People say artists put a little bit of themselves into their art… looking at my picks for the nine faces of 2020, it is clear that my girl has gone through quite a range of emotions through this tumultuous year. One thing is clear, she is a feeler and a warrior. She is not afraid to feel and she will fight for what she believes in. Cheers 2020. Thank you for the lessons but good riddance!!!!! Hello 2021💃💃💃 thank you everyone who follows me and visit this blog for being the awesome people that you are. Always supportive and encouraging. 🙏🙏🙏

And I say to my heart. RAVE ON. No more worrying about whether I am too overwhelming for people, whether I am too much. No more. Anything I do gets filtered through the lens of whatever others are going through at that moment. Which is not about me. I will just keep doing my thing with as much integrity and love as possible. And surround myself with those who embrace all of me.

I love drawing. Faces. Drawing two people together is tough! Hand, arm, proportions… so here is a peek into my process. The secret is to draw, erase, draw and try try try again!!! As you can see, I did this many many times 😂 And to use the Instagram layout app. I am always amazed at how my mind something very different from reality. Looking at my sketch side by side the actual photo really helps illuminate where I went wrong. I think I am finally happy with this.. time to transfer to watercolor paper and start painting 💃💃💃💃 hope this helps fellow sketchers out there. Maybe you have other tips on how to get your proportions right?

One more thought. Someone said to me,

“If your aim is to replicate a photo, why bother? Many portraits and images with changed proportions can move me, but replicating a picture is unlikely to. I hope you stop worrying about replication and go with what you see instead.”

It’s an interesting thought. And I thought about that too. I do think everything that we draw will have our own touch to it. It is actually really hard to replicate something exactly. I do feel that what I draw has bits of me in it. The aim is not to replicate but to get the proportions right. Guess I am going for realism. I don’t enjoy drawing hands that are not proportionate to the rest of the body.

What do you think?

This turned out to be a true test of faith. Faith in myself. And patience. And I guess resourcefulness.

I wanted to do an alcohol ink art piece where the face is peeking out of the flower petals. First step, draw the face and then apply masking fluid. Then wait a few days for the fluid to dry. Then cover the whole page with a mix of alcohol inks. Blue, purple and pink. So far so good.

Then comes the first disaster. For some reason, condensation keeps happening on the page. It creates these jagged lines that I hate!!! And I could not get rid of 😭 I sent sos through some Facebook alcohol ink art groups. Figured probably due to condensation bec it was unseasonably warm that day 60F and I was sitting outside…

This was the first point when I felt like giving up. Hated the look of the petals, but I could not get rid of them… I could not let it go. Kept trying different ways and finally figured that changing from cool to heat setting on my hair dryer actually helped. Importantly, I walked away and came back to it, in the middle of the night nonetheless 😂 sat outside on my screened deck, with my light on and soldiered on..

I managed to create petals on the whole page. Not great but I wasn’t going to give up.

Then comes the next point when I wanted to give up again. I had to peel the masking fluid off. And to be honest, my fluid is really old and not optimal but I figured I could make it work. Wrong!!!! It was so hard to peel it off!!!😭😭😭

At this point I am thinking f*** this!!!!! I am walking away. But I couldn’t. And wouldn’t accept defeat. I pressed on. Rubbing and peeling. I finally did it!!! .. But my finger was definitely sore. I probably peeled off some of my skin as well 😂😂😂

Then I decided I would use a brush to smooth the lines so they appear less jagged. And I painted the face in.. she looked scary at first but I pressed on and actually enjoyed this process of smoothing the lines, smoothing her face, adding details, adding bubbles… this is the painter in me having fun. Love the control and the details…

I am happy how she turned out. Added Keep The Faith on this piece, as a reminder to myself. To have faith in myself. Don’t give up if it’s important to you. You will find a way. And I did. Well done Teresa.

As we approach the end of 2020, I would like to wish all of you a very happy holiday season and a fabulous 2021 filled with peace, love and joy 💃💃💃 thank you for your friendship and support through this tumultuous year. Thank you for always being kind and supportive when I post my art. It is vulnerable putting one’s art out there but your support and encouragement made all the difference. Keeps me inspired to learn and experiment. I have grown as a person and an artist. Thank you.

Just made my holiday cards for this year. Alcohol ink on the back of photo paper. Each one is unique and different. this is the most wonderful time of the year. Hope the people who receive this will love them as much as I loved making them.

Dear alcohol ink, you mesmerize me. The way you flow. Unpredictable. Sometimes with strong lines that won’t budge. Sometimes with such softness that I can’t help but smile. There is no end destination. Just play. Pure and organic. Thank you for giving me so much pleasure. Alcohol ink on back of photo paper.

Have not played in my altered journal for a while. Fun to get back to it. It is getting really thick and yummy. Reflecting on the twists and turns of life… you never know when a bad day could turn out to be clearing for very good things to come. The key is to have faith in yourself. And you will go places 💃💃💃 thankful and looking forward to what 2021 will hold for me.

When I play with alcohol ink, I get lost… seeing how the ink flow, how it responds to the air from my hair dryer…. I get lost in my thoughts…