An Art Journal Page of Leftovers (9/100)

I'm back and joining all of you today with another couple of projects I worked on tonight that I'm really quite proud of. The first is the above canvas panel. I think that I'm slowly but surely starting to get used to this sort of surface, though it's taken a bit of experimentation and adjustment (though not quite as much as a full-out canvas. 

This piece was a bit of a play on my canvas from the other day, though when I started on this canvas it was a fairly unintentional sort of thing. I am happy with the way I was able to differentiate this piece and have it stand well on its own, while still working as a set. If you want to purchase this piece, you can find it here. 

• As I mentioned on my instagram this evening, this canvas was really inspired by the colors, specifically the color purple. It's one of those colors that I love, but don't tend to use very often, for reasons unbeknownst to me. I had a lot of fun playing with the blue in combination with the purple (then adding the yellow for good measure and a sense of flow). 
• I said above that this piece worked well with another piece I had made previously, and in that post I mentioned that the circles were made with a homemade stencil, that I reused here. I can't even tell you all how good it feels to be using my own stencils in my artwork, it just adds another layer of depth to it all, in my opinion.
• The purple in the circles was done with a Portfolio oil pastel, which I then proceeded to activate by rubbing it with a damp paper towel (you could also use a baby wipe). I love the end result. 

Now I want to share with you something that I have done previously on this blog, and I will continue to do it in the future. When I had completed the above project, I still had quite a bit of paint on my palette that I didn't want to go to waste. I actually have a special journal (not this one) that I use specifically to get rid of my paint leftovers, but there was enough to create a full page and I hadn't worked on an art journal page in a while.

And so, out came the composition notebook!

• The words placed on this page were very much inspired by how unique I felt this page was to me. Though it is fairly simple (and I'm not completely sure that I'll never add anything to it), I still feel as if it is very uniquely me. 
• There are several reasons for this, but first and foremost it is because of the doodled pieces that are scattered throughout the page. I had created these as part of a sort of collage sheet fairly near the beginning of last month, and I'm just now getting around to using them. They just seemed to fit. 
• Another thing that I felt was very much particular to my style in particular is that I used yet another one of my stencils I created in this piece. The oval shapes were this very stencil, and it's quickly becoming one of my favorites. 

In the long run, I'm very happy with the way these mixed media pieces turned out, though I think I prefer the canvas panel. That's only if I had to pick a favorite. I've actually been spending a lot of time with my art today, and I ended up finishing a digital piece and my first drawing for Inktober if you want to check my instagram (@worldofimmensum). 

Thank you all again for visiting me, it's greatly appreciated, and I'll see you all next time!

2 Panel Update (7+8/100)

Hey everyone, I'm back with another one of my 100 Day Challenge updates! If you're following me on Instagram, you'll have already seen that I did in fact still do a mini canvas yesterday, despite the fact that I didn't update the blog. If I'm not around on here, you can find me over there at worldofimmensum.

However, back to the art itself! Yesterday's piece was definitely a way for me to try to work through some rough emotions I was experiencing. I got through that by scribbling with pencil chaotically on the very first layer. I further emphasized it through the thick black outlines and gestural shapes. I definitely did feel better by the time I was finished. At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but it's definitely starting to grow on. 

• By this point, you guys are probably starting to spot some reoccurring shapes/materials in my artwork. In this piece in particular, you may recognize the diamond stamp. You can see this in both of the above photographs. There's just something intriguing to me about the texture it gives. It's similar to dots (another weakness of mine) but varied just a bit. 
• Another thing you may recognize is the polka dot tissue paper that is collaged inside of the oval shapes. This is one of my very favorite things to add to pieces, just because of the way it almost appears as a stamp, since the background shows through whatever parts aren't black. 

 Next up is today's piece! I do like the way this little canvas turned out, since in my opinion it is pretty personal. In my eyes, this canvas is a representation of my artistic journey, which is why it looks vaguely chaotic. All of these different styles are originating from the same point, and I love that. The colors were also fun to play with.

• Looking at some of the finer details of the piece (the photo on the left stands out to me in particular), you can see that a lot of work went into getting this piece to look the way it does. There was stamping, stenciling, finger painting, collage, and basically whatever else I could think of. 
• The fine details of this organized chaos are really what I love the most, and you can see a lot of that in the photo on the left. The blue plant is the final of three stencils I made about a week back, and I've loved working with them. The dots were done with the tips of my fingers and acrylic paint. 

