Balancing Studio Life and Living Life

Can you believe this is the one of the ridges overlooking my home valley of Palolo!?! I can literally see my house from up here - as well as a nice chunk of eastern O'ahu! (Below is a 28 second panorama of the incredible views which encompass Waikiki all the way to Hawai'i Kai!)

I took a short break from my adventure on the Lanipo Ridge hike to create a vlog all about balancing the right amount of work and play in order to get the most out of every day.

To me, getting the most out of every day is all about being productive as well as being happy. Happiness can encompass connecting with friends, making time for healthy habits, family time, and so much more.  It can be easy to feel like one must work all day every day when working from home and for yourself, but creating a work schedule with time off for your 'happy activities' included really does wonders all around.

Personally, I know I get more computer-y business-y type work done when I give myself XX number of hours to work (usually 1-3) and then it's break time or alternate project time, versus forcing myself to stay glued to my computer for 6-8 hours no matter how many times I let myself get distracted. Plus, being with close friends or going on a hike or visiting an art gallery really does wonders for inspiration and refreshment of the soul! 

Yep, that little dirt path is the trail! 

So have a little listen and enjoy the view, and maybe think about how you can incorporate a bit more joy in your life.... and not at the expense of production, but in order to enhance it!

Feel free to leave me a comment about any tricks or tips you've learned about balancing your business/creative/fun time effectively!

PS For all my $10+ Patreon Members, check out the next post for your two reference photos for the month of April from this ridge hike! 

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originally posted: March 31, 2017

Supplies for Drawing My Pencil Portraits

Ever wonder about the materials being used in other artists' creations? I know I sure do! Today I'm letting you in on what I use to make my pencil portraits, both the materials and the supplies.

For your reference I made a bulleted list of the items I go over in the video. Tune in for detailed descriptions, technique and why I chose each one. 

Materials

Supplies 

• HB, 2B, 4B, 5B
• 2B & 4B woodless pencils 
• white conte pencils
• toned grey paper

• photo/laptop
• easel
• smooth, hard board
• art clips
• carpet square
• good quality pencil sharpener
• erasers

Here's the '3 Ways to Sharpen a Pencil' tutorial I reference in the vid

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originally posted: March 28, 2017

Pencil Pastel Breakthrough!

Ok, wow, just had a breakthrough with my art..... So I've been drawing on this toned paper for well over two years now but have always used just my black and white charcoals with all of it no matter what the tone of the paper.

At this week's figure session however, I pulled out a sepia chalk pastel pencil to use with my white chalk for this pale yellow paper and BAM! All of a sudden this figure and its environment are one completely cohesive entity. The black was always so harsh and cold on this tone of paper - so much so that I was not going to include these particular lighter papers when making my next round of sketchbooks, but now I'm thrilled to experiment more!

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The difference between these drawings is not all that incredibly stark, however the brown tone really seems to take the edge off and makes the figure appear more like a warm body, rather than a cool rendering. You feel it?

This is the main reason why I like keeping a variety art supplies in my studio that may not be in my current forte, yet can be something that just comes to me or that I see another artist use and want to try myself. For example, I've been to an art gallery before and became really inspired to replicate the watercolor or colored pencil techniques that I had just seen as soon as I got home. Even though I use those materials incredibly rarely these days, I'm still so grateful to have them whenever the mood to branch out strikes.

I highly recommend for other artists, especially ones who are still discovering their own style, to go to their neighborhood locally owned art store and just have fun picking out a few random drawing instruments or inks or even clay to bring home for a rainy day or as a cure for artist's block. Trust me, before too long you will be glad you did!

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My trusty soft charcoal pencil and white chalk on the bottom along with my new experimental chalk pastels in dark and light sepia and deep moss green

Anyway, back to these fabulous new variations of my charcoal figure sketches.... I am so ecstatic and surprised by what a difference softening the tone has made! Now I feel like I've got a whole new world to look forward to as far as creative color matching during the figure drawing session. 

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I can't wait to switch some color combinations up!

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You can see the harshness of the shadows in the drawing on the left, yet even though the values get just as deep in the drawing on the right, the figure feels more a part of his environment. Subtlety is the name of this game for sure.  

