Live @12:30pm ET Black Cat Painting Tutorial!

Edit: Here is the finished painting from the live stream. I also got permission to add reference photos below!

Hi friends! I’ll be live on YouTube at 12:30 with a painting tutorial, you can watch live here. I will update this post with a finished painting after the live stream.

Supplies can be purchased from our sponsor Jerry’s Artarama! Use coupon code: frugal20FS49 for 20% off $49 + Free Shipping (Excludes: Sale, Super Sale, Egift Cards, Buy It Try It’s and Vendor restricted items. Look for the green coupon eligible icon on the product listing.

Supplies:

• M Graham Watercolors (Prussian blue, Permanent Aliz Crimson, Cad Yellow Light)
• Mimik Squirrel (faux fur) watercolor brushes from Value set
• Faber Castell polychromos colored pencils
• Traceable pattern
• Reference photos can be found in this zip file, thank you Shelley Spaulding for allowing me to share them!

*Please excuse any typos! I will fix up the post after the live stream, I just wanted to make sure you had the needed materials to paint along if you chose to:) See you soon & happy crafting!

Inktober Day 5: Long

Hi friends! Don’t worry, there will be a live show later today but I wanted to pop in quickly this morning and share my sketch for Inktober day 5 where the prompt was “Long”:

This was my most favorite Inktober sketch I have done so far. Watch the video to see how it came to life!

Today’s prompt was the word “long” so what’s more fun than a long rainbow braid? You can learn more about inktober here.

Supplies I used:

• Pitt pens in black (set of 4)
• Art Journal
• Mermaid markers  (new colors are available at janedavenport.com)
• paint over pens
• white gel pen

I am loving the daily #inktober2017 challenge. I am not sure if I will post an inktober video each day but I’ll at least post a sketch if not. See you later for the live show and til then happy crafting!

Inktober Day 4: Underwater

Hi friends! Today’s #inktober2017 prompt is “Underwater” so of course I drew a mermaid! You can learn more about inktober here. I was so excited when Jake Parker, the founder of Inktober said it was OK to do a pencil sketch before inking! So that is what I did!

I looked at a pose from the book Figure Poses for Fashion Illustrations (A wonderful book & CD of reference fashion poses by Sha Tahmasebi) You can find it here for $14.48  (I paid $24 at Barns and Noble sheesh!) It is great for working out a figure pose especially if you like the willowy fashion figures and dynamic poses with attitude! I recommend it!

Supplies I used:

• Pitt pens in black (set of 4)
• Art Journal 
• Spray ink
• Mermaid markers (new colors are available at janedavenport.com)
• Paint over pens
• White gel pen

OK, that’s the last post from me today! You are going to be totally sick of hearing from me with all of the Inktober sketches! I hope you are playing along, it is a lot of fun! Til next time happy crafting!

Konmari Vlog: The Value of our STUFF!

Hi friends!  Everything I think about “stuff” I am reminded of the George Carlin bit about stuff: “My stuff is good STUFF, everyone else’s stuff is CRAP!” There is some truth to this. Studies show we value things we own much higher than things we don’t. The mere act of ownership makes us think differently about our stuff. This is why it is hard to have a yard sale and price our things (things we don’t even want mind you) for less than we think they are worth. If you are trying to declutter but getting stuck on what to do with your stuff watch this video, I think it will help.

Video! (If reading in email click over to watch the video)

So many people have asked me why I didn’t just sell the stuff I gave away after decluttering my craft room. There were many reasons, mostly I wanted it out efficiently but another reason was I’d rather give it away to someone who would appreciate it rather tan sell it for a tiny fraction of what it was worth. It’s silly really because the end result is the same whether I threw it away, gave it away or sold it but I wanted to feel good about discarding and giving stuff to friends and organizations who could use it felt best.

It is almost like I was worried about my “things” have a good home and I am not alone. Also, who wants to throw money away and when we place a value on our things (we do, even the things we no longer want) it feels like throwing money away to toss it, or like we are getting ripped off to sell it for next to nothing. In ANY of these scenarios the goal is to get rid of the excess items we don’t want so why do we get so hung up on the “stuff”?

Here is the TED-ed video that I mentioned. The Konmari method is from The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I hope you enjoyed this little vlog. Remember, It’s not about the “STUFF”…OK, maybe it is a bit. 🙂 Happy crafting!

Inktober Day 3: Poison

Hi friends! Just popping in really quick with today’s #inktober2017 sketch using the prompt “poison.”

Here is a quick time-lapse video of the sketch:

Supplies:

• Marker paper
• Prismacolor fine liner
• Alcohol pens
• Clear blender pen
• Paint over pen (white)
• Uniball signo gel pen (white)
• Reference photo

That’s it for now! Are you doing the Inktober challenge? All you need is a pen and paper, give it a try and let me know how you make out in the comments below. Happy crafting!

Inktober Day 2: Decorative Corn

Hi friends! For today’s Inktober sketch I made a drawing of a bunch of decorative corn I picked up at the grocery store this week:

Watch the video for the process:)

Supplies:

• Pitt pen (waterproof-initial sketch)
• Cow Quill pen (speedball- used with bottled inks)
• Bottled inks (Inkcredible ink-Jane Davenport)
• Opaque markers (Jane davenport paint over pens)
• Art journal
• Alcohol pens (Studio 71)
• Uniball signo white gel pen

Tomorrow’s Inktober prompt is “Poison”, I am looking forward to that one, sounds spooky! Til then, Happy crafting!

Inktober Day 1: Swift

Hi friends! Every year I am inspired by the artists posting for the Inktober challenge so this year I thought I would try myself! Basically you post an ink drawing ever day during the month. I think it is a great way to squeeze in some art practice ever day.

The “ink” portion of this project took less than 5 minutes but I wanted color so I ended up adding some watercolors. Still the project was only about 10 minutes in real-time. I think we can all fit in a few minutes a day right? Today’s prompt was “swift” so I decided to paint a swift creature swiftly. 🙂 You don’t have to use prompts but they are there if you want them on the Inktober site🙂

Video!

Supplies:

• Elegant writer pen
• Watercolors (Prussian blue, yellow ochre, Burnt sienna, sap green) Mission silver set of 24
• Small Jane Davenport journal
• waterbrushes
• Reference photo by Alex Shutin

ALSO! Today is the LAST DAY to save 50% on my NEW Class Texture Toolbox: Feathers & Fowl!

Here are the projects we will paint step by step in real-time:

In this intermediate class you will learn techniques such as: Painting white objects, working from reference photos, capturing movement, creating various texture, fixing mistakes and so much more! Get 50% off my newest watercolor course by using coupon code FOWL50 or simply clicking this special discount link. Offer good through 10/1/17

I hope you have a great day and til next time happy crafting!