In the photo on the left (another one of my favorite photos I've taken of this piece), you may recognize the mushroom from a while back. I had drawn them, then photocopied the drawing I did, to use the copies in my art. That was exactly what I did here. 

In the long run, this is the way my mind works. It's crazy, it's a little bit structured and a little bit not, but in the end it all comes together. I'm glad it worked out the way it did, even if it does make me feel kind of vulnerable putting it out there. 

If you would like to buy either of the canvas panels in this post, they can be found here and here.

Until next time, I hope you all do well!

Chalk Pastel Portrait + Developmental Sketches (6/100)

I'm back today with yet another canvas panel for my 100 Day Challenge, but this time with an entirely new direction. Essentially, I had every intention of creating a piece similar in style to the rest of the pieces I have done thus far, but when I went to block out the eye to do in a collage style I used chalk pastels.

Once I had started playing around with a new medium (they were actually Prismacolor NuPastels, which are water-soluble as well), I couldn't stop. Thus, this little partial portrait was born. If you would like to purchase this piece, you can find it here. 

• I think the tears depicted here were somewhat of a way of working through some issues I've been having recently. I've been reconsidering a lot of things - things that I once believed were set in stone when it comes to my future. I've been extremely emotional lately, and art just seems to be my way of coping with that.
• As you can see in the above photographs, the texture is a bit different from pure chalk pastel. This is because I actually started blending acrylic paints into the pastels with my fingers at some point, because I wanted to add some depth and variety (as well as texture) that I wasn't quite getting from the pure chalk pastels.

• The eye itself is another one of my favorite parts about this little piece. I love the coloring and shading that  was able to achieve (plus purple eyes are cool). The chalk pastels mixed with acrylics is definitely something I'm going to need to play with in the near future, no doubt about that.
• The amount of time I spend working on this piece was well worth the result. I love experimenting and playing with different techniques and things I've never done before (because you can only get better with practice!) so this was a very relaxing, soothing process for me. It helped me come to grips with a few things and I think it was good for me in the long run. 

The last thing I would like to share with you today is this little page of sketches, which I did in preparation for a new digital painting that I actually started working on today. I had the idea for this girl (her appearance and color scheme) in the back of my head for a few days now, and I decided to just take the plunge and do something about it.

I've also started messing around with a new way of organizing my storytelling/art ideas, and if it works out for me, then maybe I'll share it with all of you in the future!

Thank you all for visiting and leaving all of your amazing comments, I don't even know how to explain how good they make me feel, knowing that people actually like what I'm doing. Until next time, I wish you all the best!

The Night Sky + A Watercolor Portrait (4/100)

I am extremely happy with the way today's canvas panel turned out. The colors turned out exactly the way I wanted them to, and circles have always been a bit of a signature motif for me. Because of that, plus the fact that the vision I had in my head actually came to life, I don't know if I could be happier. 

If you would like to purchase this piece, it can be found here.

• Now we're moving on to a few of the detail shots. In the photo on the left, you can see one of my favorite bits of this little painting - the focal point. I was at the point where the piece was almost completely finished, but it just felt like it was lacking to me. I've really been enjoying playing with this color of paint and I thought I would try it out. I could always paint over it if it didn't work. I like to think that it did.
• I used several different methods throughout this piece to attempt to tie the circles into the background, in addition to letting them stand out on their own. This included, but wasn't limited to, splattering white paint, stamping, watercolors and NuPastels. 
• There was a good bit of collage in the background, a lot of which disappears completely, but I know it's there. If you look closely, you can see a few places where words show through and some black dots that were from a piece of patterned tissue paper.

• I absolutely adore the texture in the first photo. The canvas texture shows through in some places and is completely covered in others. It's one of the things that I've really enjoyed about working on these canvases. 
• Another part of this piece in particular that I adore are the bits of dots that were stamped over the piece. I feel like it helped to tie the piece together and gave a different size of circle for interest. In the long run, I feel like this piece does exactly what I wanted it to in the first place - shows the concept of a night sky.

I also mentioned the other day that I was still extremely interested in doing faces, and just because I had started a new project, I wasn't going to let creating new characters fall by the wayside. The other night, I was feeling in a watercolor kind of mood, and this girl was born! If you follow me on Instagram (@worldofimmensum), you may have seen progress shots of this portrait in my story.

