starting to feel motivated, inspired and fearless about experimenting again. 

What are you doing to keep yourself motivated and inspired? Are you been fearless in your art or craft?