Handmade Books

For the last couple of months I haven't posted anything because my creative interests took a turn into bookmaking! The above photo is the front and back cover of my own new sketchbook. It's done in oils on primed canvas fabric that I bound around some bookbinding cardboard.

Here's the book. I finished it yesterday, with the help of a tutorial by Sea Lemon.

I put the back cover on upside down. Haha! Good thing I wasn't charging myself much.

Here's a book I did for a friend.

And here's a small stack of my first 3 books.

I still have 2 more books in the works, to give as gifts, as well as trying to perfect my own personal Traveler's Journal.

Here's the Traveler's Journal. A friend made it for me several years ago. The outside was a plain cotton canvas which I had requested so that I could paint on the design. I'm now trying to decide what exactly to carry in it - calendar, to do list, sketchbook, etc.

I love planners, bullet journals, sketchbooks, scrapbooks, diaries, etc. and my interest in doing all of this comes from my desire to find that perfect balance for myself. I've been keeping a planner for probably about 10 years, and each year I've learned what works for me and what doesn't. I just decided that to have the perfect book for me, I was going to have to make it myself.

Also, all of the beautiful cover options and embellishments inside the books, open creative play in areas of sewing, embroidery, beading, paper making, marbling, and polymer clay! The sky's the limit!

Here's a small embroidery piece, for the interior of one of the books. I did it with the help of my best friend who has a subscription to Spellbinders and a lot of crafting equipment!

A couple of days ago I received a text from her asking me if I wanted to come play. WHAT?! Those are the greatest words to hear from your buddy no matter how old you are!

Granddaughters

I've finally been painting again! I started this one, last summer, before my desire to create nearly disappeared. I didn't take any progress photos until I got back to it a month or so ago. By the time I took this first photo (below), the acrylic underpainting was almost done. 

The next photo is the last of the acrylic underpainting, before I switched to oils. I switch to oils because they are my comfort zone. I have more experience getting them to do what I want. 

The image below is after working in oils for 2 sessions. Getting started on the hair was fun. When I first painted it, it was way too light, but it's easy enough to come back in and glaze more color over the top.

After the session in oils I had below, I was almost done, down to the tiny details. The one big change I made on the final day, was brightening up the light area of grass in the background. You can see in the top image that the final piece has a little more pop. 

By the way, the girls were a hot mess after their serene looking beauty shop session, with nail polish up their arms, legs, and on their clothes! They also polished the legs of a babydoll, who has mysteriously disappeared.

Personal Space - Meditation

PERSONAL SPACE

My thoughts as I try meditating for the first time:

I am taking a bubblebath on the moon.

It is an old-fashioned, clawfoot tub.

The bubbles . . . the bubbles are flying out of the tub!

Because there’s no gravity on the moon, right?!

Heck! The water is rising out of the tub.

I am flying up out of the tub!

It’s cold here. 

What was I thinking?

I am almost 240,000 miles from home.

If I try to get back, I will burn up on re-entry into earth’s atmosphere.

I am suddenly extremely lonely.

And, Oh my God!!! People have telescopes!

Strangers have seen me naked

Flying out of a bubblebath

On the moon.

A couple of weeks after practicing meditation.

I am taking a bubblebath on the moon.

It is a deep, old-fashioned tub.

The barely-there texture of the bubbles reaches my chin as I slip a bit further

Beneath the warm water.

There is a muffled silence as after a heavy snowfall.

The only sound, the delicate pop of bubbles as they burst, 

Releasing a hint of strawberry.

My responsibilities are a million miles away.

Nothing is expected of me during this bath.

My soul and my mind recline here together

In a bubblebath

On the moon.

 To see the two older versions of this piece, click below:

 http://tracyonoz.blogspot.com/2015/11/if-whimsical.html.

Baby Fox

I almost skipped this week because I've been working in oils, and oil paintings take me a Really. Long. Time. This little guy, however, has been a work in progress on my iPad for several weeks and I thought I'd just get him touched up and share him with the world. What an angel, huh?

I have one more thing to share:

I saw this amazing tree while riding in the car with my husband. He immediately pulled over, without being asked, and circled back, so I could get a photo. Is there any world in which this tree would not grab hold of the imagination?

Happy Wednesday!!!

Carousel Horse

I don't think I'm the only person who feels a sense of childhood awe while gazing upon a carousel.

