Fall Nature Collage

Taking walks on fall days are just lovely. The weather is at that perfect temperature of not too chilly, but not too hot. It’s not quite hat and gloves weather; a sweatshirt does just fine. Me and my little miss have been fully enjoying the weather with lots of walks outside.

She is just starting to learn and grasp the concept of seasons – what that means, and what effects the different seasons have. We often take ‘treasure walks’ as she has dubbed them, where she carries along a little bucket and we collect treasures along the way! Her favorite fall things to collect are of course all the different colored leaves, and acorns as well.

       Some driveway leaf collection as we headed out on our walk.

But instead of just tossing the leaves back outside, we like to bring them in for art projects. We started with a collage of leaves this season, using Con-Tact paper.

Bucket-O-Treasures, ready for crafting.

It’s about the simplest craft ever, but she loves it! I give her a piece of Con-Tact paper sticky side up, and she sticks on the leaves in different patterns. This week she made leaf ‘families’ and designated each leaf a title (Baby Leaf, Mommy Leaf, Daddy Leaf, Mimi Leaf – she came up with so many!).

We’ve got a few more fall leaf crafts coming, so keep an eye out in the coming weeks.

Her first leaf collage of the season.

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My Open Sketchbook

I wanted to use this post to display some of my own artwork (old and new!), and give you a little insight to me and my art. Lately I’ve been hard at work on commissions for people, as well as some personal portraits of my own. I figured I’d give a little rundown on my history with drawing.

I began drawing when I was 11. I was a rather geeky 11 year old (who turned out to be a rather geeky adult). At that age I was obsessed with Pokemon, Zelda, and especially Sailor Moon. My best friend was really into drawing Pokemon, and I’d always liked drawing, so I started drawing some Sailor Moon characters (my personal favorite – Sailor Venus. She’s still my fave!).

The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker fanart circa 2003.

Looking back ay my old drawings cracks me up. No sense of proportion, bold outlines – classic stuff. But hey, gotta start somewhere! Sometime during my freshman year in high school I made the switch from drawing anime to drawing more realistic people. I think what prompted me was the Lord of the Rings movies. Me and my buds were heavily into LoTR. Posters covered my walls, I had the action figures. And somewhere along the lines I started drawing my favorite cast members (usually Elijah Wood; he was definitely my celeb crush back then). That progressed to a real enjoyment drawing and capturing people’s expressions in portraits, and I just kept going!

 
Elijah Wood, drawn 2003.          Khal Drogo, drawn 2013.
Ten years makes a difference it seems!

I went to art college for one year, and it was amazing. To sum up, I made the decision not to go back for all the wrong reasons, but it all turned out okay in the end. I love the life I have now, and wouldn’t change it for a thing. When my hubby and I decided we wanted a baby, I was just getting back into the swing of art again after taking a rather long hiatus from it after college. While pregnant, I did keep drawing, but close to the end of my pregnancy I stopped completely. Becoming a mom consumed me for the first year of my daughter’s life. And it wasn’t in a bad way. I just couldn’t get enough of my beautiful little girl; I didn’t want to miss a single thing she did, any expression on her face, any sound she made. I drank in every aspect of her. But around her first birthday I began to get restless. Eventually, I realized I needed more than just ‘being a mom’. I needed my own hobbies and activities back. And art was always such a big part of me. So I began drawing again, and haven’t stopped since. I’ve only recently begun sharing my art online again, and opened up commissions. I’m confident enough with my skill again that I’m proud to share it, as opposed to wanting to hide it! FYI, if you’re interested in a commission, check out my Facebook page, Pencil & Paper, or email me at kaylynyman@yahoo.com.

   
A just for fun drawing of one of my friends and her son. The second was a piece just for fun too, but the woman loved it so much she bought it from me!

My drawing style doesn’t really follow a specific technique. Unless ‘winging it’ counts as a style, in which case that’s mine. I usually start with the facial features (eyes mainly, but sometime the nose first) and sometimes I start with something else entirely! When it comes to shading, I usually do things pretty routinely (click below image.)

I usually follow that pattern, but not always. Hair used to be the bane of my existence in the drawing world. It overwhelmed me. So many strands, so much movement; I didn’t know where to begin. Now, I have completely embraced hair. I’ve stopped looking at it as a whole, and started viewing it like a face – something to break down into individual pieces and draw. When I draw hair it takes on more of a graphical quality than an ultra realistic one, but I like it. It’s nice to now enjoy something I used to loathe – such an accomplished feeling!

Hair like this would have crushed me a couple years ago. Now, it’s a challenge that I love finishing!

Nowadays I use drawing as a way to relax, but also as a way to challenge myself. Those sound conflicting, but they mesh together well. When I just want to chill and lose myself in art, I’ll grab some tea and work on a piece that isn’t too hard for me. But when I want a challenge I’ll purposely select a reference picture with something I know I’ll find difficult – a clothing texture perhaps, or a difficult pose. It all depends on my mood. Lately, for my personal pieces, I’ve been really picky about references that have expressions I really want to capture. I also think I want to start working more on full body poses instead of just head and shoulders ‘bust’ type portraits.

