Sketchbook tutorial

Today's tutorial is a page I did 2 days ago. 

I wanted to experiment with gradients of colour and contrasts of shapes.

  I struck a few challenges in this piece.  It is so wonderful to be able to add extra layers to a page to change the direction of a page and to make it work.

The finished page: Circles

I am using a seed report for my sketchbook at the moment. I thought it went with the theme unfurled very well. For the first layer I stamped the page with blue circles (a large piece of cork)  and a flower commercial stamp.  The circles were with a bright blue and the flowers a teal green. 

On the second layer I spread 2 slightly paler blues on with a toothbrush. This made the layer a little thinner and more of the bottom layer cam through.

Then I added a layer of paler blue again with a toothbrush.  The scratchy look was very effective.

In the next layer I added a repeated motif of a house stamp I carved from an eraser.  I chose a complimentary colour scheme because I wanted the houses to pop.  I was hoping that I would still see the underneath stamps but I couldn't.  I really didn't like the direction this page was going in. So.......

In the next layer I decided to add more thin blue paint over the stamps.  I then ran my finger through the paint to add more texture.

I drew over the page with silver lines and a orange wash.  I now had a background I was happy to work on.

I used a homemade stencil to put a grid over the background.  I Started with a red brown and added a little white and ochre brown into the paint as I moved across the page.  When I got to the middle I added a lot more ochre and white and continued until I had a very pale brown.

I printed on circles with a large cork.  Going opposite with the colours this time.  I wanted the circles to float on the page.

To finish this page I used a gold and silver pen (Gold on the right cirlces and silver on the left)  to add detail on the large circles and small cirlces to add more interest to the page.

Photography this week

Skechbook challenge: 7 days of drawing

Entry for August 31st

Everyday objects: Milk billy

Entry for September 1st

Everyday objects: Dustpan and brush

Title page for September

Unfurled

Entry for September 2nd

Unfurled: Layers of flowers 

Entry for September 3rd

Unfurled: Layers of flowers

Entry for September 4th

Unfurled: layers of leaves

 

Entry for September 5th

Unfurled: Layers of trees

Entry for September 6th

Unfurled: Layers of flowers

Sketchbook tutorial

Today I want to show you how I have created this sketchbook page.  I have done this sketchbook page with the theme unfurled in mind......the unfurling of layers.

This Page has quite a few layers in it to get the depth of colour and textures. 

I used a old seed catalogue of my husbands.  I thought this fitted in really well with the theme and also was great for recycling and for the pocket book.  I glued 2 pages together as they needed to be thicker to take the acrylic paint I would be using. 

I squirted blobs of 3 colours of paint on the page.  I wanted to create an analogous colour scheme so I used yellow and red to get a third colour orange.  The white was added to create tints within those hues.  Using my fingers (lots of fun)  I spread the paint around the page

Using a palette knife I pulled the knife over the surface of paint to reveal some of the page underneath. 

I then took commercial stamps I have and pressed them into the wet paint.  this added extra texture into the paint and revealed more of the original magazine layer underneath.  I then left it to dry.

Next I took a cork and pressed it into white and yellow paint and stamped the cork over the page.  using my finger I blended the circular shapes into the page.

I took a lid of a container and dipped it into red paint and stamped that down the right hand edge of the page. I blended it in more with my finger.

Next I used a flower stencil and red paint all over the page.  Over the top of the page I printed a flower in white paint.  I had to this a couple of times as it was too transparent to start with.  Then I let it dry.

Using a white Inktense pencils I sketched some more white on the background and used water to blend it in.  Then I took a white pen and drew around the flower and drew white spirals on the background.



I added sliver pen over the white pen to give an extra shine.  Then added a silver box around the flower (this is hard to see) 

I love how the layers unfurl the more you look at this page. 

This is another page I have made using this same technique. 

Photography this week

I love the way insurance companies work........

• First they ask you what you had stolen?  
• Then  the details of it ie brand,  model,  The costing, 
• When you bought it? Where you bought it?
• and after you have spent 2 hours of your time hunting for all the information (per one item for the privilege of having some low life invade your privacy) they ask you how can you prove that you owned a...............in the first place
• and how do you know that was the brand and how do you know that was the costing if you have no receipt?

And it is so expensive for insurance in our country too.  My frustration levels are boiling over.  This is all because so many people aren't honest with insurance companies in the first place and try and bleed them dry with their dishonesty. So if you are honest no one will believe you any more.

I was lucky with my camera that I had drawn a sketch of the model in question.  I think the insurance lady was flabbergasted that I had proof with a sketch.   Maybe she hasn't come across that one before :)

Thank goodness for the sketchbook challenge!!!!!!

Well I finally gave them enough proof, I am now a owner of a Canon 550 D twin camera kit.   I am in heaven and in love.  It is such a beautiful camera and a really lovely piece of equipment to use.  There are so many features that have improve since my model (which was a 350D)  Ahhhhh!!!!!! just wonderful.

These are some photos I have taken this week on my new baby!

The detail is wonderful.  Hope fully thins week I will get more time to play!!



Skechbook challenge: 7 days of drawing

Entry for August 24th

Everyday objects: Nail Polish

Entry for August 25th

Everyday objects: My scriptures

Entry for August 26th

Everyday objects: Bent safety pin

Entry for August 27th

Everyday objects: Paintbrush

 

Entry for August 28th

Everyday objects: Daughters necklace

 

Entry for August 29th

Everyday objects: Thread

 

Entry for August 30th

Everyday objects: Light bulb

Quilting bliss

Today was one of those great days.  I finished a quilt I have been working on for a while.  If feels good to have finished this piece. I have been working on this piece for many weeks.   A lot of my own personal history has gone into this piece of work.  I have scanned onto fabric all the men in my family who fought in the great wars.  It is a lovely memento to their sacrifice for me.  They gave their all for unknown posterity and unknown millions of people who would follow them on the earth. 

As I contemplated each on their sacrifices I also thought of the woman who also sacrificed a great deal for me and my family.  What an amazing amount of love they must have had for their fellow country men and families. 

When I look at my own life and look at the sacrifices I have made it really pales in comparison.  I can't think of anything I have done that even partially measures up what they did and contributed to the life we live now.

I hand painted and machine quilted the poppy.  After I photographed this quilt I wrote the name of one of my ancestors on the cross in the centre of the poppy. He died in France during World War 1.   He was a school teacher and only aged 26 years old.  He died rescuing wounded comrades in heavy fire on the 8th of October in 1916.  I don't have a picture of him just a story of his heroic deed.

The edge of this quilt is a stamp of barbed wire encasing the men and the symbol of the war the poppy.  Quilted onto the photos is a collection of crosses.

I hope it is a fitting tribute for all these amazing people.