Green Isles Crafts

Replay Ashes Painting a Phoenix

2012-02-22T17:10:00.000-05:00

My son wrote a poem the other day that moved me. I wanted to create a painting to go with his poem. I intended the painting as a gift for him, but he insisted that we put it up for sale... along with a signed copy of his poem. Soooo.. at the end of this post, you'll find info on where to purchase this very special piece.

Here is Joey, reading his poem for us.

You have Joey's permission to print his poem if you like

So yeah.. I just had to do a painting for it. So that's what we did on today's live show. I didn't know when I started if I would be able to paint the bird or not, but I like it.

Ashes

16 x 20 Stretched Canvas

Available

So here's the replay of me creating the painting Ashes

Watch live streaming video from greenislescrafts at livestream.com

So, like I said.. Joey has said he would like to sell the painting and keep a print for himself. I have a listing for it.. at the price he set.... on our available/ mixed media page.

The Shelves that Tee Built

2012-02-20T16:07:00.004-05:00

I shared this image in THIS POST where I talked about some of the organization that's going on in my studio.

Well, after today's live show (see the REPLAY here), the girls and I were talking about some of the changes and they thought I should have kept recording that part. LOL So here's a video on how to make shelves like this for your space, or bathroom, bedroom, laundry room, entry way, garage.. oh or pantry! Anywhere you need to get storage on the walls and off your surfaces.

Now.. since you guys see how much twill tape I have... do you need some? I could put small packages of it together and put it in my shop. What do you think about five yards for a three dollars and I'll cover the shipping to the US? I'll make a smashing deal on shipping to Canada and overseas too.

Show me your shelves~

Replay - Playing with draped fabrics

2012-02-20T11:53:00.002-05:00

Sketch (unblended, fat cub pencil), neocolor II and acrylic examples of painting draped fabrics

I will go back into the neocolor one and add depth and additional details with pens and colored pencil

Quick sketch I did the other night to demonstrate fabric drape and the way I perceive colors.

You can see that the edges of the sleeve are not smooth and layers of color create the shape and curve

Watch live streaming video from greenislescrafts at livestream.com

Test show really... and we had fun after we stopped recording too - showing the UNFINISHED parts of the studio and talking about hoarding, purging and the shelves that tee built. I'm told the unrecorded stuff was the best part. LOL

Setting up the Studio

2012-02-19T21:43:00.001-05:00

Trying out my new space!

Can you guess who I am painting there????

It's practice for tomorrow.. we are doing a trial run on the live shows

and working on draped fabrics and clothing for portraits. Join us at 10 AM Eastern Time.

you can watch it on my website, on facebook or on livestream

As you guys know, we moved in November. Well I've been working a little here and there to try to organize the studio.. but let me tell ya.. I was overwhelmed. Just beyond what I could figure out. BUT I had a couple of kicks in the pants that got me motivated.

First.. was this wicked drafting table that you see UNDER all my goodies in the picture above. My friend Sharon Field gave it to me. It's wicked cool and awesome; one of the older models but I just love it. I always always always wanted one. You might not know my childhood dream was to become an architect.. but yeah.. I drooled over all the junk to do that job.

Second was storage. I was so dang tired carting around the tins that my stuff came in.. I wanted something efficient and... well.. cool. So I saw Pixie of Red Pixie Art show off what she kept her sweet little crayons of goodness in.. and it was one of the "Really Useful Boxes". Have you seen them?

OMG I love these boxes.

I just want them to come to my house and live with me in happiness forever and ever~! (yes.. yes Tee does go off the deep end for containers. You want her loyalty and undying devotion??? Send her boxes and cool special wicked pens... she loves those too!!) **hides fingers so you can't see them twitching**

Ok.. getting a grip. Well they are a little out of my price range. BUT THEY ARE AMAZING. *breathing* Ok.. so went to Targ'et.. (with the french accent) and got Sterilite boxes. ALMOST as cool... and they come in green.

AND they fit my little delicious crayons of goodness perfectly~ And I got some longer ones for pencils and things.

Wellll then I needed somewhere to store my wonderful containers.. so I took some OTHER containers I had (little cool plastic crates) and some Hercules hooks and made a shelf.

How cool is that? AND they'll hold all those boxes when they are filled. In fact, the the plastic crate will break before the hook gives out. OH and I hung a tin on the side over there for my scissors and paint rags.