The first two summers after my high school graduation, I worked for a concessionaire, traveling to various fairs and festivals in west-central Ohio, selling coney dogs, corn dogs, and cotton candy. It was hard work at times, but probably two of the best, and most memorable summers of my life.

Since then, I gravitate toward any books, movies, or pieces of art having to do with fairs and carnivals.

Working from a photo I took at King's Island, I did a large 28"x40" charcoal drawing for my senior show at UC. This piece, along with a couple other carnival images, has hung in my basement for many, many years, and as the years passed I became more itchy to attempt another of my do-overs.

Last summer I finally got to it. I still had the original photo I had taken at King's Island!

I wanted to try it in color, so I experimented with this little 5"x7" oil painting.

I also have a 24"x36" oil painting that I began last August. It has been sitting lonely and unfinished in my basement studio, but it was 2020 after all, and I feel grateful to have even finished the 5"x7".

A couple of weeks ago, I dropped a photo of the small piece into the Procreate app and began playing with it some more. I ended with the image at the top of the post. Using all of these attempts as a learning experience, I hope to have the large painting completed by the end of summer. Woohoo! Time to paint!

 

Your Invitation to the Moonlight Ball

The honor of your presence has been requested

at

The Moonlight Ball

Follow the flakes of silver that sway from tree branches.

Soft, pewter grass spreads over the path, waiting to caress you feet and shins.

Come barefoot.

You’ll hear crickets and frogs as they tune their instruments.

Tonight they are playing the classics.

An owl, with his subtle finesse, will announce your arrival.

At the edge of a pond you will see your hosts.

They’ve been expecting you. 

Would you care to dance?

MerMay 2021

Each spring, beneath a particular weeping willow, on the banks of the Marmar River, a curious bud emerges from the roots that dip closest to the water. On the first of May, that bud stretches as far out as it can, to catch the first, warm rays of the morning sun. As dew dries from its surface, the petals slowly open and . . . you have my contribution to this year's MerMay!

The idea started with a list of MerMay prompts, on Instagram, and the first word was FLOWER.

This is how rough my sketchbook can look when I'm brainstorming.

My first attempt at a blossom on the Procreate app:

I played around with multiple blossoms but preferred the simplicity of one lone blossom.

Then, I played with the background more, darkening it to look like it may actually be beneath a weeping willow, on the banks of the Marmar River.

 

I added a little more sparkle and a tiny hint of the little mermaid waiting to be born!

Now, back to the open blossom. My first attempt was from my imagination, and it was not good. You'll have to trust me. I deleted it. I cannot draw a well rendered flower from my head. I chose to use a photo of a petunia as reference, and here it is, in progress. 

 

I inserted the same background I had used on the bud and then, on to the scary part - drawing the baby mermaid. I was so sure I was going to mess this up! I pulled out my sketchbook and my real pencil 

and . . . nailed it (in my opinion) on the first try!!! Woohoo! This little sketch had energy!

I took a photo of it, dropped it over my blossom in Procreate, and colored it! And there you have it folks!

With an extra splash of water and a few more sparkles, my baby mermaid was born.

How to Dress in the Spring . . . in Ohio

Hi there! Welcome to spring in Ohio! My husband and I spent a day in Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago and this is how one of our granddaughters was dressed, before she ended up putting on a bathing suit to play in water from the garden hose! She soon ran to me, (I was wearing a light, winter jacket) so I could gather her up in my sun-warmed arms, where she chose to nap for about an hour.  Ahhhh bliss!

Here's a drawing I did in my sketchbook, a few days later, working from the photo I had taken.

I dropped the drawing into the Procreate app on my iPad, and gave it a light bit of color using a transparent airbrushed layer.  

I then got rid of the pencil sketch layer, and reworked it all digitally. I wish I had kept the image of what the airbrushed layer looked like by itself. I'll try to be more diligent about retaining my process.

Lastly, I put all that aside and did a more cartoonish drawing of the same image, using just my digital app.

I was almost there but not a fan of the face. I didn't think the cartoon resembled her very much. I went back to the drawing board, did a sketch with a REAL pencil, and in one quick attempt, was able to find what I was looking for. 

This sketch, I dropped over the top of the cartoon image, colored it up, and now have what you see at the top of the page.

It's funny, but I find it very difficult to work out new ideas or solve problems when I'm working digitally. I aways find that when I return to my graphite pencil or simple black ink pen, I'm able to think more clearly and I'm better at the planning stage of the creation.

