What's this? What's this?

I love Sally.  I love all things Nightmare Before Christmas.  SO much so, that last halloween when our other options had run out, we decided on this theme for our family halloween costumes. We generally have 2 big parties, a school event, AND trick or treating to get the use out of them. Since my kiddo decided on Oogie Boogie...The costume making began.  His costume was actually made from a burlap curtain from a thrift store, dollar store bugs, hot glue, yarn, and foam to mold the face around. Next was Jack Skellington himself. I tried to pick up a premade costume at the halloween stores, but all of the heads were plastic and melted or discolored..YUCK! So I found a japanese lantern in the most gigantic size I could find and paper mache'd so many layers I didn't count. The mouth actually has a screen for they eyes and wa-lah! Jack's head. The pants and coat again at the thrift store and the tie made from felt, gloves from a halloween store. Now for Sally. Yes, that was me. I didn't want to piece together all the correct parts of her outfit sot I found a remade costume online. It was perfect for the wig and everything else. I only added aqua tights. I found an amazing make up tutorial online and this was how it turned out. SO Sally! 

Now besides costumes being art, I used this in a journal layout which prompted the use of stitches. Sally of course is all in stitches so she worked perfectly! 

Here is how that page turned out. 

May the Nightmare that is Halloween continue! 

Steampunk Art Swap

Art is so subjective and includes many mediums and styles.  For an art swap in the theme of steampunk I thought I would try something new.  This week I have ventured into new territory and experimented with making my first pocket letter, my first altered altoid tin, and...my first time I've used my inktense blocks..that I've had since last October.  I have to say, I love the Inktense blocks, but I think I've broken EVERY one..Why are they so fragile??

Back to the steampunk.  I get the style, I really do. I love the industrial, the metal, gears, wings, inventions, crazy hats, goggles, and corsets. I have seen some really great steampunk halloween costumes through the years.

I started in on the tins.  Lots of modeling paste in the stencils of gears. I also have realized I really like to use the negative of stencils..meaning instead of dabbing and trying to get all the parts covered but not smooshed underneath, I paint the stencil itself and make a print basically. Clean easy, love it.
By far one of my new favorite creations.

I super duper duper enjoyed making my first altered tins especially with this steampunk theme. I can't wait for my swap partner to receive this in the mail. Thanks for checking out my art, I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I enjoy creating it!

Octopus Love

I have a "thing" for octopuses, or octopi...apples and oranges.  I don't know why I love them, I don't have any fantastic stories, they are just crazy amazing creatures.  The Seattle Aquarium does house a rather large pacific octopus that I have had the pleasure of photographing many times.  After an art swap I made some "cute" little octopus themed pieces, but it was time to get out my big Canson mixed media pad and get to work on a real Octopus. 

I had a vague idea of where I wanted to start, but always have trouble keeping the art on the page, especially this large creature. 

I sketched a quick outline or what the body and legs might look like. I knew I had to account for 8 legs.  No one wants to look at a 3 legged squiggle octopus..as in "where did his legs go?" I used gelatos on the background in blue and green tones just to give it the feel of water. I knew the attention to detail was to be put into the creature himself.  Following the entire gelato smearing exercise, I concocted a light orange color which I dabbed all of the octopus in a random fashion. I was liking the texture it create because they are wrinkly and bumpy so I went with it. Some areas darker than the others, different tint and hues or oranges and brown. Shadowing in all the right places. I had a really dried out brush that kept all the bristles in a circular stippled pattern. I dabbed it a few times and those became my hi lights. I wasn't sure where to go next so I let him sit. 

He needed more bumps and texture...I grabbed a red/orange derwent intense watercolor pencil and drew loose red curves all over to give more depth to his textured skin. This octopus is really coming to life. I refused to pick up a black pen for outlining this project. I have realized that it takes away from the realism and adds a cartoony feel..That which I am not trying to achieve.  Next I needed the tentacles to have suction cups so those were a new to me part to learn but I loved him so much more!

Here is my finished piece.

These are my two favorite suctions cups of the whole piece. 

