The Art Journal of Holly Durr

Busy with Business

2012-01-31T20:21:00.000-05:00

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, even though it would seem that way. I've been very busy with the business side of art and my drawing time has been at a hold most of the time for the last month. I've been pursuing the licensing side of art, looking over contracts, making very hard decision about my art and my future. Also there is something new in the works, I'm hoping it all goes smoothly, just can't share anything right now. I'm really going to try to get those paintings finished soon...at least I'm hoping so, cause I'm itching to start something new.

January Art News Letter

2012-01-16T14:06:00.006-05:00

Art News Letter
I've decided to start doing news letters here on my online journal. I'm not sure if it will be weekly, monthly, or quarterly. It will be just whenever I have any news to share.

I have recently signed with Heaven and Earth Designs. They will be making cross stitch/needlework patterns out of my art. I'll announce later when they are released.
Also a reminder that I'm selling original art auctions on ebay.

Last "Mermaids and Dolphins" Sketch

2012-01-05T13:32:00.002-05:00

I'm really glad there was no two hr delays for school this morning. Last night, right before I went to bed, I got around to starting this. I actually had a different idea for this, but it wasn't working out, so I ended up changing it all together and it worked out better than my original idea.

I'm going to listing some auctions on ebay later this evening for aceo prints and hopefully some original aceo's.

The Kool Table

2012-01-04T14:19:00.004-05:00

I didn't really get very much drawing time today or yesterday. It would seem that I've got a good bit accomplished, but not really. The New Year is already starting out with not much time for drawing or doing any business related stuff, thanks to two hr school delays, grocery shopping, etc. I'm trying and tomorrows a new day, so maybe nothing will interrupt my work schedule.
This is the #2 of the "Dolphins and Mermaids" series. Just one more to go and I have no idea what I'm doing with them. I guess I'll just let it flow when I set down at the drafting table. As Joanne Schempp calls it the "Kool Table".

Mermaids and Doplins Sketch Completed

2012-01-04T09:00:00.002-05:00

I meant to write in my journal, but I didn't have time yesterday. I want to post as much as possible and share what I'm working on daily, even if it's just a few lines. The mermaid and dolphin sketch to the right is ready to be transferred to begin the master drawing. Before I start that I'm going to sketch at least two more mermaid and dolphins. I decided to do a mini series of these. So I will most likely work on them all at once and post my WIP's here. I've already started my second sketch, I'll post a pic of it later today.

Happy New Year Everyone!

2012-01-01T18:56:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year Everyone! I thought I was going to go back to work tomorrow, but I've decided not to start until Tuesday. Jozi doesn't go back to school until Tuesday and I have a dentist appointment tomorrow. I need to do some things organized for Tuesday anyhow. I bought a monthly planner notebook to help me keep track of what I'm doing. I'm not really using it to plan my week so much. It's more for a diary of what I'm doing day to day, to help me improve my business methods.

I haven't really thought much about paintings I want to do this year. It's hard to plan out anything like that since things can change and it's possible that my style might change a little since I will be using the icarus board. I am really excited and eager to get back to the drafting table.

1st Mermaids with Doplins

2011-12-28T19:30:00.004-05:00

I've been very sick for the past week. I got a very bad cold. It's been a few years since I've had a cold this bad. I'm just about over it now and glad of it. So yesterday I thought I would start on some projects I need to get going. I have two dolphin pieces to complete for two different people. It's funny that both wanted the same thing. I've never had that happen before. I figured I better get started. I'm not sure if I will do both back to back. This one is already starting to take on a life of it own and it's a very detailed, which in turn will be more time consuming, but hopefully the end result will be beautiful.

New Products coming in 2012

2011-12-16T16:56:00.003-05:00

This week has been really productive even though my internet was really slow. A few post back I talked about a change in my business and the way I run it. This was sort of a test run this week and I love it. I think this is just what I needed. I did a lot of work on my artfire shop and website. I still have a lot more work to do online, but I should have it all finished by the end of the year so I can get back to painting in the new year.

There will be (Hopefully) a lot of new products coming next year. I came up with a cool idea for a new kind of bookmark, that I think will be a hit with the kids. I also am going to do coloring pages.

There will be a lot of original art projects. Not just regular paintings, but something a little different and creative. Last but not least, I'm so looking forward to all the paintings I will be creating and using my icarus board.

Updates

2011-12-14T16:45:00.002-05:00

This the latest updates:

I've added some galleries back to my website. I decided to start offering prints for $14.99, large bookmarks for $5.99, and open edition aceo assorted packs for $9.99. I also got all my updating finished on my artfire shop. I have also released my very first calendar ever, in my zazzle shop.
I still have a lot more products I'm going to release in my zazzle shop. Hopefully I can get them all finished up soon, so I can get back to drawing and painting. My hands are starting to itch to create art again.

The New Year to Come

2011-12-11T13:48:00.009-05:00

Lately I've been working more on the business side of art and at times it's a bit overwhelming. I am so way behind on all my shops and behind on promoting my work. In the beginning when I started my business, I spent 50% of my work time doing this, but after having my daughter, I put my business on the back burner. I think it sorta killed my business. So I will have to start at the bottom again. I'm going to be re-pricing my originals again to fit this bad economy. I'm reducing some even more than what I did a few weeks ago, but the ones I really love they are going back to my normal prices. I haven't had a chance to do it yet. I re-opened my artfire shop as well. I'm slowly adding stuff and I still have a lot of work to do on zazzle. There is a lot of business changes coming for me in the new year.

I got to thinking about how I use my time and I want to make changes in my life to use my work time more efficiently. I've come up with a new schedule for the new year. I will actually starting it now, but I'm not going to be working on much art, until the new year starts. I want to spend the next three weeks getting caught up on my shops.

When the new year starts out, I probably will be doing a lot of aceo's or 5"x7" in the beginning to sell on ebay. This is easy money for me and I need the money to buy unique products to put my art on. I know that it will take a lot of time and hrs, before I can start getting a steady flow of money, but I am motivated and determined to do it.

Untitled Blue Monarch Angel

2011-12-07T17:57:00.003-05:00

Well I'm finally starting to break in my Icarus board. At first when I started I was a little hesitant on using it. So I decided to watch some tutorial videos on youtube, before I would attempt it. Just from watching the videos I learned a lot. So I decided to use the neocolors with prismacolor colored pencils. They blend really good together and with the Icarus board they are even better. The neocolors look a lot like acrylics when laid down. I found it much easier to use them than acrylics. I used my last Deco Blue colored pencil in this painting. Now I remember why I love Deco Blue. It is just the right shade of blue. I really wish that prismacolor would re-release this color among some others I miss.

Hopefully I will start another Monarch Angel sketch soon. I'm thinking of using red as the main color, but I have to decide what pose to use for the color red. Prismacolor has released 18 new colors and one of them is a new red and I think it's my new favorite red. Poppy Red was always my favorite red, but it had a hint of orange in it, so I could use it with orange, but the new color is a really bright red, I LOVE IT!!!

New and Old

2011-11-29T18:38:00.003-05:00

I've had a slow start to drawing the last two days. Yesterday, I didn't start until the afternoon and today it was after 2:30, before I got started. Yesterday I meant to draw the above sketch, but it ended up going in a different direction. It ended up being a Native American with a giant bald eagle. It's okay though, because I'm waiting on some colored pencils that prisma has just released. I'm not sure if I'll get them anytime soon, it might not be until the middle of next month. Blah, I hate waiting. I also ordered some color shapers for my icarus board. I guess for now, I will get a bunch of sketching finished and work on some fine art.