I have spoken to many other artists and creatives and many discuss having breakthroughs during times of experimentation with new materials. To be clear, when I say 'breakthroughs' I am referring to personal times of rapid growth or advancement; it's basically an epiphany within one's own artwork that can seem to happen all of a sudden. Varying your materials can be a great way to get out of a rut when experiencing a recurring issue within your artwork, or as a way to advance or push your limits by encompassing something new with familiar materials. One thing is true for all artists: developing artistic technique is a journey, not a destination.

PS. I made this fabulous sketchbook! Learn how to make your own here!

Where to Buy:

(Of course right after advising everyone going to their local art store I post links to order pastel pencils online, but my local store does not have these, so I'm sharing in case yours doesn't either. You can still go to your local spot to find other fun materials though!!)

In the photo above the top two are a different brand than the Carbothello, but they are very similar texture so it will be easier just to order all in one spot. Happy exploring! Please feel free to share with me or tag me on social media for anything your new materials inspire:)

http://www.dickblick.com/products/stabilo-carbothello-pastel-pencils/

http://www.jerrysartarama.com/stabilo-carbothello-pastel-pencils 

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originally posted: March 25, 2017

Painting Eyebrows, Eyelashes and Really Short Hair

Welcome to another Tutorial Tuesday! Today I am continuing with my 'Nubia' portrait in an oil painting demo to share with you of my technique for painting her eyelashes, eyebrows, and super short hair. Since I tend to paint my works in color/object/surface texture groups with dry time in between, I will have another video showing me painting her thick braids. 

Today also features the first exclusive video release to my Patreon page as well. Woo Hoo! (Don't know about Patreon? Click here for info) For my wonderful loyal viewers I have this speed painting demo available here and on my YouTube channel, but for my $5 and up Patreon contributors I will have the same video in real time PLUS step-by-step explanations.  

I also have a tutorial about painting rich melanin skin tones right here.

Do you love my muse as much as I do? You can find Nubia and see her fantastic and creative makeup artistry at
https://www.instagram.com/nubiasilvermakeup 

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originally posted: March 21, 2017

Traveling Goddesses :: Two Shows at Once!

I have been bursting with excitement since finding out I got ALL FIVE  of my completed Bohemian Goddesses  accepted in two gallery shows during March and April!! Woo Hoo!!

The first show is this weekend at Willis & Sellers Art Gallery, which is a friend and fellow artist's new gallery in Tryon, NC. Ben Sellers creates whimsical, almost poetic, watercolor and ink works, and has been so inviting and encouraging of me in my artistic journey.  A lot of 'making it' as an artist can happen due to the connections one makes, and I feel very fortunate to have made this one. I'm grateful not only for help with exposure, but because Ben is a very intelligent and creative person in his own right and watching his progression and successes have been incredibly inspiring to me. 

The second is in Kansas, if you can believe it! The opening is called Art in the Center in Overland Park and I honestly don't know much about it, but it looks like a really great gathering of a lot of talented artists so I am very honored to be there! 

So all five of these amazing ladies are already off on their respective journeys to their big shows and I may not see one or two of them in the flesh ever again.... I hope ;) 

PS. I've got a tutorial in the works all about how to package and ship art for a gallery so that it can be easily and safely sent back to you afterwards. It's a bigger ordeal than you may think! 

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originally posted: March 18, 2017

Painting a Melanin-Rich, Golden Honey Skin Tone

Welcome back to another painting tutorial! Today I am sharing the process of painting this lovely warm skin tone on 'Nubia' via a video tutorial. Her skin is a beautiful golden honey hue so I used very little green and more ochre and burnt sienna paint than usual for the mix. 

These tones are very similar to the tones I created for 'Anjel' a couple months ago, which I did a very comprehensive blog post about which colors I mixed for that portrait.

 Here is that super informative post - just remember to use a bit more ochre and burnt sienna than in the Anjel photos in order to achieve Nubia's tones (pictured below). 

On this palette, the skin tones variations are along the right side, with the primary (unmixed) paints on the left side and all along the bottom. Nubia's lip color is in the middle and the background blues are at the very top edge.

