Mixed-Media Portraits in My Paper Bag Journal

I haven't blogged for a week! I've been so busy with weekend family and school affairs + I've been suffering from seasonal allergies. It's never easy having to deal with cough and colds while trying to get on with the daily grind. But what is life without a few challenges, eh? Anyhow, I'm here again to share with you two portrait studies done on the pages of this brown paper bag journal that I made last time. I love how this handmade journal turned out. The pages are lighter in tone and they're sturdy enough to take in acrylics and other water-based medium.

Here's the first portrait study that I made:

I was experimenting with skin tones here. I wanted to try beige but I didn't have that color in my acrylic collection. So I used white mixed with warm gray instead. Then I colored her hair with a mix of greenish yellow and olive green. I used Inktense pencils to outline and add details.

And here's the second portrait study:

She's one of those vintage dolls that I like to make. For this portrait, I thought to experiment with acrylics, gelatos, and distress ink. The hair and the dress are mostly acrylics with a little dabbing of distress ink. The face and the background colors are acrylics and gelatos combined. I normally use gelatos toward the end of my painting process as I prefer to use them for adding depth and drama.

Painting on a brown paper bag is almost like painting on toned paper. I enjoy the experience every time, and I love how my creations turn out. I prefer to use acrylics over a gessoed page. However, feel free to experiment with watercolors, charcoal, pastel, and other mediums.

Watercolor sketch: Leaf from a Talisay tree

The Universe connects with us every time and it is up to us how we wish to respond to its prompts. Yesterday morning, after driving my little girl to preschool, I planned on doing field sketches at our parish church’s grotto. I was very eager to do so as I hadn’t done any live outdoor sketching for months already. But then, I came to think about my chores and other pressing errands for the day. So I ditched the idea and proceeded to drive home. Along the way,  a big leaf from a Talisay tree was blown by the wind and it landed on my car’s windshield. For about half a minute, I waited for it to be blown away again, but it didn’t. It got stuck on the edge of the windshield. It was then that I realized I could bring home this lovely leaf and sketch it. It is after all the leaf of a Talisay tree -- one of my favorite trees. And, you know, I've always enjoyed drawing leaves. (Ask my Botany teacher. Hee hee.)

So I stopped the car, got out, and grabbed this leaf. When I reached home, I laid it carefully on my art table and headed to the backyard to finish my laundry. The whole time I was loading the clothes and hanging them to dry, I was thinking about the leaf and how it just came to me, as if wanting to be drawn and painted. Or maybe it’s just me trying to romanticize this ordinary occurrence. Or maybe I’m just trying to find a reason to sketch. What does it matter, anyway? The important thing is, I was able to sketch that day. And I did it for the love of leaves, trees, sketchbooks, and watercolors.

Art Journal Spread: Faith Love Courage Joy

It's the beginning of another work week. I'm glad that my weekend went well and that I had enough time to rest and recover. I wasn't able to do any serious painting or art journaling, but I was finally able to declutter the mess behind my dining chair. (It's complicated.) I got to give my eldest daughter the chance to doodle and draw in my sketchbook and that made her giddy all over. My second daughter and I also had plenty of talks about her storyline sketches. My husband made this really awesome salmon soup for Sunday lunch. And we all got to attend the Sunday Mass. Yes, 'twas a lovely weekend, I can say.

 

Now, let me share with you this art journal spread that I made last week, while dealing with cold and flu-like symptoms. I wasn't in the mood to draw faces and somehow every time I tried to draw one, it came out really bad. Why bother with portraits when you can make nice loopy flowers that look like electric fans? I drew these flowers on an art journal spread with glued yellow tissue wrap for texture. (Click on the image to see more details.) I stamped some musical notes and old script before coloring the edges and select areas with Faber-Castell gelatos in pastel colors, Lyra water-soluble crayons, and Ranger distress inks.Then I added the tiny word stickers from CosmoCricket. 

I love how this artwork turned out. I spent days looking at the colors and getting some positive energy from them. Yes, this art journal spread is all about color healing and color therapy.  

Have you tried art journaling to help you recover from something?

Art Journal Page: Feeling Under The Weather

I caught a bug at the start of the week and haven't been feeling well since. My kindergartner had to miss two days of school and my husband had to take up extra household chores so I could get some rest. I'm getting better now, I believe, but not yet fully recovered. Thank God, it's almost the weekend. I am so looking forward to a day or two of prolonged rest in bed and not having to get up at around 4 in the morning. Yup. I just need that extra snooze before my official call time.

