Happy Easter everyone!
Enjoy your day tomorrow :).
Tag Archives: painting
My Top 10 Favorite Shops On Etsy
I love Etsy. Though I myself have found far more success selling my own art on ebay, I do a lot of buying from Etsy ;). Around the holidays and birthdays, I try to get a lot of my gifts from places like Etsy or Ten Thousand Villages, or any local handmade shops because handmade items are always going to be unique, made well, and your purchase will actually brighten someone’s day and be an encouragement to the actual artist behind the product. Without further ado, here are my personal 10 favorite Etsy shops.
This shop features beautiful, detailed bead-work all handmade in Kathmandu, Nepal as a way for the women there to be able to support themselves and make an income. This handmade business has also recently made an alliance with Hoste Hainse, a non-profit that focuses on women empowerment and sound working conditions for women, as well as education and daycare for their children.
This shop offers super affordable prints of gorgeous artwork in the artist’s bold, colorful, high contrast style. These often surreal female and animal portraits are captivating, and definitely represent my personal favorite style of art.
Can you tell I like bright colors yet? The jewelry found at Sparkle Beast is like an elementary school art room closet collided with another closet full of “night at the opera” evening wear. I mean that in the best way possible. It’s like an upscale version of let’s-play-dress-up, and it is amazing.
Again with the bright colors, this shop takes old chipped, damaged, or otherwise hideous figures from secondhand stores and spray paints them in brilliant colors to turn them into fun, modern, pop art decorations. I am the proud owner of one of the most epic nativity scenes I’ve ever seen, shown above, and it is my favorite Christmas decoration I own.
Crimson Et Clover is the wonderful inventor of the modern marvel called “bEARwarmers”, which I am rocking in the above picture. I’m a big fan of how they keep your head warm without messing up your hair. Also, the whole bear ears part.
This artist’s paintings just make me happy when I look at them, simple as that. She incorporates a lot of nature and vintage-style imagery into her pieces, which are two things I cannot get enough of.
And the same to you, Sir Cheetah with an eye patch. Berkley illustration is one of the most fun shops around. Their personified animals aren’t just hilarious, but so detailed, realistic, and well done. I own the above bottle opener myself, because who would pass up the opportunity to toast with a swift jungle cat?
This shops features spot-on watercolor illustrations of pop culture icons, coupled with their well-known quotes and catch phrases – a dream for any tv or movie lover.
This shop’s contemporary folk art has such a distinctive and unique style, I’d recognize it anywhere. I think it’s the faces that first drew me in. The designs are whimsical and fun without looking childish, and incorporate a vintage touch.
Look! She even has a hair bow. What could be better?
This shop styles lovely jewelry pieces around the artist’s adorable hand-painted faces. I raved about her artistry in an earlier post, and as of right now own one of her pieces (notice I said as of right now 🙂 … more to come!).
There you have it. It was unbelievably hard to narrow my list down to just 10. If you want to see more of my favorites and collections, you can follow me on Etsy. If any readers out there have Etsy shops of your own, feel free to leave a link in the comments and I will check it out! I am always looking for more shops to peruse.
10 Ways to Make Your 2D Art More Interesting
I have always been a 2D based artist, not for lack of trying to branch out. I can make a 2-dimensional plane on paper look 3-dimensional, but when it comes to actually constructing a 3-dimensional object … my brain just does not work that way.
I studied interior design in college, and I remember dreading the 3D model portion of each semester-long project. This is the one and only photograph I have of any of my models, and it is taken in aerial view because that was literally the only acceptable angle I could manage. At least this one wasn’t cut out of a Lucky Charms cereal box. Yes, I really turned in a model covered in pictures of colorful, Leprechaun themed marshmallows. Yes, it was sad. Now they have 3D printers for this crap.
For other artists out there who only travel in the world of 2D, it can be easy to feel stuck in a rut materials-wise. After all, you can make sculptures out of anything.Â
No, really, I mean ANYTHING …
If you think outside the box, “flat” art on paper or canvas doesn’t have to be limiting. Here are 10 ways I’ve found that can spice up your current drawings or paintings, no matter what style you enjoy working in.