Just another fun shot. I also love his eyes so much. This one is going in a frame for sure :)

Collage off the Page

Collage off the page and onto a Mason Jar. Did you know that Trader Joe's Spaghetti Sauce is actually packaged in Mason Jars??? I did not! I love all their jars from jam, bruschetta, spaghetti, and lemon curd. I contain all sorts of art supplies from brushes to ribbon in these cleaned jars. I love the colors teal/blue/purple together and was inspired by the early Lifebook lesson jars. I wanted to make one of my own and it took awhile to get there. The clock on the front is from a 12x12 scrapbook sheet of vintage clocks.

As I rotate the jar this is the next image. I used iridescent medium to stencil in a gear stencil I purchased from Michaels. Some stencils are thick and sturdy and work with anything and some are thin as heck and need to be blotted with a sponge. That is the case with these, although I held it down securely and scraped over it with a palette knife with above mentioned medium on top of the blue and purple paint over matte medium. I am liking how this is turning out. 

Another turn incorporates this yellow pink stenciled piece from a Juile Fei-Fen Balzer stencil of a girls head with script. I placed it over some purple blue background stenciled with a circle stencil in varied greens. 

This is my favorite pattern I discovered by mistake. I had used gelatos on a stencil (circles from Jo Ann Fabrics) because I wanted to try it out and not have to worry about cleaning it before leaving it. (I am the worst at cleaning brushes..I will buy more since they all dry up). I had forgotten that the gelato was on the stencil so when I tried out my new Dylusions ink sprays...I pressed the stencil down then smeared over it, the ink placed itself on the outside and the gelato created these magical glistening circles. I hung this piece of under paper on my bulletin board for the longest time and wanted to use it in something that I could see all the time. Perfect, this was it!


And back the the clock image on the front. This jar creation was something new of mixed media that I had never created before and have no real "purpose" for.  When does art have to have a "purpose" if you are creating organically from your heart? This is that piece and if I ever find a true purpose besides looking really awesome as a piece in my art studio...I will let you know :)

Kim Lucas the Artist behind the Art

I am driven by art and my art is a direct expression of myself.  I have been working on many projects in my art studio, and one of the projects includes myself.  I feel deprived of the ability to breathe without creating for awhile, so I make it a priority to draw, paint, create, design, photograph, every day. If I only get to smear a few colors of paint on a layout I am good with that.  I don't look forward to weekends generally because I have no sense of the Monday through Friday grind aside form dropping my kiddo off at school and picking him up every day.

I do enjoy wearing my hoodies and jeans. I am not very creative in the wardrobe section of my life.  I have been creating some really fun pieces lately to include a collaged mason jar with some of my favorite ink/gelato/stencil marked papers.  I have given myself the opportunity to really sit and work with a piece instead of run right through with whatever time I can squeeze in.  I recently created a painted octopus on a large canson mixed media pad. I added so many layers, and for my love of the creatures I have never painted one. So after a few days and lots of details I can sit back and think "wow" I created this.  Enjoy my creation and be happy with alone time spent on me.

*(coffee, as seen above..is every day..I tried to quit today with the sugared espresso's but that was just silly!)

We live near the puget sound and have local access within  15 minutes of our house.  I have been out with my camera on a few occasions taking in the beauty of nature as our weather has been unseasonably warm, but very welcomed. I am always in awe of the clarity I fee after spending time with art in nature.

 Again with the coffee I know. I am pretty proud that I have cut out the unreliable, mundane certain box store coffee chain in the area.  I can whip up a treat at home in 3 minutes and it's probably got 8 full ounces of espresso in it. I love having a new flavor when the mood strikes.

Being so close to Seattle, just a 20-60 minute drive depending on the traffic...(not kidding), I have taken my camera out there as well. I can never have too many shots of the Space Needle. This is one of my favorites I took on a night trip to the city.  My other favorites there include the Chihuly Glass Garden, the EMP building..(beautiful architecture and colors) AND the Key Arena where I have seen LMFAO..and my faves..Imagine Dragons.

My husband took this on his phone and I love it. Most of the time, I am the one taking the picture but this display of glass art is phenomenal. The Tacoma train station featuring Chihuly as well is beautiful along with the bridge...( I have pictures to post later). This was a  date night with fabulous art.

One of my favorite shots of the night is the reflection of the Space Needle in this Chihuly orb of glass.