My Art Attention Span

2011-11-21T21:11:00.000-05:00

I've still been working on and off my zazzle shop when I have time. I have sort of a assembly line going on. Though I haven't got to work much the last couple of days and probably won't get to much this week. We are planning on going to our old home and start working on it.

While working on the zazzle products, my mind tends to wonder off, LOL. I have thought a lot about uncompleted projects and what I should be doing at this point with my business. Even though I've been in business since 2005, I still feel like I'm in a learning stage with my art and business. I think my websites and ebay will be what I concentrate on in the future. I was going to draw some aceo's for ebay, but can't seem to get the desire to draw them. I'm wondering if I should continue on with drawing them? It is so hard to fit detail into such a tiny space. Right now I'm not going to decide anything with the aceo's. However, I was thinking a lot about uncompleted projects again. I don't like the fact that I get burnt out on projects easy. I've started so many series and either didn't get any of them off the ground or maybe one or two drawn and then got bored with it and moved on. I guess moving on for a little bit and coming back to them later would be fine, but I never come back. Another thing I've had a tendency to do with the series is; my mood will change and there are no similarities in the pieces. They look so different they can't be related. Back in the beginning, when I first started my business, my technique and style was a lot different. I could get three 12"x9" paintings finished in a day. I wish I could get one 8"x10" finished in a day now. My attention span only seems to be good for about a day or two with any painting, and I can't paint 12 hrs a day 7 days a week like some artist do. I guess I enjoy other things in life to much. My kids, my husband, family, friends, going for walks, the outdoors, singing, and even playing some RPG's from time to time. Plus I have a lot of back problems and I can't set for that many hrs. I usually set for a hour and then take a small break, get up do some laundry or play with Savannah. There are certain pieces I've done that I really really like. "Pure in Heart" and "Valentine" are two of my favorites. I like them, because of the colors, the clouds and I like hearts. I think I want to do some more angels with hearts and clouds or maybe other objects or symbols, like moons or stars with clouds. I also really like "Beautiful, Beautiful" I love the butterflies. It was actually supposed to be a first in a series. I was going to do others with butterflies, but different colors. I would like to try to do these drawings. Maybe I should try to put the icarus board to use. It cuts drawing time in half. Plus it would be good to try out those Neocolors I bought awhile back.

New Product, Tiles

2011-11-16T19:12:00.004-05:00

I worked on and off today in my Zazzle shop. I had to get caught up on some house work. I decided to work on making tiles.

Premium Gift Boxes on Zazzle

2011-11-15T20:57:00.004-05:00

I decided for the next product to release would be Premiun Gift Boxes. These are really nice tiny wooden 2"x2" or 3"x3" gift boxes. These would be nice for keepsakes and jewelry.

"New" Notebooks/Journals on Zazzle

2011-11-15T15:59:00.002-05:00

I realized yesterday that Zazzle has release a bunch of new products. I've worked all day on making Notebook/Journals. Here is the direct link to all my new Notebooks/Journals

I think I'm going to be working on products for a good while. I don't feel much like drawing and I really need to get caught up on the business side to my sites.

Zazzle Shop Update

2011-11-14T11:55:00.003-05:00

I'm going to be doing small updates to my zazzle shop every day. I'm so behind on that. I should done it a long time ago, but I guess I had a pretty good reason, because I was a new mom. Now that Savannah is getting to be a big girl, I'm finding that I have more time to draw and update my sites. So I'm going to start doing a little bit of updates daily.

Good News

2011-11-12T22:30:00.003-05:00

Good News, I got high speed. I know I said yesterday that I wouldn't be getting internet anytime soon, but what happen was... my sister told me I should get high speed through the same phone she has, cause it's really affordable and unlimited internet. My biggest concern was having enough signal. So she tested her phone at my trailer and sure enough it worked. So I went and bought one.

Now that I have internet, I've already started listing original art for sell on ebay. I'm going to do some ACEO's hopefully sometime this week.

winter sketch

2011-11-11T11:16:00.004-05:00

I really hate it when I loose interest on a piece when I'm in the middle of working on it. Sometimes I just quit working on it. That's what happen to this piece, from back in 2008. This was "Enchanted Christmas". But I'm actually glad I put this one away. I got to looking at the sketch from back then. Wow, I've come a long way since then! I've decided to give the sketch a makeover and redo parts of it and change it up some. I'm not going to go with the same color scheme from back then. I'm changing the dress and I'm making her more curvy and more meat on her bones. Sorta Victorian. I also worked on her face. The one thing I did keep is the top of her hair with the braids and the crown. I really like that part of the sketch. There still alot to do. I will probably do a couple more sketches, before I start the master drawing.
Well it looks like I won't be getting internet anytime soon. I called apple care and they told me that apple's are not compatable with dial up. They told me to try wireless internet through a cell phone. I've check into it, but it's really expensive and I'm not sure if this is the route I want to take.

The Harvest is Great

2011-11-09T11:11:00.002-05:00

Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

I decided I better try and finish this up. I worked on it late last night. I figured that it was time to move on to a new project.

I found out that my daughter decided that she wanted to help improve the painting. She got a hold of my black colored pencil and scribbled black into the lower corner of the drawing and she completely colored the bow in black on the cat. luckily I can paint and colored pencil can erase. I just painted over the black and erased the black and redrew the grass back in. So no harm done in the end.

Internet

2011-11-08T14:30:00.003-05:00

It seems like I've been really busy with so much lately, but it's not art related. I haven't had much time to draw. I still haven't finished the painting that I've been working on for the last week or so. It's about 95% finished. I probably have about two hrs of work left.

I might be getting my Internet turned on in a couple of days. I had to order a special cord for my imac, so I can get dial up. I'm not sure if it will work. My sister in-law said dial up would never work at there house. I hope it does. I really would like to get back into selling online

Work in Progress

2011-11-01T18:01:00.002-04:00

This is a cropped version of the painting I'm working on. There is a tree behind her with some barn owls, plus a wall with a black cat and a candle melted and dripping down the wall.

I wanted to start coloring this painting last week, but my kids got sick and I had to take care of them. It was sorta nice to take a week off. It gave me time to think about colors for this painting. I came up with a lot of different color schemes, but ended up picking oranges, yellows and browns. I'm actually going to use the other color schemes, for other fall fantasy pieces.

While working on the sketch, I came up with a couple other ideas for some Steampunk art. I usually come up with other ideas while working on sketches. I just wish I was faster at drawing, so I could bring out more art.

2011-10-19T11:37:00.002-04:00

I decided about a week ago to start doing some fine art. I'm beginning to remember how nice it is to draw fine art and why I used to love it. For me it is so much easier to draw fine art than fantasy. I use 100% reference material and there is no trying to piece a image together in my mind. The style is totally different. I lay down the colors different and even when I lay the colored pencil down on the paper, I use a different motion in drawing.

I'm going to be rotating back and worth with fantasy and fine art.

Go to fine art blog

Revamping my website

2011-10-07T14:26:00.003-04:00

I revamped some of my website and I've uploaded it to the internet. I have more work to do to the site. I got pages missing and pages directing to the wrong pages. I don't have and I'm not adding a shopping cart, because I don't have much access to the internet. Instead you can e-mail if you see a original you wish to purchase. I'm going to be working on my site off and on today.

Also I added a new original, called "Her Glory" to the site.