1. Add Text
Transformation, 18×24 Mixed Media, Do-All of Bay City’s Annual Art Clash Award Winner
Adding pattern based text, small print from books, magazines, or the newspaper, automatically adds not physical but visual texture to a piece. It is a simple, intriguing way to add the appearance of greater detail to your piece, whether it is ripped and layered in the background or cut into shapes to fill in focal objects in the foreground.
The meaning of the words don’t have to be important. Or, you can choose theme appropriate text and emphasize certain words to add to your piece’s meaning. This is a popular technique borrowed from art journaling and found text poetry.
2. Include Texture
The Dance, Awarded Best 2D in Creative 360’s Piece By Piece Exhibition 2015; 18x 24 prismacolor pencil, ink, watercolor, fabric, book pages, embroidery thread
2D doesn’t have to mean completely smooth and flat. Oftentimes painters paint with a palette knife, slathering on thick layers of paint to create an uneven surface that raises and dips to create visual interest. Gesso can also be used to build up an uneven surface on canvas. Another option is applying mixed media elements to paper to create a textured surface. In the piece above, I crumpled white fabric and dipped it in glue, applying it to the surface for the ground. I crinkled and rolled strips of book pages for the raised texture in the tree trunks and branches.
3. Accent With Metallics
The Peacock, Awarded Best 2DÂ in The Midland Artists Guild 2015 Juried Exhibition, 11×14 prismacolor pencil
Varying the surface sheen in a piece is a way to once again increase the visual interest, thus drawing viewer’s eyes and keeping their attention. Metallics are definitely something you want to use with restraint, but when not overdone they can really elevate a piece. It is harder to tell in a photo but in the drawing above, I used silver prismacolor for both the sleeves on her dress and the streaks in the pattern on the brim of her hat.
4. Include Pops of Color
Hopeful, Award of Merit in The Midland Artists Guild 2015 Juried Exhibition. 11×14 Prismacolor PencilÂ
Adding elements of color amongst an image of mostly black and white is a technique inspired by photo-manipulation. Photographers have been tinting black and white photos since long before Photoshop was ever conceived.
Our eyes are naturally drawn to contrast, and including a bright color or two within a sea of black and white provides a “surprise” for the viewer.
5. Draw Viewers To The Eyes
11×14″ Prismacolor Pencil
Possibility Uncovered, Acrylic
I may be a bit biased because eyes are my favorite part of the face to draw or paint, but then there is that famous saying, “eyes are the windows to the soul”. There are quite a few articles floating around online about a scientific study that found that staring into someone’s eyes for 10 minutes straight can even cause hallucinations. All this suggests that eyes themselves are something of an intense element. Whether depicting people or animals, using visual elements in your piece that guide the viewer’s eye to meet the eyes of your subject is sure to keep viewers locked on your piece longer, and to create a more dynamic composition.
6. Don’t Ignore The Background.
Her Laughter Was Intricate As Lace, 2011, 8×10 Prismacolor Pencil
I’d Have Been Happier As A Bird , 2014, 11×14 Prismacolor Pencil
I used to be guilty of being a huge background-ignorer. Now, you don’t want a fully fleshed out, detailed, photo-realistic background all the time, and in some pieces there is a lot to be said for white space. But, there is a difference between a background looking purposefully understated to emphasize the main focus and a background looking incomplete, like the artist just ran out of ideas and didn’t want to bother. There are two pieces shown above, one from 5 years ago on the left and one from 2 years ago on the right. Notice the difference something as simple as some softly outlined trees makes. The background is still mostly white, but it looks complete.
7. Collaborate With Other Artists
Untitled, 2011, Mixed Media
Connect, 2011, Mixed Media
This is a hard one for me, because I honestly hate collaborating. I’m the kid in school who dreaded partner assignments. I always wanted to work on projects alone, even if it meant I had to do triple the work. I have a hard time letting go of control and not getting to make all the creative decisions myself. However, you learn so much from working with other artists, especially if their style is the complete opposite of yours as was the case in the two collaborations above. Do I necessarily like the collaborative pieces above better than the work I traditionally do on my own? To be honest, nope, but that’s not the point. I practiced techniques and styles I never would have attempted otherwise, which has given me ideas in other pieces I’ve done on my own.
8. Carry Around A Sketch Journal
Devotional Gag Reflex, 2011, Ink
Not only is keeping a sketch journal super stress relieving (the above was me relieving some of my fun relational stress by comically depicting how I felt in the moment), but it provides an arsenal of recorded ideas and references to use and combine in future pieces. Life is busy, and I strongly believe we forget most of our best ideas because they happen spontaneously when we are in the middle of doing something, and we think oh I’ll remember it later and of course that never happens. Making yourself carve out a specific time to sit down and sketch may be good practice, but it isn’t when you’ll get your best ideas.
9. Draw From A Collage
Oceans Away, 9×12 Ink
One of my assignments in Drawing 101 way back in freshman year of college was to create a collage, and then draw straight from it. This technique is a great way to organize the elements in a piece, and visually construct your conceptual vision. You end up with juxtapositions of disparate elements that you may never have placed together otherwise.
10. Be Purposefully Imperfect
Wonderland, 18×24 Mixed Media
This comes back to one of those things I learned through reluctant artist collaboration. I am a clean edged, smooth lines kind of person and I always used to look at smudges and drips as mistakes, not a tool an artist could use on purpose. Now, I am in love with it and every piece I create that includes watercolor has dripping or bleeding somewhere in it. For the longest time throughout art history, the purpose of creating a drawing or painting was to fool the eye into thinking what it was looking at was real, especially before photographs. The informality of declaring to the world, “Look! This is made out of paint, see the brushstrokes, see the dripping?” shakes up a piece, and the viewer’s expectation. In this particular piece above, the surrounding world was supposed to look as it would through the eyes of the subject, a child. The sketchy, imperfect outline of the colorful buildings behind help emphasize that.
Step out of that artistic rut and try something new. Other 2D artists out there, what do you do to add interest to your own work? What draws you to a piece when looking at a 2D work?
The Art of Surprising Oneself
As many of you may know, I have a love affair with redbubble. Of all the print on demand platforms I’ve tried, they seem the most user friendly, visually appealing, and reasonably priced. For the past couple months I’ve been collecting photographs of my Express Yourself Artshop students’ work in preparation of opening our own shop, and the time has finally come!
Artist: Colleen D.
Artist: Colleen D.
Artist: Joan S.
I actually went to school for interior design, and the former furniture salesperson in me is so psyched about these throw pillows, because a good looking pillow really makes or breaks a sofa (even though they end up thrown on the floor 99% of the time).
Artist: Heather D.
Artist: Heather D.
Artist: Tracey S.
Artist: Heather D.
Artist: Colleen D.
Artist: Colleen D.
Artist: Heather D.
Artist: Christina G.
Artist: Colleen D.
Artist: Colleen D.
I’d recommend that anyone in arts education do this, whichever platform you end up choosing. Many of the students have made the same surprised comment to me, “Wow, I feel like a real artist now!” And many of us can relate to that feeling – I know I can. A piece of art almost doesn’t feel real until it’s shared with the world, no matter how big or small that “world” may be. A drawing or painting on a loose piece of paper is one thing, but when it is matted and framed or transformed into a print product, treated and presented like the work of art that it is, it can take the new artist aback at first – “you mean I really did that?” Whether an artist cares about making money off of their art or not, there is something to knowing that other people are seeing the images they have created, that people even want to take something the artist has created home with them so they can look at it every day! Some artists make art their business, some may donate their art to auctions or causes or give it away to people. Still, the art has a life, it is being touched and seen, not in hibernation in some dark basement or storage closet.
