Art Trader, Pinterest & other Distractions

I realized that I never posted back in July that I was interviewed for the Summer 2011 issue of Art Trader Magazine, the FREE on-line 'zine for all things mail art. You can download the PDF file here. Be sure to check out their site because they also have contests and offer on-line workshops. (I took the Fantastic Faces workshop in the spring.)

Also this summer, I am attempting to reorganize my office/work area, though no one can tell when looking at the space, because it looks as messy as ever. I keep getting distracted by looking at other people's beautiful work spaces on-line and browsing for storage ideas. My friend Mel got me hooked on Pinterest, a site which allows you to "pin" links and images to your own themed boards. So perhaps I spent more time pinning inspiration to my Art Studio Ideas board than I should have....

And two of my Pinterest boards on cats and Edgar Allan Poe translated into my first Etsy treasuries. (And I was not in anyway procrastinating the cleaning and organizing when I made these.) And one of my minor accomplishments this summer was getting a few more of my quilted ornaments listed on Etsy. Now back to work...

Art Journal: Fantastic Faces Workshop

I'm taking the Fantastic Faces on-line workshop at ArtTrader Magazine taught by Annie Melione, aka Eraser Queen. So this past week, I worked on a journal spread where I sketched a few faces each day and then inked and colored. Here are some starting pencil sketches, fiddling with proportions and seeing where each face might end up.

Here is the finished spread the folding flap on the right side closed and opened. You can click on the images to see a larger version on Flickr.



February 21-23 & 26-28, 2011

Intuitive Watercolor Faces

It's been over a month since my last post! I've been busy with work and had the bug that's going around (as has everyone in my office). SO ANYWAY, I did have time to make ATCs for the 10-Minute Intuitive Watercolor Faces Swap at Illustrated ATCs. This swap is hosted by Sal Scheibe, aka Amerasu, who wrote an article on this technique for the Winter 2010 issue of Art Trader Magazine. (Don't know about Art Trader? Check it out! It's a FREE digital 'zine about mail art!)

In theory, we spend ten minutes on each card, so three cards plus a host thank you card should take 40 minutes. In practice, I ended up making ten cards because this is an addictive technique! I got out the timer and the Twinkling H20s and sketched out five blobby faces in 30 minutes. So that's 6 minutes spent on each card, 4 minutes to go. After the watercolor dried, I added details with Pitt artist pens, some in black and some in sepia, and a bit of Souffle pen.

Then I had to do another set of five! (Did I mention this was addictive?) It was fun not knowing where the sketch would go. Some I really liked, and some were bleh. I do have a tendency to draw everyone with the same expression! Here are the 4 cards I'm sending in for the swap:


You can see all the cards I did here.