Why is RED the color of Love but You See RED When You're Angry?

Here is a little Valentine Joke for you....Q: Why do melons have to get married in churches?   A: Because they cantaloupe!




This past week I have been frantically working on some designs specific to that lovely holiday that shines a bright spotlight on sweethearts.  You know the one where large masses of pink and red bouquets of hot house flowers clog the entry way of nearly every retail store and the smell of chocolate can be found wafting in the air.  Yes it is soon to be Valentines Day.  I'm frantic because not only do I have just a few weeks before THE day arrives but coming up with designs is the just beginning of the work.  I have to make the cards and market them.  I'm afraid that I have already lost the war but maybe I can win a small battle.  Next year when ghosts and pumpkins fill the shelves I am going to be seeing only pink and red!

Country Girl Valentine

First is my Country Girl Valentine.  You might be able to take the girl out of the country but you sure can't take the country out of a girls heart.  I had so much fun filling this heart with comical little chickens.  I plan on at least having a cow version of this design by the end of the weekend. (Fingers crossed and behind my back)

















If you have followed my work at all you know that I have a soft spot for both mice and chickadees.  That soft spot has once again made its way to the surface to combine with a fun Zentangle heart design.  I had so much fun drawing these and I think they will look great printed out as cards.  At least that is my hope and I will be working hard this weekend to make that happen.  Cards will soon be available in both Boulder City and at City of the World just in time for the 14th.  

I took a few minutes just to put together a couple of cards so that I could show what I had in mind.  I had purchased a pack of gingham craft paper a few weeks back and I think the pink and red will be perfect for this project.  I just grabbed a few items off my Valentine decoration from my entry way to stage this quick little photo session.  Lighting this time of the evening isn't the greatest but I think you can see just how cute these designs will work.




If you like my work and want to see more of it, please check out my Facebook page at Julie Townsend Studio or my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com.  I can also be found on Instagram and at my Etsy Store.  Thanks for spending a few minutes of your time with me.

The Beginnings of an Art Club

I'm excited and a wee bit nervous to meet a couple of new students this afternoon that are signed up to join me on our first meeting of the MVCS A-Club.  I made this poster to hang on our door helping parents and staff know where we are.   My plan is to just do a lot of drawing in this session and use the book written by Kathryn Temple called "Art for Kids Drawing" as a guide to our drawing discussions.  It is a great book that covers all the basics.  

 Today's lessons plan:  I hope we can get this all covered during the one hour allotted me.

* Talk about the importance of the Artistic Journal- I have sketchbooks to give them that they can use and decorate  

* Stress these points from page 9 of the book    
       ~There is no right way to draw    
       ~Don't compare your artwork to others    
       ~There is really no messing up    
       ~Practice and then practice some more    
       ~Don't stress about showing your art to people  

*I'm going to then show them my favorite drawing and sketching materials-Pen, Pencils, Prismacolor Pencils and my Tombow Markers I have created a zentangle pattern work sheet to practice from and a blank sheet that they can fill with their own created zentangle patterns.

*Finally, I have prepared a blank art page that has nothing more than a circle drawn on it from which we are going to start our own zentangle artwork.  I will post pictures as we progress through the next eight weeks.  I'm hopefully to find areas around the school and venues away from campus that we can display the art we create.  I pray to encourage their creativity and passion for art and at the same time, lay a strong foundation of sketching basics.  

You Find Me Interesting, Right?

My husband vacationing in his new hammock

I'm currently on vacation.  That's right and I am actually up on a mountain at a about the 8000' level dry camping in my modest 23' camper trailer.   Amazingly, I have really a good WiFi connection here so I am able to spend some time working on my website and post this blog. While I've been here, I have been reading a number of articles about improving your blogging and tips for marketing as an artist.  You know what I found to be the number one suggestion in the articles I read?  The message seemed to repeat itself over and over and that was to make yourself more interesting!  You would have thought it was make better art.  Being interesting isn't necessarily an easy thing to do.  At least for me.

I now know quite a few artists and some of these individuals just seem to light up a room when they walk through the door.  That is a wonderful trait but did I ever mention that I really like the dark?  That's right...I hardly ever open my curtains and blinds during the day.  I love a dimly lit room, cloudy, overcast days and thunderstorms.  So I guess I'm not the "Light UP A ROOM" kind of artist.

Other artists I know walk around in flowing colorful gauze dresses and leggings.  The brighter the better it seems.  They look like a walking paint palette with legs. I just wouldn't feel comfortable being surrounded by that much color I think.  I love to wear just plan denim and the brightest color in my wardrobe is teal.  I love to wear navy blue and brown.  I guess I should wait before going out and try to figure out what size of leggings I would wear.  That thought just gave me goosebumps.

