Smile

   Gotta love a Friday-especially because it's art party time!  I have a new face painting to share along with another version of a continuous writing practice like my "Eye of the Storm" page from last week. First up is my "Smile" girl.

  This is how I began:

  First the page got a coat of gesso and then a base painting of pink and peach acrylic paints. I used an off white acrylic paint to make a somewhat heart shaped face.  For me I have found this to be the best way to begin a face shape! You can see my first face ever along with details on this post. The shape was then outlined in pencil, features were also drawn in. I then mixed gesso with peach acrylic to fill in the face. Golden's Cobalt Teal and gesso were used to deepen and outline the face (sorry, forgot to take a pic but you can see what I mean in the finished page).

  My completed "smile" girl:

  The hair was drawn in with a pencil and then the sections were painted with acrylic paints. I went over the hair lines and facial features with a black permanent marker. The eyes, brows and lips were filled in with markers and colored pencils.  I doodled in the smile necklace ( as I mentioned in my "shine" girl post I plan on doing a series of girls with word necklaces). Lastly I went over the hair sections with coordinating Twinkling H2O's for a shimmer although you can't really see how it sparkles here.  Definitely a different style and approach from my first-at least this time I dared give her two eyes, real brows and a nose :) I'm linking this up to Art Journal Everyday and Paint Party Friday.

  Last week I created a lettering practice page titled "The Eye of the Storm". Thank you all so much for your comments-I guess I didn't think it as powerful as it apparently was. For the Fall Fearless and Fly challenge #4 I chose to create another lettering practice using the color prompt along with the headline prompt and titled it "Within". (Ok, I just HAD to add a touch of red :) )

 These are all three prompts of which you can choose one, two or all three:
Headline Prompt: Security: What makes you feel safe and secure? What rattles your sense of security? Where do you go for comfort and refuge?

Color Prompt: Cool colors  (blues, greens, violets, etc.)

Quote Prompt: You can't make a place for yourself in the sun if you keep taking refuge under the family tree.  Helen Keller

 

 

  This page was begun and completed  just like my "Storm" page. The red heart and lines are glittered.The deets are in this post. I have been participating in Deepak Chopra's 21 Day Meditation Challenge which began on Nov.5th. It is something I look forward to more with each passing day and have found myself going into a "silence" if you will without thinking when I'm in a place I need to remove myself from. This page expresses the centering thoughts of each day for the meditations. So, what makes me feel safe and secure, where do I go for comfort and refuge? I go within. I believe it's all in your heart-you just need to listen to it and go with it. Going outside and being with nature helps too. And just so this doesn't get too laden with serious contemplation I thought I'd share a photo I took when spending some time outdoors in nature yesterday:

  This funky looking spider (a bit bigger than the size of a quarter or so) was hanging on the shed door and tho I was quite fascinated by it(never having seen anything like it before) I had to get my pic and scurry him along lest an encounter with my dog which would not have been good for either of them.Wonder what the appearance of this spider means? I'm going to look at the book I go to quite frequently when an animal/bird/ creature unexpectedly appears in my life. The title is Animal-Speak by Ted Andrews. Excellent reference guide to animals and totems!

  Thanks for stopping by. Now off you go to visit other artists who have linked up. Be inspired and leave a kind word or two.

         "Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof." Khalil Gibran