Fairy Girl and Her Little Bird

I haven't been able to get into my studio for awhile. It's unusable temporarily, so I've not been able to paint in for what seems like forever. I miss my paintbrushes! But I felt like doing something creative this evening, so I decided to work in one of my small art journals.

I used my Jane Davenport Magic Wand Pencils for this. I love how smooth the colored pencils are. And of course, I always love creating some sort of Fairy Art. That's always fun. Just something quick to do while I have the energy and time to do it. One of the fun things about art journaling is that you don't have to obsess about anything, or worry about trying to make it perfect. There's not really any right or wrong with an art journal. It's just about doing what you feel like doing. 

I hope I'll get to use my studio again soon though. I'm kind of going through paint withdrawals. In the meantime, I'll keep doing some art journaling here and there until I can use my studio again.

Believe in Your Own Magic Mixed Media Girl Fairy

I can't tell you how glad I was to be able to get into my studio two weekends in a row for a change! My weeks are still busy with grad school and hanging out with the grands, so I can't always get into the studio during the week. But getting in on the weekend will do!

I wasn't sure what I was going to create, but I was in a Mixed Media mood. So the first thing I did was to cover my 12" canvas with some different scrapbook papers and some printed tissue paper as well. I like to use at least 3-4 different papers when I do this, and I use matte medium to adhere the paper to the canvas.

At this point, I decided I would do a Mixed Media Girl, so I whipped out my drawing pad and started drawing. I keep my drawings fairly simple, since I'll add all the important details with paint. Once I was happy with the drawing, I used transfer paper to transfer my drawing to my canvas.

Once I get the face on the background, I brush over it with Clear Gesso. This helps to give me a good surface to paint on, and it helps keep my drawing in place and prevents smearing while I paint. It can smear a little bit during the gesso process, but that doesn't bother me. It's not really enough to worry about it. Once my drawing is gesso'd, I'm ready for the fun part: painting!

I tend to use the colors of the background papers as inspiration for my painting's color palette. I don't think you *have* to do that, but that's just generally what I do. So this Mixed Media Girl, who became a fairy (as I am wont to do), took her color cues from the background. Some pinks and greens mostly, with black and white accents. And this is the end result.

I'm pleased with how this fairy came out. I added the text digitally, because sometimes that's just easier than painting. I really thought the painting needed some words or something. And as it says...

Believe in your own magic!

Trumpet Flower Fairy

As I was out in the garden watering this morning I saw that my Trumpet Flowers were still open. They open up at night time and they are often closed by the time I'm out watering. But it was quite cool over night so they must have been responding to the cooler weather. So I decided to snap a few photos while I was out there.

I took these pics with my iPhone. The pics are always better on my digital camera, but I thought these came out pretty well. I got as close as I could to these flowers, which are quite large.

There is something really beautiful about trumpet flowers. I love how the petals curl up at the ends.

Every once in awhile it's nice to see a black and white photo too.

For this one I think I spy a friendly little fairy visitor enjoying the trumpet flowers as well. ;)

Lilacs Fairy Dance

Well since my granddaughter and I attended the local Lilac Festival today, I was in the mood for Lilacs. So I created this digital art from a photo I took of my Lilacs. Nothing like a little fairy dance to bring some magic to May. 

Hoping to get into my studio tomorrow to have some messy creative fun, but in the mean time, a little digital art is always fun too. :)

(Fairy girl image by sussieM Designs)

May Flowers

Since it finally stopped raining, I decided to take a walk around outside in my yard today. It was a perfect Spring day. Sunny skies, upper sixties, and a gentle little breeze blowing too. I loved it. I was inspired to to do some photography today too, so I thought I'd share my pictures with you.

April Showers really do bring May flowers. And I'm so glad. :)

Blue Fairy Art Journal Spread

It was a beautiful Spring day yesterday and I spent it painting in my studio with a cool breeze blowing in on me. It was wonderful! Spring truly is my favorite season of the year. And as I was in the studio, a fairy came to life in my art journal.

I used another technique from Jane Davenport's book, Beautiful Faces, this time using Gelatos to scribble in colors on the face and then blend it with gesso for a more painterly effect. I did the background with a stencil, and some sprays from Dyan Reavely. I also stamped on a few flowers too. 

Notice that I did blue hair this time, instead of pink! :) It was a wonderful, creative day!

I Do Believe in Fairies

I'm sure it's fairly clear by now that I love taking pictures of my granddaughter. I also have a thing for fairies. And it must be equally clear that I'm rather obsessed with digital photos and digital art right now. So please forgive me if I post another digital image creation of my granddaughter. Or should I say, the fairy who looks just like her...

I absolutely love how this turned out.  My husband even requested a printed version of it. Believe me, THAT is a compliment. And somehow I think there are more fairy photos in my future. ;)

Sparkle Fairy

I have always been fascinated in the world of fairies. What's not to love about the idea of small, winged, fantasy creatures that live among us without us ever seeing them? A little bit of fantasy and escapism is good for the soul, and for me, it's often a source of great inspiration.

This is an oil painting I call the Sparkle Fairy. I had never painted a fairy before, as I primarily draw or sketch them. This particular fairy entered my consciousness and held me captive until I put her on canvas. Not a bad first effort as a fairy painting goes, though there's always room for improvement.