Catching up again

I really can't believe how fast time goes by - it certainly doesn't seem like three and a half weeks since my last post. Partly, I suppose, it's because work has been busy - four full days per week and then on my day off I have to do shopping (to get a discount) and clean (because my cleaner has hurt her knee, and is out of action). That means that I am behind with all my challenges and my paid classes, so I have not had much to post about.

Anyway last week, I finished the bulk of the books for the new library I have been working on and managed to complete a couple of challenges plus what was a big lesson for Let's Face It 2017. So here I am catching up with posting my work.

Mission Inspiration - January 2017

I got this challenge in by the skin of my teeth, using the revamped list of steps. I still don't really like the rigidity of following steps like this, but I do like the colour suggestions and the words to use.

Personally... I think my page is very ordinary, but I followed all eight steps, so that means, mission accomplished!

Journal 52 Week 6 - Dream

I got the inspiration for this on Pinterest where I collect possible backgrounds, but this was really dreamy and I thought I could use some daubers to make the marks. It uses white, pink, purple, orange & turquoise paint with a hint of gold round the edges.

Journal 52 Week 1 - Portal

I had leftover paint from the dream page, so with the addition of black to make the purple darker, I made this page to signify a portal or doorway. The inspiration came from a photo of a nebula which I also found on Pinterest.

Both of these pages were really quick and easy to make in my 9 x 5 Dylusions journal and gave me a little pick-me-up to get started on the big lesson from Juna Biagioni on Let's Face It 2017.

Let's Face It Week 5 - Lynda King / Colour Me Positive Week 4 - How We Treat Others

I'm doing my LFI ain the same order that I completed them - that is, I did the week 5 lesson before I did week 4. I also used this panting for week 4 of CMP because of the lovely light in her eyes.

Lynda's lesson was about using watercolour pencils with mediums other than water to activate them. It was a very interesting lesson and is a technique I will use again.

Let's Face It Week 4 - Juna Biagioni

We are still looking at values and how we can use different values of a colour to highlight or shadow.

Juna's lesson used just three shades - light medium and dark - to get the image on the page. We spent time refining then glazed the portrait before adding subtle colour with oil sticks or soft oil crayons.

This was a complex lesson with lots of videos to watch, however, I think I chose the wrong photo to copy - there was not much contrast between light and dark. I also made her mouth too small and her hair a bit too boofy. 

The reference photo was altered to show the areas of light & dark. My portrait above is before any glazing or colour was added. It was done using just the three shades of colour.

The portrait below is the finished version with blue glaze added to the background, magenta to the face and a mix of magenta & yellow to the hair. I followed up with soft wax crayons, toning down the face and trying to emphasise the lighter areas. I also gave her lips, hair and eyes more colour

Lots of interesting techniques learned in this lesson and especially, the use of glazes. While I may not be really happy about my work, I am loving all the new things I am learning - I just need to find time to practise, practise, practise.

Thanks a lot for visiting, leave a comment if you want, and I'll see you in "blogland" sometime soon. Cheers.