I finally finished my angel on a 12 x24 wood canvass. I didn't deviate from Suzi's design yet it is still (of course) different. I am planning on using a photo of this for my 2010 Christmas cards.
What did I learn from this exercise? How to apply texture to your paintings using stencils, stamps, glitter, Gold Leaf, Permanent Markers, Golden's Light Molding Paste, etc. etc. etc. I really think all the texture adds to the interest of the painting. (Recently in our part of the woods, Michael's has started to carry some of Golden's products. They are full price, but with a coupon, my friends and I are purchasing something new from Golden each time we have a 40% off coupon).
I learned not to sweat the small stuff. If we don't know how to draw hands, blow up some line drawing of hands from a Royalty-Free Design book. Suzi provided us with the hands and body if we needed them, that we could print out on our own printers and glue down with Gel Medium from Golden. I purchased the Dover book FAIRIES, ELVES, AND GNOMES myself which also comes with a CD. To me they are all just angels.
I am excited to start painting my horizontal Angel that is entirely my design, or rather taken from my interpretation of drawing. I did the wood burning a couple of months ago at Suzi's and then shaded the Petite Doll face at home with my Prisma Colored Pencils. It's still waiting for me.
I also finally finished my two "Madonna" 6 x 12's *. Thank goodness Suzi stresses layers because theses two have more than their share of layers.
White Veiled Madonna's
The one on the left turned into the one on the right. There is something I like about each one. Look how her eyes changed as I continued to go over them.
The finished product is the one on the right, that I feel looks better in person. But, I love the simpleness of the one on the left.
Should I have just left it like it was? I never seem to know when to stop.
Blue Madonna's
Again, this is another case where I kept messing with the eyes and the texture. The texture is very interesting in person, but I wonder if it detracts from the painting?
The flower on top of her head and the veil, seemed to take on a life of their own.
Gypsy Woman in Red
A little photo of my favorite 6 x 12 that I have done is in the back of Suzi's new book Suzi Blu's Student Gallery 2009. It can be purchased through Lulu.com. I call this painting, "Gypsy Woman in Red."
Sally's "Gypsy Woman in Red"If you are interested in purchase this book (not because I am in it - please. . .) but to see all the amazing photos of other student's work, just go to Suzi's Les Petit Academy and scroll down. There is a slide show that lets you preview a few pages of the book featuring the art work which Suzi selected from student who were enrolled in her various online classes over the past year. The book is beautiful and every page is glossy.
I am so honored that Suzi featured me in her first book and has 6 pages devoted to my artistic journey via Suzi's instructions in one short year. I have never had so much fun for better or worse learning to draw and embellish my drawings.
Jenny Doh talks about the healing abilities of art on her Crescendo website. I'm not sure I needed healing. But, I certainly needed a way to slow down and use the right side of my brain. If I am stressed about anything and can't clear my mind of worry, I just go for a walk and think about what I am going to either draw next or what to do with what I have just sketched. In the evening I curl up on my couch with my sketch pad and pencil and practice, practice, practice. Perhaps to some that sounds like work. But to me it frees my mind to go to this oasis in my mind that is not filled with day to day worries. I call this preventative medicine!
Also, ast week was the week that featured Suzi Blu on Jenny Doh's Crescendo website. Suzi made a great video talking about what art means to her. I hope you will watch it.
Right now I am at the beginning of Suzi's new online class on the Ning network called Piety and Passion. I am learning to draw 3/4 faces. What I love the most about Suzi's video's is that you can download them after purchasing her class. For my 65th bday I received a Dell NetBook. With my little netbook I can go anywhere and not worry about wi-fi or 3G. My video is on my computer. Plus, I don't have to wait for buffering. If I stopped at the 13 minute mark in a 40 minute video and I can go directly there and continue where I left off. I can only watch my other online classes at home in front of my computer or somewhere there is wi-fi for my netbook.
Suzi believes when you purchase one of her on-line classes, it's just like buying a DVD from her. That once you purchase it, you can do whatever your conscience feels is correct. What a wonderful attitude that is not filled with fear. Plus all her free videos available on YouTube and if you are signed up for her Ning network, she has just made a bunch of her older class videos available to those already in the Piety and Passion class. She is such a generous person and artist.
I still have projects not started or almost finished. I'm sure I am not alone stating this fact. I look forward to sharing those when they are completed.
* Well, once again I altered the eyes on the blue Madonna. I thought both Madonna's were finished until I posted their photos on this blog. I did not like the blue one's eyes. I liked them before I had started messing with them. I believe what I really need to do is start all over from scratch and do one more Madonna, incorporating what I have learned along the way into a final one that I really feel good about - like my Gypsy Woman.
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