Friday, May 31, 2013

Mini-Journal page "I trust my intuition" - happy face ;)


Do you remember the mini-journal cover from the other post? The mini journal has glossy paper and it's kinda tricky to work with it, but I've managed to create this read-purple-headed girl who seems very content, she's happy. :-) She's smiling. This is painted on a regular mini-diary I had at hand, so I think it's pretty neat. Maybe I'm going to try to paint a boy next time.

I have to tell you from the beginning that I haven't used the clear stamps for this page. They are too big for the page size anyway. I just grabbed my Fabel Castell grip pencil and begun to do a free sketch.
I came up with this little cute face, which transformed little by little into a more colorful one.


I don't have too many step by step photos, as I was too under the process of painting it, so I totally forgot to take photos. But even so, here is another draft:



Then I added some contour...



I am pretty happy with the final result, although there's always place for a better one.


I've tried to create journal pages before, but none of them turned so beautiful ;-)


She even has some eye makeup! And as I'm a purple fan and I'm using and prefer it when I choose my make-up colors, I had to use it on my girl, too!





I've used aquatone sticks mainly, but also a bit of INKtense pencils for the eyes. INKtense pencils are vivid and vibrant and I love to use them for small details. I've also used some felt cariocas and Uni-ball Signo Angelic (white) Gel Ink Pen (0.7mm) for highlights and dots. When I bought the aquatone sticks I thoought they are more like neocolors II, soft and creamy, but they are waxy and hard to blend when not using water. They say you can use them dry, but I love the creamy feel they have when you add water to them and brush directly from the stick! 

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Online class with Andrea Gomoll

I don't know why I have chosen Andrea Gomoll as a teacher. I don't know her, I never meet her in person, I  only find her blog online and fall in love with her creations. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty talented artists out there, I just had to choose one and...act!  I loved the fact that she presents her classes in very deep details, so I knew from the beginning what my money worth.


I joined her class late (on May 15th!) and even at the moment I haven't got the chance to see all her beautiful, well explained art videos. I still have time, because you get 1 year 24/7 access to the class, which is fantastic! Not to mention you can download the videos! I gotta tell you that the fact I can access the videos at all time made me purchase the class. The FACEcinating girls online class helped me develop my skills: I haven't paint any girls before, only a few isolated attempts, but Andrea convinced me that I can do it. And I can, no matter if it's not quite perfect! ;-) Thanks you, Andrea!

My first attempt using the stamps returned a not-so-perfect picture, but was my first try so a little practice will make the difference. Meanwhile, without stamps and too much watching the videos, I've done my first girl ever!! It is sure not perfect, but for me was a great step forward to a new world full of adventure! I've discovered (or rediscovered) how much I love to paint, get my fingers messy, have a bunch of painting tools all over the table and so on.
My first girl ever

Because I've joined late, my stamps were not here just yet, but my urge to draw and paint was too big to just sit and wait. So after doing this girl, I've started to draw a new one, this time with a better result:


The the stamps finally arrived (in one week time, I think), and I could start using them and practice my own way. Of course, when you see Andrea's videos all seems nice and simple, but you need practice and devotion to get a nice-to-gorgeous result! And - of course - you need to LOVE ART! I am an artisan with artist soul and I see world in colors even when there's only black and grey in the picture. 



I still have to work a lot to get the result I want, and for that I have to watch the videos with face shading, eyes and lips again. This mini-journal cover turned to be sad, I still have to work on it and make some changes. Also, I don't have all the supplies she uses, and I'm crying for some gelatos, but unfortunately here in Romania they are not available. BUT lucky me, I have a friend in the US who sent me some Faber Castell gel sticks, they are on the way, but I still have to wait quite a lot for them to arrive. Not so many colors in the sets, but there are still 18 colors to play with. Anyways, gelatos are a little bit too expensive for me at the moment, so I'll just stick to my favorite INKtense pensils and aquatone water soluble sticks.
If you want to join the fun, don't hesitate to signup the FACEcinating girls online class, you're going to love it all the way!



Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Summer turquoise dream


For a long time I was attracted by brown textures, textiles, clothes, etc. And I guess that's just about to change now. A friend of mine, crazy about turquoise, was bugging me with this until I had the bug into my blood! Now I see how great golden and turquoise are going together and I kinda love the combination! First, there was the necklace. Then the earrings come into picture. Who knows what's going to be next!? ;)



I've used golden wire to mix&match the beads together and create these gorgeous earrings. They were a gift for a friend of mine, and I got others on mauve, after my mum saw the turquoise one and asked for ones on mauve. ;)

Monday, May 27, 2013

OK, I'm way behind with posting new stuff I've done {and I've done a lot of!}, but I'll get back to you as soon as I can, and that means today or tomorrow. Just wanted to tell you that I'm super excited about the FACEcinatinggirls online course I've singed in on May 15th, and I can't tell you how much fun I'm having creating this beautiful faces all over again, always with a different face, different expression, different view. I'm so excited that I can even dream them during the night! ;) I don't know why I have a feeling that I'm not the only one here. ;D
So..I'll be back with the faces and with some necklaces I've created!