I am grateful to my husband who knows and supports my hobby. Sometimes I have to put the camera down to focus on my family. I loved shooting the art in this location because Chihuly is such an amazing artist in his medium. 

Again with the photography, it is the one thing that really gets me out into nature.  I adore my macro lens and captured this little bug at another of my favorite beaches in Edmonds.  I am more an artist in all avenues of my life. Everything is art. Life is art. Art imitates life for sure.  Beyond the paint brush, the mixed media, and projects as such, the project I am working on at the moment is me.  I am inspired by all of these forms of art and they keep me afloat, but I am a writer, I am a dreamer, I am a student and all at the same time these things are trying to find their place in a happy harmony within my chaotic machine of a brain.  
So with this art, I am moving slightly more towards self growth and discovery and away from the "challenges" or prompts of others, that while are a fun diversion, cloud the real and important pieces of my life that deserve the most attention. Simply me.

Steampunk...the new "it" thing

Well, it's not super new, just new on my art agenda. I have a handful of Tim Holtz embellishments and a few things like metal duct tape that is easily embossed to look like metal rivets and such.  I made this tag for a private Steampunk swap, but now I am out of gears and must get more. My favorite part was the background and key. The background I used modeling paste to make a raised gear texture then covered it with the metal tape. (hardware store or your husbands workbench if he is not using it!) I always add copper shiny paint to the tag to give it a metal vintage look.  Pressing down over the dried modeling paste created the really cool background texture and the rest is icing. The winged key...super fun and really cool to just glue wings on the back to get this effect. 

Here are some up close pics of the tag. Before I started it was a plain large manilla tag I adore the look of metal from the tape without all the sharp edges of true metal. However the tape does create a rough edge and I did perhaps draw a small amount of blood. 

I have also been making ATC's for swaps. This one was traded to Australia.

I kept this for myself.  My favorite part with this corset ATC was the laced up design on the side from the back of the insane corsets they would wear. 

Also...this fun little lady appeared out of this card.

What's next??? 

How about a pocket letter.  This has been my first really creating in a Steampunk Style which I love of course because it is so industrial. The pocket letter I am in love with.  A new art addiction ..who knew?

Colored Pencils..the new gelatos/gelli plate/medium...

I have colored pencils and I don't use them much. They include clearance watercolors ironically the brand name is "Kimberley". Then I have the Derwent Inktense watercolors that I loved for awhile for watercolor purposes, because I don't water color either. I also have my crayolas, because well, I have a kid, and inside I am one too.

I recently had a chance to play with a friends Prismacolor Premier pencils. One little scribble of the pencil and I knew they were magic. Almost like a very soft gelato/pastel that was clean and pretty and easy to blend. I thoughtfully waited to purchase my first set until I found it on Amazon for $35 shipped. Super deal for the 48 set.

Well, today I was parusing Craigslist and just randomly scrolling through the art section. I have typed "Prismacolor" as a search before to no avail. This time I just happened to run across a picture, I even did a double take.  Prismacolor 72 set..(because my 48 clearly ISN'T enough), also I can't pass up a good deal.  I thought and thought and thought. The description said used only a few times and the person went digital. Perfect. Well I caved and glad I did. For $35 again....I picked up the 72 set for the price I paid for the 48 set both ridiculously cheap. Our 48 retails here around $70-100 and the 72 from $100 to $140...sheesh. I love a good deal. (Did you catch that part?!?!)

My only question was what colors would I be getting that would be different. I realized I would have 48 duplicates but knowing that I will be using these exclusively as my colored pencils if they wore down fast I couldn't pass up having a back ups.

I made a chart below based on pictures I took from the color selections on the back of the containers. There are in fact 24 "extra" colors and I figured those out by marking the colors that were duplicates with a number 2 ....THE #2.  Anyhow hopefully this is helpful if you need help deciding which set or both to get. :) Time to play.

72 set

48 set

*UPDATE*

I couldn't stop at making my own chart. I looked on the Prismacolor website and couldn't figure it out. After searching online I found the two following options for comparison color charts. I like the first one that is done for you so you can see ahead of time what is included before the purchase. The other one is just another fun way to play with your pencils. 

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR YEAH!!!! (flails arms in the air like Kermit the Frog)