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~Blogging for Books~ Portrait Revolution

Portrait Revolution by Julia L. Kay

My favorite thing about art books, aside from making interesting reading material/making a drab coffee table all pretty, is the inspiration they ignite. Even though  I’m not actually an artist in the traditional sense of the word, I enjoy art and dabbling in it. And  I love the way this book showcases different styles and mediums. Making it easy to get inspired by all styles, yet also figuring out the style you might personally prefer.

For me it was definitely the watercolor medium. I love the way watercolor translate to paper and seeing the different techniques. Like with all art, there are so many you can try. It’s also interesting to see how, within each style, lines translate to form a full portrait. Or how the capture each person’s face.

I was excited for this book, but ultimately, I feel it might have been wasted on me. I didn’t test out any of the techniques myself,  so I can’t really speak of the tips and tricks this book goes over, but it did make me want to create in general.  The perfect inspiration for any artist, so this book made a great gift for my artist brother. He’s always in need of inspiration so I’m hoping this book was able to motivate him. Still, even though I didn’t keep it for very long, I still enjoyed being inspired by it and feeling my creative juices flowing.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Blogging for Books~ POP PAINTING

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I want to start off this review by saying, This book is absolutely gorgeous! Camilla d’errico is an unbelievable artist.

Her twist on surrealism is just breathtaking. I love how she adds animals, food or even the look of elements to her paintings. The color of the cover just pops at you, which would make this book the perfect companion for any coffee table. The girls in in her paintings each have her signature pouty lips and textured hair. And she explains her techniques in such a way, you may not able to fully mimic but you may even discover your own technique in the process.

“You are born an original, so don’t die a copy.”- Camilla d’errico

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 She offers the reader tips and answers questions you may have concerning tools and materials. Helpful for anyone aspiring to paint or anyone interested in the topic of painting. The book is broken into two parts and then into different chapters that concentrate on certain areas such as, sketching, blending, composition…ect. In my opinion this would better assist someone who has some beginners knowledge in drawing or painting. But don’t let that deter you from testing out her advice even with no arty knowledge.

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Thanks for reading
*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review

Sexy Watercolors

I’ve always wanted a travel size watercolor kit along with an aqua brush and ever since I saw this particular post over on Michelle’s blog, I’ve been on the hunt for supplies. This is part of her blog series that she calls Journal Diaries,  she features a guest artist and their journals in each post. Seaweedkisses has always inspired me, she’s one of my favorite bloggers. And the other day I stumbled upon the greatest little art store.

I was very bad yesterday, I spent so much money….but let’s just ignore that part and focus on the goodies. 😀

Decided to stop by this fabric store in midtown, I’ve gone in a few times but have always walked out empty handed. One reason being, I’m still a novice when it comes to sewing so I get really intimidated when I enter this store. But today I finally bought some pleather, that’s right pleather. And I haven’t tried to make anything with it…yet. But I’m already in the mood to work with real leather. Perhaps a bit too ambitious for me, but we shall see.  Anyway, so I bought a yard of that and some sturdy interfacing.

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After hitting that store I made my way to the Houston Press office to pick up my first paycheck, have I mentioned how much better direct deposit is? -.- Well it is. But on my way to the office I noticed this art supply store, I’ve must have walked by this building a million times but have never really noticed what it was. To be honest, I thought it was abandoned and was excited to go and look around. Sitting on the counter was this chick, her head was shaved minus the top part that she pulled into a ponytail and it was this neon green color. She chewed on a pen when she talked to me and asked if I needed help finding anything. I was so overwhelmed with the store that the words aqua brush came out without me even realizing it. She showed me the different ones they had in stock. While I was looking over which one I wanted she asked me if I was looking for anything else, and again my voice just answered on its own. It was as if my brain were on autopilot, answering the neon girl’s questions while I examined the brushes.  She showed me the only travel watercolor kit they had and then returned to her position on the counter. After deciding which brush I wanted, there were multiple sizes and I have decided on buying more later, I looked at the watercolor kit. sailorkimmyLuckily, she offered me a 20% student discount. Didn’t actually help too much though but I was still very grateful and I’m in love with the items I purchased. I painted a few pictures using the brush and my normal watercolors. I also have tube watercolor, I’ll pull those out when I’m home and use the pallets for when I’m out and about. Still painting my character with minty green hair, I think it’s a great color and would love to sport it myself…if only my job would let me. >.< I’m thinking of getting some extensions and just dying the ends of those and then use those as a compromise, I’ve never dyed my hair before so I don’t know how it will react to it.  Also, my drawings tend to come out with an awkward smile, almost as awkward as mine in real life. hehe

 Well, I’m off to paint some more, let me know some of the art brands you like to use. Also, if you’ve dyed before, did you notice a huge change in your hair? Until next time…

Thanks for reading and commenting.