Honestly, I adore the way she turned out. She feels like she's just screaming for a story, and I think she definitely would have a sword. I've been having a ton of ideas lately based on the art pieces I've created, and that's something that I absolutely adore. It's a big part of my reason for doing art in the first place - this blog is my development place for World of Immensum. I've really been enjoying this whole journey so much, and hope all of you agree with me as well.

Again, thank you all for visiting, and I look forward to hearing from you!

A Science Fiction Inspired Canvas Panel (3/100)

I'm extremely happy with the way today's canvas panel for my 100 Day Project turned out. It really defines the style I love to achieve in my art - quirky and almost cartoon-like in style, but with something that is just slightly off (the science fiction twist that I love to throw in). 

In this case, it's that the leaves of these plants are actually eyes. 

The title of this little painting (which is something that I've just recently started doing and am quite fond of) is "The Forest's Eyes". This was yet another one of those projects that I started before heading off to work, then got back with a completely different idea in mind. 

• Starting off with the photo on the left, one of the subtle elements I added to this canvas were the little circles in both the lower right and upper left of the canvas. I wanted to parody the look of the eyes, as well as add a subtle hint of interest to the equally subtle background. This was how I chose to do that.
• In both of these photos, you can see the background. It started out with shades of blue, but after having created the plants and adding collage, I decided to add a wash of pink instead. Some of the background layers shone through, but for the most part I covered them up. Then I added the hints of blue and yellow that create the swirled background. I think that further adds to the mystery. 

•  And finally, for the last image I will share with you all tonight, a close up of the eyes themselves. They were cut from bits and pieces of scrap paper, and if you look closely, the blue leaf in the lower left hand corner may look familiar (it's cut from a scanned copy of this painting). I had a lot of fun with this piece, even if it is fairly straightforward in comparison to my previous two pieces. 

In the long run, though I'm only three days into this self challenge, I've been having a lot of fun with it. The ideas are already starting to churn (I have a title idea that I may work off of tomorrow), and I'm excited to see where this project will lead! If you would like to purchase this piece in particular, you can find the link here. 

Thank you all for joining me, it means a lot, and I look forward to seeing you all next time!

Canvas Panel in Blues and Greens (2/100)

As I mentioned yesterday, I have officially decided to embark on a new journey in my little world of mixed media. This is 2/100 in my 100 day project, where I create one 4"x4" canvas panel a day for that duration of time.

This piece in particular is one that I'm quite fond of. Not only is it done in some of my favorite colors, deep blues and greens, but it just generally makes me happy to look at. I had a lot of fun with the doodling that is showcased throughout the piece. If you would like to purchase it, you can click here.

In looking at some of the finer details of this piece, a lot of it was done as stress relief. With school and work taking up a lot of my time lately, it hasn't exactly been pleasant. I had just gotten finished struggling my way through a math assignment (that I'll still have to go back to) when I decided that I needed to let off steam. Thus, this little canvas was born. 

• The bigger circle that takes up the majority of the canvas was done with a combination of acrylic paint and oil pastels - I had scraped some dark blue paint in the background, then before it was dry, I applied black Portfolio oil pastels then wet them to activate their water soluble nature. This mixed with the blue in the background, creating an affect that I am personally quite fond of.
• The doodling on top of the circle was done with a Sharpie paint marker in white. I'm still trying to get used to how the Sharpie markers work, but I just bought another on clearance for 75 cents at Target (in turquoise!) so I'm excited to play around with them more. 
• In the photo on the right, you can see another doodled element that I worked with. This was simply a shape that I freehand cut out of college ruled notebook paper and collaged down, before working on top of it with a regular Sharpie and shimmer watercolors. 

• In the left hand photo, you can see the doodled border up close, as well as the little stamped word "dreams", which serves as the title. I was experimenting with fading out the stamping for a more square title design, but I decided to ultimately just go with the single word. The other effect may make an appearance at some point in the future. 
• Another thing that is more visible in the first photograph is the stamping I did in a silver ink (which I also used on this page). This is quickly becoming a favorite element of mine to play with, simply because it's extremely subtle, but still beautiful when the angle is just right.
• Finally, in the photo on the left, you can see a bit of the detail that I played around with in the lower right hand corner of this little canvas. I attempted to imitate the dots of the doodling on the circle in a more random way, and you can also see some subtle diamond stamping (which is actually one of my favorite little bits of this painting.

