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Thursday 28 October 2010

Self Healing Art Course - week 2 (part 2 of 2)


Following on from my previous post....

The second spread in our board book was to include a whimsical character and be based on a childhood trauma and our page needed to be the opposite of said trauma.  Fortunately I didn't experience any (as far as I can remember) and so my spread was to be based on a happy memory instead.

Rather than focusing on anything in particular (this was the hardest part, deciding what to do!), I used lyrics of the first pop songs I can remember hearing as a child.  Namely, and I've included links on YouTube so I can go and listen to them again whenever I feel like it!
Grocer Jack by Keith West - Excerpt from a teenage opera (1967)
Little Boxes by Pete Seeger (1963)
Little Arrows by Leapy Lee (1968)

My page included two whimsical characters - one is me and the other my best friend, my Mum!  This wasn't a conscious decision, I did one and then another and it just looks right.   They were painted onto watercolour paper, cut out and glued onto the background.


My characters aren't perfect - even though I've now got some of the 'proper' crayons!  It really isn't as easy as Tam makes it looks - I guess I'm not a natural at this, but I'm going to have a lot of fun practicing I think.

Here's some close ups - I must be mad!


What a funny mouth - and it looks as though I have a bad case of dandruff - it's supposed to be shine!  Why have I got talcum powder on my forehead and down my nose - hehehe!!


She's much prettier!  Beautiful green eyes, but still a bit of dandruff!

I enjoyed doing the background.  Book text, water soluble crayons, white acrylic paint, more crayons, rubber stamping, printed text coloured with the crayons, more white acrylic paint and rubber stamping.



I know I haven't quite got the whole 'cohesive' thing absolutely right yet and I was rather heavy handed with the shadowing around the characters.


I do still like the finished pages though, and as I said before it's all a learning process and we learn by our mistakes after all.  The main thing is I'm enjoying the process - it's a lot of fun!

Thank you again Tam - wonder what's next!


14 comments:

Lorraine said...

marvellous whimsy characters and they havent got dandruff so stop being negative!

PetraB said...

Your characters are full of personality, they are quirky and special - almost dream-like in their beautifully created environment ... and now you tell me again what is wrong with them ......

Clare with paint in her hair said...

Love your pages, I haven't got a board book yet but going into town tomorrow so hope to find one in a charity shop.

Gez Butterworth said...

Stunning artwork Sherry. Love everything about your pages. :) I can imagine you are going to have lots of fun practising your new found skills. :) Just love your Whimsy's... Brilliant.xx Thanks for sharing.xx

Mrs A. said...

How'd you get your eyes so good. The characters absolutely come alive. I am now humming Grocer Jack away in my head as I sew your box together.Lol.

peggy aplSEEDS said...

wonderful! i've been seeing a lot of great work from this workshop and i am tempted to join!

JaN's ArTy JouRneY said...

Omg ! These are wonderful whimsey characters! Gorgeous pages. Can't see any dandruff either!! Stunning work!
Jan x

Kel said...

i'm really drawn to the girl in green holding the flower

it must be nice playing with those watercolour crayons, you have achieved a lovely finish with them

Luna Art said...

love your whimsies they are so cute! They don't look like they have dandruff at all! I am doing this course as well and am learning so much x

Healing Woman said...

I wonder if journaling will be addictive for you. I really think this 2 page spread turned out great. They are not supposed to be perfect, as a matter of fact, I tell everyone who purchases anything from me that nothing I do is perfect.

It will be interesting to see what is next in the class.

Meggymay said...

Wow, fantastic art, your characters are gorgeous they have a magical look. Great backgrounds as well

Angela said...

Sherry,
I think you are very much a natural at this. Your artwork is really fantastic.
Angela
PS My mom was my BFF, too.

Deborah said...

I think you are too self-critical and I agree with the post above, you ARE a natural. I remember all those songs (Junior Choice right?) - my favourite was Three Wheels on my Waggon :-)

Gini said...

Oh Sherry these are lovely, don't be so hard on yourself, you're only just beginning and I disagree with you saying you are not a natural.
Drawing and painting your own stuff is much harder to master than stamping etc. When I say master I mean paint on the paper what it is you are imagining in your brain not technically perfect work.
There is a good reason why Hero Arts say anyone can stamp.

I love that it is you and your Mum :-)

Gini
xx