My Tag Art is Closing it's Doors

2011-10-01T10:04:00.000-04:00

We regret to inform you that MyTagArt will be closing its doors on November 1, 2011. We apologize for the inconvenience. It has been a pleasure serving you for the past 2 years. We have went over many options and have found this to be the best solution.

Until the closing date you will find all tubes, images, photos, ect on sale at 50% OFF. This sale DOES include bulk purchase options. Gift vouchers are NOT included in this blow out sale.

The last day to redeem prizes and gift vouchers is Oct. 31st.

We appreciate the support you have given us over these past 2 years. We love all of our customers very dearly. We will miss our interactions with the tagging community.

If you have a license with our company then that license will remain valid for a lifetime. Customer service will still be available as usual until Oct. 31st at midnight CST. Thank you all so much for understanding!

The Harvest

2011-09-30T11:55:00.004-04:00

Lately all I've been in the mood to draw is mermaids. I got some rough thunbnail sketches of mermaids I looked through this morning and I might be starting to do some more detailed sketches of them next week. Depending on the detail I might do some cropped versions of aceo's for ebay. I like doing the aceo's, because it helps me to make a quick buck and they are very affordable for folks who don't have the funds for big originals. Plus I can test colors out for my large paintings, by doing the aceo's.

I've decided to start redesigning my website, and I'm going to start offering originals again on my site. It might take me a few days to shipped orders out. Sometimes my Mom's internet reception is bad and I can't get on it, but I'll try to keep on top of orders the best I can. It will be a little bit before I can get the new version of my site up.

I've also been thinking of starting a "The Wizard of Oz" series, but I will probably work on it a little at a time.

I decided to change the name of this painting to, "The Harvest".

Knowledge is a Treasure

2011-09-27T16:54:00.003-04:00

I was faced with a major problem while working on this painting and I overcame it and it was well forth it. This is actually the third painting of this. I was getting stuck on the splattered paint in the background. It was heart breaking for me, because my first painting was 99% finished and it totally got ruined when I tried to do the splattered paint in the background. So I thought I would try to use masking fluid, but the masking fluid left a sticky film on the stonehenge. So I thought I would try using a techique seen on the site where I bought my icarus board. I used sandpaper and made shaving of the colored pencil and sprinkled it onto the background. Then wipe away the areas I didn't want splattered. Then I place the painting on my hot icarus board and placed tracing paper over it and used a clay roller and rolled it onto the paper. It worked really well! I will start using this technique on star filled backgrounds and mermaid paintings.

Knowledge is a Treasure

2011-09-18T19:28:00.003-04:00

This ACEO is a small cropped version of a painting I just registered at the copyright office. I'm not sure when I will be releasing the big version. Anyhow the starting bid is $15.00 on this tiny painting.

Go to Auction >>>

Pumpkin Patch, ACEO on eBay

2011-09-15T19:59:00.002-04:00

"Pumpkin Patch" Original ACEO up for auction on ebay. Starting bid, $15.00. Go to Auction >>>

Last Summer Sunset

2011-09-15T19:54:00.001-04:00

New Auction on eBay, "Last Summer Sunset". Starting bid $12.00. Go to Auction >>>

Longing, up for Auction on eBay

2011-09-07T12:09:00.002-04:00

Longing, up for auction on ebay. Starting bid $150.00.

Go to Auction >>>

New Auction, Spirit of Autumn

2011-09-07T11:59:00.002-04:00

Spirit of Autumn, up for auction on eBay starting bid $75.00.

Go to Aution >>>

Canceled Show

2011-09-04T09:34:00.002-04:00

Due to heavy rains, My show will be canceled on Labor Day on Monday at the Ox Roast located at Rowlesburg WV.

No Auctions Til After Labor Day

2011-08-25T20:23:00.004-04:00

I've decided not to run anymore auctions on ebay, until after labor day. I need to take this next week and get ready for my show. I've been working on a big 16"x20" sketch all this week. I just got the sketching part done. I'm getting this piece ready to work on at my show on Labor Day, at the Ox Roast. I want to get some of the coloring started. At least 30 to 50% of it finished. I'm not sure if I can get that much finished. It has a lot of detail. I won't be able to show the finished piece until next year sometime.

Spring Fay, ACEO on ebay

2011-08-17T20:51:00.001-04:00

New Aceo, "Sping Fay" up for auction on ebay.

Go to auction>>>

Summer Fay, ACEO on Ebay

2011-08-17T10:16:00.002-04:00

This is a new aceo I call, "Summer Fay".

Go to auction>>>

Selling on Ebay again

2011-08-14T19:23:00.002-04:00

It's hard to believe that shcool starts next week. It's seems like summer just flew by. I think it's because summer vacation keeps getting shorter and shorter.

I've decided to go in a different direction with my art and my business. I'm going to start selling aceo's again on ebay. I want to start them out for around $10.00.

My first show in 4 years

2011-08-08T10:30:00.003-04:00

Sorry I don't have any new art to post this week. I did do a sketch last week, I got it transfered and ready to paint and color, but I lost my desire to do it. So I decided to put it away.

I've decided to do a show on labor day at my old home town in Rowlesburg W.V. It's at the ox roast festival. My booth space is dirt cheap. Actually it's gotten cheaper since I last did it. I'm glad of that. I won't get much art done the rest of this month, but I'm going to try to get a couple pieces finished for the show.

I'm going to have prints, bookmarks, necklaces, magnets, aceo's, note cards, and original art for sell at the festival. I'm really looking forward to getting my feet wet again.

Luminous Love

2011-07-31T14:25:00.001-04:00

I worked on this all last week. It's a big 14"x17" angel called, "Luminous Love" Definition for Luminous, Full of or shedding light; bright or shining. The title is really fit for the piece. I love this painting. I'm going to hang onto this and rescan it later down the road. It's not perfectly stitched together. I've gotten pretty good at cover up with photoshop.

Untitled Angel Mermaid

2011-07-20T19:50:00.003-04:00

I thought I was going to have to start over on this angel mermaid, but it turned out really nice. I'm so disappointed in my scanner. It doesn't do a very good job on purples and blues. The colors in the scan are not even close to the original. I'm going to buy a another scanner later on and rescan some of my art.

Anyhow, I think I'm going to do another crystal mermaid. I'm not sure what I'm going to draw after that.

Back to Art Already!!!

2011-07-14T18:31:00.003-04:00

Potty training has been going so well that I'm going to start drawing again. This is only the forth day and Savannah hasn't had any accidents in the last two day. I thought it would be two weeks or a month before this would happen. I'm so glad it's been super easy.

I've already sketch out a mermaid. I'll post the finished product hopely next week sometime.

Vacation

2011-07-09T20:19:00.002-04:00

Today is Roy's last day of vacation. Even though he's been on vacation we've been working most of the time. Yesterday I decided I had enough of working and running around. Roy went to the movies and I stayed home and drew this. I felt the need to draw. I've been really inspired and in the mood to draw the last week or so. I think the move to my new home did me a world of good.

Monday I'm going to start potty training my daughter. I tried it back in the winter and she wasn't ready. I believe she is ready now. It's a good time to do it since it's summer and there's no school. After she's potty trained I plan to dive back into my art. I think I'm going to do some more pieces similar to this one, but different jeweled crosses.

