One Hundred Faces

About a week ago I started the One Hundred Faces challenge after seeing so many amazing pictures on instagram posted by people already doing the challenge. 

It was originally started by Sharon Tomlinson on her blog allnorahsart.blogspot.com back in Feb 2014. There are no rules or time restrictions except the ones you set yourself (one lady is painting on tea bags). Sharon started painting her on pieces of paper 1.5x1.25 inches, but I think used a variety of sizes in the end, they are amazing.  Sharon has finished all her 100 faces and along the way she has motivated/inspired many people to join her. 

So I would higher recommend checking out the 'one hundred faces' group on Facebook and #onehundredfaces on instagram.  Here are my first two faces in charcoal (paper is 4.5x6 inches) 

Then I thought I would paint some and eventually moved to A4 canvas board.  So only 94 more to go, no problem!

The In-Breath

Still in the excited phase of my relationship with my new Winsor and Newton Antique White Oilbar.  I used him to paint my girl and her dress, he's just so perfect, so versatile.  I'm beginning to feel a need for his brothers Paynes Grey and Raw Umber. I think I'll be happy with just the three colours because acrylics blend so well with them. But then again I never say never when it comes to art supplies.

I used gesso and acrylics on the background, layered using my paint brush, fingers and palette knife. Her hair was applied with my palette knife and the finishing touches were added using inktense pencils for the finer details.

Really pleased with how she turned out, love the serene look on her face.

Wishing you all a Fantastic Friday x x x

Children's Board Book

I bought a second hand children's board book from my local charity shop for only 99p.  I had to sit and pick the glossy film off of each of the pages (which in it's self was quite therapeutic) and gesso over the rough cardboard before I could begin painting.

It's only 6x6 inches, the perfect size to paint little quirky faces in, to play and experiment in. I don't think any of them took much more than half on hour to paint, but it's just enough to feed my painting addiction on those days when I don't have time to really indulge.

And here are some more pages, as you can probably tell I'm a big fan of Mindy Lacefield and my palette knife.

For the last 2 pages I was so excited about getting my new Winsor & Newton Antique White Oilbar that I didn't even gesso the cardboard before smearing acrylics and oilbar into them with my finger, resulting in a very rough finish and me being totally in love with my oilbar. It's sooooo thick and creamy and acrylics blend beautifully with it 

I still have 4 pages and the front/back to paint, who knew board books had so many pages?  I love my little board book and had already started a new one which is 7.5x8.5 inches, but there is just something about this size that I really love.  So I guess that means another trip to the charity shop, Wishing you all a wonderful day x x x

My Little Star

I painted this for my youngest daughter Holly, who's 12 years old.  Unfortunately Holly developed Crohns Disease 2 years ago and as yet they haven't found the right medication to put the Crohns into remission.  But the good news is that she is starting a new treatment next week which we are all very hopeful for.  Out of my three children, she is the one who has always been the most fearful, she cannot stand any kind of pain, has a real fear of needles and is just very very sensitive.  So you can imagine for her, more than for most people, having Crohns is really scarey and all the tests/procedures that come with it are well outside her comfort zone.

So that is why I was inspired to paint this for her because I think Holly is just so brave, she always trying to put on a happy face and she really is my little star.

I draw my characters outline with my PITT Charcoal Pencil and then for the night sky I used Americana's Deep Midnight Blue.  Once the paint was dry I rubbed in some gesso with my finger.  I was trying to achieve very wispy clouds that had a real translucence to them and I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.  Then using a fine brush I added dots and crosses for the twinkly stars.

For the star shape I just used a buttercup acrylic, gesso and then outlines the whole shape with my charcoal eencil.  I wanted it to look very plan, like a piece of painted cardboard a child could just push their face through. 

Her face was painted with antique white with buttercup and midnight blue for tones.  The feature were all drawn back in with my charcoal pencil and I then used my white paint pen to add highlights to her eyes making them sparkle.

Sorry I didn't take any more photos, I was having so much fun painting her I forgo,t oops.  Her body was painted with paynes grey, then gesso and then some more paynes grey on top.  I used my trusty White Sharpie Paint Pen for the writing.

I was really pleased with how she turned out and Holly loves her.

Wishing you all a fantastic weekend

Julie x

Sweet Dreams

 Hi Everyone,

I hope your having a great day and have or will manage to make a little you time in your day.  My art is what keeps me sane, a time to relax, escape from the madness called life and gently unwind while I listen to my heart.  Of course sometimes I can't hear a word my heart says because the voices in my head are so loud, but a little time with paint on my fingers does wonders for keeping them quiet.

Any hoo, I am a great fan of Juliette Crane's art, especially her beautiful owls and when I saw her dreams owls for the first time I was just so inspired.  So I wanted to have a go at painting a dream bunny and here she is

Queen of Her Own Destiny

I would like to introduce you to Maribel (she whispered her name softly to me as I painted her).  She was just so easy to paint, which is more than can be said about some of the characters that end up on my paper, the naughty step is the only place for them sometimes.

But not Maribel, she is such a gentle and wise soul.  I have her framed sits quietly on the edge of my desk, she gazing at me with such kind, understanding eyes that pass no judgment over me.  So you can understand why I love her company.

She silently reminds me that I am the Queen of my own destiny, that I have to trust myself and the journey I am taking.  That I must be brave and lead the way, for nobody can take this journey for me.

Whimsy Bear

Hi everyone, 

Welcome to my very first blog post on 'A Drop of Whimsy'.  I hope you will join me on my journey into mixed media and life, with all the challenges that they both bring.  I am feeling equally excited and nervous about taking this step outside my comfort zone, but I've got my big girl pants own so I'll be okay.  

If you have any questions or comments about art or life, please add below and I shall do my best to answer.

I started by drawing this little guy out using my PITT Charcoal Pencil.

I had great fun painting the background with my Americana Acrylics, but then I usually do.  When I first started painting back in March this year I was really not comfortable painting backgrounds, in fact it's safe to say I hated that part of the painting process.  I use to worry about what colour combination to use, what paint effects to try and most of all I worried about getting it wrong.  It got to the point that I would either sit staring at my paper in a state on anxiety, walk away or just avoid my desk altogether.  The only cure for me was to just push through that anxiety and paint, paint, paint.  I painted lots of  mud, but managed to produce just enough okay pieces that I didn't lose complete interest.

I can honestly say I love painting backgrounds now.  I love playing and experimenting with colours, textures and patterns, it's amazing the difference practice makes.  Now I know if I don't like something I can just paint over it, but there are still sometimes when I still get anxious over a painting and have to walk away from them.  But me and my art are still a work in progress.

I gesso'd over the background with my brayer to mute the colours down and I then finger painted my bear with more gesso and acrylics.  This is what I call the butt ugly or teenage stage and is probably the stage I am most likely to walk away from when things are really not going well.  But with this little guy I was so busy sqawking along with One Republic that I didn't really pause.  I apologies to my neighbours if they are reading this, I'm sure they will agree that although I lack skill in the singing department, I sure make up for it with enthusiasm.

I then added some rosie cheeks, charcoaled in his eyes and outline before using my white sharpie marker pen to add a little glint to his eyes.  For the last touch I re-added some yellow with my finger before charcoaling the flower outlines to finish.

I'm really pleased with how he turned out, love his expression.

Love
Julie