Check This Out!!! Artist Michael Shapcott....Drawing A Drawing 365

I think I'm on a roll today for posting to my blog!  Another artist who inspires me is Michael Shapcott.  I've posted about him on my facebook page, but I don't think I have here on my blog.  There are no words to describe his portrait art for me.  It's that good.  Looking at his portrait paintings stirs up emotion in me every time.  He has a unique way of capturing the human spirit.  It's all in the eyes!

Anyway, he's trying to fund a project, which I just pledged a small amount to help support.  Here is the information if you wish to find out more!



And here is another video of him painting

And finally...you can learn more about Michael Shapcott and see more of his art here on his BLOG. Check it out, his work is beautiful, his blog is full of great stuff! You won't be disappointed!

Great Video on Creating Backgrounds for your Paintings...

I stayed up late last night, searching for youtube videos that sparked my interest, and I have another 2 videos here to share with you.  I often get questions about how I do my backgrounds, and as I haven't had a chance or time to do a video tutorial of my own, these videos, and the background technique that she shows is very similar to how I usually start my paintings and art journal pages.  There are a lot of ways to create a background, but this is a great representation of how to start! These videos were provided by Michael's Craft Store and the artist is Kathy Kromer...



I really like how she explains hiding the edges of the paper, and how to use darker colors to make things "receed" and lighter colors to make things "pop".  I have never used alcohol inks in my paintings either, so that's something new I learned from her and will have to give it a try soon!

I can't remember if she mentioned this or not, but something that's really important for me when building layers is to use more transparent mediums so that parts of your layers show through one another.  Some of my favorite supplies for doing this is Golden Fluid acrylics, Tim Holtz distress inks, and Golden Glaze Medium for using with my more heavy bodied acrylics.  I almost forgot about my InkTense colored pencils...they are a watercolor pencil that turns permanent once dry.  They are a great alternative/addition to using fluid acrylics if you don't have them.  You can also use any watercolor pencil or crayon, and instead of using water with them, just dip your brush in a glaze medium to spread the color and it will dry permanent...

That's it for now I guess.  My head is swimming with ideas at the moment, so I can't sit still any longer!  Hope you enjoy these videos, there is a lot to learn from them!

Love this Video!

I really wanted to share this video with all of you, as I'm finding I'm inspired more and more by watching how other artist's paint.  This is a beautiful mixed media piece and I just LOVE watching it all come together.  It's absolutely amazing and gorgeous! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

This is done by an Italian artist by the name of Agnes Cecile (hope I got that right!) You can see more of her art and learn more about the artist here at her SHOP.



I just subscribed to her Youtube channel as well.  She has 15 different speed painting videos similar to this one.  I can't wait to watch them all!

Have a great weekend everyone!  It's Spring Break for us, so I may not post much over the next week, as I'll be running around with the kiddos!

Job Shadowers

Yesterday was Job Shadow day at my daughters Jr. High School. She couldn't find a professional singer to shadow, so she wanted to shadow me as a "professional artist"...kind of funny, I don't come anywhere near making enough money to call myself a "professional" artist, but I went with it anyway. We had a good time with an artist friend of mine and her two daughters.
These are pictures of them working on their art projects together...the first project was a chalk drawing on black construction paper, then washed with a black acrylic/water mix. The line drawing itself is done with Elmer's glue, so that when the glue is dry the black paper shows through and the chalk won't stick to those parts...the wash just gives the art an antiqued feel.

The second project was really cool. My friend had 3 really long cardboard tubes that her canvas fabric came on (like a really long and sturdy toilet paper roll). They researched some design ideas and painted them like those Australian didgeridoo things. They didn't have time to finish those, but they were well on their way, and they looked fabulous!

All in all, we had a great time together!  I still can't believe my "baby" is old enough to be thinking about careers all ready.  Yikes...seems like just yesterday she was babbling away with her cute little baby talk, lol...Fun Times!

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Winner Winner Chicken Dinner...Yay!

Not too long ago I ran across this Craft Tutorial Exchange Offer Giveaway at Modahaus.Com. Yesterday I was notified that I was one of 6 chosen winners!  I'm so excited! Modahaus, in conjunction with Totally Tutorials chose 6 winners to receive one of the Modahaus Steady Stands in exchange for an arts and/or craft tutorial produced using their product.  The steady stand is a unique photography accessory designed especially for those who use a small point and shoot camera and/or smartphone to photograph their images.

Taking pictures of my art and jewelry is an area that I need major help and improvement in, so this is a perfect opportunity to try something new and learn more about how to photograph my creations so they look more professional.


I will be creating a tutorial teaching a variety of techniques that you can use to create your own Domino Pendants! I'm really looking forward to this and will let you know when the tutorial is complete!

Help me name this painting!

I finally finished this painting inspired by Jesse Reno. Actually, it doesn't
really look anything like his paintings, but the process I used was inspired by watching his painting process. I'm really happy with the end result, but I'm stuck on what to name it? The only thing that comes to mind is something like "Cityscape" or "City Life", but neither of those names knock my socks off. I'd love to hear your ideas if your willing to throw them out there!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Something new I have been working on...

Inspired by Jesse Reno's layered style, this painting is beginning to take shape! The process is taking me longer than usual, the reason being...once I have a layer that looks sort of decent...I have a hard time letting it go and seeing something different. If you have watched the video of Jesse's painting process, you'll understand what I am talking about...take a look at the video in this post...



I'm having a hard time with trying to post with this blogging app on my iPad...I'm not sure that link will show once I post this. In fact I'm not even sure this post will be there on my blog once I post it because the last one I tried to post from this app showed up on my Facebook page but then disappeared from my blog... So while I'm sharing this work in progress...I'm also experimenting with this app.

Do any of you blog with an iPad? If so...any tips you can throw my way?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I am honored to be the Featured Artist for March!

Stacie from  Stacie's Jewelry Blog has featured me on her blog as her artist for the month of March!  If you are interested in reading the interview and checking out Stacie's blog you can see it here:

stacie's jewelry: Artist of the Month - Kristen Watts

Have a great day everyone, and try and find a few moments to be creative in whatever way you can!  It's good for the soul!