Untitled Mermaid

2011-06-30T19:06:00.002-04:00

I got my USB driver to work. I still don't know how or why it got messed up. I haven't given this painting a name yet. For now it's not for sell. I spent all day sketching. I can't wait to start coloring what I'm working on. Roy's vacation will probably start tomorrow. We have to go over to our old home and try and clean out the rest of it. Next week will be so busy. I don't think I will get to draw much.

Crystals, Mermaids, and Angels

2011-06-30T11:24:00.004-04:00

I was going to show a new painting today, but my USB storage drive is broke. I don't know what went wrong, I just think maybe I bought a lemon. So I will not be able to show any new art until I get a chance to buy a new one. I don't think I'm buying the same name bran or buy it from walmart.

The drawing that I did was a remake of a aceo I did a year or so ago. I forget the name. It's a mermaid with chrystals. It has blues and purples. I tried to keep close to the colors, but I couldn't remember all the colors. I do think the new version is better, but I still like the old version as well. I wanted to redo it, becuase I loved the pose, colors and I wanted to show the whole mermaid instead of just part of her.

I think I'm going to do some more pieces with crystals. I did a really neat sketch the other day and I think I'm going to do anther sketch today of a old thumbnail I sketched when I was pregnant with Savannah.

New, Spirit of Autumn

2011-06-22T19:06:00.002-04:00

I thought I was going to get this finished on time, but I had company at my house. Sorry for the delay.

I have no idea what I'm going to do next. I might just take some time to work on techniques. I feel like I'm in the mood to experiment. Maybe I'll try to do something off the wall.

By the way I finally moved up in the world and bought a memory stick. So no more burning cd's. it will be a lot easier to transfer my website files and images from my computer to my mom's :)

Back to Painting

2011-06-20T15:51:00.002-04:00

I finally started painting again a few days ago. I decided not to paint while I was feeling down about loosing my family member. I did come up with two ideas while going through the grieving process. Roy got a phone call yesterday that a cousin of his was found dead. He's only about 23 years old. We didn't know him very well. I've only met him about 3 times. It's still very sad to see someone so young die.

I'm working on recreating a older piece. "Spirit of Autumn". It's not that I'm in the mood to do fall pieces. I just decided to continue working on redoing some of my older pieces that I really like. I'm going to try to post it as soon as I get it finished. It's getting there so it will probably today or tomorrow.

Moved

2011-06-03T19:32:00.002-04:00

Well I'm finally moved into my new home. We ended up moving a couple days early, because it was just to hot in the house. I still have a few things to get at my old house.

Yesterday I got some very bad news. A family member passed away. I'm not going into detail about it. It's to painful, but this person was young and close to my age and they used to go to church with me and praise the lord along side with me. I'm just really sad and my heart feels heavy, because they turned their back on the lord and had a sad ending, instead of a beautiful ending. I don't know how this will affect my art, but I'm sure it will for awhile. This is all I have to say about this.

"Reflection of the Soul" finished

2011-05-19T20:08:00.004-04:00

This will be my last drawing to show for a little while. I've got two weeks before I move. I really wanted to get this done. for it being a 12"x16", it only took two days to color. It so much prettier in person. I did a little playing around with colors and I learned some new things while working on this.

I'm happy to say, this piece sold shortly after posting it on my facebook page. Most of my paintings are for sale. I'll always note on here or facebook if they're not for sale. If you see a painting you are interested in just e-mail me.

Reflecton of the Soul

2011-05-06T07:39:00.004-04:00

This was a sketch I worked on yesterday. I had to get it out of my system. The idea came to me strong the day before. I get a feeling a need almost like hunger and I have to feed it and put it on paper. This is a remake or least it was supposed to be of "Beauty comes from Within". I've decided not to name it this, because one of teachers from school came up with a more appropriate name, "Reflection of the Soul".
I have another Idea I craving to get on paper. While sketching this piece I was listening to a soul about being a warrior of God and I a idea came to me for a Native American Warrior. Today I have to clean house, do laundry, then later get my son off the bus, and then go over and work on the trailer. I don't know if I can even squeeze in time for at least a thumbnail.

Offerings to the Lord

2011-05-04T12:26:00.003-04:00

Here's a new colored pencil painting I did a few weeks ago. I finally got time to scan. This might be my last drawing I show for awhile.

A date on our move

2011-05-03T16:05:00.002-04:00

Well I think we have a date on when we are moving. I think it will be June 3rd. We spent the weekend working on the trailer. We sorted through stuff of my grandmothers. A lot of antiques and a lot of good memories. Roy took up the carpet in the boys' room. Roy's going to lay the carpet this weekend. We are going to move the rest of my grandmothers stuff out this weekend. I'm not going to start packing until the last two weeks before the move.

Redesigned my Website

2011-05-03T15:52:00.003-04:00

Well I decided it was time I redesign my website. I decided to change it to more of a portfolio site. I also have a section where you can go to my zazzle shop. The graphics are more of a simple but pleasant design. Nothing fancy or time consuming for me to make. That way if I want to change the colors or the main graphic I can without spending hrs making it. I also changed the graphics here on my blog to match my website. I haven't done anything to my zazzle shop yet. I'm more concerned with just making more products. I think that's what I'll do this month.

Working out a Plan so I can Stay in Business

2011-04-24T16:04:00.004-04:00

I'm trying to work on a plan to stay in business. My sister has high speed Internet where she lives and I can probably just do my taxes there online until I can get my own cable when we finally make our last move. I can probably post pictures of art I'm working on from her house as well, but that will be once in awhile. I really don't want to go out of business, it's more trouble doing that. I know after I get settled in my final home, I'm going to want to be in business full time. My website will stay on the air and you will be able to buy prints through zazzle. maybe I can do some updates every couple of months to it at my sisters house. If I can go to her house at least once a month, I can post my latest art on here as well :) I'm sure I can get the details worked out later.

Over the weekend Roy tore into working on our new home. We took out the old carpet in one of the bedrooms. Roy put in new registers and put down floating floors in the hallway. We got floating floors for one of our bathrooms. It originally has carpet in it. I can't stand carpet in a bathroom. This week we are going to go get the carpet for the bedroom and take some stuff to the goodwill. Everything is moving along.

Some Bad News

2011-04-22T20:00:00.003-04:00

I sorta have some bad news. I think I'm going to have to go out of business. It's because, I found out today new laws are passing in WV and it will make it difficult for me to file taxes, because I won't have much access to internet. I also found out my mom only has two hrs of internet time a day and I won't be the only one that would be using it, so I'm not going to be able to show my work online or run auctions on ebay. My sister in-law thought that my mom's package was upgraded, but it's not. So I'm stuck o_O. I don't really know what to do... The only option I have is to go off the air, until I get moved into my final home, which will be a very very long time.

Kitty and Kat and other Ebay Auctions

2011-04-19T21:43:00.006-04:00

I'm going to run auctions here on out, on and off at times. There will probably be a space of a couple of weeks to a month that I won't be running auctions because of the move. This piece is called "Kitty and Kat". it's a ACEO up for auction, starting bid is a low $10.00. I think it's so cute. Roy loves it and wants to see me draw this style of art bigger. I think I will, but it will have to wait until tomorrow at least. Go to my auctions>>>.

Ebay Auctions starting tomorrow.

2011-04-18T20:26:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow, I plan to start posting auctions on ebay. I'm going to run aceo's, but mostly 5"x7". I'll be doing this every week until the third or four week in May, cause I think we are going to have the internet shut off at the end of May, because of the move. I won't have no internet in my new home :( I'm still going to run auctions from my mom's house, but I can only answer e-mails once a day or every other day. The good thing about it is I will have more time to paint.

