One of the not quite 29 Faces

I did this one face for the 29 faces challenge (which I won't be able to complete and that is cool!) a while back and filmed the process. :) I think she might go into my Life Book. Have only just had a chance to upload both the image and the video. Hope you like.

Portair nr 5. 29 Faces

Here is a progression of portrait nr 5. for 29 Faces. :) I had about an hour or so, so kept working on it a bit more. :) Have had an exhausting last 4 days, so gonna leave it at this. xoxo Hopefully back tomorrow! <3














And my updated calendar.

Sometimes cats wear crowns

It's one of those days where nothing is going my way. From babies not napping when I need them to, to the trash can lid refusing to open properly resulting in me dropping all the stinky left over food onto the floor. And that's only the least of it. But, whenever I have days like this and notice myself whine and moan and become entirely too snappy with the whole brood I want to kick my own arse so bad.

Part of me, really really does understand how I'm feeling and that I'm tired, worn out, sleep deprived, relaxation deprived, holiday deprived etc. But the other part of me is like: dude, you complain about the the shiny diamonds hanging around your neck being too heavy? 

I don't like inducing guilt, but when I read the news and read about families being murdered in Syria, people being hung off bridges in Mexico, mothers on welfare not being able to buy shoes for their kids. Mothers with sick children, desperate for them to get better etc etc, I think to myself: for serious: stopitnowwiththecomplaining, you are blessed. You are blessed.

Of course, it's ok to not always be happy and shiny. Life with 2 children under the age of 3 is seriously not a breeze, but these are manageable 'problems' and I want to remember and stand in the glory of all that is blessed in my life. Even when things are not going my way. (I so need to go see Byron Katie, eh!).

So, universe, if you were listening to me earlier effing and blinding my way through the day; I apologise and thank you for the amazing gifts bestowed upon me: the little crazy toddler boy that is my Dylan, the 5 month old dribbler that is my Elliot, the amazing hunk of a husband that is my Andy. The wealth of willing people that sign up to my art courses. The paints in my life, the crayons in my life, the watercolour paper in my life. The blue skies in my life, the tulips in my life, the toilet paper in my life. The muffins, chocolate, camomile tea, art dolls, crocs, pillows, wooden beds in my life. I am grateful for it all dear universe and I will try to remember not to sulk so much when life doesn't go the way I want it.

On with the business of the day! My portrait nr 4 for the 29 Faces Challenge, here is a progression:
















Pretty happy with this one for a 20 minute effort, but would've worked on it more if I had the time. :) The eyes are a bit wonky and the shading is in some places a bit 'shady' hee hee! (No pun intended).

I've also done another spread in my Dylan & Elliot moleskine:











Back tomorrow baby cakes.

Portrait 3 - 29 Faces

Ok, I wasn't able to do a face yesterday as my child care didn't work out (isn't it crazy how everything falls apart when your childcare doesn't turn up? Drives me crazy!), but I begged the husber to give me an hour or so this morning and so I did a portrait and made up for not doing one yesterday by spending more time on this one! Not really quite finished yet, but am pretty happy with her candy cotton type hair and soft expression. :) Want to do some more sketchy ones as well though! :)

Oh, also update the calendar:

And this an eensy weensy bit of art journaling in a small new moleskine which I want to dedicate to Elliot and Dylan, mostly with affirming messages in it for them when they're older and with cool instagram iPhone photos I've done of them, and Andy and me. :-)

And lastly, this is a photo I took ages ago of beautiful lavender. There is an iPhone app called 'Phonto' which allows you to add text easily and so I'm creating inspiring, uplifting photo msgs on instagram/ iPhone, just for you! :) (Of course I could these in photoshop, but the iphone allows me to easily and quickly do these things while Elliot is asleep on my lap for instance :))

Happy weekend everyone!

<3

Portrait nr 2 and IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! :)

Here is my 2nd portrait for the 29 Faces challenge. Ok I allowed myself 20 mins today and would've gone on if my fancy schmancy pedicure appointment wasn't calling me! It's my birthday today and the pedicure was a gift by the awesome husber!




It was relaxing and fun and now my toes are all pretty! :) Today, I am Miss Twinkle Toes! :) We also had some super yummy lunch at my favourite restaurant (Terre a Terre, if you're ever in Brighton: go there for a mouthgasmic experience!). The food is insane there and the staff are so lovely! They gave me some free delicious truffles for my birthday with a little happy candle, see pic above! :-)

Andy also bought me a ticket to the next Byron Katie event in london on 16th June! Wowsa! Being in the same room as Byron Katie is like being in the same room as someone like Dumbledore or something, ha ha! But seriously, it's going to rock my innards, or at least; my stories! ;)

Back to the portrait of today, I filmed the process which made me less free about it all. So, I'm not as happy with this one as I was with yesterday's one, but still, I'm quite happy with it, though I think the top head is a bit high and that hand was killing me, but all in all for a 20 minute sketch: pretty good! I really like challenging myself like this!

