Tag Archives: copic markers

MoonDance

29 Mar


A little project of mine since forever.
In the cycle of the moon, it is the First Quarter Moon.
half light half dark
Balanced
Poised…
a choice point.
Tomorrow, I will walk out into my world under a Gibbous Moon, ideally, with a sense of wonder, delight, desire and adventure.
The word commitment is often paired with the1st Quarter Moon and for me it’s becoming a conscious commitment to the practice of ‘getting my heart in the right place’ – opening up and out to the World.

I’m making a deal with myself today, that I will try to pull back on my knee-jerk fears when they come up, and exchange fear for blessing- seeing what is in front of me, the situation, the person, the thing, each event, as it IS. I bless what is; unconditionally.
In theory, this attention will help attend to my shadow, in the moment, as it presents itself.
My shadow side doesn’t respond well to the bright light of day, analysis or reason.
I’m practicing this unconditional self love, figuring that this too is a skill that can be learned. So, the practice. Swap fear for love. And the deal is, it’s just for a lunar week.
And, the picture is Telephoros. An important symbol for this half and half day. He’s Part of my Anam Cara picture- from ages ago. He’s speaking to me again, bringing a soft glow to all the hidden bits.
Link to my post about telephoros: https://janetbalboa.com/2014/09/11/dwarfs-illumination-and-knowing-that-everything-matters/

Verithin pencils

6 Jan

I’ve added more colored pencil- prismacolor verithins. This helps me block out the darks and make sure the all over color is going to be balanced. I used copic marker  (E00 + E21) for her neck- checking how the color of the pencil shading will show through. What’s great about this technique is that the pencil can still be erased and played with, even with a light layer of marker on top of it. I’m working, for better or worse, on marker paper, which I love because I get all the brightness and vibrancy of watercolor- with marker and colored pencils. Yum.

I hauled the photo into photoshop to brighten and sharpen the image a bit- it is very light and sketchy right now so I boosted the contrast so that its easier to see. I also cropped it for this post.

work in progress

janetbalboa2016

This is the actual picture, on an 11 x 14 paper.  The image has a large celtic knot border and intricate knotwork along the inside of the circle. She is Bridget I think. Or my fondness for spring and warmth and light coming back. But most of all? It’s the fact that I am drawing, and in the studio. After The Holidays – that’s an accomplishment in itself.

work in progress1

janetbalboa2016

:

Yin Yang, Beauty and Hedgehogs

17 Dec

JanetBalboa c.2014 Marker on marker paper 12 x 12

JanetBalboa c.2014
Marker on marker paper 12 x 12

Further along. Finished a fabulous book yesterday – The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. ‘Wow’ is all I can really say about that. And, I will be sending Muriel a copy of this print as soon as I finish it and can find an address for her. Why? I sense the same quest for beauty – the same need/desire to see that beneath all the fear, all the scary stuff is a beautiful, untarnished world that reaches out to us. When we are very quiet and choose to listen, we can hear the muse. Mmmmm…yes.

I’ve also been working on a site – Go for the soul.com – where one can buy my work, if one were so inclined. I have to figure out the shipping bit, but for the most part, it is done. It drives me crazy really, because I always choose drawing over working on the site. So of course, the web site kind of plods along. meanwhile:

JanetBalboa c.2014 Marker on marker paper 12 x 12

JanetBalboa c.2014
Marker on marker paper 12 x 12

I plan to finish and scan this today. Which means I’ll post a far better picture of it, without all the weird light reflection noises. The empty spot will be filled with a shell of the type common to Ireland, (New Grange). The Discus Rotundatus, some theorize, could be a model for the famous spirals. I like the idea of a spiral shape in the ‘Yin” spot – feminine, dark , moist; perfect.

I love that frog. That was late last night. Happy.

%d bloggers like this: