Classes

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Artful Tribute to America's Independence






An Artful Tribute to America's Independence


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Somehow didn't get published for July 4th

The Pink Lady

Well according to my chart, today is Blog day!

Monday - Instagram  --- @ruth.inman (check it out) 
Tuesday - Youtube --- "Ruths Art"
Wednesday - Blog --- brushwithmanycolors.blogspot.com
Thursday - Website --- BrushWithManyColors.com
Friday - Etsy --- Ruths Art Gallery

Today I want to share with you a technique I learned last week and taught last week! It's one used by Picasso himself! Tricking the brain based on what the eye sees.

So let's say you have a photograph of someone you want to draw. It can be difficult to not take in everything all at once and try to get it all "right" in the drawing.  So we learned that if you take the picture and turn it Upside Down... then your brain can't seem to 'take in' what the full overall picture is and it allows you to just draw what you see... line by line, area by area.

First I'll show you a picture Picasso drew, and in our 1st lesson, they passed out copies of this and asked up to turn it upside down and then try drawing it on a pad of paper.  No Tracing... just draw what you see.



The first one is the original, and the 2nd is someone's version of it upside down.
I intended to share MY version but I left it at home and I'm currently at a local coffee shop working.

However, I picked what I thought was a less intensive drawing for my group on the next day
Also a Picasso, I have here the Original, The Original turned upside down, and then my version which I painted before taking a picture (oops). 


 

She looks a bit stand-off-ish, but ... there she is...

The Pink Lady.



Monday, July 2, 2018

New "Fat Bomb" Recipe

For any of you who are following a KETO style eating plan, you have probably heard of "Fat Bombs". They are delicious little treats to help us get more good fats into our daily diet.

I looked everywhere for a coffee flavored recipe. Each one I found, there was something I didn't like about it. One added a cup of crushed pecans... I can't eat nuts. One took several hours to make.. good grief, most fat bombs are made in less than 10 minutes, and "set up" in about 30 min in the fridge.



So my husbands says, "Why don't you just create your own." Hmmmm GOOD idea!  So i did.

I have a recipe I like, so I started with that one and adapted it. Below is the final recipe, and some notes. Enjoy!  I sure did... they are so creamy, they melt in your mouth, you might want to keep them in the freezer, instead of the fridge.

Coffee Flavored Fat Bombs

1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup almond butter
(melt these together in microwave 1 min)

Add to melted mixture:
2 Tbl baking cocoa powder
2 Tbl sweetener of your choice (I used coconut sugar)
1 capful of vanilla extract
Stir well until all dissolved.

On the side, combine:
2/3 cup hot tap water
2 heaping tablespoons Instant coffee

Once the coffee is completely dissolved, add liquid coffee to the other mixture. Stir well. It should be a thick liquid.
Pour into silicone mold or silicone mini cupcake mold.
My batch made 15.
Yummm.
ps - if you don't have almond butter, you can also make these with peanut butter. I just didnt want the peanut flavor taking over the coffee flavor, but it would be interesting.  Next time.

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Finding myself... and my art

I love early mornings, maybe Sunday mornings especially. No one is up except me... and the cat. Even the dog has gone back to sleep after being let out for a few brief moments. I grab a bottle of water and anticipate the cup of coffee I can have after I finish this bottle; that thought makes the water go down faster... meanwhile I stumble onto some article to read. There are millions of them out there, and where my cursor lands no one knows...  

This morning I read an account by a woman named Amy. It somehow popped up in an email and caught my eye with a title of "7 lessons I learned While Finding Myself". This intrigued me as I feel lately like I am rediscovering or re-finding MYself. So I read on... it was enlightening, and encouraging. So I will continue to rediscover myself and know that is a good & healthy thing to do (in case I had forgotten that).

While talking about finding myself, I have to include my artwork. That is the biggest step I have taken lately toward determining just who *I* am after all these years. After 35 years of being a Computer Geek (in all facets of that industry) and 13 years of being an Accounting geek, I finally had reached my limit of Left Brain activity, and acquiesced to the pleadings of my Right Brain to come out and play! I've stayed semi-active in arts and crafts over the years but never REALLY gave it the amount of time I'd like to... there was always that pesky job that got in the way. Well, it's time.

I have been painting now for over 2 years ... acrylics... watercolors... mixing the two, and adding "alcohol inks", "watercolor inks", pen, and markers; Basically any and all types of other fun things.  I have found, too, when you make art...you have to share it. You just HAVE to... otherwise, it's like seeing a sunrise and not having anyone sitting there to share it with...so... on to a website, and a Facebook page, and Instagram - all sharing with different people. Oh, there might be a few overlaps, that's ok too... but I have 'met' people that I would otherwise not have and for that I feel happy.

Yesterday I worked on rearranging my website in an attempt to organize the different styles of art I have been creating. I have noticed I like abstract and impressionism the most, so that is what I do. Feel free to take a peeks. You might have guessed the web address already:  
No, you don't have to put in the Capital letters, I just do that for readability. 

I try to create (or work on) something everyday... yesterday I hooked up a drawing tablet my husband gave me 2 years ago. It was a thoughtful gift on his part, but I wanted to create with Real Things... not the computer. I think I was trying to break away from the computer and that just didn't seem to fit my plan... so it sat in a drawer, .. until yesterday. It took most of the afternoon to find the drivers for it, get it going and then try to download the software that was supposed to come with it... but in the end I was able to make at least a graphic I was happy with.. It will likely be my July 4th Cover picture on Facebook this year.  Here's a peek:




I love the little bursts I learned to create! But I don't think I'll be creating "art" with this device, I guess it technically is digital art, but my preferred type of art still comes out of a tube and is applied with a brush.