If you’d like to see more, please visit our new shop celebrating artists of all abilities, artists that continue to surprise themselves as they learn that yes, they definitely are real artists!
Happy “Inspire Your Heart With Art” Day!
Happy “Inspire Your Heart With Art” Day everyone! As I’ve told you before, I love holidays – I mean really love them. There is always that slight letdown after the marathon of nonnstop holiday excitement from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Years … Who knew there was this fun little holiday to tide us over until Valentine’s Day and Easter? I cannot believe I just learned of its existence this year … !
What a perfect opportunity to send some inspiration out into the world through sharing what my students have worked on throughout the beginning third of my first full semester as program coordinator for Express Yourself Artshop at Creative 360. My students pretty much feel like family members at this point, and I know I mention them a lot. But, for those new to the blog, Express Yourself Artshop is an inclusive arts and wellness program open to all students, including those with physical, mental, and psychological challenges.
I’ve worked with the program as an instructor since it was first established, and I am blown away by seeing how each student has grown since we first met a little over 2 years ago. Without further ado …
A snapshot of our amazing watercolor class! Everyone has such different styles and interests, so it is fun to see what each student comes up with.
Artist: Shelly K., who has never tried watercolor painting before. This was her first attempt! Whoa.
Artist: Colleen D., I love love LOVE bright colors, so always a fan of her work.
Artist: Colleen D., I could see this hanging up in a cabin up North :).
There are quite a few “regulars” each semester in the watercolor class, so we have become like a group of old friends.
Next, the gallery of Heather D.! I call this student and friend my “artistic soulmate” because we share a love of fashion, big eyed girls, and everything retro and vintage inspired.
Artist: Heather D.
Artist: Heather D.
Artist: Heather D.
Artist: Heather D.
Our classes are not all about art for your walls. Tons of cool functional and awesome looking wares are being created in our Woodshop class this semester as well. I love this log cabin inspired bird house, I think because it reminds me so much of childhood Lincoln Logs!
This is Brian N.’s first time in Woodshop, and he took to the techniques right away.
Behold! The finished log cabin birdhouse.
It is so much fun to be able to decorate your home with handmade pieces that are unique, and that no one else will have. You don’t have to be what people think of as a traditional “artist” to do it. The top two pieces, by Colleen D. and Amber E., are canvases wrapped in fabric with a cutout from an art print collaged overtop. The wreath below can be created easy and stress free with any medium sized to large craft punch, a wreath form, a free afternoon, and a lot of hot glue sticks handy.
Proud smiles!
Artist: Louis T.
Artist: Brian N.
Artist: Joan S.
Artist: Joan S.
Creating, whether your goal is to become a world famous artist or just to calm your mind and relieve some stress, is a HUGE confidence booster. It is also an important tool of communication and self expression, speaking from experience myself. I challenge all of you to try to make at least one thing today, even if it is just a doodle. Happy inspiration!
Short, Sweet, and Full Of Eye Candy
I’ve been working on and off on the next piece in my new series, and wanted to give you an early sneak peek. There really is something to coloring in repetitive geometric shapes, because it was so incredibly therapeutic to begin coloring in the hexagonal pattern filling in the figure’s hair. Adult coloring books are becoming overwhelmingly popular for a reason!
I also have posted my first piece completed in this series for sale in print form on my redbubble and ebay shops.
One last exciting tidbit this week, I sold this fun, textured octopus mixed media on canvas in my ebay shop! He has been packaged with love and sent off to Ohio. Prints always sell with far more regularity than originals do, so when an original does get snatched up it is always thrilling. I plan to make more of these mixed media pieces featuring other animals as well in the future (So far, I’m 2 for 2 with the octopi. They are one of my favorite animals, I can’t help it!) To learn about my mixed media process for creating texture, check out my previous blog entry where I explain my work step by step.
I told you it was going to be short and sweet! It has been a busy couple of weeks, but I have continued to find time here and there to work on my new piece – my sanity may or may not depend on it ;).