 

Anyway, here's a painting of a girl that I rendered on the first page of my Artist's Loft sketchbook. She's the reason why that sketchbook turned into an acrylic-based mixed-media art journal. She just led the way. 

Happy weekend, everyone!

Sketching in my A6 Monologue art journal

Since I resumed painting in acrylics and other media last November, my watercolor set has been quietly sleeping on the corner of my art desk. If you have followed my old blog and previous IG posts, you probably know that I was mostly into watercolor painting and sketching. When I relived my passion for art more than 2 years ago, the one medium that I chose to 'master' was the watercolor. For the simple reason that it's handy and easier to work with. (I'm a busy work-at-home mom, you see...) But late last year, I decided that perhaps I can already dabble into my dream of doing mixed-media artwork. My kids now know better not to play with Mama's acrylics and brushes, and they are now willing to give me 30 to 60 minutes of art time on a fine day. So I kept doing all these mixed-media paintings and art journal pages... Until I found myself at my art desk 4 days before Christmas, yearning to just sketch and wash. Yes, I've missed the good old stuff!

So I brought out my A6 Monologue sketchbook with gross-grained paper (a really good one for watercolor sketches), a pencil, and a drawing pen. I was stumped for a while and didn't know what to draw or paint. Then I saw my new tube of gesso and thought to use it as subject. It was midnight after all and there's just no way I could find a nice pot of flowers to sketch.  Might as well make do with whatever's there right in front of me. My husband bought the Reeves gesso for me earlier that day 'cause he knew I was badly running out of gesso. So sweet, right? 

 

To make this simple sketch, I just used the usual stuff in my watercolor kit: my Sakura Koi Pocket Field Sketchbox of 24 colors, an HB Faber-Castell Art GRIP pencil, a Zig Kuretake water brush with a large tip, and a black Faber-Castell Fine PITT Artist pen. I hope to make more watercolor sketches in the days and weeks to come. I find watercolor sketching very relaxing. It also helps me come up with quick studies for mixed-media paintings.

What have you been sketching lately?

04 January 2016: New art prints at my Society6 shop

Christmas break is over and my husband and kids are back to work and school. And here I am pecking on this keyboard to let you know that I finally found the time to upload new artworks over at my Society6 art page. I often experience a high every time I post an artwork there. But seeing 3 new artworks is something. I suppose this is pure joy. I just had to printscreen this panel of prints from my homepage, crop it, and post it here and there.

I'm currently working on a series of canvas art and art journal pages with different subjects this time. I do so enjoy drawing and painting girls, but I have to admit that I also get stumped along the way. Maybe I need to reconnect with the other important elements in my art-making process. 

Oh, by the way, these art prints are available for purchase in various sizes over at http://society6.com/connieluayon. Free worldwide shipping offers come out every now and again, so you might want to check on that in case you're interested. Thanks and have a great week ahead!

Learning How to Draw The 3/4 Profile

I am perpetually in awe of artists who can draw the human head from the 3/4 angle without so much effort. Drawing the 3/4 profile can be a bit of a challenge for me. And, as I've read through forums, many other artists deal with this dilemma too. Somehow it feels good to know that I'm not alone. Then again, I should never seek comfort in this knowledge every time. Getting out of my comfort zone and taking risks are necessary to further my growth as an artist. I may also suffer from embarrassment, I suppose. And that's totally fine by me.

Image copyright 2016: Connie Luayon

Anyway, while attempting to draw a new portrait one afternoon, my husband suggested that I draw one facing "the other way". I had to explain to him that drawing from the other 3/4 angle is a daunting task for me and this is why most of the faces I draw are facing my left. It's a lot easier that way. But then, at that moment, I decided to take his suggestion and drew a woman in a different 3/4 view. I started with the eyes and then the nose and lips and then the face outline, and so on and so forth. Was I happy with the result? Yes, surprisingly ... I was! 

The mixed-media painting that you see above was done in my A5 Artist's Loft sketchbook. I sketched the subject with the Inktense outliner. I used Koh-I-Noor Mondeluz watercolor pencils to color the skin and the clothes. I painted everything over with acrylics and lined the rest with Inktense pencils. The background elements and overlays are made with the help of clear stamps and rubber stamps and archival inks. 

For those who could use additional guide to drawing the head, I highly recommend Hogarth's Drawing the Human Head.