Comforted

2011-04-17T22:38:00.002-04:00

Another New Beatitude Angel, called "Comforted" from the verse in the bible, Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. I work on this all day today. My back is killing me. I been wanting to get some art done so this weekend was a perfect time to work on art, because we didn't do anything. I experimented with using different colors in the skin. I really like it and will do more experimenting in future pieces.

Blessed are the Meek

2011-04-17T22:35:00.001-04:00

This is a new 5"x7" drawing I did yesterday called "The Meek shall Inherit the Earth" this is number two from my "Beatitudes" series I'm working on. I used China Blue, first time I ever used it and I think it's one of my new favorite colors.

2011-04-15T14:34:00.001-04:00

Last night I decided to go buy some paint brushes and a new bottle of masking fluid.
Today I played around with acrylics on my new hotpress watercolor paper. It has a lot of potitial, but I just can't seem to grasp how to do it. I tried different things and I just feel that my two year old could paint better than me.

I began to think to myself again, how can I get past this problem, then it dawned on me that maybe all I needed to do is test out my new bottle of mashing fluid on my stonehenge. Maybe the problem was not the paper, but just old masking fluid. Sure enough it worked and I can now accomplish what I started out on in the beginning. This makes a big difference and will add a new element to my work. Just what I need, for my Friday. :)

I'm still around

2011-04-13T14:56:00.004-04:00

I have been drawing just about everyday now, since Roy moved the drafting table. I did a big 12"x16" angel piece, called "Offerings to the the Lord". It only took me two days, because it was more of a soft fuzzy colored pencil drawing with just a light watercolor wash for a background. I'm not going to be able to show it for now.

I'm actually stuck on a drawing and I don't think I'm going to be able to do it, unless I learn to actually paint it (and not use colored pencils).

Every medium has its limits. I know in my mind what I want to do, but I have to use masking fluid and it doesn't work on stonehenge, because it's so soft and it just rips every time I attempt to take it off. I don't want to use colored pencil on any other surface, because I've tried all kinds of surfaces and I never liked how it looks, because I love to add layers and layers of colors and I can't get that on any other surface besides a surface that is softer and has a good tooth.

I struggled over what to do and what medium to use. I thought for a moment about oils, but I hate to deal with toxic chemicals and with me moving in a trailer with limited space and my almost 3 year old daughter climbing, getting into things, tasting it, spilling it, and hiding it, that's not happening. So I thought it might be nice to pick up my paint brush and give another go at acrylics. This time I'm not going to experiment on wood panels, but watercolor paper. I've seen some really lovely acrylic art done by lots of artist on watercolor paper. So I've ordered some. I don't know if I will like it, but I have to start somewhere. I hate learning a new medium this late in my life, but I feel I need to. I'm not even sure that I will be able to paint. I only used paints for backgrounds or bushes. I worked with pencil so long, that when I pick up a brush it feels like a foreign object of torture, LOL.

New Creative Space

2011-03-31T19:45:00.003-04:00

The last two weeks, I've been spending my time playing with Savannah & Jozi. I haven't had much desire to draw. I think it's mostly because, I can't get time to draw. I did start a aceo this morning, but never got to finish working on it. Roy's been working a lot and when he has days off we are rarely home, so I've not had any time to myself to paint.
I told Roy the other night it would be nice to move my drafting table in the living room, so I could work on art. He never said anything, but tonight he told me he would move it as soon as we get rid of one of the recliners. So I guess this weekend we are going move things around, so I have a place to work and I can keep a good eye on my kids : )

My big News

2011-03-23T14:36:00.003-04:00

What I meant to be a secret has already been told to everyone, LOL. I guess sometimes it's better just to tell. My mom told a few people, I told one person and Roy told another person. So the people mom told told everyone else. It's not that it was going to be kept a secret forever, it's just that it's not been set in stone and things could change and it might not happen.

Anyways the big secret or news is... (drum roll)... I might be moving. Moving very soon. In about 2 months or so. Roy and I are planning to move out of our house and move into my grandmothers trailer. My grandmother lives with my mom now, because she tripped and broke her hip last fall and will not be able to live by herself now. We are planning to do work to our house then put it up for sell. I've lived in a housing Development since 1999 and still I have never got used to it. As I've told before, I grew up in the country in a log cabin next to a forest with river front property. It was like I was on vacation every day. It was a shock to my system moving in a housing dev. There are houses all around my home. The trailer is a good bit smaller than my house. I'm going to start going through everything in my home and getting rid of stuff I don't need or want any longer. I'm going to make the goodwill rich, LOL. My studio furniture will have to be stored. I'm taking my drafting table and a desk with all my art supplies, plus my new icarus board. I'll have to do all my art in the living room. Not a big deal for me, I adapt very easily.

I probably won't be getting much art finished the next couple of months. I might just do light sketching, like what you see in this post. I'm planning to remove my purchase buttons for prints and other products on my website. I'm still going to be selling my originals though. Prints will be available through my zazzle store. I'm not sure if I will be doing any updates to my website for the next year or so. We are planning to live in the trailer, until we sell our house and buy land and build a home or get a doublewide. I will be posting (as far as I know) finished art here on my blog. I'm planning on selling art on ebay, cause they are supposed to change there policies in April to where you can list up to 50 items free. So I want to get back into selling, but this time I will be selling both my fantasy and fine art. All of this is not set in stone and I will post whats going on as it comes and goes.

Ansered Prayer

2011-03-20T22:38:00.002-04:00

It's so funny how God works. I've been praying about something for years and this weekend a opportunity has arose, but it's not 100% set in stone. I never thought it would happen this way or wasn't looking for it to happen so soon. I can't share what it is yet, but if it happens it will change my whole life. All I can say is it's not art related, but in the end it will affect my art. It's nothing bad! It's just what I needed to get out of the rut I've been in. If it is going to happen I'll share it in a couple of months with all of you :)

I haven't had a chance to start on any fantasy project. I did do a small 5"x7" still life last week. it was nice doing something different for a change. If I get time this week I might draw a mermaid.

Taking Two years Off

2011-03-10T22:16:00.004-05:00

Tonight I had a talk with my hubby. I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed and I feel as if I'm being pulled in two different directions. My daughter is starting in a new stage, the horrible threes. It's not really horrible, but she's been getting into everything she possibly can the last two months and I can't keep up with art and her at the same time. I'm making the hard decision of putting my art on the back burner for a couple of years until school age. I've tried really hard to keep up with my art and the business, but I realize there's no way I can do it anymore. Roy has noticed it to and is wanting me to lay off of art too. I'm still going to draw art from time to time, but it will only be when Roy's not working and he's not busy or someone is watching the kids. I'll probably only manage to get one drawing done a month.

Uncreative Day

2011-03-10T18:24:00.002-05:00

Sometimes as a artist you become uncreative with what your doing and you have to walk away from it. Today I was trying to work on art, but it just wasn't working out. I don't like having days like this. I know that I have to quit what I'm doing and walk away from it. I actually just through what I was working on into the trash. I was probably only about 5 or 6hrs into. So I know I'm not ready to start working on the princesses and unicorns. I'll save them for later down the road. I'll probably just take the rest of the week off, because I know the way I'm feeling, I'm not going to very creative.

Anyhow the day wasn't a total waste. I messed around on my icarus board and I discovered working on a black surface all over again. I can't believe the difference it makes when colored pencils are melted on black stonehenge paper. Roy said, if they are that good, he knows I'll do a super job on black with them.