Stop in next Wednesday for my contribution to Mermay! https://www.mermay.com/

Bleached Blossoms

Woohoo! This green paper really responded to the bleach brushed on it!

The image comes from a photo I took just a couple of weeks ago, when my crabapple tree was blossoming. Bless her, she's getting old. Nearly half of her branches have died and been removed, but she put on a glorious show for us this year. 

I'm sharing here the strips of colored paper on which I experimented. (The top color is the paper from the last post of my cat.) 

The first square on each strip is one coat of bleach. The second square is 2 coats of bleach. The third square is 2 coats of bleach with white colored pencil (pressed down firmly on the paper once it had dried). The last square is as light as I could make it using only colored pencil. 

The top strip is the only one that is actually drawing paper. The other colors were more or less good quality construction paper used for scrapbooking. I was so disappointed in the red! I had already seen how well the blue and green responded to the bleach, and was imagining the potential for a really nice Christmas drawing. That may yet work with a different quality paper. I'll have to do more experimenting.

Below are a few of the steps I took as I progressed across the page. 

Another thing I did (because I'm an artist, and have a license to do this) is outlined the leaves and blossoms with a black colored pencil. I liked the effect. The image did even more popping off the page. It's really a matter of style - to outline or not to outline.  

See you next Wednesday!

 

Using Bleach on Drawing Paper

 

Recently, I set a drawing challenge for myself. My sketchbooks are woefully blank, untouched canvases pile up here and there, and nice sheets of drawing paper collect dust. My challenge is simply to draw, on paper, every day. I've been puttering around on my iPad, starting many things, finishing none. I've been disconnecting with my inner artist. I feel I may be able to connect again with a simple pencil, a pen, and/or a paintbrush.

Below is where I began. It is done in my sketchbook with real pencils!!! For reference, I used a photo I had taken just a few weeks ago.

As I was working on shadows and highlights, I was reminded of a college assignment, where we were shown how to use bleach on colored paper. The bleach, brushed onto the paper, creates highlights that just pop off the page. Here's this golden oldie:

So, I put on some protective gear, and went down to my dark, and abandoned studio. Dodging bats and gigantic spiders, I found my stash of nice drawing papers. I blew off a cloud of dust, chose a color, and got to work. Below are a couple of the steps that led to the finished piece at the top. You can clearly see where I painted the bleach, and how nicely it strips away the color from the paper. The rest is done using Prismacolor pencils.

I have one more piece up my sleeve, using the bleaching technique. I'll share it with you next Wednesday. See you then! 

Oh, Those Tuscan Hills

This piece is mostly a digitally enhanced photo with a cat on top. It just seems so  . . .  zen. 

I took the photo in the hills of Tuscany, in 2013. Sometimes it seems like a dream that I was actually there.

Here's the untouched photo:

Below is my son standing at the bathroom window of the villa we stayed in. No screens here, folks! Just fresh Italian air and scenery pouring in, and maybe the occasional bird. If this wouldn't inspire you to eat more fiber, just to have the excuse to sit here more often, I don't know what would.

This last image is the first version I did. The cat is more cartoonish and the photo is more fiddled with. I just decided the photo really didn't need as much additional work, and maybe a realistic cat would enjoy the landscape more than a cartoon one.

Have a beautiful week! See you here next Wednesday!

Spring Cleaning . . . My Brain

 

Don't you just love how you feel when you've given your home, your space, or maybe just your junk drawer a good cleaning?

I've recently dusted ceiling fan blades, and tops of doorjambs. I've washed windows, hosed off screens, scrubbed the tub, and laundered winter blankets.

Now I can open my windows, and let the fresh air swoop in, bringing with it fresh dust and debris from the great outdoors! It's a never ending cycle, right?

Same with my brain.

On April 7, I started the Oprah/Chopra 21 day meditation challenge. Meditation is a wonderful way to start (or end, or pause in the middle of) the day, scrub out the old stuff and let the fresh air in. It takes practice. In fact that's all it is. A practice. Like cleaning your house, your brain is only going to fill back up with debris, but we can learn to acknowledge it, let it go, and move on. Move into and along with the present moment. 

As always, I'm looking for the artist within myself. What direction do I want my artwork to take? I think a lot of people, myself included, struggled with this last year. My blog has a whopping 6 posts in all of 2020, compared to 20 posts in 2019 and 45 in 2018! Time to get myself going again! Time to get myself unstuck.

Hope to see you back here next Wednesday! Have a great week!