Untold Story

A few months ago, I dreamed of a girl with long white hair. The dream was so vivid and real, it lingered in my head during the day for weeks after that. I started to sketch her in my pages, poured her into my work, and watched myself obsessing over her ...

I still don't know why I dreamed of her. Who she symbolizes or what message she was trying to deliver. I also still think about her until now and I know she will return to my dreams one day. I only hope she will stay long enough to tell her story when she does...

Peace,

Artist Sketchbooks Show and Tell 3

Hello, hello, the weekend is here! Don't you just love waking up in the morning, knowing that you can pretty much do anything you want for a couple of days? This week has been an exhausting one, so I'm really glad I can finally sit back and relax for a bit.

So you want to know what I have been saving for you? Are you up for some exploring into the minds of brilliant creative souls? Well lets wait no further, because it's Artist Sketchbooks Show and Tell time!

 ~ Heidi Alamanda ~

I have sketchbooks for different purposes. Several small ones for some little paintings, another sketchbook as an outlet for anything else that's completely unrelated to my oil paintings, and one that I use to capture some pencil studies of images that catch my eyes.

For my oil paintings, I dedicate one sketchbook to capturing some mysterious elements that evoked my emotions…it's more like a visual diary that I can revisit once I am ready to start a painting. When I look at those sketches, I can sense the emotions that I felt that time and embrace those mysterious elements that I captured before, without any questions but the feeling that they should be there in my painting.

Links: website, blog

 ~ Sascalia ~

I rarely sketch out ideas before I start a painting. I usually just draw straight on the paper that I intend to use for the painting. Occasionally though I do get out a sketch book and start doodling out ideas. My artwork is very much influenced by nature and my love of fairy tales. 

Links: website, blog

 ~ Shirley Ng-Benitez ~

A few years ago, I attended a wonderful workshop in San Francisco and heard these words from Amy June Bates, an illustrator whom I greatly admire. Her advice was to "draw, draw, draw, and then draw some more." I took these words to heart and have been sketching each night ever since. I can happily say that it has been a journey filled with happy surprises and just by sketching one thing each night, I feel that my skills have strengthened a bit. I am no longer afraid of the "blank piece of white paper"! Yay! Last summer I started a personal goal, which was to "sketch-a-day-for-a-year" and as of 1/15/2014, I am on sketch #219.

I also have kept stacks (reams) of my sketches and use some of them to create final paintings from. It's been great to go through the older stacks to see where I've been and where I'm heading. 

Links: website, blog

~ Jallëna Lovë ~

When I am inspired, or I have an idea for a drawing, I always see to it that I transfer it on paper before it vanishes in my head. I love drawing girl's faces, their innocence, their rare beauty they always inspire me. It just mesmerizes me and it gives me this self contentment. I am still an artist in progress and I always experiment. I find pleasure in creating my girls, they give me peace and comfort. Making art is my way of healing my soul and I love to share it to the world.

Links: Facebook Page, blog

~ Amber Leilani Middleton ~

I'm not much of a sketcher, really. I think that I think better in 3-D! But, since the beginning of the year, I have been trying to sketch out more of my ideas. I want to learn to draw better, so it's something I am forcing myself to do, even though I am not very comfortable with it. Generally, my sketches are very rough, with lots of arrows and descriptions. I love my arrows!! 

One of the things I have been trying to do since last year is just let myself doodle more...I love to just sit draw different shapes and words and things like that, which have nothing to do with my sculptures. It lets my mind wander and just sail freely without the feeling I have to make something. I find it helps me feel more creative and keeps me inspired to keep working.

Links: blog, shop

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Now don't tell me that you don't feel inspired after reading all that? Isn't it amazing how differently these fabulous creative minds work? I love how each artist seems to have their own way of processing their ideas and shaping it into something real! My huge thanks to these awesome artists for sharing some peeks into their sketchbooks and telling us about their creative process. Until next time!

Hugs,

Artist Sketchbooks Show and Tell

Hey all! A new week has started. To me, it's usually a good time to sit down and organize my weekly work agenda, setting priorities and goals so I can pretty much work less chaotically. Believe me, when you have three kids and a heap of deadlines to finish, this is quite crucial. Other than that, I also like to flip through the ideas I've gathered over the previous week and see if I could hopefully get some extra time to work on them. Now, I don't know about you, but I always find it interesting to see the raw ideas that artists come up with and put down in their sketchbooks. It's amazing to see how an idea is born and later on transformed into a piece of art through their thought process.

So to inspire you, here are some of my wonderful artist friends, showing us peeks into their sketchbooks and sharing a little bit about how it all begins...

"OK the first image is a little fairy that I did last year. This was a sketch done after taking a pic of my daughter... & just too cute I had to add wings :) I've always been so afraid of color. This piece was (or perhaps may be) one of my very first plays with watercolor. I've always enjoyed drawing the sweet & innocent.. I suppose this explains my art taking off shortly after having my daughter ;) She's a huge inspiration :)

The second image, is a work in progress & my most current piece. I've obviously become obsessed now with color after being afraid of it for my whole life! I've yet to do a girl using watercolor in the eyes. I've always felt that I could just get so much more detail using pencils. So I don't know if I've achieved perfection here, but wanted to give it go." :) ~ Joanna Haber, A Bit of Whimsy

"Generally my paintings are done on the fly without any forward planning but I have so many ideas in my head at any one time that I keep a little doodle book for over-spill ideas which I use in those awkward times when my brain flow is running flat. The 2 pages here are a basic idea of how I doodle, a general idea of a character and a few words to jog my memory when painting time comes, nothing fancy just a bit of fun." ~ Micki Wilde, The Secret Hermit

"I love drawing in my sketchbook, it's where my ideas start to grow with just a few lines of a pen and a sprinkle of imagination. In these pages I am exploring characters and through sketching and have a play around on paper the characters come to life." ~ Heidi M. McDonald, Little Nore

"I do have a strange practice of reaching for the nearest piece of paper to doodle down my ideas. I don't regularly sketch, in fact, I usually just sketch right on the paper or canvas....but, every now and then, when I want to get down a concept or idea, I grab the closest paper at hand and draw a quickie sketch. I have saved these...all loose and haphazard...a bit like me...haha!" ~ Cameron S. Reutzel, Paint Myself Pretty

"Sketching is a wonderful way to let my imagination flow and express the spirit of life. Recently I find pleasure in exploring characters in playful stances, almost dancing, telling some sort of story." ~ Tammie Lee, Beauty Flows

I hope you're feeling inspired and all ready to create! Have an awesome Monday, everyone...Here's to plenty of good vibes for the week ahead! :)

Hugs,

Baby Sketches

I was looking through my old stuff the other day and came across some sketches I did for a product image. It just occured to me that I haven't been drawing babies at all for a while and I kind of miss it. Well, I guess it's a good idea to start again...