Then Joey set up some more shelves for me to go on the left of my area (to hold the laptop to drive the camera that will sit on the shelf that tee built.) LOL LOL LOL

on the right is a drawer unit that moved with us.. and my craft paint in that red bucket thingie

More later after I get more stuff finished.

Resisting Blah

2012-02-18T22:24:00.000-05:00

Oil Pastel Resist --- video shot while testing out cameras and lighting for the live shows.

Free Bookbinding Workshop

2012-02-18T20:01:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that I've changed my Snappy Li'l Journal workshop to a free class.

Tell your friends... have a ball!

Wicked WIP Too

2012-02-17T21:56:00.000-05:00

Remember this painting? I shared it as a WIP in this post. Yes, it's the one that had a face suddenly appear when I was drawing my undulating line. Excuse the shine there... I used gel medium to put on the newspaper headline. It'll all be a nice flat color before the surprises go on though.

I was deciding when and if I would paint the face and well .. tonight was the night for her. She aged with grace as I worked and her personality spoke to me.

We've talked a lot about skin tones and blending lately.. and if you look at this.. it's not blended. Nope. I dabbed and brushed the colors on and blotted with my finger. This is all acrylic so far.

I'll go back in with colored pencil for more depth, grit and definition.

You can kind os see where I planned her hair.. it may surprise you when it's finished. Like I said.. she's telling me what she wants and it's not what I wanted for her.. AT ALL!

Collage Fodder Handwriting

2012-02-17T11:33:00.001-05:00

Here are some of the handwriting pages I’ve pulled and printed to use for collage. You might like some of them too. Each one links to the original site where it was posted.. BUT if that proves to be too much of a pain for yall.. let me know and I can host some of them on a download page on my site.

Martha Ballard 1785 - 1812	Vietnam Diary	Henry Sewall 1776 - 1842
POW Diary 1918	Maxine’s Memories site is full of good stuff	Joshua Hempstead 1711
Boy Scout 1925	Alice Williamson 1864	Stephen Austin 1834
WW I Diary	Marine Airmail	George Washington 1781
AM Jefferies 1951 (link is at the bottom)	Konrad Beck 1483 a favorite site btw	H Nelson Taft 1862

Skintone How do YOU do it

2012-02-16T23:20:00.001-05:00

Flesh Tone Mixing Chart

image from Paint-Sculpt.com

I don't mix this color, but it's good to know how to do it right?

We started this discussion on facebook.. and these are the things I shared. We also talked about doing some live sessions on this topic (well at least one) Let me know if you are interested in that. Also, if you have a technique and want to add it to the list... I'll be happy to link to your post!

Neocolor II blended with white liquid acrylic - salmon, pink and light ochre
This one has a video demonstration -- this was early on in my painting. LOL

Get more info and see a larger image on this post.

Flesh tone craft paint base, neocolor on top (eliminates issues with paper) This one has a video too. (face starts at about 2 min)

Get more info and see a larger image on this post.

Acrylic flesh tone base, blue shadows, pink cheeks, titanium white added to flesh for highlights. Over collaged background - lots of different textures.

Get more info and see a larger image on this post.

All Neocolor II on thin writing journal paper. Salmon base, shadowed with blue purple, pink cheeks and highlighted with yellow and some white neocolor scribbled over the colors to blend. (no video - sorry)

Get more info and see closeups (and larger images) on this post.

Acrylic flesh tone base, tissue paper for texture and then watercolor painted over that in browns and blues and greens. Video by Rachelle.. she rocks

Get more info and see closeups (and larger images) on this post.

Watercolor underpainting (changes texture of paper, gives it more tooth), neocolor II for more shading and depth and colored pencil for detail and more shading (no video)

Get more info and see closeups (and larger images) on this post.

Aliens - gray base, shaded with black neocolor.
This one has a video too.

Get more info on this post.

Pink Hair

2012-02-16T17:01:00.001-05:00

Just so excited that I had to share this:

This channel will not be around forever.. it's only where I'm trying to figure out how to use livestream

BUT... I am going to be doing live shows. more on that as we get closer to Wednesday the 22nd.