Let The Holidays Begin
First week of the new job, mission accomplished – complete with a snazzy new bio. Check out that classy head shot. Actually, I realized upon scouring my computer for an acceptable image that finding a professional picture of myself is super hard.
See exhibits A and B below for further proof.
I’m one of those recluses who does all my Christmas shopping online. My heart cannot even take the trials of navigating a parking lot (and subsequently narrowly avoiding my poor little car being squished by lunatics five times over) this time of year. I seriously needed to go grocery shopping today, realized it was the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and decided “Nah, tomato soup out of the can with a salad of slimy, past-expiration-date lettuce sounds fine enough to me.” Plus, I have friends and family with distinctive tastes and it’s often hard to find unique gifts that they’d actually like or don’t already own in stores.
If you are like me and prefer to sit in your pajamas drinking hot tea while scouring the web for unique gifts, you should check out my redbubble shop. I have a ton of fun and whimsical seasonal designs posted, and also a variety of awesome designs for year-round. I also have my first calendar ready for print. Having a calendar hung up on my bulletin board is literally the only way I know what day it is. Plus, when the year is over you can get crafty and turn the pictures into awesome art.
New items for the holidays have also arrived at the Moongirl Designs Zazzle Shop. In my opinion, you can never have enough ornaments. When I am done decorating my tree, there is pretty much no green left to be seen. I have fun illustrated Christmas character ornaments on zazzle : Santa, angels, elves, all the nostalgic classics illustrated with a new twist.
I wish all of you in the states a wonderful Thanksgiving this upcoming weekend, and for those going out on Black Friday … Godspeed to you – try not to get trampled.
Artists To Know : Halloween Edition
In honor of Halloween, I thought an Artists To Know featuring the spookiest of artworks would be quite fun. Though I won’t be getting any trick-or-treaters due to the very non-festive large wooden sign out in front of my apartment complex reading “NO TRICK-OR-TREATERS!!!”, I do have a costume party to get to later tonight which I am quite antsy for. I’m going as a flapper this year, which I know is an “every girl ever” kind of costume, but … not every girl will have a snazzy vintage 1920s style beaded fringe dress from an antique store ;). Now, without further ado …
Ana was born in Armenia in 1983, and earned a BFA at Art Center College in California. Her work is inspired by aliens, spirits, and ghosts and she has coined the term “Futurealism” to describe her aesthetic. She believes that whatever we can imagine can also be manifested into our physical reality.
Gus Fink is a self-taught artist who has been making a living off of his work full time since 2000. His medium and subject matter varies, but each work maintains his signature creepy yet somehow endearing vibe. His “Antique Horror” collection that spans over a decade was featured in a clothing collection for select Hot Topic stores over the summer.
Michele Lynch is a multi-talented artist excelling in painting, mixed media, and sculpture. The characters she brings to life are all a little bit retro monster movie, a little bit steampunk, balanced out with a lot of sass and personality.
Japanese illustrator Mizna Wada has just mastered the cute-creepy, pastel goth world. I have always been quite a fan of the adorably eerie universe, so her art certainly struck a chord with me. Wada is another artist who brings her characters painted on canvas to life in 3D form, this time as fun plush dolls and vinyl figures. I must own one someday, when I am not on such a strict budget ;).
Leslie Ann O’Dell combines fine art, photography, and digital design to create her haunting works. SHK Magazine summed it up nicely when they said of her work, “O’Dell’s work is comprised of haunting imagery… Ranging from dark imposing landscapes to mystifying portraitures, that evoke sensations of vulnerability, demise and the fear associated with such sentiments”. Of course, being a portrait girl myself, I am most drawn to her depictions of figures. They are truly different from anything I have ever seen.
Happy Halloween everyone! Have fun being someone new for a day, and a lovely evening to all.
