Zetti Style!

This is a postcard I made, attempting "Zetti" style.
The words in the background are more or less descriptive words that represent what makes something zetti-style. There are a lot of different things, but I embraced the idea of using different body parts, and the black and white elements! It was my first try, I liked doing it I may try more in the future :D

Sketch a day challenge.

I challenged myself to do a drawing a day! I encourage you to do the same, it's amazing how in a few days you become used to it, it feels natural and with practice, you improve greatly. It only takes making it a habit. Here are my sketches for the last few days.

Day one. Pen

Day two, pen and watercolor

Day three, all pen. (these are ATCs I am trading in my art group, the theme is hometown and these little baby cows are representing Wisconsin for me :))

Day 4. Ebony pencil, pen and watercolor

An easy day.

We have had a difficult couple of years. They have been trying, they have been stressful. Rarely a worriless day comes, but when they do, we cherish every carefree second.
A few days ago, we decided to get out of the house, the weather was nice, we had a few gift cards and freebies to use around town, it was Saturday, lets do it! So we went and had a few slices of pizza, a beer, some ice cream, we let Greyson enjoy the ducks and the Union, there were tons of people out for Maxwell Street Days, we bought him a very small Djembe that I am happy to say he is thoroughly enjoying, I bought a handmade journal, the paper smells like tea, it's not great for drawing but I don't care. We barely spent any money but it felt so enjoyable and freeing. Being under constant financial stress, along with health issues and adjusting to parenthood ...the last few years... it's rare to feel freedom. This little, simple day made me happier than I can express. I hope for many simple, happy days to come.

Some of my favorite moments...

Boy likes Thai

Greyson, since he has been old enough to eat, like, really eat, not spoon fed pureed fruit eat, has loved every thai dish I have put in front of him. Doesn't matter if it is spicy, sour, sweet, bitter, whatever, he loves it. He especially loves squash curry (my favorite also) and that is the only dish I can give him absolutely full of vegetables that he will eat all of. Half the squash cooks down and becomes one with the red curry sauce anyway, so he'd be getting veggies no matter what. I love it when he eats something I've made and exclaims it to be "manishous" Tonight I got a mmm nommy this is good I like it. I even got him to say "I like it da pad thai" which I thought was the best compliment ever. And he slurps noodles adorably. I bet his taste for thai goes all the way back to my pregnancy, during which I had many, many curries and noodles. I need to go buy a couple of cookbooks and expand my thai food knowledge so that I can give him more variety. Anyway, here are a couple pictures of him eating, adorably.

Work in progress

This is what I've been working on today. I am constantly inspired by people in the art groups that I belong to, it is amazing what you learn, and how you are inspired when you are in a community of drastically differently creative people. Even if something doesn't directly translate into your style, or your want of doing things, it can often spark an idea that you would not have had normally. Anyway. I took on a few projects today, things haven't been totally working for me, I did a few random magazine transfers last night without anything really in mind for them. I used some paper from Grey's newsprint pad, he uses it sometimes, I use it sometimes, this particular page was tore in half, had been used for a table protector, had been colored on with markers, crayons, pastels, pen, color pencils, it had spray inks and paints on it, it was a mess. I took an image for each page and put them down, then I fell asleep. So I thought it might be a ruined because of the thin, brittle paper, but they came off pretty easily. I've taken pictures of the projects progress all day and I will probably do so until it is finished, it is not now. I used some happy mail items for this one too, so that is really special and fun. I don't know why I like floating heads so much but.. anyway, where it is! (I was going for "college" here)

The one I used is on the right

I added another image, collaged on the "ghost" of the transfer, so essentially what you are seeing is one side of her face, mirrored

I will update again when I am finished! I hope you like watching the transformation as much as I look showing it.

"Night" Postcard

I made this postcard for a swap in my group, the theme was "partners choice" and my partner chose night as the theme for the postcard I made her. I did a search on pinterest and I found the art that inspired this, I couldn't tell you who it was, I didn't even open the pin I just looked at the whole board. It was in an interesting style and I made it pretty similar, luckily it's just for a swap so no big deal. I used some Tim Holtz distress ink, from a pad, I stamped the pad itself all over the paper, and since it is water soluble I just used my water brush and added water to spread the color, I love this color! A really sweet girl in my group sent me a bunch of new supplies to play with and these ink pads were part of that package, After painting with the ink, I used a Posca pen to draw the moon outline, and from there on out I used only pen, black, white and blue. I love the neon blue from the gelly roll "moonlight" pack, I've used it almost completely its got like half an inch of ink left! Oh and a little pink for the cheeks....

Anyway, here is the end product! Hope you like it.

Image transfer projects

These are a few image transfer pieces I've done! Some of them will show you the process

this was my first ever image transfer

I painted her hair and I hated it. If you know me you know.. I hate throwing things out sooo

I painted over her face, and I did another image transfer on top, inked in the lines

this was the end result. Not bad right?

Two Transfers

I thought this one was boring, she spent a long time on my desk awaiting her fate.

And this is how she ended up

this one didn't come out well at all.

this was a transfer, the left is the image that I used to do the transfer, it remained intact mostly, which was seriously weird, so I glued it on to a new piece of paper