Daily "Arting"...

Daily Arting is about taking time to nurture your creative self everyday. Arting is about playing with your supplies. It's about not thinking too hard, being generous with yourself and letting go of expectations. Arting is about expressing yourself regardless of the aesthetics. Arting is all about the journey.
Julie-Fei-Fan Balzer
Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine
May/June 2012 Issue

This quote is from an article in my newest issue of Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine If I had been asked what my thinking behind the name "Art Play Today" was, this quote says it all. I only wish I could express myself like that!

If you have a passion for creating, whether it be art, music, dance or cooking, or anything else...these words apply to you too, and if embraced, can be life changing.

Just let go, quit telling yourself you "can't" and (as the Nike saying goes) JUST DO IT! Who cares if it doesn't look good in the end, you don't have to show anyone! People, I'm telling you...the JOY is in the process, not the end product. Start today if you yearn to be creative...do a little each day, or a lot, whatever fits, but just DO something creative each and every day.

It makes me sad when people say they wish they could be creative, and then never take that first step...Believing that they can.

BELIEVE, that's a word that crops up a lot in my artwork. Why? Because I finally realized after years of telling myself "I'm not good enough" and worrying about what others think, and comparing everything I do to someone else and always coming up short in my own mind, I FINALLY realized that all it takes to be successful (in anything) is simple...Believe that you can.

It starts with letting go of fear, taking a deep breath and diving in head first. It isn't always easy, and I'd be lying if I told you I didn't doubt and second guess myself almost every day. The key is to put a stop to all the negative self talk that goes on in your head, as soon as it starts. Replace it with positive thoughts, even if you don't believe them at first, you will eventually. Because its very true that we are what we think we are. And who is in control of our thoughts? Us of course, you and me! No one can Make us feel good or bad about ourselves...we choose what we want to believe, so BELIEVE in yourself!!!

If you haven't ever read the Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine, pick it up sometime, it's helpful to be inspired!

I think you can probably tell...I'm inspired today.

Hugs to you all!
Kristen

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My First Triptych!

I think I just finished my first triptych! This painting started out pretty crazy...I didn't really know where it was taking me, so I just kept at it, adding layers until it morphed into this...here it is in stages, the last picture is what it looks like now. My husband doesn't get it, but I'm really liking these funky, colorful, organic shapes.

I started with this...

Then sketched the shapes and painted background black...

Didn't like black so tried adding alphabet stamps to add more dimension...
Hated the stamps so painted over in Transparent Yellow Ochre

Used palette knife to spread crackle texture as background...

Finally, added some printed tissue paper, more paint and some distress ink...

Best of the Web no. 60

What a nice surprise!  I was featured in Pocketchange Lifestyle Blog's "Best of the Web" feature for this week!  Pocketchange is a shopping blog where they blog about all sorts of things...pets, shoes, home, fashion, beauty, health, sports, eco-friendly stuff etc...There is so much information and interesting articles there! Take a look for yourself by clicking on the image below...

PocketChange Lifestyle Blog

A Work in Progress

Every Wednesday a friend and I get together to paint or work on other art related projects. I always forget to take pictures of my paintings in different stages, so I thought I'd share with you the different stages of the following paintings. Remember, these are all works in progress, not even close to being finished except for maybe the funky tree one. All three of these paintings started out like this first one. I had started these three canvases thinking I would try a tryptic...but that plan changed as you can see!


This next one I'm really not sure about. Ever since I went to Costa Rica a few years ago, I have wanted to do a "clothesline" painting. I guess this is a basic start, but I'm not liking it yet. It will be interesting to see how this one evolves over time. I think it's going to take me awhile!



This painting is getting close, but it's not quite there yet. I'm not sure what it needs, so I'm going to have to stare at it for awhile!

Last but not least, this painting has only a few layers but I'm not sure where to go with it. Its been sitting around awhile, waiting for an inspired moment.


That's about it for now. Happy creating everyone!

If you like Portraits, You'll Love this Video...

I discovered this video on YouTube today...I have never seen this one before.  It looks like a pretty popular video, so some of you may have viewed it all ready, but if you haven't...take a look, it's really cool!

With all these classic portraits all in one place, one could easily pause the video on their favorites and use them as references to practice sketching.  That's what I'm going to do!  I'm still working on getting 100 faces sketched (a personal challenge).  I'll have to count soon to see where I'm at.  I know I have done a lot of them, I'm thinking I'm more than half way there!

I love the way each face morphs into the next!

Have a great week everyone!

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!