Living Large

2011-03-08T18:59:00.003-05:00

I started working on Princess of Zion a little yesterday and a little today. The size of it is a 9"x12", but I've decided to start over again and do it larger. I'm realizing that I'm having trouble with the detailing and I need to go larger, so the detail will show up better. I have the right colors for it and that part is working out great. I'm using my favorite color, Imperial Violet. Actually it's the old Imperial Violet I love. Prismacolor has gone and messed with the recipe and it's a little more purple now. it bugs me when they do that. They've done this with other colors in the past. I still have a few of the old color and I'm using on this piece I'm doing for Savannah. The eyes of the girl will be yellow and it will really stand out with the violet. I'm thinking of using the Imperial Violet on the one portrait princess.

Another Untitled Princess

2011-03-02T14:11:00.004-05:00

I'm on a roll. I got three sketches done since yesterday. There's only miner details and changes I'll need to make to all of them, before finishing them up to start the master drawings. I'm going to do one more unicorn and princess sketch tomorrow. Then I'm going to move onto sketching a different subject.

The sketch to the left is a remake of a drawing I did back in 2004. It turned out so different that I'm going to go ahead and release the older print in the archive section of my site, when I get time.

Out with the Old, in with the New

2011-03-01T09:54:00.003-05:00

A few post back when I was telling the history of me and my art, I told a little about what I started out doing. This was probably the second or third drawing I did after the hobo piece. I remember it well. It took me a whole week to draw this piece. I was rather slow at coloring it, considering it was on Bristol paper. Bristol paper doesn't have the tooth that Stonehenge has, it doesn't handle layers and layers of color. I remember struggling a bit with the coloring the dress, because I still wasn't 100% sure of myself working on a white surface, but after it was finished I was pretty happy with it. This was also one of the first pieces I listed on ebay. I got $10.00 out of it and was really upset, because of all the time I had put into it. One good thing, my customer knew I was a newby on ebay and he e-mailed me to encourage me not to give up on selling on ebay. That really helped me back then, because I was just starting out and any advice or encouragement was priceless to me.
Anyhow the reason I'm posting this piece is, because I'm going to redo it. It will be interesting to compare the old piece with the new one. I'm going to make changes to it as well, but I think I will keep the main things in tack.

Untitle Princess.

2011-02-28T22:07:00.003-05:00

I decided to sketch some more today. I'm thinking of doing a good bit of sketching in March. It all depends on whether I can stand to sketch that much. I tend to miss coloring and I jump back and forth.

This untitled piece will be a Autumn piece. I want to make her dress red. The unicorn will be black. I think I'm going to keep this one for myself, but I'm not sure yet. I some more of these unicorns with the princesses to draw. So I'll just have to see and then make up my mind. Oh yeah, I'm not finished sketching it. I have flowers to add and her wings.

Princess of Zion

2011-02-24T17:47:00.012-05:00

I finished this sketch today. This is a remake of a sketch I never finished. This is a personal project and it's a gift to my little girl, Savannah. I'm planning to do a ongoing series of these princesses and unicorns. It will be hard for me to put any of these up for sale, being that unicorns with princesses are one of me fav. subjects.

Rambles about the history me and my art
I've talked about this before, but growing up I was a big fan of Sue Dawe's unicorn art. I still have some of her prints and folders. As a little girl growing up I mainly drew unicorns, up until I started Jr. high. Then I started drawing some portraits, wildlife and a lot of still life art in high school along with fantasy. I drew a couple of large dark fairies, sorta goth, but back then there was no such thing as goth in my hometown and I didn't know what it was. That was all before I became a Christian. Before and After I got saved, some other events went on (that are and aren't related to my art), I sorta lost interest in art for awhile. Then Roy and I began to date and after dating about 4 months we were married. I was home a lot by myself, because Roy worked a lot, so I began to get lonely and bored, so I picked up my pencils once again and began to draw realistic angel portraits. They are a lot different than the style of art I do now. It took me many hrs to do one and I also started doing fine art as well. I drew everything on black mat board. I didn't know how to draw on white with colored pencils. I started out on black mat board in high school with prismacolor and totally forgot how to or at least I thought I couldn't.
about 5 years later, it was summer and I was at my mom's and I felt like trying to draw something different so thus began my journey with fantasy again. I sketch "hobo" my first hillbilly fairy. I also sketched some other fairies too. I didn't color any of them or do anything with them at that time.
So that fall Roy and I took a trip to Michigan and we went to a mall. While we was there, I went into a store and saw a print of a fairy with a unicorn and I fell in love with it and my brain began to run wild. I thought to myself, "I got all those sketches at home, I know I can turn them into something as beautiful as this. When I got home I got out some type of drawing paper and drew "Hobo". At that moment, I knew for sure I wanted to be a artist.
I wasn't able to start my business until two years later. What a journey it has been and being in business sure has it's ups and downs, but I love being a artist and I learned so much stuff from the other artist and I've made a lot of artist friends, plus met a lot of wonderful customers. Since then my style has changed and been perfected more. I'm not so much into drawing fairies, like in the beginning. I found that I love drawing angels first, then mermaids second. I still like fine art and I'm sure I will draw some more fine art later down the road. Even though the pays not always good, this is one of the funnest and most rewarding jobs I think I could ever have :)

Serene Green

2011-02-23T13:08:00.002-05:00

I thought I would practice on my Icarus board some today. So I drew this aceo. I'm not planning to release it onto products or prints, because this is just a test run for a bigger version of this piece. The original is for sell on ebay. Starting bid is $9.99 or buy it now for $15.00.

Click >>>here<<< to go to the auction

The Golden Ticket

2011-02-21T16:04:00.004-05:00

I finished this up this morning. I really breezed through this painting fast. For my next project I was going to redo my other steampunk piece "Everlasting", but I'm thinking of postponing it for awhile. I think I want to do some Princesses with Unicorns. It's fun to jump around from theme to theme.

Ireland Waters

2011-02-17T11:49:00.003-05:00

I finished this painting up this morning. I worked steady on this all week, about 8hrs a day. I probably have about 24 or 25hrs into this piece. I really like the colors and it's a nice change from all the reds, I'd been working with for all the Valentine pieces.

I'm going to start on a steampunk piece now. I going to get "golden ticket" out and start coloring it. I already have the colors planned out in my mind.

Untitled St. Patty's Day Mermaids

2011-02-15T12:21:00.003-05:00

This is the next drawing I'm going to work on. I don't have a name for it yet, but I'm sure I'll come up with one before I'm finished. This will most likely be the only St. Patrick's Day piece I do this year.

The weather is supposed to get warm this week. I might take Savannah out either tomorrow or Thursday so she can play. I'll probably work on my drawing or a sketch outside. I love working on art outside. it's the best lighting and it just feels good to be out after a long cold winter. The kids have had cabin fever here in the last month and I'm so ready for spring, LOL.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T10:14:00.002-05:00

I've been busy since last week working on a huge sketch. It's a big 18"x24", mermaids. Eventually it will be cut to a oval shape for a really pretty frame I have that my mom gave to me. This is a personal piece, I'm doing for my bedroom. I won't be able to cut it down until I get a perfect scan of it.

I don't know if I'm going to start this after it's sketched. I'm thinking about putting it away and starting a smaller project.

