Amber Gibbs - Art Journals, Collage Art & Mixed Media Adventures

Faces

So like I said, I've been obsessed with faces. I finally got some of them in my journal and integrated into it (kinda). The face on this page is done with graphite pencil. My sister told me that one of the tricks to getting graphite to look 'real' is to go DARK. She was right, it really helps the features pop. Then I went over this with watercolors. I'm pleased with the nose on this one. Noses are so hard because they are protrusion from the face, so capturing that in 2d is hard. Anyway, I went over the collage bits with some Pan Pastels (given to me by the same sister with the drawing advice). I read about the Pan Pastels on Teesha Moore's blog and have wanted to try them for a while now.

This page was actually a disaster collage that kiddo wrote over in permanent marker and I thought it would add to it, but instead it just kept descending into muck. So I tore out most of the collage and collage over it. The face is an attempt to do non-white-girl-pretty-model faces. I often feel we need more variety in our face drawings in the mixed media world. Another watercolor over graphite, tho I didn't go as dark with the graphite on this one, and I think that is what is making it flatter than the first.

Happy New Years!

Happy New Year to everyone! Hope 2010 is wonderful for you.

You might have noticed I wasn't around much (blog wise) in December. In November, I started taking Suzi Blu's Goddess and Portraits class and I became obsessed with drawing faces. I really enjoyed her class and felt like I was able to take her teaching and really make it my own. So while I was busy drawing faces, my art journal was rather neglected. I realized in December that I didn't have any entries done and I didn't have any place to write! Usually how I work is I finish the art part and then I write my entry. I don't finish pages in a front to back order, I usually skip around so I do the same with my writing. Anyway, now I'm paying attention to my art journal again.

I've set myself some art resolutions for the new year:

- learn more about drawing faces! I'm taking Misty Mawn's portrait class (online too) next. 

- do more art journaling. I had art journal fail from March to July. Not again.

- get rid of art supplies. Argh, this one is hard, but I've been inspired by Rice Freeman-Zachery and her destashing journey which she's documented on her blog. I have a room upstairs that is a dedicated studio . . . filled with stuff I don't use. I mostly work downstairs anymore because it is close to the kiddo when she is sleeping and when she's awake, she'll go upstairs but there is so much up there I have to watch her around that I can't work. Plus frankly it is a mess and I couldn't work up there anyway. This is probably my hardest task for the year. But I'll try to document and share the progress with you. And I'll probably list a few treasures on Etsy and mention those.