Finally, before I leave you today, I wanted to a fun result of creating these canvases thus far. I typically will use drop paper to catch excess paint and stamping, as well as testing out pens, and whatever else I decide I want to experiment. These two papers are from yesterday's and today's (in that order), and I personally love the way they look. Who knows, maybe these will all become a project of their own someday!

I hope you all enjoyed viewing this piece, as I really do love the way it turned out. I'll see you all next time!

Starting a New Project + A Major Announcement

Seeing as I have officially finished 29 Faces (though as I previously stated, I will continue to do faces on a more consistent basis, as I did enjoy it so much), I thought it was about time to start a new project. This has been an idea in the works since before this post, which was a bit of an experiment with a new medium and preparation.

For the next 100 days, I will be creating a 4"x4" canvas panel. 100 days is a big commitment, but I'm super excited to see where this will lead, and I think sharing what I create is a good way to motivate myself to keep up with it!

 As of right now, I think the majority of these panels will be mixed media, as that is the thing I am most comfortable doing, but sometimes it's good to push out of your comfort zone, so we'll see where it ends up!

At any rate, enough talking about the project and onto the actual panel itself! This is (1/100), and I absolutely adore the way that it turned out.

• The big doodled flower is a piece I've been saving for a good long while now, along with a whole other sheet I did. I just used a paintbrush dipped in India ink and painted shapes and designs in order to create a piece of paper that I absolutely adored. I've been hoarding this for a while, but I've been using it quite a bit recently - it seems like it's going to have to be something I continue doing, since I do enjoy it so much!

• In these photographs you can better see what is probably my favorite part about working on canvas in general - the texture! The way the paint catches in the nooks and crannies is just so beautiful, and it definitely makes me want to play with it more. 
• There were many layers of play on this little square (at one point I thought I had went a bit overboard, since I always have trouble knowing when to stop, but I managed to reel it back), from paint to collage to stamping and stenciling.
• I also played around with using a brayer a little bit on this square - it was the very first layer that I put down, in a neon pink color. I've been trying to work my art in stages, though a lot of it just has to do with me wanting to squeeze in a little bit of art before work. However, this morning I slept a bit later than I intended, and that one simple layer was all I was able to accomplish. I was thinking about it all day, and when I remembered I had this doodled flower, it all sort of fell into place.
• The word "magic" is also something that's been floating around in my brain recently, for no real reason in particular, and it will probably end up making its way onto an art journal page in the very near future.
• I'm linking to Paint Party Friday!

As I stated in the title of this post, I also have a major announcement to make, something that I'm extraordinarily excited about!

I have officially opened an Etsy shop! And in that Etsy shop, you will be able to purchase all of the pieces I create during this 100 day challenge I have started out on. You can find today's piece available here.

This is a big step for me, and something I'm extremely excited about. In the future, I plan to expand the shop, but for now all that will be listed is these canvas panels. Thank you all so much for visiting, and I hope you all enjoyed viewing today's piece. It really means a lot that you took the time to stop by!

Inspiring a Character + 29 Faces FINISHED

There are several interesting things to me about art, and this finished page in particular says a few of those things. This page was actually worked on top of something I had already started - every now and again I find it worthwhile to look back through my journals and look for pages I haven't finished yet. I didn't have a whole lot of time tonight, so that was what I decided to do. I love the way that it turned out.

That leads me to my first point about art that I adore. Even when you're happy with the way your art looks on a consistent basis, when you think that you've developed a style, there's still more room to grow. The more you do, the more you work at it, the happier you start to become. At least, that's the way it has ended up working for me.

• The second thing that I find interesting about art is that, at least for me, the more that I do, the more ideas I seem to have. The words in this particular page illustrate this point. They read as follows. "In all my days, with all the things I've seen - there is nothing much more difficult than fixing a broken heart."
• As I was working on this page, the drips coming from the heart immediately started screaming to me that it was a broken heart. I didn't have a quote in mind, or any sort of phrase, but what I did know was that I wanted to incorporate a broken heart somehow. As I worked, and continued to build up the page, the words continued to jumble around in my brain, and eventually I managed to spit this out. It didn't come from anywhere except for my own brain, and I can imagine it coming from a wizened old man in a fairy-tale esque story. In fact, a character started to develop out of this page, and that was something I didn't intend to happen when I started it.
• The sharp contrast of the black with the bright colors is something that I love about this page, and I feel like it plays right in with the feeling of the page. Besides, it's just something that I generally enjoy. 