Stuart Townsend Sketch

2012-02-12T08:21:00.002-05:00

Stuart Townsend

30 min sketch with graphite in my everyday journal

Just practicing. I see things through the camera that you don't notice on the sketch... add those to the things I already saw that I will change for the next sketch and I have a plan for improvement. I want to do some in a sketchbook (no lines) and spend more time on them.

I found the reference photo that I found on Google. and yeah.. He's one of my favorite actors.

I shared this last night on facebook, but the image was too dark and a bit blurry. I need better lighting to take pictures at night.

Actress Sketch

2012-02-10T21:29:00.001-05:00

no.. I don't know her name. BUT we were watching the movie "Faster" and this girl was looking back at someone with this expression that said.. "I don't believe you even though I really want to."

So I grabbed a pencil and flipped open my book ( to a page that had info about Joey's homework assignments) and captured what I could in a few minutes.

I still don't know why I'm crazy for faces.. BUT I found out that there's a challenge out to do faces every day this month. Well I have not been involved in that..and certainly have not done one every day but at least I'm not alone in my obsession.

OH and I may just have my first commissioned portrait to do. woohoo.

I Know Portrait

2012-02-07T21:41:00.000-05:00

I Know

7 x 9 inches

Available

When we moved a few of our photo frames were broken. Well... one of them was a desk frame. You know the kind with that hinged board on the back to make it stand up. Well I just couldn't throw out that back. I have NO idea why not. I just knew I could use it one day.

Well today is the day. I pulled it out and collaged on LOTS of layers of papers and scrap painted bits. On top of that I painted a sweet little guy. I honor the wisdom that comes with age. Where others may see lines and wrinkles, I see knowing eyes and a life well lived.

Rebirth

2012-02-06T14:33:00.001-05:00

Finished a painting today.. woohoo. I used parts that you may have seen before. The mixed media face and a canvas that I stared before I got sick last summer. Here's what it looked like...

I think Liz Rosky was the only one I shared it with way back when. We determined that the big blue cloud thing looked like a baby in the womb. LOL So it's been put away till the move. I hung it in the studio so I had to look at it and decide what to do with it.

Well yesterday I started messing with it... a little grunging, a little dripping and a whole lot of collaging.. and here we go.

Rebirth

16 x 20 inches, mixed media

Available

I added a few more shades of color to the face to make her work with this background.

She was a bit too green.

Yes, the spikes are book pages

Butterfly from a dear friend.. hand cut!

it balances out the pink

Why yes.. her hair is individually cut and painted strips of book pages.

Metallic ink dripping over the girl.. it glows and shimmers.

Vibrant Art Prompt

2012-02-02T16:34:00.002-05:00

Art Prompt: Vibrant

Instructions:

Make a journal page, painting, collage or whatever but use colors that are a LOT more vibrant than you usually use. Show me the color!

Example:

Ok.. so if you know me then maybe these colors are not such a stretch but still.. I threw purple onto her face.. and didn't build up to that either.. I did the sketch and just stared throwing in colors. It was fun and loose and freeing.

I was out today with Robert and this lovely lady was sitting in front of me. She was looking down, so I didn't catch her eyes when I sketched her.. AND I'm sad about that because when I went over to talk to her... she had the most beautiful eyes.

She was excited that I'd done a portrait of her and came over to talk to Robert and I for a while. So sweet!

Supplies used today:

waterbrush
neocolor II water-soluble crayons
koh i noor colored pencils

Girl in a Green Cloak

2012-02-01T05:52:00.000-05:00

This was the preview I gave last night on facebook.. only that one I took with my phone and the image was not as clear as the one taken with the nikon.

Girl in a Green Cloak

mixed media in my everyday journal

Ok, I sketched this face .. just a rough outline, no shading.. in a couple of minutes after making Morgan's breakfast. Then when Bob got home from work, we rode our bikes to do some shopping and I brought along my book and my watercolor set.

We stopped at Subway because they have great lighting.. the place is all windows. *just don't go there in the afternoon.. whew it's hot in there* Anyway, while I was painting the underpainting in watercolor, people stopped by to watch ..... and wouldn't you know it: One of them was from SoMMA and had taken my workshop last year... the one I gave at the beginning of my illness. I honestly didn't know if I was going to make it through that day. My body was shaking so badly by the time I got in the car to leave that I couldn't drive for a while. Anyway.. it was sweet to see her.

