New Art

It's been a while!!  

My computer had a little break down so I had to send her off for some "help".  She's back & in fine working condition, thanks to Mike at Triangle Tech Group.  Who knew it would be so hard to find someone to repair a computer in Durham??  I mean..RTP?  Come on!!  Well, I don't have to look any further because now I have found my place.  I was able to drop it off in Durham where Pinky (my pink computer) was swiftly picked up & taken to Raleigh. Pinky was a troubled one, so she was sent to Chapel Hill & settled in the capable hands of Mike.  He kept me informed of the progress & even replaced my anti-virus software (which let a few nasties into my computer) with the one that he uses.  I couldn't be more happy with the customer service I received.  My motherboard was even reflowed instead of replaced, saving me a bundle of money.  I have idea what that means only that it made Pinky come back to life.

During our "break" I worked on drawing faces, faces & faces.  

I wanted to branch out from my whimsy girls & my stylized girls & try my hand at more realistic, stylized faces.  I finished one of the first stylized faces I painted a couple of months ago.  I mounted her to an old piece of cabinet, then made my own texture paste to make the background more interesting.  I collaged scrapbooking paper to the background then painted over the top.  A few more embellishments & stamping & she was done.  I need to get a fixative to spray on top, but other than that, she's finished.

Here are several faces that I've been working on & trying to get the noses just right.  Noses are hard, then sometimes lips are hard too...then the eyes..oy.  Well, I'm relatively happy with these whole faces.  I practiced each component  individually, but the pages of just eyes, noses & lips were getting pretty creepy, so I had to put them together.

They scanned pretty lightly so it's hard to see the shading.  I did complete a mixed media piece with one of the faces.  I haven't named it yet, but it's a little gypsy mounted on wood.

I ripped the face out of my sketchbook & glued it to the wood, using my texture paste for her hair.  I cut the leaves & flower out of decorative papers & collaged them around her, then added lots of layers of paint.  I used India ink & & paint for the drippy parts, then scraped on a little gesso to soften it a bit. 

I added a few floral pebbley things on the bottom & the fabric at the bottom is a section of hem from an old pair of jeans.  I drilled 2 holes at the top to thread a piece of a tie from an old dress, then ripped an old shirt, dress & fabric scraps for the hangy thing on the left.  I'm happy with the way she turned out.

She seems to need a little something at the top, so I may add words.  I thought of burning the words into the wood, but not sure if I should do it into the paint.  I'm going to give it a try & see what happens.

I have another face shaded & glued onto another piece of wood.  

She's on the way to becoming Mary.  It'll probably take a while to get her finished because I'm still looking for inspiration.  I really am a bit addicted to drawing faces now.

Hope y'all have a great week!