•  In both of the above photographs, you can see some black outlines of collage bits I cut out and glued down onto this page. I've been hoarding this scrap for a good long while now, but I've decided that I can't keep things just because I like them - that I need to start using them so that I can buy new things that I like even more. It was just a piece of copy paper that I painted a lot of doodly scribbles on with india ink, and I think it fits this page beautifully.
• Also in these photos, you can see a lot of the beautiful layering I was able to achieve with this page in particular. The color layered much better than I had even been expecting (I actually never painted the color purple onto the page, which can be seen in the first photo - the colors just mixed that way) and a lot of it I don't even remember doing, since some of it was already down when I got to this page.

• I want to finish off talking about this page with a close up of the heart itself and the drips that inspired the words. I created the heart with Prismacolor NuPastels, which I've talked about quite a bit recently as something I've been experimenting with and having a whole lot of fun. They're water-soluble, so they spread beautifully, and if you wet them enough when the page is tilted, they create beautiful, inspiring drips like these. 

That brings us to today's face I completed for 29 Faces. It's been a crazy journey, and this actually marks my 29th face. I've finished with a bit of time to spare, but I've definitely learned a lot these past 20 days. I've learned that I love painting faces, and I've awoken a love of watercolor that wasn't there before (as you can see in the sketchbook page shown above). 

After painting my ocean-inspired girl, I felt the need to give my watercolors another go. I also wanted to try out this sketchbook, which I typically use more for pencil sketches, but it has 98 lb paper. It warped a bit, but I think it's manageable, so I'll probably be doing more watercolor in this sketchbook in the future! Ultimately, I like the way this girl turned out. The coloring is perhaps a bit more brown overall than I typically tend to go for, but I'm certainly not opposed. It's definitely better than I could have done at the beginning of this month!

If I've learned anything, it's that painting people is definitely something I'm capable of if I put my mind to it, and that continuous practice is a good way to make significant improvement. Essentially that's what I plan to do this October with Inktober (as well as a top secret upcoming project that I'm super excited to share with all of you).

Thank you all for being with me through this month, I hope you've enjoyed viewing the work I've been sharing as much as I've loved creating it!

An Ocean Inspired Watercolor Face

Today's mixed media (but primarily watercolor) face is right up there with some of my favorite pieces I've done for the entire 29 Faces challenge. This is actually my 22nd face that I have completed, despite the fact that it's only the 17th of September (I'm a bit of an overachiever, if you haven't noticed), but I wanted to say that I probably will be continuing to create faces for the rest of the month, even after I hit 29. I've been having an extraordinary amount of fun with it, especially when I manage something that I love as much as this piece.

In the long run, I sort of wish that I had done this piece on a more legitimate surface, rather than a page in a composition notebook, and I don't think I'm going to give this girl any more of a background than she already has. However, I do like the lines peeking through in this piece, so in the end I suppose it all works out.

• This piece was done in a composition book art journal, as previously stated, but I did decide to prep the surface with a thin later of white acrylic paint that I scraped onto it with a palette knife. The pages were slightly shiny and I wanted /something/ for the watercolor to adhere to, rather than sitting on the surface or sinking into the paper. 
• As you can probably tell by the photographs, I incorporated a good bit of graphite into this piece. The entire idea for creating this face was to just play with watercolors. I didn't want to be too structured with it, but I didn't want to be too abstract either. I just wanted to have fun and try to curb some of the fear I have of watercolors. For the most part, I feel like I achieved that. 
• The colors of this piece are honestly one of my favorite parts. The color of her hair originally sprung from trying to incorporate some blue into the actual tones of her skin, but it just sat on top of the face and seemed like it could be shaped into a hairline. I went with it. 

•  Something you can also see in these photos was something I used on another of my favorite faces I've done, which is a gold marker by Studio G that I got at Michaels for something like $1.50. It writes smoothly on top of paint, and it adds a shine and highlight to the page that I utterly adore. Sometimes it just seems to be the perfect finishing touch.
• Almost contrasting yesterday's face (though I like today's a lot better), the blue of her hair made me feel as though she could represent water. That was why I decided to go with such a freeflowing neckline for her shirt, almost letting it fade into waves. 

In the long run, it's days like these that make me excited to do challenges like this one - if I paint enough faces, a few are going to stand out as my favorites!

Thank you all for visiting, and I hope you like this girl as much as I do.