So I wrapped up doing the underpainting there and finished the rest last night after I couldn't sleep with neocolor IIs and colored pencils.

Skin tone: this skin has salmon, pink, yellow ochre, two blues, a green and another yellow in it. I like the additional depth and richness it gives the skin. Sooooo pull out your colors and play.

Symmetry: I hear people (or is it see since it's online) talk all the time about trying to get the eyes to match the other eye. Stop that. Go look at someone.. anyone. Their eyes are not symmetrical.. at all. Neither are yours and neither are mine. They are not even really the same shape if you get down to it. Go with it darlin. Let it flow, let it happen... loosen up and enjoy what you do.

If you are still uncomfortable drawing eyes.. nab my tip sheet on them and practice practice practice.

You can see all those shades I talked about in this image... it's in there. Noses are all about light and shadow and no two are alike. Bent, crooked, too long, too short.. it's all good.

Last time I just showed you the lips.. but the lips are only part of the equation... shading below the lips makes up for your chin. Oh and yes, you can see my pen sketch under the paint, but that's ok too.

The same way that shading under the lips creates the chin, shading under the nose .. and the LACK of shading right at the lip sets up the shape of the upper lip. Play with it and you'll get it.

The lips I do are all done way I show them on the tip sheet. (above on the Tee's Tips tab)

Your turn.. show me yours!

OH -- and to answer the question I've gotten all morning... the recipe under the paint is for Snickerpoodles... (dog cookies). My dog loves them so I usually whip some up to sell at any shows that I go to. (Psst - my kids eat these too and why not? all good stuff in there)

Quick Journal Page

2012-01-31T05:49:00.001-05:00

Did a fast sketch this morning while waiting fur Joey's bus.

It's all watercolor crayon.

What are you playing with?

OH I went and played with it a bit in photoshop and check out this drybrush filtered version:

Mixed Media Face Prompt

2012-01-28T21:26:00.000-05:00

Art Journal Prompt: Mixed Media Face

Instructions:

Create a face using mixed media - that means different mediums and materials. You can follow the video tutorials below of do your own thang.

Example:

This is NOT a finished piece. I am going to cut her out and put her on a canvas tomorrow. This was about trying out Rachelle Panagarry's technique. I really did like the rough texture and the way she turned out.

How I did this face:

As I said above, I was trying out a technique shared by a friend of mine from Facebook. Now.. I know a lot of you don't like facebook and that's ok. You don't have to join anything to see what I did.

I drew my face in graphite and smudged it for shading in all the right places.
Then I followed the steps in the above videos.... using flesh colored acrylic paint for the first step and my own choices for colors on all the rest.
As a final touch, I played with it with kohl i noor pencils. Just for little things.

Here are close ups of the features:

Notice all the gritty detail and texture added by the tissue paper. I love that.

Supplies used today:

tissue paper
watercolor paper - I used crappy paper I had here
pencil
eraser
waterbrush
artists' watercolor field box set
liquid acrylic paint
gel medium
glazing liquid
kohl i noor colored pencils

Free Book Share

2012-01-28T18:19:00.002-05:00

Wanted to share some free books on Kindle... if you don't have a kindle... you can get a free app for your computer and read the books there.

Now, I have not read these yet... AND they are not always free. So get them while you can. Be sure it says "Kindle price: 0.00" They sometimes put things free for prime members but not regular folk.. so watch for that before you "buy" it.

Check it out...

2012-01-27T16:16:00.001-05:00

I've had my head down for the last few days because I'm helping my friend Liz Rosky. She is a retired teacher and has always dreamed of making the lives of children better and brighter in the town of Tela, Honduras. She's lived there for a while now and knows the effect of poverty on the children.

Well she has taken those first immortal steps and founded a charity to bring her dream to life. I have been building a website for her.. and helping where I could. Would you like to check it out?

Some of the areas are still being worked on -- but check it out anyway. HUGE numbers of photos will come as the kids begin their art lessons next week. We are so excited.

Cubism Prompt

2012-01-24T11:32:00.002-05:00

Art Prompt: Cubism

Instructions:

Create a journal page, painting, sketch or digital work that uses cubism. What is Cubism?? I'm so glad you asked.

My pal Shaz-Ann Duddle on Facebook gave a cubism prompt to her creative group and shared this video:

Example Page:

How I created my page:

My little cubist owl didn't start out to BE an owl. LOL

First step – Drawing. I started with my beloved spirals.. two of them. They looked like eyes to me and the owl just sort of came after that. then I divided up the rest of the page with random lines and a few more spirals.

Second step – Color. I used neocolor II's to color in my little owl, blending colors as I went. Then filled in the outer shapes with random colors.

Third step – Line. I outlined it all with a dark crayon.. black I think. That's it.

NEXT step – Collage. I'm going to collage this guy onto a canvas later today (if my headache lets up) or later this week. I'll share the finished canvas with you guys then.

Supplies used today:

Other Fun:

I played with my new installation of Picasa on my laptop and came up with these altered versions that I thought I would share with you guys. (why a new install.. cause my computer had a fatal corruption and had to be reset to the factory image.. woohoo)

Boost filter added. nice. I have this in photoshop and love it there but it's in the new version of Picasa.

Color Inversion - just cause we love to make things glow around our house!

Being Odd Art Prompt

2012-01-12T10:28:00.000-05:00

Art Journal Prompt: Being Odd

Instructions:

Create a page that shares something odd about yourself; reuses an odd little bit of art you did in the past; or shares something odd about where you live.

Example Page:

How I created my page:

First step – Transfer. I opened my red everyday journal (that I make lists in, take meeting notes.. etc) and picked a page with purple notes from an IEP meeting. Then I did a gel transfer of my odd sketch onto the page. I touched up the transfer with ink in any places that didn't come through well enough.

Second step – Color. Neocolors.. of course... scribbled all around the guy and some weird colors for his skin. Who says people are all skin tone?

Third step – Doodle. I used a regular old ink pen to doodle around him.. restating lines (going over 'em again and again) to get them dark enough. Yes.. some of them are inspired by zentangle or are zentangle patterns.

Fourth step – Darker. I grabbed a pitt brush pen to make some of the doodles darker.

Fifth step – White. My dip pen inks are still MIA (aka packed away safely so they won't break and ultimately will be lost in the shuffle of boxes in my studio)... soooooo I grabbed a liquid paper pen and highlighted some of the doodles with that.

Journaling:

Around the guy it says: There's nothing wrong with being odd

it also says: I am different ...different is good

Supplies used today:

A Word from Tee:

I started today with this odd little sketch that I did a month ago. It's not great so I thought I'd never share it with anyone. BUT you know what??? I have a lot of you tell me you feel that way.. that your work isn't good enough to share with others. Well that's just not true. If I can share my odd little man here.. you can certainly share your art! With me, on your blog.. or in an art group on facebook, twitter, flickr or .. well... somewhere! So come on... snap a pic and show us your art!

~Me

Gesture Sketching at the Concert

2012-01-10T19:02:00.001-05:00

I actually have several of these super fast sketches, but my phone only lets me add one at a time. So now that the post is live.. I'm editing it and adding more.

Music and arting go hand in hand for me. So when Morgan has a concert, I always bring a book and pencil.

I did this in one continuous line. AKA... A scribble. I could clearly see the guy twisting around in his seat to look for his party, but Joey had a hard time, so I added color.

This one is of Morgan playing her clarinet with her elf hat on... can you see her in there?? Again.. one continuous line.. Scribble Art.

Just the front row of students and the band director.. each person is one line.

This one was a little different.. I did this with my eyes unfocused.. even closed sometimes. Just let the pencil move where it wanted to go. The hair was added after it was finished and I went back to add small details to the basics of a face that was already there.

Last is one I did of Joey sitting next to me.. he was reading while we waited for them to start. Again.. one continuous line.. a scribble really.

Go try a scribble sketch if your own. Then show me!

Tee

Cold night at the Beach

2012-01-03T18:41:00.001-05:00

We gathered wood the other day to warm the house on a night like this.

Tee

Thank You Yes YOU

2012-01-03T11:10:00.002-05:00

Can I wax sappy for a bit? You guys.. each of you... the lurkers, the commenters, the ones who share their work and the ones that only share it with a few in private... YOU guys are just amazing.

You bless me every day whether I'm able to get online and be with you or not. You have a place in my heart and in my life and it's fuller and richer because of you.

Thank you for your talent, your smiles, your laughter and sharing a part of yourselves with me.

Most of all.. thank you for letting me into your lives. I adore you.. all of you.