Why people portraits? I just find the human face fascinating. As different as people are, I find when I’m drawing so many things become similar. The curve of an eye, or lips. The subtleties between each person is what makes them unique – I love to try and capture that. And I love the lines of the face. Profile shots are one of my absolute favorite; the continuous curving line from the top of the forehead all the way down to the neck is just beautiful.

In my spare time I like to oil paint. I’m incredibly slow at it, but I love it!

Some more Legend of Zelda fanart. I started this piece back in 2012, and every few months do a little more work on it. Lately I’ve had no time for painting!

My hubs requested this piece – she’s a character from a game called League of Legends. I haven’t touched it in months. . .I should really get on that!

If you’re an artist, what medium do you favor? And if you’re not as into art, what do you do to unwind, or challenge yourself?

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Art: Toddler Edition

I am one of those crazy mums who saves all her child’s artwork. And I mean ALL. From her first scribble, to her finger paints, to her sticker collages. I have every single one. In handy, digital form! Yes, I save every single image she’s ever made – by scanning it into the computer and having it as a digital file. It’s such a space saver. I have a wooden portfolio in which I’ve put some of my favorite pieces she’s done, but for the most part they get scanned and tossed.

Some of my favorites from January through May.

At first, my little miss was upset about losing her art – she happened to catch me one day throwing away a fistful of her drawings & paintings and began screaming “No, Mommy!! Not trash!!” I could feel each heart string snap, I’m telling you. But I pushed down the guilt and explained to her that I had scanned her drawings on to the computer so we could look at them any time she wanted. She was thrilled! Now she likes to take her art and ‘put it in the computer’ as she has dubbed the process. Which brings me to the point of this post: The Toddler Art Gallery.

June was a busy art month!

Even back when I was pregnant, I knew that our little one would be doing art projects. I love arts and crafts, and really wanted to incorporate them into my little one’s life. I also knew that I would want to have a place to display them, at least temporarily. So shortly after her first birthday, I made her her own gallery in the playroom. It keeps the fridge less cluttered, and gives her more of sense that it’s hers, I think. Every time she finishes a picture she immediately says “Let’s hang it in my gallery!”. Ah, my heart sighs with happiness every time.

I made this image to hang above it.

The quote image was actually part of a magazine ad, for a print company I think? Anyway, I trimmed off the company logo/info parts, backed it with some scrapbook paper, and put it in a frame to hang on the wall. Simple, and FREE! Eventually, I’d like to decorate the clothespins with washi tape, but given all my other projects, that’s pretty low on the priority list! The gallery itself is just bakers twine strung between thumbtacks. Again with the simple and free factor. Two of my favorite things for a project!

Her first ever nature collage! I really liked this project. We used white contact paper (sticky side up) so she could just stick on all her treasures.

I take everything down on the first of the month and scan it in, so she gets a fresh clean gallery to fill. I can’t wait until she’s old enough to start trying to draw real ‘things’ and telling me stories about them. It’ll be so much fun to look at them hung all together!

What art related things to you like to do with your little ones?

And since we’re on the topic of art, I just wanted to remind you to visit my Pure Inspiration page! I’ve added quite a few more gorgeous works of art since launch day – go take a look!

Launch Day!

I’ve finally made my first foray into the blogging world! And I’m pretty darn excited about it. Seeing’s how this is my first post on my brand spankin’ new blog I figured I’d give you a little taste of things to come. To get to know me personally a bit better, feel free to venture to the About Me section and take a look around!

I love art. Expect to see lots of artwork posted. Some will be my own – currently I’ve been hard at work on some commissioned pencil portraits. But in my free time I also enjoy oil painting. I love to browse other artist’s work too – I’m constantly printing out little images to tack onto the wall above my art desk. That’s why I’ve made my Pure Inspiration page. It’s nothing but art that I find inspiring in some way. Take a look, and get inspired!

     

Two of my drawings. One of my friend and her son, and Drogo from Game of Thrones. Both graphite pencil.

Definitely don’t miss the Shop ‘Til You Drop page. It’s filled with amazing indie shops. One of my personal goals this year is to buy as many gifts (including gifts for myself!) as I can from indie vendors. There are SO many things to choose from, and who doesn’t love a unique, often customizable gift? As someone who is just venturing into an indie business I can really appreciate the importance of helping out other small businesses.

As for my post content, that’s going to cover a lot. Stories from my life, crafts I make, projects with my little miss, art I make, products I’ve bought and love. . .the list goes on! After I get the wheels greased and things are running smoothly for me, I will eventually be including a Monthly Feature page. This could be an artist, a shop, a blog, a product and have a page up and promoting it for a month. A great way to get the word out about things I find spectacular. Oh, and get used to this little face.

You’ll be seeing lots of her around here. I tend to be a photoholic when it comes to my daughter. What can I say, she just inspires me!

So thanks for stopping by my blog – stay tuned for some features of things that I love, some serious art inspiration, and I may just need to start up a Fun Fact Friday. Because who doesn’t love useless trivia? I’d be happy to hear any feedback on my blog, or any advice – I’m still learning about the blogging world! Thanks for reading!

-Kayly

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