Art Journal Challenge Week 3: Nonconformity

This is week 3 of the self-portrait art journaling challenge. Today I got a little carried away with drawing the picture of me and then didn't know what to say about it - it was really more of a portrait than a journal page - so I put it aside when my friend Roz came over.
After the third time she told me I was more weird than the rest of us, I pulled out one of the rubber stamps I had stolen from her and tattooed the middle of my forehead with the words

CONFORM
and be
DULL.

I have always been a little "different". And except for junior high, I've always felt pretty good about it. I know that's what Roz meant by "weird":
unique, different, one-in-a-million, special.

A few years ago, for a project, I asked my friends and non-friends to describe me. The constant themes of the answers were independent and open, accepting and non-judgmental. Of course, since only my friends answered the email, the results were nice!

Be yourself.
Accept others for being themselves.
And life will never be dull ~ Sherry

Art Journal Challenge Week 2: I used to . . .

Week #2 (tho Ellen's blog says week #3 - she's ahead of me!!) and I elected to do a full body line drawing.

I used a fine point sharpie for the sketch & writing. Then I went around it with a black glitter gel pen and wet brush to get the shadows.

This is not quite the face or body I have now (the real ones really are more "poofy" and definitely look like they're "50+") but they're not exactly what I had before either. Guess this is closer to the me in my head. And since I change my hairstyle all the time, I'm willing to bet I had this one at one time.

It is so good to be in a place in my life where I can be/do what I always wanted. Yes, there's still a "day job" or two to pay the bills but I see myself as an artist now. Life is good. God is good.

~ Sherry

ps - my legs DID look like that about half a life ago - deep sigh - and I notice that while I accept myself as an artist, I still can't accept my age - lol



linked to the Something Old Challenge at Mixed Media Monday

Art Journal Challenge Week 1: YIKES!!!

So this is week one of the challenge. And boy, was it a crazy week. Clients (not art clients). PayPal. Life in general.

In light of that, I tried to give myself a crazy look with extra wide eyes and kooky hair.

I used several different media on this journal page - watercolor background, collaged image of me, acrylic paints, gel pens, permanent markers, graphite & color pencils. I also used the new (at least to me) Golden Digital Grounds so I could print on top of the collage. There are actually lots of iridescent paints too, but those don't seem to scan well!

Ellen went a completely different direction with her page - reflecting on her native american heritage and adding images to her face. Click here to see it & read about it.

I'm going back to work on the PayPal issues on my website so wish me luck - I wouldn't want next week's journal page to reflect the same feelings as this one (might have to put tape over the mouth so bad words don't come out!!)

~ Sherry

Art Journal - Self-Portrait

Ellen came over Friday and we had a lot of fun sharing techniques and sketching. She showed me photos for Mombasa and the travel art journal she kept while there. I shared a few tips on drawing facial features. And we decided to post our journal pages every Friday for four or five weeks then get together to see what's next. She used a photo of herself and almost finished a journal page.

And I remembered something very important: While I can draw great eyes & lips and decent noses & ears, THE PEOPLE I DRAW DON'T LOOK LIKE THE PEOPLE I'M DRAWING!!!! This is a major drawback to the journal plan. So I traced a picture of myself: I don't have any hair becuz I'm going to add that when I do the actual journal pages (I did draw my head shape but it didn't show up on the scan).

Check out Sharon's self portrait. When she commented on my previous post, I wasn't sure which Sharon was writing. But as soon as I clicked on her post I knew becuz her drawing looks just like her. Great work!!

So come back next Friday to see our first journal pages. Anyone else want to join the fun? ~Sherry