Hey-o friends! You know how I've been steadily improving my YouTube vids while sharing my artsy processes? Well here's another new-and-improved quickie demo with my fancy shmancy animated intro and even more cool copyright free music! Yay!
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originally published October 10, 2017
Hey friends, welcome back:) I've got a cool new addition to my studio that I'm super psyched to share with you today - brand new professional LED lighting featuring light-temperature control with remote! Wow!!
Good studio lighting is absolutely essential for creating, photographing, and displaying fine art. Not only do artists need the light used while painting or drawing to be bright and even, but in order to insure that colors are seen correctly while mixing, cool neutral lighting must be used from start to finish.
What's really amazing about the Method Light though is that it doesn't just stop at neutral, it actually has a large variety of warm or cool tones it can create from this one spotlight. For me, the slightly cool neutral is perfect for painting (as it would be for most realist artists) but when I use it on a model or still life instead I'll probably want the lighting to be a bit warmer and more inviting. The Method Light has a great range of warm-to-cool settings as well as dim-to-bright so pretty much any desired lighting can be achieved with just a few buttons on the remote control - neato!!
& Use the code CBHI17 at checkout
[Affiliate Note: When you use my special link it won't cost you a penny extra, but they will hook me up with a little somethin' somethin' which helps me maintain the cost of running my blog - a real Win-Win!!]
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originally published October 3, 2017
My first set of homemade sketchbooks are all filled up from my weekly figure drawing sessions
[Hey friends! I'm actually spending some time this week making my next set of sketchbooks so I figured I'd reshare the 'How To' I created last year so you can follow along with me. Check out my Instagram @caleighbirdart to see my newest books]
**On choosing paper: I say, go for whatever makes you happy. I am using multiple different colors of rich toned, high toothed charcoal paper since I never draw on white these days. But you should go to your locally owned art store and find whatever tickles your fancy - and of course feel free to mix it up! In order to prevent too much waste, try to get large sheets that are pretty close in size.
1 - Arranging the paper: Firstly, make sure that all of your big papers are the same size, including the tracing paper but NOT the thick rag paper. Once they are uniform in size, make sure that each paper is facing the same direction (some art paper has a 'front' or good side that has more or less tooth, depending on what you like), and the tracing paper is on top of the front side.
2- Cutting the paper: Cut your stack of paper carefully into four equal lengths using the Xacto knife and ruler. (You will most likely need to cut it in groups of three papers at a time in order to get a clean cut all the way down)
3- Cutting the Rag Paper: Once you have your page strips, use one to measure against the rag paper and cut out a strip that is 1/2 inch wider and at least two inches longer (you will trim it later to fit the book cover). The rag paper will be the element that is attached to the booklet and then glued to the book cover and holds the entire sketchbook together.
4- Binding Prep: Fold and crease your booklets in half (excluding the rag paper) but keep each booklet as its own entity. Fold and crease the rag paper on its own as well.
Now you are going to actually bind your booklets together and to the rag paper. I am a seamstress so I use my sewing machine for this, but I have included instructions on how to do it by hand.
5- The Tricky Part: So now you are going to actually sew all of your pages together using the rag paper to hold them together; doing so one booklet at a time. Start out with the 'good' side of your paper facing out with the tracing paper outside of it. Then line the booklet up with the rag paper, the tricky part being that you want to actually line the spine of your booklet to a space about 1/4 inch away from the center, so that as you sew each individual booklet in, they are equal distance from the center.
[Side Note: I feel like I should let you in on a lil secret... I am super NOT a perfectionist. I am all about just holding things together to see how they fit, or using a ruler to rip rather than cut paper... I am the queen of, 'I'll just eyeball it.' I've been sewing my own clothes for years, and I usually just hold stuff up to me and guestimate or upcycle or whatever. I personally love the warm feel of handmade, yet high quality, perfectly imperfect goods... so measure at your own leisure. (Ha! Off the cuff but I think it's my new mantra!)]
5b- Ok so you've just seen how you want to line up your segments for sewing, but if you don't have a machine, a needle and thread will be absolutely fine. Line up your booklet pieces with the rag paper one at a time like explained above, and use this simple binding technique to affix them together.
5b(cont'd)- Thread your needle and push it through the papers on the outside of the crease (the mountain side), then loop it through and push it back through the inner crease (the valley side). Knot the thread to itself and cut it. Repeat 4-6 times depending on binding size.
The outside of the bound booklet
The inside of the bound booklet
Don't forget to tune in next week for Part Two, which will be creating and securing the cover. I personally think that today's tutorial is the more challenging one, so if you got through that, the rest will be a breeze! Go ahead and start looking for some unique fabric to adorn the cover, and check out last week's Inspo post to see some funky retro examples.
Do you know any good tips or techniques for bookbinding? Have you ever tried binding various papers together? Feel free to leave me a comment!
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originally posted: October 25, 2016
[Part Two] This tutorial is all about affixing the bound booklets to the outer book binding, which you can decorate with a personalized cloth cover.
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Oh boy, have I got a special treat for you today! My very first full-length portrait oil painting demo - Woo Hoo! You get to watch me speed paint this lovely muse in about 1% of the time it took me to actually paint it - ha! I've been finding better and better copyright free music recently, so the soundtrack get's pretty jammin' too ;)
In case you were curious about my incredible Malaysian muse, 'Anastasia' is a delightful and inspiring person inside and out and I was thrilled for the opportunity to paint her as part of my ongoing Bohemian Goddesses collection, in which I lovingly highlight creative and confident women from all over the world with my portraiture. You can read my paragraph about the woman behind the painting here.
oil on linen, 12x16 inches prints available
Here's a list of every oil paint I used for the entire work, and below you'll see a few color mixes from specific sections:
* Flesh tint is actually only used in the turban; it's an incredibly vivid pink color that would only work in tiny doses when painting skin tones.
