Photography Lessons and New Craft Space

Christmas morning

Sorry I haven't been posting! Our Internet has been down and then snow/federal holidays/life got in the way. But now things are back up and running! Grad school is breathing down my neck so I may only be posting once a week (I *really* want to make it a regular habit!)

Christmas afternoon

Over the winter holidays I've been playing with my camera more, trying to figure out which setting work with which environments. My ultimate goal is to create a 6ft x 4ft anatomical heart out of chicken wire and papermache to use in a series of photographs during the summer.

Recently I've been playing with self portraits, such as in the Christmas ball above. I learned that by redirecting the flash (by not placing the subject in the center of the photo) allows reflective surfaces to not become "whited out." (That is such a weird looking word- whited, huh.) Apparently you can also diffuse the flash by taping a piece of white tissue paper or vellum over it- I really want to try that out.

Here is a peek at my current craft space- I got rid of the old desk and replaced it with my sister's drafting table. She is switching her major from interior design to graphic design; she was sick of seeing my craft junk on the dining room table so she gave me the table so I could spread out, out of sight. It's so nice to have my own space where I can leave out my projects and come back to them when I feel like it. Now that everything is up there it's so much easier to get started.

My best friend, Chrissy gave me a Cricut for Christmas and my sister gave me an ihome, now I have no excuse to leave my room. Ever. So much playing, dreaming, and creating! Painting and journal pics to come!

Swap pages

I joined craftster's "Journal for a Month" swap and this is one of my pages from the one I sent. I used Golden liquid acrylics as a wash for the background and used some scraps of paper from craft time at work for the clouds.

I also took part in Craftster's "One Tiny Historical Thing" swap and my partner wanted something WWII related so I made her a tiny art quilt of Rosie the Riveter. This the the sketch and swatches from the project. I used the colors from the image for the actual quilt, printed the image black and white, and then tinted certain parts of the image to give it the look of old hand tinted photos.

Fall journal pages

Old journal pages from my early fall journal:

The background is an unfolded envelope glued down on the page to display the blue geometric pattern, then washed with watercolor. I layered the bird stencil over with plastic canvas and applied red acrylic for some texture. The boarder is a stamp I made with some left over rubber- it reminds me of branches/nests.

Counting down to my 23rd birthday (it's just like 21 and 22 but with more gray hair.)

Etsy shop up!

I have spent the day writing up shop policies, taking photos of items, posting them, and wading through pages of legal mumbo-jumbo. But the shop is up: http://www.etsy.com/shop/RougeRavenDesigns?ref=pr_shop_more I never thought that selling crafts online required so much paperwork!

Today I learned:

1) Etsy sellers pay taxes not once, but four freakin' times a year! (Since taxes aren't deducted from their paychecks like at a "real" company.)

2) I need an employer identification number

3) I need a license. (I think?)

4) I should open a separate business account to make paying those crazy taxes easier.

Least to say, I'm kind of scared. This is all very new and somewhat overwhelming, but it's a bright new year and I'm looking forward to it.

And though I made this spread for a totally different thing I was dealing with this is pretty much how I have felt today:

Journal Spilling pages and learning lessons

Sometimes you look back and have to acknowledge you knew full well what you were getting yourself into and it is no ones fault but you own. And that's what journals are made for.

This page is a series of acrylic and watercolor crayon layers which was then scratched into with an awl. "Mistakes"

Earlier this month I watched Jacqueline for a week while her mother was away on business. Jack's full schedule kept me busy and away from journaling so this page is a cumulation of days. I got the page layout idea from Journal Spilling- great book!

More Journal Spilling inspiration, worrying over my major and the paths ahead of me.

Worrying over money. Don't we all?

In two days my etsy shop will open, and none too soon! I was informed yesterday that my tuition is not due in March as I was originally told and thus budgeted for, but January 4th. My loan information will not be processed until January 3rd. Ah, the joys of higher education. So I'll keep hustling.

Drawing Lab prompts and making art with kids

Another prompt from Drawing Lab involves drawing insects and playing with line widths- I had a lot of fun with these.

This spread began at work; the kids are fascinated by the idea that journals aren't just for writing, though I think the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books with the added doodles helps alot. I was teaching the kids how to splatter their paint by tapping their paint brushes with pencils and then showed them how they could combine the technique with masks and stencils. When I got home I filled in the writing. I highly suggest making art with kids, they are so uninhibited and love to try out new things!

Drawing lab experiments

As I mentioned before, I've been working on my fine art skills with Drawing Lab. This assignment was to document your pet in motion; I wasn't planning on doing this one yet but she hopped up on the table in plain view. It was difficult to draw her as she kept moving her head to watch the leaves swirling about.

Cat sleeping on top of couch, turned away- charcoal.

This assignment requires random squiggles to be made on paper and then interpret them into a picture. Below is an elephant- watercolor

Sea turtle- watercolor with collage.