Multi-Tasking: Painting, Drawing, Jewelry Making Oh My!

Making earrings has become one of my favorite activities!  I made 3 more pairs, they aren't heavy but some are a little bigger than the last group I made and blogged about.  When I was making bracelets I had thin copper and silver wire that I would wrap near the center charm.  Well, I decided I wanted try some of that out on my earrings!

 I love these earrings!  I used the copper wire to string black beads on the front and twist up to the top.

 It is a little bit harder to tell in these pictures but I used the silver wire to twist at the very bottom with a pink and purple bead and twist at the top above the single purple bead.  The graphite colored diamond bead is the only bead that is not a swarovski crystal bead.  The bead in the center of the diamond shape is actually a very, very light blue swarovski crystal.

 These earrings are very simple but pretty, I love that design!

Not only have I been making new earrings, I have also been drawing and painting.

A long time ago, I had started a picture of just different colored bubbles with a brown background.  I didn't mix any colors to create the color brown and I'm disappointed I didn't.  This brown came out of a squeeze bottle ( I wanted to try it, live and learn).  It was way too watery and thin.  I have put multiple coats on and am still not done.  It is starting to look a little better though.

Since there are so many layers and the paint is so watery, you can tell that the paint in this picture is still wet.  I haven't finished painting the bubbles, but I found that I should've painted the entire background first.  When I start mixing the orange, blue, and purple I need to touch up a few areas that have brown on them and fix some of the shapes.  Some of them need to become more circular.
One of my friends has requested for me to paint another sunflower that is part orange and yellow and the background are two different shades of gray.  I am going to make 3 sizes to put up on etsy.  One will be an 8x10 and another will be a 5x7.  Those two were already sketched out, the one I sketched out tonight is a little 4x4 canvas that will stand on a little wooden easel.

I will paint all 3 of these pictures at the same time because I mix the colors together.  If I mix them on different days or sometimes at different times, I am not always guaranteed that the colors will be mixed exactly the same.  Some of the shades and tones may be a little different.
The last project I am starting to work on, are dog drawings.  Some of my friends would like me to paint their dogs.  I'm so excited they asked me!  I have never done this before so I want to try drawing them first with graphite and then I can practice painting a dog another time.  This is only a rough sketch so far, there is no detail and no shading yet:

I started drawing this with a thicker graphite stick pencil, it glides on the page a lot easier and allows me to go over some lines without getting too dark and doesn't leave an imprint on the paper incase I need to erase.  I wonder if the owner of this dog will recognize him or not haha!

This blog entry had many different topics but it was a multitasking night and I decided to share them all at once, since I did them all at once for the most part.  I was literally bouncing from one thing to the next!
I will keep you updated with each of these projects :) Hope you've enjoyed!
xoxo Savannah

New Products Up On Etsy!

My earrings are up on etsy.com!!  Check them out, all of them are $6.50 each and shipping is $3.95 within the United States.  Here's the link:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SavvieDesigns?ref=search_shop_redirect

If you are having trouble with the link you can search my shop name: savviedesigns
Be on the look out for more jewelry and paintings going up on etsy soon!
xoxo Savannah

Branching Out On Jewelry

Well, I've done it again.  I have tried another new thing.  Technically it is just an extension.  I am branching out in my jewelry making.  Earrings!!  I don't know why I didn't try that before bracelets because that is one piece of jewelry ( before my engagement ring of course :)  ), that I hate leaving the house without.
Here was the first attempt, I didn't buy too many different beads because I wanted to use what beads I already had to play around with.

 These beads are so pretty, they have so many colors in them!

 These would look really good with pink or red beads instead of the little black ones.  Maybe I'll have to make another pair :)

 Last, but not least, an orange pair :)

I am so excited about how all of them came out!  I cannot wait to make more!  I will be putting some earrings, drawings, and paintings up on etsy.com soon.  Keep your eyes out, I will post a blog about it with a link for those of you who haven't visited Etsy yet.  It's a great website!
Let me know what you think or if you have any requests on earrings!
xoxo Savannah

People Are Difficult

Artists that can draw portraits are incredible and extremely talented!  I find drawing people to be very difficult.  There is so much detail when drawing a person, especially a persons face.  When you look at someone you see personality and who they are in their eyes.  Trying to capture that along with all the expressions people make is difficult.  But I am determined to conquer this obstacle!!

Since the face is the hardest part, tonight I decided not to draw the face.  This picture is not done, but I am trying a different approach.  If the front is hard, start with the back as a stepping stone:

Even though this is the back of a person, there is a lot to it.  The hair, the muscles, and the movement of the limbs.  It is still a work in progress but it was a lot of fun and interesting to start.
Here are a few of my past attempts:

I tried drawing a picture of my brother, I can kinda see him in there a little but there is soooo much work that has to be done.  I even wrote some notes on the side of what I thought needed the most work.

This is a picture in progress, so far it's not too bad but I haven't done much detail and the eyes and mouth were giving me a hard time.

These last few pictures were all the same little girl.  They were different pictures but very hard.  I even tried pulling apart the different parts of the face to practice.  This is almost like thumbnailing, it is concentrating and focusing on one particular area at a time.  Doing this is great practice.
I will keep you updated with my on going projects soon!!
xoxo Savannah

Let Your Mind Wonder and Wander

I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday!!

Painting abstract pieces has always been fun.  I am able to let my mind wonder and visualize something that doesn't have to make sense.  It reminds me of free writing in school.  When I was in school I never minded writing essays but free writing was always so hard!! Where do you start?  There were always a million ideas and topics but how could you choose the right one to write about?
Majority of the time abstract painting is exactly like that for me.  I know some writers keep a notebook with topics or jot down quick thoughts, I sketch out a quick picture on any scrap piece of paper near by.

This picture may be a little hard to see but I drew 4 different ideas with a pink pen and kept it near my art supplies.
I chose to try painting the picture that is right next to the scribbled part.

I went with the yellow and gray colors again haha.
Here is a different piece that I finished:

 It took some thought of what color to finish this picture.  Behind the yellow bottles it is painted a deep green, similar to evergreen.  I wanted to stick with the same idea, the painting is with all yellows, blues, and greens.  Since mixing yellow and blue together creates the green, I thought it would be a fun concept.  I love the page turn in this painting!  I was shopping in Maine one day and a color to a book had this concept and I fell in love with it.  I didn't care how I did it, I wanted to use that idea myself and have fun with it!

If I already have a picture started and new ideas pop into my head, I like to put a little sticky note near it for the next time I sit to continue working on that particular piece.

Hope you enjoyed some of the new stuff!
xoxo Savannah