Love Angel

2011-02-04T21:38:00.002-05:00

I just finished this up and scanned it in. It's not very good scan. It was just a quick one. I'll scan it again later on and do any color adjusting and other corrections on it.
I've been thinking about making another website, just for companies to see samples of my best work. I've been thinking about all of this really hard and I've sorta come up with a step by step plan/goals. First off I need to get a lot more art finished. I want to put my best foot forward with my art. Eventually, I'll start weeding out my site again. I've grown a lot in the last 6 months and I see a lot wrong with some of the art I did 6 months ago. I plan to move some of it over to the archival section of my site and the others I plan to redraw them from scratch. A lot of my angel art is good enough to use, but most of my mermaid art is not. One of the pieces I know I'm going to redo and Everlasting. It was a really good idea and I think I can do more with it now, since I've gotten better.

Three New PSP Tag at My Tag Art

2011-02-04T11:59:00.004-05:00

Three new tags, Mermaid and Baby, Moon Child, and Blessed are release. Go here to my artist page to buy these tags.

I Heart You

2011-02-01T21:22:00.002-05:00

I was able to get two sketches finished today. I felt like that was a good accomplishment considering have a two year old with a tremendous amount of energy :) I have to admit though, it is a lot easier now that she's getting older. She plays a lot by herself. It's fun to watch her act out her little made up characters with her toys. I remember being the same way. A lot of times I didn't want to play with the other kids. I was a quiet child and I would either be playing by myself in a corner or at the kitchen table drawing. I guess that's why I adapted so well to non social lifestyle. I suppose art makes up for any loneliness I might of felt otherwise.

I have so many Valentine projects I'm wanting to draw, I wonder if I can do all of them. I'm just going to keep it up for now until I feel burnt out or bored.

Red Roses

2011-01-31T20:25:00.003-05:00

I sorta walk in on my husband ordering my surprise for Valentine's day. So he went ahead and showed me what he got me. He ordered me a icarus board. I felt bad about spoiling the surprise, but I was tickled to be getting one.

I worked on this colored pencil painting all day today. I decided to change the name to to "Red Roses". I really like how all the colors compliment each other. I love the bright reds and the greens.

I'll probably sketch tomorrow.

PSP Tags Now for sale at MY TAG ART

2011-01-27T22:35:00.002-05:00

PSP Tags of my art are now available at www.mytagart.com. They will be releasing new tags weekly.

Lots of New Updates

2011-01-27T19:42:00.002-05:00

I finally finished all my new updates on my website. I added a archive gallery to my site, new bookmarks, of course ACEO's (I did that a couple days ago), and added one new print and the original, "Roses by the Stream".

I would like to make some new products for my website. I have the supplies to make glass pendent necklace. I think I might take a day next week to work on that.

I'm glad I'm caught up on my updates on my website. Now I can work on art this weekend. There's nothing else better to do when your snowed in than draw and paint :)

HollyDurrArt.com Updates

2011-01-26T00:20:00.002-05:00

I decided I better get some updating done on my website. I'll be working on it all this week, trying to get things added on. I'm debating over bringing out some of the older piece again. I think I'm just going to re-release the ones I plan to not do again.

Updates.
One new Original Mermaid Painting and one new Mermaid Art print called, "Roses by the Stream" added to http://hollydurrart.com/original_art.html.
5 new 8 Packs of ACEO Open Edition Prints added, A total of 40 New ACEO's added to http://hollydurrart.com/aceo.html

New Goals for the Year

2011-01-24T22:33:00.003-05:00

I've had a bad cold part of this past week and weekend. I'm a lot better now. I wasn't able to get any art finished or started. I spent the whole weekend either laying on the coach watching movies, taking care of the kids, or sleeping. Roy had a bad cold right along side with me. He had to go to a safety class on Saturday, he wasn't so lucky like me. He's still not over his. His seems to be worse than what mine is. I'm almost completely over mine.

It was really nice to get all that sleep and rest. That doesn't happen all that often. I felt really refreshed this morning. So I took advantage of it and cleaned house and got all my yearly taxes together to get my taxes done. I also finished up "Beauty of Holiness" sketch. The sketch really turned out good.

While I was sick over the weekend, I thought about my art and my website. I know I said for my new year resolutions/goals I wanted to do more personal projects for myself. Well I sorta added to that or maybe even changed it (it all depends on time). I really want to get back into doing more spiritual biblical angel pieces. This is how I started out when I first opened my website.

I don't want to release the new art until I get a certain amount finished. I would like to redesign my website around the new art. I was thinking while I work on these secret projects, I want to finish some other projects that I can share with all of you, like the Valentine's day theme art. I'm going to start coloring that, "Roses are Red" mermaid this week.

Coming Soon, PSP Tubes

2011-01-21T10:19:00.004-05:00

After a very very long wait from PSP Tubers and well overdue, my art will be available in PSP Tubes for sale through My Tag Art. I'll post a link on my home page as soon as they get my tags up. They will be available starting January 28, 2011. My Tag Art will be releasing them a little at a time. There is a lot of art being made into tags, including all those ACEO's I've done over the years. There are a few pieces I didn't submit, because I plan to redraw them again. So don't fret they are being reborn into a more detailed and better versions.

Also I wanted to add the main reason I chose this company is, because it's family friendly. That's important to me as a Christian.

Beauty of Holiness, Rough Sketch

2011-01-18T14:18:00.000-05:00

I think this will end up being one of my favorites. I call it "Beauty of Holiness". She's going to be setting in front of a huge stained glass window. The bible will be laying on her lap with a cross bookmark. I might do some doves flying above her. Still a lot to work on with this one, but this is a really beautiful idea.

2011-01-18T12:29:00.002-05:00

There's times when everyone feels down. I always take advantage of when I feel like this to create more humble pieces. This helps me to get my feelings out and get through what I'm going through. This sketch is actually a remake of a angel from a old series, "Fruit of the Spirit". I'll have to wait for another day, when I'm feeling more uplifted in spirit to work on some of the other sketches. Some of the fruits are going to be hard to put into a painting.

Let it snow, I'll just draw

2011-01-12T19:41:00.003-05:00

It's been snowing really hard today. Jozi didn't have school today and they've already canceled for tomorrow.

I got my mermaid sketch done, but decided to put it away and work on a angel piece. It's a sketch from last year, that I attempted to draw twice, but couldn't get the color scheme figured out. Well I'm breezing through it now and I'm in love with the colors. This is more of a portrait type piece, a Victorian angel. I'm about 30% finished with it. So I'll probably have it finished in a day or so. It has lavender colors. It's for valentine day as well :)

Roses are Red, Archive Art

2011-01-08T14:43:00.004-05:00

Here's another old painting a did a few years back. I was actually looking for something else and stumble on this. I forgot about this one. So I think this will be the next one I redraw. This painting originally has a border on it. I'm probably going to make her bigger and not add the border to the new one. I always had a bad habit in the old days of having way to much empty "boring" space in my paintings. I'm learning though, LOL. I love the pose and the pedestal, so I know I will keep those things in tack. It's everything else I might make changes too :)

2011-01-07T14:59:00.002-05:00

I stayed up really late last night working on this. While working on this I listened to preaching by Perry Stone. I really like his teachings. I didn't get this painting finished last night. So I got up really early this morning to finish it. My hand and thumb is sore now. I went back to bed after I finished it. I think for my next project, I'll redo another one of my older mermaids.

Up for Auction is the original on eBay. Starting price is $99.99.