Above was my initial palette for painting the turban and I later incorporated that with the rest of the paint needed for her skin tones. Here are most of the mixtures I developed while painting 'Anastasia'. Yep, even the dark green and blue went in there.
So I've noticed a lot of other YouTube artists answer questions or talk about certain topics while showing their speed demos. Leave me any comments, questions or topic suggestions if you'd like to hear my thoughts over future demos:)
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originally posted September 26, 2017
Well I just got a pretty great bit of news yesterday - my blog is now accessible all over the world on Apple News- neato! Look at me, I'm as important as CNN! Ha!
But seriously though, it's pretty cool 'cause I had to apply with ten blog posts and be accepted to be included within the general news feed. I'm not totally sure what the review process was, but I applied two weeks ago and all but forgot about it 'til yesterday. Such a nice surprise to hear that Apple finds my artsy little life "newsworthy";)
I actually use a PC so the only way I can even access Apple News is on my iPhone, but you better believe as soon as I found out I was accepted I downloaded the app and subscribed to myself - yay! I even subbed National Geographic, the Huff Post, and Jezabel just for good measure while I was there.
Do you use Apple News at all? Is there anyone I should be following? Leave suggestions in the comments.
I'm actually kind of psyched to have downloaded it so that I have a place to get news articles that interest me other than Facebook (which I am only on about once a week now!) - blah! Plus I can choose to follow only vetted sources, and not see those bs articles posted by super sketchy "americansforamerica.com"-type crap sites.
Well that got dark.
Anyhoo, hooray!! I'm big news! Ha! See you in the funny papers, folks:) xo
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originally published September 23, 2017
Hi fellow painters! I'm really excited to share with you my very first product review. I found myself in my fave local art store recently impulse buying a few tubes of paint when I realized I was scoring some great pigment that I had really enjoyed before. I don't always have the funds to be super picky or brand-loyal, but when I got home I looked through my paint stash and sure enough there were 3-4 other tubes of M. Graham that I didn't even register as already having.
Today I am psyched to share my findings when comparing M. Graham's oil paints to two other brands that I generally like. I'll show the thickness, smoothness, and concentration of this oil paint through a few simple tests that you can try at home with any new paint scores you run across as well.
[UPDATE 4-4-2018: I am now an affiliate of Dick Blick art supplies so here are links to these featured M. Graham colors in case your local spot doesn't have them. Any DB purchase you make through my links goes towards supporting my YouTube channel. Thank you!
Naples Yellow
Terra Rosa
Colbalt Blue
Turquoise ]
Have you ever used M. Graham before? What kind of oil paints are your fave?
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originally published September 19, 2017
Even though it feels like I've been movin' and shakin' and travelin' so much lately, I was still able to finish up my most recent Bohemian Goddess in pretty good time - yay! Go me! Plus I have my previous lovely to show off today too:)
'Anastasia' is an incredible Malaysian fashionista and makeup artist. I love that she wears her turban and hijab just like other women wear their hair - sometimes up in a bun, or flowing long, or loosely tied, and she even changes up where her 'part' would be. Anastasia is constantly trying new looks and hues on herself, and also does fabulously at styling her lovely friends as well. You can see plenty of Anastasia's unique makeup artistry and bold yet modest fashions on her Instagram @its.annekyn.
'II Kaya', @ii_kaya_ises, is an incredible Rastafarian queen from Trinidad who shines her bright light of encouragement on those who surround her. She is an ardent supporter of locally owned businesses run by fellow people of color and also vocalizes a powerful message of pride, spirituality, and celebration of nature and natural beauty. II Kaya inspires all who cross her path to spread love, share love , and be love.
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originally published on September 16, 2017
Oh my goodness this video took twice as long as I expected to edit, but I feel like it was all worth it in the end:)
This is a very special travel vlog for me because I decided to kind of be a tourist in my own hometown of Charleston, SC during my visit in August as well as filming quite a bit at my parents' rentable treehouses along the Edisto River. I really love Charleston and feel very fortunate to have such a unique spot to call home, so in this vlog I talk a bit about what it's like having my first homecoming after moving far away for the first time in my life
Any feedback on the vlog or thoughts about homecoming or creating a new spot to call home would be awesome! If you've moved far from your hometown, what was it like the first time you came back for a visit?
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originally published September 13, 2017
Hello friends! I have something super special to share today, a marvelous photoshoot in the woods by the Edisto River in SC during a stay at my parents' treehouses! One of my dearest friends and artsy soul sisters, Stephanie Stein, took these fabulous photos of me the next morning after our campout escapades and I could not be more delighted with the results!
Stephanie is a super awesome artist who specializes in fashion photography, but not like the plain old hum-drum boring "perfectly thin" fashion models that we're all so used to and tired of. She loves to appreciate the underappreciated and feature everyday weirdos just like you and me, but in the most exceptional ways (just like me with my Bohemian Goddesses series!).
I feel so fortunate to be a muse for fellow artists and to help them realize their own artistic visions. Every part of the creative process is such a special experience. I've worked with a least 6-8 incredibly talented photographers over the last ten years so I'll have to share a few more of my art modelling collections on the blog.
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originally published September 9, 2017
