Sept. 19th - Sept. 21st
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| This is a closed blog hop, just for the members of the Mixing it Up Every Day Facebook group so that we can get to know each other better. (photo: Cottonwood Arts Facebook page) |
If you are not in the Mixing It Up Facebook group, please feel free to leave a comment anyway, then, if you'd like, we invite you to join our Facebook group, Mixing It Up Everyday. We would love to get to know you better, too!
Listen up, Mixing It Up members! In order to have a chance to win the prize package from Cottonwood Arts you must:
- Be a blog hostess
- Leave a comment on everyone's blog
Blog hop dates: Sept. 19th - Sept. 21st
Alrighty...now let's get to the FUN part!!!
A quote by Martha Graham inspired my illustration. It's very profound and one I've come to memorize and recite whenever I feel that no-good-inner-critic telling me her two cents. (Pretty sure you know what I'm talkin' 'bout, right?)
"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost."
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| Most of my illustrations start off traditionally, with a simple pencil drawing, like this. At this point, I'm still working on her features and blocking in shapes to create a dynamic composition. |
When I say I'm a mixed media artist, I'm talkin' all kinds of stuff!!
Here's some of what I used for this piece:
pencil, ink pen, spray paint, acrylics, hand cut collage, stencils, photography, and finished as a digital illustration (Adobe Photoshop).
Here she is!
I LOVE drawing hair! Afros and long strands that take on a life of their own are my specialty! These are hand cut and collaged.
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| I always embed inspirational words or phrases in my art. For example, the words "U R worthy" are in the lower, right hand corner. |
I have my order book open to receive your special commission!
Please contact me at: http://bit.ly/talk2Martice
Are you a journal hoarder? How many do you have and why different ones?
Hmmm. I don't think I hoard them...I can say that because I don't mind letting others take a peek inside them! Well, I do have a stack of 'em laying around...not sure how many I have at this point! A good guess would be 11.
I like to keep different sizes on hand - never know what kind of surface I might wanna work on, so, I keep a variety of sketchbooks with different paper finishes; cold press, hot press, Yupo, Rives BFK...my faves.
I carry a 9"x12" sketchbook for my larger sketches and I also include ideas for my upcoming and future art shows,
One for my "free-falls" (where I study and play off other artists' techniques and determine if I want to incorporate them into my own work),
And a small, 4"x7" for when I'm traveling or walking around the city, or exploring nature. It's home for my random doodles, poems/quotes/jokes and paper scraps I find along the way.
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Challenge:
MMMC #4: Color Challenge
MMMC #4: Color Challenge
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Well, that's all for now, my friends! I really hope you enjoyed what you've seen.
Before you go: Don't forget to grab my new button, in the sidebar!
Come hop along with us!! :)
Here are the links to everyone's blog:
Sandee Setliff
Tiare Smith Woods
Martice Smith II <---YOU ARE HERE!
Tiffany Goff Smith <--- GO HERE NEXT
Anna Turner Ely
Cat von Hassel-Davies
Terri Sproul
Sharon D. Estes
Betty Guffey Richardson
Tommy Jo Vilello Anderson
Melissa Willard Edwards
Donna Simmons Lueders
Jean Marmo
Tamiko McCurry
Blog hop dates: Sept. 19th - Sept. 21st
I love the face! And the hair strands so cooL! Don't think I have ever trtied a face. Thank you for the inspiration! I enjoy getting to know everyone better.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jean! You should try drawing a face sometime. It's a very good challenge :) Just start with one facial feature at a time, keep practicing it until your comfortable and move on to the next one. You can do it!
DeleteLove your style!! I like how you collaged layers of hair. It gives it such dimension!
ReplyDeleteI like how you combine all the different mediums along with digital. I tend to keep my digital art separate from my other art, or at least I have for the last few years.
Thanks for joining the blog hop as I was unfamiliar with your art and it is a joy to see!
Thank you, Anna! Yes, choosing the collage technique for the hair came so naturally. Most of the time, my hair can be quite unruly...that's were my inspiration comes from for this style!
DeleteGlad to know you enjoyed my art :)
Gorgeous! Very inspiring. I love everything about it. Thanks for sharing a piece of you. I have recently started carrying a mini journal in my purse.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Tiare :) thank you for your kind words. Mini journals are perfect, aren't they?! I love how lightweight they are...much more intimate, too. When I show an example of my work to someone, they really feel involved and more open to ask questions about my process. My pages are extremely textural as well and I encourage a hands on approach!
DeleteThis is just beautiful!! I love the drawing of the woman, I could only hope to draw people that well. I think it is amazing that you include digital. I have no idea how that is done so it amazes me LOL. Just a very nice piece of art work, thank you for sharing with us all.
ReplyDeleteAww thanks, Donna! It's like creating two (or more) artworks and merging them all into ONE. With practice comes improvement...Keep drawing faces/people and you will surprise yourself to see just how far you've come. Best wishes to ya :)
DeleteGlad to visit your blog and I love the drawing of your faces , I am working on bringing my drawing back after years of not doing it. I am relearning and learning so much in this group and this really encourages me to start with using a journal . Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSO glad to have you visit, Sharon! I'm happy to know you've picked drawing back up. It's such a pleasure to do, isn't it? Our group is very fun and supportive. I'm blessed to be among you all. Xoxo
DeleteAlways .. Always in awe when I visit your site! So, so talented! I feel to so fortunate to be able to get to learn more about you with every visit! Thank you for joining the hop! :)
ReplyDeleteTamiko!! How sweet of you to say that! I really appreciate your thoughts and compliments on my art. Be sure to come back for more :)
DeleteI really did like the hair technique, I might have to give that a go myself. I also like how you combined hand drawn art with digital art, very talented!
