Artfest 2011 Part I

Artfest 2011 happened the week of April 6 - 10 this year out at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, WA. Imagine an old military base, 500 creative people and nothing but time to play with paint, clay, wood, wire, fibers and just about any other medium you can imagine. Ahhh! This is what I was meant for!

New Beginnings 5x7 Matted Print on Etsy

I spent Friday and Saturday learning to draw and paint pretty girl faces with Sunny Carvalho. If you aren't familiar with her work she does absolutely phenomenal eyes which is what originally drew me to her beautiful paintings.

Kell Belle Studio Original Drawing

I was amazed at how much my drawings could change with only a few minor changes to what I was already doing plus I learned a few other nifty tricks with the facial features that I will continue to incorporate into my work.

Kell Belle Studio Pretty Girl Original Drawing

Who would have thought that whimsical was only a matter of changing a few lines? Haha! I can't help but smile every time I look at this little girl. I want to thank Sunny for her generosity in sharing her knowledge with us at Artfest. She truly made my experience special not to mention fun, and informative.

Fear of Mixed Media Painting

Is there a such thing as a painting phobia? What would the fear of mixed media painting be called? Artistaphobia? Painterphobia? Whatever it's called I'm positively, steadfastly gripped by it! The side effects of said disorder include severe procrastination and justification of sitting like a lump watching others create under the pretense that I am "observing for learning purposes." Who am I kidding? It's certainly not my aware self. It hears my pleas yet chooses to remain passive.

shading exercise in graphite - where's the paint!!

Just how deep does the rabbit hole go? I'm afraid I'll never know the answer to that question because so far, I haven't landed anywhere. The fall just seems to go on with no end in sight. How do I stop? Where's the magical "release your phobia" potion or did I miss it on my way in? Come on awareness! Where's my 12-step program to releasing fear? I guess I could start by making a list of the pros and cons of remaining in my current state. Yes! Good idea, I think I'll start with that.

The Art of the Mermaid

Pretty mermaid art begins with a pretty face. I have spent hours drawing faces and have discovered an emerging style that is quite uniquely mine. My mermaids all want to have big, almond shaped eyes, little button noses, full, pouty lips and flowing, art nouveau hair.

After drawing this first girl, inspiration has struck and my mermaid muse now has a name. She is called Coraline, named after the vibrantly colored great barrier reefs of the South Pacific. In dreams she whispers to me, great tales of her travels to Atlantis. So that is what this painting will be about.

These girls will make perfect mermaids. They have a little mystery to their look that is part of their charm. It is that mystery that will hypnotize you into staying awhile. Once you've been hypnotized by a mermaid, a little bit of your soul becomes forever mermaid. It means you have been invited to share their world and you may visit as often as you wish.

How Do I Feel About Drawing the Human Face?

Drawing the human face is something I struggled with during my adolescence. I enjoyed drawing faces of pretty girls and turing them into princesses as a child but it became my belief that if I was going to draw faces and figures as a serious artist they had to look realistic. One of the journal prompts given to us in Suzi Blu's La Serina Mermaid tutorial was this: How do I feel about drawing?

first face drawing on a grid

What was revealed to me in my writing was why I gave up drawing the human face in the first place. At the time, because I couldn't get it right, I imposed a self created belief that went something like this: I can't draw the human form realistically so I give up. I'm just not going to try to draw them anymore. Did you get that? -A self created belief! WOW! That was an eye opener.

2nd drawing with higher nose placement

Perhaps what I didn't understand then was that they don't have to look realistic as long as the proportions were correct.  Shouldn't that have been in the book I was using to study from back then? I think I was so hell bent on realistic that I must have missed that message entirely. Just like so many things in life, we don't hear the message until we're ready for it.

3rd drawing - narrowed eye width

Suzi Blu, Kelly Rae Roberts, and Gritty Jane have made it okay for me to draw pretty faces that don't look photo realistic and use them in my art. The message finally got through and Suzi Blu delivered it in exactly the way I needed to hear it.

eyes only - getting them both the same shape

What you see here are exercises in learning. There are differences in how I approached each face from the standpoint of layout. Those small, subtle changes have made the difference in every face. I am excited about drawing pretty faces again and I'm excited about combining mixed media painting with my paper art.