This is my take on the seventh face from Effy's 8-week online class Facing Forward II : the things we need to hear. Effy made this particular lesson FREE - GO HERE and have a go. There is something very delicious and subversive for me about creating faces that don’t conform with societal expectations around beauty. I like fierce faces, sad faces, angry faces, and most especially WONKY faces. This method of creating a face allows me to do all of this with total ease.This is Effy's art :
I decided to start with this photo of me - happy and exactly where I want to be. "I am who I am"
Now to convey that strength that comes from knowing exactly who I am and what I stand for. I began with black paint and loose strokes
Note it's an "expressive self-portrait" - conveying inner self rather than looking exactly like me! Her hair was painted with Goldens Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold, and the background with Permanent Violet Dark fluid acrylic with a layer on top of the darker Dioxazine Purple.
Her face was also shaded with the Dioxazine Purple and I added the Violet back in with some gold to lighten her lips. Click on any photo to see it larger for the details.
I decided that gold stars were most appropriate for my background - because of my SHINE focus, and also because of the poem I used.
My words are from this wonderful poem by Victoria Erickson - I adore her work and this poem fits well with my word of the year SHINE.
I began to put the words on and thought I could have a few more divisions in some of the wider areas so added some curls - one of my signatures.
I ended up having enough room to repeat the poem several times.
I love how she turned out - you can see that she's come from Effy's lesson but she's all mine ♥ Our focus in Book of Days this month is Fierce Tenderness, and I also see that reflected here.
See all the blog posts about the faces I've created in this class HERE. See my Flickr album for all my art from classes with Effy HERE. You can still buy the Facing Forward II Class. I highly recommend it.
I'm following the prompts of the original Documented Life 2014. Week 10 : Make a list of things that make you YOU. I love that there are links from there to the original pages - so much inspiration...And from the blog for Life Documented 2017 HERE :
Prompt: Secret Garden
Technique: Collect all things floral and layer, layer, layer! Create a secret garden bursting with life!
I decided that I wouldn't add a flap this time, and I wasn't sure about the list making either since I just did a lot of self-love writing on my last journal page. So I decided to start easy by spraying dylusions spray on the right hand page and then closing the journal and brayering on the back of the page to transfer the gorgeous colour across.
Using paper serviettes is one of my favourite techniques for layering - here you can see the serviette with the flowers torn out. You apply gel medium to your page, then lay down just the very top layer of your serviette - it dries transparent to your page
Then I added layers of flowers in lots of different ways : paint through a stencil then outlined with moonlight pen
Simple collaged rose beneath more serviette, a stamped flower and a card with flowers on it that I decided I would add with matching tape already on the edge - my journaling about me on the back
Gorgeous gold for stamping adds a special touch
and then I added gold highlights with sakura gelly roll metallic, and you can see my own doodled flower and one stamped with white paint
White pen detailing here & more gold
Here's the completed spread (click on the photos to see larger) :
You can see all my posts about this project HERE and my Flickr album HERE
This art lesson from Book of Days was an expressive self-portrait - doesn't necessarily look like us but expresses who we are on a soul level - honouring what is lovely about ourselves. First thing Effy set us was a task during the weekend to make a self-love list - I was so happy that I managed to fill up a page in my Inner Work journal! ♥
I glued watercolour paper into my journal because I wanted to try watercolour techniques. Unfortunately I had to put masking tape in because I'm recycling an old book - just hope it doesn't spoil my girl. We started the face from the lips up! - this is an unusual technique in the mixed media world. Effy used Jane Davenport's new Mermaid markers but I just used some watercolours I already own - Koh-i-noor dye stack and some sparkling H2Os
This is a close-up of the lovely effect from adding Yellow Rose H2O on top of other colours - will have to use this again. Click on the photo to see it larger
Here's my initial background
and with gesso added - I love the tapa shapes and am lucky to have it in a few different stencil sizes
I needed to make a decision about which colour pencil to use on my face - I have samples in a workbook - these are my lovely polychromos pencils which I bought specifically for face shading (work really well with blending stump over clear gesso)
Decided the Caput Mortuum worked best with my red colours, and used Inktense colours for the lips and eye - very happy with how my face turned out
Then it was time to tend my tapa background - I added green/gold paint but rubbed it with baby wipe so it barely shows except the gesso isn't so stark - and gold metallic sakura adds the perfect sparkle
I added the same sakura gold for writing all the things I love about myself into her hair and at this stage considering if she is done
I decided I couldn't resist a few more of my fav swirl doodles in the strands I'd left blank
It's subtle but I love the detail and SHINE the metallic pens add
And here she is finished
See my Flickr album for all my art from classes with Effy HERE. Sign up to Book of Days or other classes with Effy Wild HERE.