ReplyDeleteHi Sandee :) yes, the hair technique is fun! Something I developed not too long ago...Thank you for stopping by!
DeleteMartice, your work if so inspiring and the face of this lady is just divine. Actual, real, drawing skills are something desperately missing from my own skillset and while I love drawing, creating faces and realistic looking anything is difficult. I love the way you incorporated "U R Worthy" into the drawing. You might not notice it at first, but with some study of the work, there it is, to remind the viewer. Thanks for a peek into your world. I will have many more peeks after today's hop! <3
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Arty Auntie! I love incorporating words; some are more prominent than others and some are used as visual texture, much like the one I highlighted, here. It's fun to hear what people think they see when looking at my art!
DeleteKeep practicing, and you will get better at drawing. Here's a tip that helps tremendously: when rendering a 3D object, focus on its FORM. Note the highlights, mid-tones and shadows. Without these, the drawing remains flat.
WOW...
ReplyDeleteThanks Terri! I know you like texture, as well. Does any of the textures in my illustration look familiar? I'm curious to know what you see ;)
DeleteWhat a great quote! I love how we are all works in progress with so many sides to the things we do. I really enjoyed the pieces you shared in this post with all the colors and techniques. I look forward to exploring your blog more!
ReplyDeleteHey Melissa! Thank you for your lovely comment. I agree-we all have a unique gift to share. It's a blessing to come together with this blog hop. I hope we do many more! Be sure to come back as much as you'd like :)
DeleteOh my heck.. your illustration is just AWESOME.Yoiur drawing skill set is phenominal, but then combining it with digital aspects resulted in an absolute wonder. I think the 'slight' colors really adds to its appeal for me. Love it!
ReplyDeleteTommy Jo! What a great compliment! I really appreciate you for saying that. Yes, this illustration is more "gritty" and has more of a muted, pastel-like color palette. A new direction with this one and it seems to work!
DeleteGRRRRRRRR. New iOS a working overtime making me login places I haven't had to in awhile. Anyway, if my other post shows up, delete one! Your post is awesome, as are you, Martice!
ReplyDeleteVicki!! What a pleasant surprise to see you stop by. Thank you so much for your sweet spirit! (((Hugs)))
DeleteI LUV your illustration. I LUV journals too. I LUV to make them but filling them in is harder. I still grab the nearest piece of paper on hand when an idea hits me and then later collect them and try to improve on it in one of my journal/sketchbooks.
ReplyDeleteYes, I know exactly what you're saying! I used to do that as well...the more I refined my work process, the more it become necessity to have all my sketches within reasonable reach, lol, and easily accessible! Thanks for your awesome compliment!
DeleteTruly stunning Martice!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kate :) So glad to have more people see my art. Your always so kind and supportive. I appreciate you. Xoxo
DeleteAwesome work
ReplyDelete-Melody
Thank you, Melody! What part(s) do you like best?
DeleteWonderful how you collaged the hair on to your page and love that you add a little inspirational word in the corner..
ReplyDeleteI'm off on the hop ..
Sandy :)
Thank you for visiting me, Sandy :) I'm so excited to show her off for our blog hop. Yep, there's always a positive word for you somewhere embedded in my artwork...I hope to see you here, again! You're welcome anytime.
DeleteAmazing page. thanks for taking us through the process. I love that you incorporate so many different textures and mediums in your work. :)
ReplyDeleteYvonne
Glad you stopped by, Yvonne! Thank you :) Yes, I have such an intuitive process that I really need to spread out everything I think I "might" use and go from there. Ha! Sometimes, I even pull out the power tools! I LOVE every aspect of creating, this way.
DeleteAmazing detail!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tiffany! I'm curious to know what part(s) you're drawn to the most?
DeleteWhat great work!!! I just love it and the techniques I will need to try. Thank you!!! So glad to meet you through this hop.
ReplyDelete~Hugs
Cat, hugs back at ya! Thanks for that :) Yes, some of these techniques are pretty straightforward (like the hair one)...the others have many steps involved but with patience and determination, it can be done with great results. I'd love to see whatever you make, with any of the techniques I shared here! So glad to meet you as well, Cat. Please be sure to visit more often!
DeleteWow, she is beautiful, love your sketching.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty page. Thanks for joining us at The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge.
ReplyDeleteSuch a pretty project! Love the colors and the techniques you used!! Thanks for joining us in this month's Mixed Media Monthly Color Challenge!
ReplyDeletebeautiful work!! Thank you so much for playing with the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge!
ReplyDelete-Rachel
rwkrafts.com
UM WOW this is amazing! LOVE this so much!
ReplyDeleteWow that's so neat!! I love the dimension you give it with the cutouts! Thanks for playing along in the Mixed Media Challenge!
ReplyDeleteBeautifullll! I don't know what I like the best about the girl...the colors...the hair, ...
ReplyDeleteALL! I was directed here by Terri Sproul (I am a subbie of her's All Things Terri" and watch her Tues classes all the time) and I would love to be a member here. I will go over to your Face Book page for Mixing it Up... and do a request there. I would love to join in the fun !! :)
Thank you so much, FaithAboundsCrafts!! I'm so glad you found me and have enjoyed my blog. I do hope you come back! Yes, our Facebook group would LOVE to have you...come on over!
Delete