Paint mixes and my original blog post: https://www.caleighbirdart.com/artist-blog/2017/3/14/tutorial-tuesdays-painting-a-melanin-rich-golden-honey-skin-tone Do you enjoy my videos and want to see me create more? Visit my Patreon feed! https://www.patreon.com/caleighbird Subscribe to my channel and check out my artist blog for lots of other fine art Tutorial Tuesdays:) https://http://www.caleighbirdart.com/artist-blog?category=Tutorial+Tuesdays https://www.CaleighBirdArt.com My Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/caleighbirdart https://www.facebook.com/caleighbirdart

So have a look-sy at the tutorial and let me know what you think. Have you had success recreating my tones? Feel free to leave me a comment about how you found the vid:)

Do you love my muse as much as I do? You can find Nubia and see her fantastic and creative makeup artistry at @nubiasilvermakeup 

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originally posted: March 14, 2017

What is Patreon?

Patreon is an amazing way to support, as well as personally connect with, your favorite artists in a mutual give and take, sharing kind of relationship. It is the modern day development of the traditional Patron-Artist relationship which uses a crowdfunding method to enable creators to be happily supported by folks who love and use their creations, and in return, Patrons receive gifts and bonuses and personal access to their favorite artists on a private sharing platform. It's a way for communities to take care of and give back to the folks that make their worlds a little brighter. 

I created this video as the intro to my brand new Patreon page but it wound up being a bit too long (you can watch the shorter version here). However, I feel that it really helps get to the symbiotic nature of Patreon so I am sharing it with you, my loyal audience, as a way to introduce you to the idea. My special Patreon feed will feature even more personal looks into my life as a (hard!) working contemporary artist in the form of bonus vlogs as well as tutorials. PLUS, all contributors get art gifts ranging from printables to wallpaper, .jpegs, signed giclees, and even original works!! Hot damn!

But never fear....

....I will continue to have this blog and plenty of YouTube videos for anyone and everyone who wants to stop by. And if you cannot afford or choose not to contribute, that is absolutely ok and I am sincerely grateful to have you as a supporter of my artistic journey nonetheless. We all have decisions to make every day and you making the decision simply to read my blog or look through my gallery means you have already given me the gift of time, and there is nothing more precious than that. 

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So enjoy my little video and please feel free to go ahead and pop on over to my brand-spankin' new Patreon page afterwards to see what it's all about. You know I always appreciate comments, so let me know what you think about my reward tiers.... do they sound like exciting gifts?

Thank you, loyal reader; much love to you! 

You can find my brand new Patreon page here:

www.patreon.com/caleighbird

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originally posted: March 12, 2017

First Solo Hike!! Jude-Nu'uanu Trail

Had an epic day yesterday, doing my very first solo hike here on island! It was a beautiful four hours through the woods going up the side of one of these old volcanic ridges to the very top with amazing views of the island.

Hiking out here can be pretty difficult and almost all hikes have at least some rock scrambling areas with wet rocks or mud or decaying trails or a host of other things that can make the trek a little precarious. So I felt very empowered doing all of those things on my very own yesterday for the first time.

 Was sweaty and a bit muddy and grinning from ear to ear by the end of the day:)

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originally posted: March 11, 2017

Great Big Huge News!!!

I am tremendously excited about this next venture in my artistic journey: Patreon!! 

Patreon provides a wonderful space for me to connect with my biggest supporters in a more personal way. It's a perfect way for me to give more of myself as an active and working artist to those who are most receptive and interested. Patreon is also a way for me to share art with and give back to those cheering me on.

Basically, Patreon give folks the opportunity for special access to their favorite artists and creators, and gives artists a way to say thank you over and over again for that invaluable support.

Ok.... have I piqued your interest enough? Go ahead and pop on over to my brand-spanking new Patreon page and see what all the fuss is about.

Click Here! 

www.patreon.com/caleighbird

Afterwards, hit the comment button and let me know what you think! Do you think my reward tiers sound exciting?

I'll also share more about my life as an artist and adventurer here in Hawai'i! 

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originally posted: March 7, 2017

Three Ways to Sharpen Pencils

Welcome to another Tutorial Tuesday! Today I am discussing three different ways to sharpen art pencils. These techniques will work for your graphite, charcoal, conte, watercolor and colored pencils. I find that I like to use different methods for various mediums, and I discuss what works well for me in the vid. 

Hope you learn a lil something... Are there any other good sharpening methods out there that fellow artists are using? Leave me a note in the comments! 

Today I am discussing three different ways to sharpen art pencils. These techniques will work for your graphite, charcoal, conte, watercolor and colored pencils. ((PS - My vids look best in HD!)) From my original blog post: https://www.caleighbirdart.com/artist-blog/ Do you enjoy my videos and want to see me create more?

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originally posted: March 31, 2017