Have you ever wondered what monsters dress up as for Halloween? 🙂
Artists To Know: ArtPrize 2015 Edition
My boyfriend and I visited ArtPrize in Grand Rapids this past Friday. Though I had a piece in it last year, I didn’t have a *big* project ready this year that I wanted to enter so I decided to attend simply as an art appreciator. With inspiration quite literally around every corner, I came back impressed and invigorated, as always. I wanted to share some of the pieces that really stopped me in my tracks. Keep in mind, I was only in Grand Rapids perusing for a day, and as any of you who have attended in the past know, this gave me but a small cross section of ArtPrize 2015. If any of you have been over to ArtPrize, feel free to share other artists/pieces you saw that I may have missed! I definitely left wanting more, but am glad I got to make it to the event this year, even if just for a day. I encourage you to visit these artists’ personal websites I’ve linked to and learn more about their work and the story behind why they create what they do. They explore a variety of poignant themes in a unique and engaging way.
Kristi Lynn Studios – One Hundred Faces
Ahni Sallaway – I Am You
Kate Askegaard – A Breakthrough
Little did I know until visiting her website myself, her piece in ArtPrize last year, “A Plea, Remember Me”, was also one of my favorites. Miss Kate has a new fan!
Candace Compton Pappas – 200+
Each bird represents one of the over 200 school girls that remain missing after they were kidnapped from their school in Nigeria by the terrorist group Boka Haram.
Jacqueline Baerwald – Melondy, Issues of Adolescence (You can read her like a book, or can you?)
Monica Stegeman – In Her Place
John Leben – Back To Nature
Another thing about ArtPrize I always look forward to is the installation art and large scale outdoor sculpture. Red seems to be a popular color, and so by happenstance I matched all the art.
Dream home?
This yarn room reminded me of one of those nightmares where something about your surroundings is not quite right, but you can’t seem to figure it out…
I love the contrast between my giggling face and that none too pleased look in the eyes of my fierce dragon companion.
Eating delicious food is almost (or maybe equally as?) as exciting as looking at amazing art, and my boyfriend and I enjoyed dinner and Violin Monster at The Green Well, as well as vegan gelato from Love’s Ice Cream which is so amazing it haunts my dreams.
I’m Not The Only One Who’s Been Busy This Summer …
The summer flew by, and while I think this summer for me has been the most productive yet as far as art making, I am not the only one who has been hard at work. My Express Yourself Artshop students really applied themselves creatively, and pumped out a lot of amazing art over this past semester. Hard to believe what one can accomplish in only 6 weeks! I’ve shared some of the highlights here.
Grace, Watercolor
Nancy, Ink Drawing
Brenda, Handmade Tote Bag
Lacey, Acrylic
For those who haven’t read my blog before, Express Yourself Artshop is an art program I work with that is open to those of all abilities, and is an accepting, friendly and safe environment to artists with physical and mental disabilities. I know myself how important creating can be as a tool for expressing what you feel like you can’t with words, and how it has the ability to calm the mind and soul out of tumult and provide a reprieve from the stress and sometimes heavy weight of everyday life. One of my students loves owls, and so we collaborated on some trippy, colorful owls done in my go-to style for these birds (shown below). I drew in pencil, she outlined and painted. Along with an affinity for owls, we also share a love of Deco Art’s Glamour Dust craft paints – a win-win.
Look familiar? So glad to share my enthusiasm for quirky, surrealist owls!
Anne Marie, Ink and Acrylic With Glamor Dust
I love these people, and the unfamiliar environment of being in a truly judgement-free space … Everyone simply accepts and embraces each other as they are. I feel so loved in return while I am there, and it is one of the few places I don’t feel pressured to put on an act (Convenient, as I’ve never quite mastered the art of situationally adjusting my personality. For better or for worse, I just can’t seem to grasp that particular life skill.). I can’t wait for next semester. I’m going to be channeling my inner Mark Montano and doing a really cool DIY decor class, so hopefully that gets some interest. I am right on the cusp of finishing two new projects that will be going up with a selection of other pieces at Espresso Milano coffee shop in Midland in September, so I will be sharing that soon.
Montano, seriously, what a snazzy guy.