So, I filmed the process and put if up for you guys, no fast forwarding!! :)) Hope you enjoy! :)



Oh and here is my updated calendar for my Life Book Page in May: 


Back with a new portrait tomorrow! And THANK YOU to everyone who's been flooding me with bday love today over on FB. Seriously, I think a new msg was coming in every minute or so!! :) I feel so celebrated! Yay! x

29 Faces & Teh Crazy

❤ Woozah! Here is a LOVE BOMB for ya! :) ❤ 

Ok, it's mental here and therefore I've decided to take part in the 29 Faces Challenge. This because apparently I'm insane and enjoy high blood pressure.

Ok, the truth is: I am jealous! Jealous of all those people who have the time and freedom to just make a portrait a day! "Me tooooo, me too" my inner neglected artist screeched! So, I said to her: "hush hush little one, I have an idea! How about you give yourself 15 minutes every day to draw a portrait, and then you can play too! Plus it'll be an extra bit of challenge, do a portrait in 15 mins! "

So Yay! Here is my first 15 minute face, I'm pretty proud of it!

 

So I know, I'm sort of a day behind, BUT, the challenge is to do 29 Faces in 31 days, so I've already 'lost' one day but I'm still within the challenge rules. And also, I'm giving myself permission not to do the 29 because my life is too busy as it is, though I'm gonna try like the muffins! :))) 

It was very cool to challenge myself to do it in 15 mins as well, because it meant I couldn't really think about it too much and just go go go! Which is very different to what I usually do! :) Quite freeing actually!

Anywayz, here is new art I've been doing/ working on: 

Life Book - May - my lesson for Life Book this month is all about honouring the present, so we're creating a calendar and will fill in a tiny bit of the calendar each month, like so:

 

And here are some shots of the second project, this lesson is based on a 'focusing' exercise, if you want to do it too, come join us on Life Book - totally cool to still join, for serious: 

 
   

And lastly, here is a shot of a journal page WIP. I seem to be working on all sorts of little works in progress. The girl painting is still not finished either, aaah!

I will be back with a new portrait/ face tomorrow (if life allows!). :D

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Did you know that I teach a Fabulous Portrait class that you too can join?! 
 

This is what some people have said about it: 

"I loved this class. Not only was the work presented in an easy to understand set of PDFs and, more importantly, wonderfully made videos...but Tam, as instructor, comes across as a truly caring and nurturing person. I've never before taken an on-line class where I felt as if I was in the same room as the instructor...and that she really wanted her students to succeed and feel good about themselves. Thanks Tam, for a wonderful learning experience." - Irene Watts, Las Vegas, NV USA"

 

"A very well put together course, covering many aspects of portraiture in an easy to understand way, with a direct line to the instructor for tips, tricks, and helpful critiques." - Emily Earl, Chatsworth, CA" 

"The course was the reason why a stayed awake till 1pm... to watch the new video ;)" - Nicole Walther, Germany

"You're gonna learn to draw portraits easily and without stress because Tam is a lovely girl who takes time to explain and give all the details you need." - Peggy Petit Paris, France"

"Fabulous Faces is a brilliant course, if you are interested in drawing and painting then you really should do this course." - Julie Stenning, Forest of Dean, UK

"If you've never had ART training before but would like to try out to see if you can bring out that little artsy side of yourself, you'll be amazed how far you can go with Willowing's course. She runs this online Art workshops in a very safe and encouraging environment. She gives you extensive content full of information in her high quality videos and you get to network with students. She gives special attention to every single student in a caring manner. It's really amazing and I highly recommend taking one of her workshop." - Sung-Hee (Regina) Hong - Toronto, Ontario, Canada 

"One of my biggest handicaps with drawing the human body has always been faces, so I have always stayed away from faces. This course has given me the freedom to try, make mistakes and try again, to the point where I am now comfortable to draw faces. The teaching was comprehensive, and very easy to understand. This was also the next best thing to being in a classroom. Learning at my own pace meant no pressure, and feedback always encouraging. A very pleasurable course." - Kelly, Japan

Buy a DVD or sign up for the downloadable online self study class by clicking HERE.