Hello and Welcome Back to Beginnings where we talk about Fresh Starts, New Cycles, Exploration, Experimentation and Creativity. In this post and video, I share a new illustration, talk about specific art supplies and how I've been using them. I also discuss new music I'm working on. 

I'm all about experimentation with new supplies and with new approaches with different substrates. 
With my new illustration, I share my art supplies from CaranD'Ache and Prismacolor and when I use the water soluable qualities of the colored pencils and pastels. 

In my previous illustration that I shared in this video/post, I did not use water. I just used the art supplies dry. 
But I desire to stretch myself as an artist and try new things and see what works and what doesn't. Yes, this requires some risk taking! But it's essential to explore with my art tools to see what they can do and the effects I can create with them. Some I love and some I don't. I take note mentally of what works and what doesn't. 

I use scratch paper to test supplies and wet them to see what they will look like before applying them to my illustration. 
Sometimes even after application, I have to learn how well the pencil or pastel works. And I also note how the paper holds up with repeated application. 

Strathmore is my go to substrate of choice; in this video I show the size pad I used and how that worked out for the size of the illustration. 
I show the actual result of my work in the video. You can also view the illustration on the website for Bill's Quality Electric, LLC on our electrical safety blog here. I have really enjoyed writing scene based posts for electrical safety which I talk about in the video as well. 

I also share the two new songs I've been working on plus my most recent song I've composed for piano and what that experience has been like. 

I trust you will be inspired watching and reading and I wish you the Best of Beginnings! 

Journaling Prompt: 
If you work with art supplies, what are your favorites and why? What are you go to tools to create what you love? 
If you work in other contexts creatively, what is your favorite aspect of this activity? How often do you engage in this activity? Do you want to make more time for it? If so, what time would work best for you? How do you feel after a session in your creative space? Note this in detail in your journal. 

Hello and welcome back to Beginnings, where we focus on Fresh Starts, New Cycles, Exploration, Experimentation and Creativity. This is a special post since I am sharing a new video where I've come back to say hello and share my new Life Cycle, New Art Studio and some art I've made in the past few months that you may not have seen already. 

You'll see two illustration and an art journal spread that I shared in a previous post. I also share what's going on with my music and my new art studio space and how I'm processing some major life changes that I've shared in previous blog posts. 

I'm not referring to this video as a vlog. It simply an update so I can say hi and share from my heart to yours. 
I hope this video is an inspiration to you in your own creativity! 
You're welcome to leave a comment either on YouTube or here on this post sharing your life update or a new life cycle you are currently experiencing. I am here to support you just like you have supported me and have been part of my journey. 

I also would appreciate it if you enjoy the video to please give it a thumbs up and if you haven't already subscribed, to subscribe if it is beneficial to you. This helps my channel get more visibility. I so appreciate your support. 

Thank you for watching and reading and I wish you the best of Beginnings. 

This is my first Father's Day with my Dad, P. Daniel Bel-Tempo, in Spirit. I felt I must celebrate his life and honor him in this way since he passed back in January. The last time I saw him in person was back in 2019 on January 1 (he was in New Jersey; I live in Texas); we had only a few hours visit we shared together. I can almost feel his arm around me as we sat together on a hotel couch. 

On that day, before he left, he sat in a hotel chair waiting to leave in a wheelchair, as he looked at me and said, "We couldn't love each other more than we do right now, could we?" 
And I said, "No, we couldn't, Dad." 
Then he stood up in his black leather jacket and gloves, and we hugged and kissed goodbye. I knew that would be the last time I would see him in person. And it was. 

I love him so; I always will. 

Below I am sharing a poem I wrote my DAD for his birthday in 2022; it is titled, "ALWAYS," which encapsulates his essence as human, Father and musician. 

ALWAYS
BY DAWN HERRING

YOUR SMILE
YOUR CHUCKLE
YOUR HUMOR PERVADES

THERE ARE PARTS
OF YOU
THAT NEVER FADE

YOUR RHYTHM
YOUR TIMING
MUSIC IN YOUR BONES

IN THIS
ESPECIALLY 
I AM NOT ALONE

YOUR DESIRE
TO ASPIRE
TO CREATIVELY EXPRESS

TO FIND
SATISFACTION
NOT JUST TO IMPRESS

EXAMPLE 
TO ME
YOU WILL ALWAYS BE

YOU'RE FOREVER
ALWAYS
MY FATHER

I have also shared a music video of the last song I played for DAD on my piano titled, "The Evidence." This song will always have a special place in my heart since it brought comfort to both me and my Dad. 

Thank you for reading and watching and being a part of my Honoring my DAD on Father's day, the first I will experience since his passing in January. I appreciate your being a part of my journey. 

Copyright 2023 Music and poetry by Dawn Herring 

Hello and welcome back to Beginnings where we focus on fresh starts, new cycles, experimentation, exploration and creativity. 

In my previous post which you can read here, I shared about why I’ve been absent for the past few months. I also share images from my last completed art journal spread and what it meant to me. 

In this post, I’ll be sharing about the process of creating the illustration, Coming Full Circle: Eclipse. 

When I broached the subject of creating an illustration, I knew exactly what I wanted to portray: Dividing the image in half darkness to represent how my heart felt eclipsed by the event of my father’s passing. Praying hands were in order since that is one of the essential pieces to processing such a loss. I also show this in how I designed the letters, partly in grey and black with dots of red for the heart centered emotion. I also drew a circle to represent coming full circle with life and death. A new cycle has begun. 

There are several things I wanted to point out with the technical process of experimentation with this illustration:
 
First, I used a new mixed media pad by Master’s Touch, which description says can be used with wet and dry media. I experimented with this paper before and it went well. But I only used minimal water application to activate the colored pencil I was using.  

With this illustration, I applied more water and more layers, and while doing so, the paper did not hold up well. As a result, I decided to acquire my go-to brand, Strathmore, for a mixed media pad for my next illustration. I have yet to activate water soluable tools with this paper, but I’ll let you know when I do. 

Secondly, when I require water solubility with a larger area, a pencil tip is not the best way to go.  It ends up looking uneven in coverage. Pastel was better but since the pencil was applied initially, it was difficult to eliminate the unevenness. I ended up using a charcoal pencil to fill in the areas that needed more coverage. Then I was reasonably satisfied. 

Thirdly, I did enjoy the water solubility of the colored pencil and layering color for the hair giving it more texture. And it also gave the solid black of her garment more density. 

In this illustration, I used Prismacolor Premiere soft core pencils. I love the smoothness of application and the density of color. I also used Caran’Dache Supracolor Aquarelle water soluable colored pencils and Neo Color ll water soluble pastels for the areas where I applied water. 

Again, this was fully experimental and I’m always learning about what each supply can do and what paper works well with them. I have supplied an art demo video which you can view above where I share most of my process in creating this illustration, Coming Full Circle: Eclipse. 

I also include the theme song to this blog, Beginnings, to inspire you in your own creativity. 

Journaling prompt: 
Where are you giving yourself space to experiment, whether creatively or simply in life? Where do you experience the most resistance when considering the possibilities? You can ask yourself the question: What am I afraid of, to help unpack that resistance and see what you discover. 

I want to sum up this post with a word about this day: June 8, 2023 marks the 5th month since my father passed from this world. So I find the timing of this post serendipitous to honoring his life and his death with creativity and appreciation. My father was always giving me encouragement concerning my art; he was always ready with a critique when I asked for it growing up in his house. He was very proud of my skill and told me so, often. I wanted to share that with you, my friend and reader. 

Thank you for being a part of my creative and life journey. 
May you have blessed Beginnings! 


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