Happy St. Patrick's Day! I know I should probably have made some little Irish craft... or at least drawn some new celtic knotwork, considering that that is my latest obsession, but I didn't. So if you want something nice and St. Patrick's-y, go look at my big calligraphy project from awhile back.

I started my first ever true art lessons this past fall. Each week we work with specific mediums or styles, but other than that my teacher pretty much gives me free reign (although the moment I ask for help she always has some good critiques!). I finally have a dedicated hour each week for art-- a lifesaver for a busy teen!-- and have really been stretched with these new challenges.

 Here are some projects from the last several months: 

A scratchboard of Aslan. This was really fun, and I love the final effect. The particular scratchboards we used are metallic paper ones, and unless you find the "perfect" angle of light (like I did for these photos) you can only see part of the image at any time.

Scratchboard is basically a technique where you scrape off an ink or paint to reveal the paper underneath. I'm going to make some of my own using gesso and india ink this week. :)

Pointillism. Lots of dots. Way too many dots, and a pen that blotted all over the place. I wound up coloring it in with black watercolors. I wasn't too thrilled about the technique (I am not patient about this sort of thing), but once we put the picture in an old mat I thought it looked somewhat pretty.

Paint in general is still relatively new to me. This is a watercolor painting of two eyes, done in two hours. Once upon a time I was wonderful at realism... I need to get back to it. These eyes just wouldn't cooperate.

But when you aren't trying to be realistic, it doesn't matter if the eye is funky. This is something I would have never attempted on my own, and while I still think it's weird, I'm glad we did it in class. Because weird doesn't always have to be bad, and it's SO MUCH FUN to splash paint on paper and just watch it splatter. It's the same joy you get when knocking over a tower of blocks. 

Another watercolor, from my imagination and built out of memories of the climbing tree at our old house. This is Robin Hood and Maid Marian in what is supposed to be an Arthur-Rackham inspired style. 

Sneak peeks at two unfinished projects

An oil painting. I started it in class way back in November, making it my second oil painting. However, I was being too nitpicky and decided that I wanted to continue working on it. By the time it's done (hopefully this week), it will be my fourth finished oil painting. 

Linoleum block printing. Let's just say that this is the coolest technique EVER. Unfortunately I left my good prints at art class and won't get them back for two weeks, so you'll have to wait until then to see how it turned out. (It turned out awesome!).

(linking up at Sunday Sketches)