I noticed cowboy boots and even hats are big accessories for some artists.  I wonder if they wore these before they started painting or did that habit just sort of evolve as they became more popular in galleries around Texas and Wyoming?  I wonder.  I think my calves are too chubby for boots and I have a rather round head that I just don't think would hold a cowboy hat on it for very long.

Another marketing video I watched said that I needed to have "A STORY".  An interesting story that is easy to remember and that when they hear your story your circle of influence will go out and repeat that story to all their friends.  Wow...I'm still chewing on that one.  It is on my vacation to do list- Write My Story.

So today, I guess I'm blogging a blog about how I'm not naturally interesting.  I know there probably are those that would object to me saying this because it sounds negative and I am being to harsh and unkind.   I do know that we are our own worst critics but frankly, I feel that I have lead a rather boring life up to this point. You know what?   I'm not sure I'm uncomfortable with that fact.  After all, I am an older retired accountant who has just recently changed boats in the middle of this stream of life and I catch myself often I'm looking around boat for an extra large life preserver.  I guess you could call that a neon orange accessory.    A number of those artist type people in the boat with me are a diverse group of creative individuals and very talented artists.  So who am I to talk about leggings and cowboy boots like it is some sort of a gimmick to sell more art.  I do have to admit when those neon leggings walk into a room, people are bound to take note.

So I had better back on track with this blog because obviously I am struggling with the "Be More Interesting" .  I thought you might enjoy a few sketches I have done during the past few days while on my artistic sabbatical.  I hope you find them INTERESTING!

Zentangle with Triangles

I love zentangles and my Tombow N60 (blue grey shade) is my favorite pen to grab.  You can see that I love the way it adds dimension to a drawing by simply applying an outline the shapes.  You can see it, the line is there but your attention isn't  drawn away from the object.  The result that I just love is that it actually makes the object appear to jump from the page.  That simple line gives your drawing a 3-D quality.

Chick using Color Pencil over Tombow markers

You can really see that effect of the shadow outline here on my little chick sketch.  By the way besides my N60 Tombow marker I have fallen in love with a new pen. It's called "Le Pen" by Marvy.  I think it is a .05 but I threw away the packaging and can't quite remember what it said.   I just by chance picked it up at Hobby Lobby a week or so ago, and to my amazement I have discovered that it does a great job of outlining over the colored pencil portions of my work.  You see, colored pencil leave a waxy coating and the drawing pens I have used so far really struggle with this. (Prismacolor Premium Fine Line Markers)   I really like adding a nice thick, black outline to the sketch after I have finished all my pencil work and blending.





So here I am just playing around and  practicing my feathers.  The goal here is to start getting more fine detail in my sketching technique.

Practicing Feathers-Color Pencil over Watercolor

If you like these drawings then you should check out all my artwork on my website, Julie Townsend Studio.

Artistic Journal Post-Love the that weave background shadowed by my trusty N60 marker

The rest of the pictures posted her for you viewing pleasure consist of actual Artistic Journal entries that I did and I then for a WOW factor, I threw in a few sunset photos taken with my cell phone just to round everything off.  Pretty interesting, huh?

A true artistic journal post complete with date and my thoughts

Sunset on Day 4

Sunset on Day 3

A Studio That Fits in Your Pocket

I know that as of late I have had a number of posts about my recent little artworks painted on the side of cowbells.  And while the cowbells are my current focus due to the popularity of them among my Facebook friends and local galleries, I thought today I would share some of the sketching I have been doing recently.  

I was keeping a larger sized journal for the past year, but with the pressure of filling up the larger pages, I found I wasn't drawing it on a daily basis like I intended.  In January I purchased a pocket sized sketchbook journal at Michaels and I just love it.  I carry it in my purse along with my .005 Pigma Micron drawing pen.  It is small and easy so I can pull it out whenever I have a few minutes. 

I'm filling the pages with practice doodles, zentangle designs and intricate sketches.  Not only do I find this fun and relaxing, I completely believe that keeping your drawing skills sharp is one of the best things you can do to improve your painting skills.  

I hope you enjoy these pages I've selected and I would love to hear from you about what you are drawing.

For a look at my more SERIOUS artwork and fun COWBELLS, come visit my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com

Sunflower sketch that I did today.  I LOVE the torn paper border look

A page full of Zentangle designs.  Practice makes perfect!

Playing with contour lines.  I love how it gives the illusion of being sucked into the center

Playing with a rope design for a border

My beautiful niece Laura

A fun ZENTANGLE KITTY