Inside Kimmy's Mind

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.

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

 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.

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.

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. Luckily, 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.

Like all hair cuts, I doubted whether or not bangs would look good on me. Questioned it over and over again and then finally I took a chance and went with it. Now here we are five years later and I still have the trendy fringe. However, when you take on this particular hair style then it’s something you have to keep up with. Because hair grows. And seeing as how it can block your vision it cannot be ignored. So occasionally, I daresay…I trim it myself. >.< I know, if there were ever a life tip that you should follow it’s NEVER TRIM YOUR OWN BANGS. Unless you are a professional hairstylist or have some type of knowledge of hair cutting and how to do it correctly. Because let’s face it…I do not possess that skill. Not that all hairstylist possess it either. :/ (This comes to mind)

On to more woes…

I had trouble sleeping the other night, causing me to not get enough sleep. I woke up late for work and very sore, everything hurt this morning. I also had to race to try and catch my bus. But on my way to the bus stop I felt my ankle roll, there was no stopping me from falling. All I could do was fall and hope that it didn’t hurt that much. I scrapped my elbow and knees but more importantly I missed my bus because of that fall. -.- I laid on my back for a second and thought, “The minute I get up I will see bus 10 pass before me.” And sure enough, I got myself up and there went my bus. I of course let out some colorful words and just huffed a bit trying to walk off the additional pain I now felt. I walked in the opposite direction to try and catch a different bus, but as soon as I made it to the corner of the street there went bus 14. Some more color. I proceeded to that stop seeing as how I was already there. I ended up being 45 mins late for work. :/ I had three parties that day so being in a bad mood when having to deal with children is not good. So I made sure to lighten up my mood once I got there, was not going to let my bad morning ruin someone’s birthday party. Each party went great, the kids were adorable and for the most part well behaved so no complaints on that end. But I am exhausted, everything still hurts and I’m also sick of the horrible weather we have been having. It’s too hot! I miss sweater weather so much. I almost melted on my way to work. So gross.

I’m exhausted so I think I should end this entry here. I have a meeting at the museum at 3 today, so I don’t have to wake up too early which is always nice. I’m going to keep on doodling. But I’ve also wanted to try the disposable camera challenge. Have you heard of that going around on the blogosphere? I’m kind of interested in trying that out. Until nest time….

Thanks for reading and commenting.

I have been in a very artsy mood, all because of Frannerd! If you haven’t seen her vlogs or read her blog, then you are definitely missing out. Other illustrators I’ve been admiring are Mary Doodles and Courtney Wirth[it].

Fran’s simplistic style is fresh and just adorable, I wish I was an illustrator, but unfortunately I can’t just draw from my imagination. Mary’s style is like Grimm meats Tim Burton. Very sketchy but I love her use of watercolors. She does this one series where she doodles something without looking and then makes something out of that doodle. It’s amazing, and I wish I could attempt something like that. So I’ve decided to go and buy myself a sketch book, something small so I can take it on the go. I want to challenge myself and just doodle something every now and then. Like Fran, she doodles her daily tasks. I want to get in the habit of doing something like that and then move on to creating something out of a just lines and curves like Mary does. Courtney’s work is just beautiful, my favorite has to be these comic strips.The doodle above is something I made, after being inspired by Fran. In her latest vlog she mentions wanting to dye her hair pink, which I’m sure is the reason why she doodles herself with that hair color. So if I could dye my hair a bizarre color, it would be a minty green color. Very mermaidish. My doodle even has my awkward smile. It happened unintentionally, but hey that happens whenever I try to smile in pictures as well. So yay doodle me, for being somewhat accurate.

Other illustrations that I’ve been swooning over have been from games. Child of Light came out recently and it has a beautiful style that I have been enjoying. Also want to point out Don’t Starve and Bravely Default as well. I just recently purchased Bravely Default, I know, a bit late in the game but I can’t always purchase the new games when they are released. Bills to pay and whatnot. So I usually just admire from a far, or in the case of the 3Ds, play the demo. Which I did, and lucky too because it carried all of my street passes and that comes in handy for when I rebuild my village.  Loving it so far, Kat got Animal Crossing which seems like a less stressful game, and I’m sort of wishing I got that one too. But I can wait and perhaps find it somewhere cheaper/pre-owned. Of course, nintendo points are bonus if you purchase games new. -.- First world problems…I know. But anyway, so I’ve been in a major artsy mood, but have yet to figure out a way to get my art fix. Which is why I’m gonna try the doodle challenge. I don’t know if this will work out, I usually get discouraged when it comes to drawing/painting. And I turned the apartment upside down because I couldn’t find my small paint brushes. They will probably turn up when I’m not looking for them.

So, who are you artistically inspired by? Do share. And if you have any drawing/painting exercises to help improve my “skills” then I definitely want to know. Until next time….

Thanks for reading and commenting.

Heard this song on a Modcloth video and just had to post about it. I’ve been avoiding things this weekend, things such as studying for my Statistics final. I’m very worried. The final is comprehensive and I can’t remember the beginning sections of this semester. >.< My brain can’t handle this type of information. It despises math with all of its being and…

Ok enough with the excuses!

Time to do my best and study my ass off until Tuesday. I have so many things to be excited about that I’m not going to let this stand in my way of that happiness/excitement. I’m moving soon! Into my own apartment mind you. This is huge, this is just amazing. They called to let us know that our move in date had been moved from the 20th to the 22nd. It annoyed me a bit, but I’m just thankful that it is still before classes start. And what’s two days, this gives us more time to pack and clean up my room at my parent’s house and my room at my sister’s place. So many rooms. >.< This past week, I went to a job fair on my campus in  hopes of discovering campus jobs to apply to. I also decided to apply to several restaurants on campus as well. I have a job interview on the 20th at 9 am. The last time I had a job interview was when I was 19 and made it to the call backs at Sears. I did not get that job. -.- So if you have any tips to give, I’d greatly appreciate them…no matter how obvious please share. 🙂

The fall semester starts on the 26th. I’m a bit nervous, but I’m ready, let’s do this!

So I worked on making some R2D2 shoes this summer. I love how they came out but I’m a bit worried that they won’t last for very long. I wore them out once and they already started to peel. I just went over them again with some mod podge paint but it smeared the lines a bit. >.< I used some of the spray, but I guess I didn’t coat them as good as I thought I did. I don’t plan on wearing them to school though, my feet would be dying if I did. >.< Special nerdy occasions only. I know it sort of defeats the purpose of them, but it was still pretty fun making them. Next time I won’t use such hard canvas shoes, the van look alikes they sell at Walmart might be better to use.

Ok, now it’s time to shower and get to studying. Wish me luck. I’m going to need a lot of good vibes for this final. >.<

Thanks for reading and commenting.