WIP 1, Roses by the Steam, Remake

2011-01-05T21:04:00.002-05:00

I thought I would post some of my work in progress for this piece. I really enjoy drawing the skin and the face. It's one of my favorite things to draw. I love drawing the scales as well. I love the detail in my mermaids scales. I remember a time several years ago, I was showing my art to a neighbor. I had just completed a mermaid. The scales wasn't detailed or realistic like I do now. She made a comment about it not being realistic and said she like the more realistic style. It never hurt my feelings, but I really got to thinking about what she said and I did take it as a positive thing. Back then I didn't have very good paper to draw on. Later on when I started using stonehenge and decided to start selling on ebay, one of the first things I listed was a aceo mermaid. I tried to do the scales a little more realistic and I sorta shock myself. I realized I was pretty decent at drawing them and I love how it looked. As far as the skin goes and the unique sheen to it plus the colors, I slowly learned it over time. I have a strong understanding of Prismacolor colored pencil. I know it's strengths and weaknesses. At times I love it and at times I get stuck. That's why I've been dabbling into other mediums in the last few years. It's help me to achieve what colored pencils lack. I just wish that prismacolor would bring out more colors including turquoise and lighter shades of purple.

Roses by the Stream, Remake

2011-01-05T09:39:00.003-05:00

I decided that I would start remaking some of my favorite older pieces. Since Valentine Day is coming up next month and it's my favorite holiday, I thought I would redo this piece for it. I've changed the pose somewhat, but I'm going to try to keep the colors and the theme the same as the older piece. I've ran into a little bit of a problem with the size. I want to make it a 8"x10", but it doesn't look right, because the piece has more length than width. So I'm going to put a vertical border with roses on each side to balance it out. That will fix the problem.

Untitle Angel

2011-01-04T18:22:00.002-05:00

I know it's been a little while since my last post, but I was here working in my studio on this painting over the holidays and I finally finished it up this afternoon.

My back is hurting tonight. I think I've over done it yesterday and today. I really wanted to get this latest piece finished. The colors are so rich and bold in person. I painted a thin layer of acrylics over some of the colored pencil areas to make more contrast. In some areas I painted it entirely with acrylics. This painting was a pain to scan, because of the size.

At one point while working on this I got board, but I convinced myself that I must press on and then I began to get interested in working on it again.

Tomorrows a new day and I'm excited to start on something new. I think I'm going to work on some smaller non personal projects for awhile.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2010-12-24T13:28:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

While working on the sketch this week, for my personal angel project, it began to get a little to busy. It seemed to have two different themes going on and it lost the rustic angelic feel I was going for. There was way to much space in the piece, it had grown into a big 22"x30". It was becoming hard to fill in the space with things that would go with the theme. I decided then I needed to scrap some of the subjects and shrink it down, but my mind was a blink on how I was going to about piecing it all together and what size it should end up being. So I did the only I felt would help and that was to get away from my work and spend time with the kids for a few days. So that's just what I did and then finally last night it came to me what I needed to do and I stayed up until 2:00am working on it. I'm very please with how the sketch turn out. I can't wait to start coloring and painting it today. I'm going to use gold and silver paint, because I have the sun and moon with stars. It will have a surreal feel to it. You will see this in a lot of my upcoming work for next year. The size will be 10"x22".

The sketch above is something I sketch at my mom's yesterday. I like the arched pose, but I want to make changes. This will be a simple piece and it will be for sell on my website when it's finished :)

Next Big Painting

2010-12-12T19:30:00.002-05:00

I was really wanting to start another winter drawing, but I didn't have no ideas coming to mind. So I thought I would get started on one of my personal pieces I plan to keep. There's going to be a lot of stuff going on in this painting. It's really hard to describe what I have in mind. This drawing will be huge. I want to use more acrylics in this one to make the colors really rich and bold. I'm thinking of using gold acrylics as well, but we will have to see how it all falls together. This will probably be a ongoing project. I will probably only work on it about two or three days a week. I'm going to try to split up my time for smaller projects, so not to get to burnt out on my big projects.

Winter Solstice

2010-12-07T19:51:00.002-05:00

I was going to sketch some more winter art yesterday, but I felt like working on this. I finally finished it up. I haven't decided if I'm going to post this on ebay or not. I might just post it to my site. Right now I'm tired so I might decide that another day.

Winter Angels

2010-12-06T10:20:00.002-05:00

Last night I was in the mood to sketch and I decided to sketch some winter theme angel art. This is a rough sketch I will refine the sketch before I start. I added a little arctic snow fox peeking from around the tree.

I thinking of sketching some more winter fantasy art today. I don't know which ones I'll end up working on, but I do have a 5"x7". I'm planning to do for sure.

Art Goal for next year

2010-12-04T11:44:00.006-05:00

I've decided to put away my fall mermaid I was working on. I tried all week to get to it and I sorta purposely avoided it. I know I've lost the desire to work on it. So I'm not going to painfully force myself to finish it.

I think there will be a lot of changes next year with my art projects. I want to work more on personal projects. Most of the originals from the personal projects I plan to keep. I've had some of the ideas for years, but have put them off for the reason of making a living and the fact that I felt like I lacked the confidence and skill to do them. Now that ebay is fizzing out and art business in general has become slow, I think now is a good time to work on what I want. Since I've been taking more time to study my mediums and perfect my drawing skills more, I feel I'm ready to dive into the stuff I've wanted to do for years. I been dragging out the old thumb nail sketches and dusting them off. I'm so eager to see how they will look once finished. I also came up with a really cool idea while looking through the old sketches.

So basically my goal for next year will be to work on more personal projects and try not take on projects that make me feel bogged down. I feel that, that is a much harder goal than last year, but I want to give it a shot :)

Fall Mermaid WIP

2010-11-27T20:44:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. My Thanksgiving was pretty good. I went to my mom and dad's. I ate really good food and then after awhile, began to feel my eye lids get heavy and I went to sleep for a cat nap for about 30mins. Then I got up and decided go home and start working on this fall piece. I decided I would go with some bright bold colors for this piece. It really looks good so far. Though the scan on here doesn't look the greatest.

I would like to get at least one more picture finished (not including this one) before next year. It would be nice to get three, but that might be pushing it. I have one more fall piece to complete after this painting, then I want to maybe start some winter pieces. I don't have any snow scene art. So I figure it would be good to go in that direction :)

Longing

2010-11-18T21:04:00.002-05:00

I finished this piece this evening. I breezed right through this painting. The colors just fell together and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Acrylics really helped to speed up the process with the tree and the lace in the dress. I might start using more acrylic washes for undercoatings to speed up my art. I'll just have to practice to see what work. I really love the sheer lace in the dress. While working on this I was thinking of a idea for a blue winter dress. I've done any winter art and I've been wanting to. I've started some in the past. but never finished them.

Autumn Angel WIP

2010-11-16T23:15:00.003-05:00

I've been a little under the weather the past few days. I got a head cold or sinus infection. Luckily I slept half the day on Monday and that really helped me get over it quicker. Roy watched Savannah and cleaned house and also done laundry while I was sleeping. That was super nice of him.

I started coloring this painting this evening. I ended up going in a totally different direction with the colors than I had planned. That's okay, because I love the way it's turning out. I promise this is a really really bad scan of the original. It really does look so much better in person. I really hope I can get this done by the end of the week.

Next week Roy will get vacation. I'm not sure if it's the whole week, but I'm hoping. If he has off, I'm not sure I will get to work on art. It all depends on what he is doing and what he will allow me to do, LOL. If he lets me draw, it's hard to tell what I will work on.