30 Day Art Challenge - the catch up post

So, I have been lax about keeping up with my blog.  I have kept up with my challenge, but not the blog itself.  This cold has really sucker punched me.

But this has given me a chance to really think about what this blog is supposed to be.  I started it without a clear vision of what it can and should be.   I have a lot of things on my mind, and I have a lot on my plate, so I need to take some time to focus on one thing at a time.

So this blog is going to be the home for my art.  For inspirations, for tutorials (as much as I can), for inspirations from other artists.  I have seen so many amazing things across the web, that I want to focus my efforts on this one front.  (Other things may come at a later time, but for now, I have just a few hours in my week that are free...  )

For the next several days, I have my art challenge to complete. 

 30 Day Art Challenge

1. Flight 
2. Dreams or Dreamscape 
3. Darkness 
4. Character 
5. Love 
6. Motherhood 
7. Nature 
8. Movement 
9. Astrology 
10. Harmony 
11. Technology 
12. Lightness 
13. Water 
14. Sweet 
15. Out of Time 
16. Reflections 
17. Purity 
18. Solitude 
19. Freedom 
20. Joy 
21. Mystery 
22. Childhood
23. Fantasy 
24. Companion 
25. Abstract 
26. Modern 
27. Wish 
28. Happiness 
29. Comfort 
30. Self 

Wow. I did fall behind, didn't I?  Well, without further ado, here are the missing days and a bit of info on each.

Day 6 - Motherhood.

Motherhood, Soft Pastels on Paper.

When trying to figure out how to represent the idea of motherhood in art, I wanted to keep it universal and graphic.  I didn't want to represent just one aspect of motherhood or seem to limit my subject by color or nationality.  Motherhood is universal and as such deserves a universal symbol.

This is based on a clip art idea that i had seen ages ago.  I used black paper so that the colors would really be bold.  I tend to either use a ton of color, or go stark with all black or white.  I chose soft pastels because they can be so vivid and bright, and because they blend so seamlessly.

To get the framed effect, I played with the masking tape on the paper, adding a second layer to protect the sheet underneath from smudges.

Next we have to move on to Day 7, Nature.

Nature, Mixed Media

This piece nearly killed me.  I had this idea to do a water color turtle which I really, really love, and I wanted to do it under water with these big splashes of watercolor in blues and teals and greens.

My turtle became a lesson in "Have the right materials for the job".  While I can do fine work with my one little watercolor brush (which frankly is the sketching brush that came with my pallet), I really needed a large brush designed specifically for watercolor in order to achieve the look I had envisioned in my mind.  I absolutely hated it.  But I still loved the turtle..

So I decided to try to save it by coloring the background.  Again, right material for the job would have helped me enormously here.  Having some really awesome art markers or even a decent sharpie might have saved me the aggravation.  Instead I used pastels (because my supply chest is rather limited at the moment).  Instead of the vibrant water I had in my head, it looked muddy, like he was swimming in a swamp drawn my my seven year old.  

Of course, I still loved my turtle, and I had spent so much time getting that shell just right.  I absolutely refused to abandon it.  

Enter my chest of jewelry making supplies, some adhesive and a piece of black paper.  I believe that I saved it enough that I can once again be proud of the piece.  I do need to trim the edges a bit more (one of my lovely children has broken my decent scissors, so I was forced to use safety scissors on thick watercolor paper.  Once again, have the right materials for the job.)

Moving on.. 

Day 8 - Movement.

Movement Soft Pastels on Paper

This is not my best.  There are several things that I would change if I could.  At this point I believe that the cold was winning and all I wanted to do was sleep.

I like the concept though, and I really love the hand reaching out from under the sand on the top of the hour glass. 

I may redo this one at some point and take a lot more time with it.

This brings me to Day 9, Astrology

Astrology, Watercolor, Colored Pencils and Acrylics on Paper

There are a number of things that I liked on this piece.  I love the way her complexion came out using the watercolors.  This is the first time I have really tried to use the watercolors to paint a person.  I think I need some more practice, but I plan to try this again.

I love the background too, but I think I am way too afraid of using black to convey a universe theme.  I need to play with that idea more so that I can get the right balance.

And finally, Day 10 Harmony

Harmony, Colored Pencils on Paper

This is one of my favorite pieces.  I took the theme of Harmony and decided that I would play it two ways.  The first is obvious, a violin (harmony, music -duh!)  The second is the idea of colors in harmony with one another in circles (which are very harmonious shapes!).  (Perfect circles in my mind, but not in practice - hey! I only have 45 minutes or so for each piece).

I used shades of blue and violet for the body of the instrument, greens for the neck and strings, and reds and corals for the background.  There are no lines in this image.  The shape comes from the color groupings alone.  I love this idea.

I shaded each circle to give it a more dimensional effect.  Given more time, I might have made the circles smaller (and more perfect - because perfectionist).  I would also have burnished them to give them that velvety smooth sheen that colored pencil drawings often have.  I think having that difference in texture between the paper with no color and the bright circles with their burnished sheen would take this piece that one step further.  I am definitely going to try this style again.  I really really enjoyed this.

That's it - all caught up. 

Tomorrow, Technology.

Oh boy.  That one is going to be tough.