Toni E. Fanali Arts | Artist

Toni E. Fanali Arts

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25.01.2022 Day 16. Pearl Major was the inspiration for this one, it is truly a stunning reference photo, and so was a challenge to give it justice. The original has a flower crown, but I decided to go my own way. Lisa Filion (@pixelprincess.art) gave this lesson, I am definitely a fan of the watercolour stamping technique, it allows me to let go of some of my perfectionist tendencies. I may have gone a little overboard with this one, but I was having too much fun to stop. She looked so much like an angel, I decided to give her the suggestion of wings, what do think, is she angelic?

24.01.2022 This one is the finished Day 24 from Sktchy's #30faces30days. I am still plodding along, when I get time. There's a video coming too! Done in Procreate, based on the lesson by Tiffany DaVanzo.

23.01.2022 Perth Arts Network Today. ready to go!

22.01.2022 Happy Friyay beautiful people! Very close to finishing my assignment for Uni... so time for a break. What (or should I say whom) shall I paint next? My painting to do list includes:... 1. Bearded dude - one of my friends sporting awesome facial hair. 2. Fan art - Mazakeen from Lucifer on Netflix. 4. Youth and Beauty - a whimsical girl portrait. 3. Something new - open to suggestions! Let me know which one you'd like to see me do next. (My brain is fried, I need help making a decision)

21.01.2022 Here she is! I've called this illustration Children of the Sky, but I'm still looking for a name for my character and her Dragon. Can you help? I have the beginnings of a story, and I know she needs a name that starts with the letter "A". Suggestions please! So far I have Alyssa, Ava, Aislinn, Alectra and Abigail. Not sure which I like best, so I'd love some more ideas and suggestions. I've got nothing for the baby Dragon, so I'm open to name ideas!... And... thank you so so much to everyone who gave feedback and suggestions and asked questions on my last post of this illustration. All of them helped! I got some amazing ideas and directions for where this is going, and I am feeling like I have found the thing that was missing. Part of that might be that the study year is almost over, but mostly its because you took the time to give me feedback, so thank you! I'll be giving something away very soon (I just need to get past this last exam) and then I will have a little giveaway, just for you guys who follow and take the time to stop for a chat. Love you guys, thank you for your support, it means a lot!

20.01.2022 Its RUOK day tomorrow. I made this one when I was in a darker place than I am now, it was a few years ago. I was struggling at work, I felt like my life wasn't going in the direction I wanted it to, I was miserable and the smallest thing would set off the tears. I hated feeling like that. I went and spoke to someone, who listened, and helped me find my path back to the light. She was a psychologist, and I am so grateful for what she taught me, and her kindness at that time. I... think the important thing about not feeling ok is to admit it, and talk to someone about how you are feeling. And the important thing when someone is not feeling ok and wants to talk is to listen. Be open. Without judgement. Accept how they are feeling as valid. And don't try to solve the problem. All they want is someone to LISTEN. So my question today is, RUOK?

20.01.2022 Day 20000027... or thereabouts. This one is an ink style drawing, lesson by @patrick.hochstenbach, and the image is from Monet Crone on @sktchyapp. Thank you both! I've added the reference to this one, swipe to see the comparison. I really find the less is more technique of these quite challenging. Why? Because I love to make things waaay more complicated than they have to be of course! Its part of the reason this challenge is taking me so long... I overthink, overanalyse and... totally make a mountain out of a molehill, which leads to self-doubt and procrastination. It's something I am currently working on, and this challenge has helped me to see that part of myself. I love that just drawing portraits is helping me grow as a person. I wonder what I'll be this time next year when I finally finish? Only 3 more portraits to go, which is good, I need to focus on my assignments, but I love doing this so much. We all need an outlet! See you in a few days, when I've done the next.

20.01.2022 Bearded Dude number 2. This is Toby, a fellow gamer and new friend, we've been playing D&D for the last year in a group together. Toby is playing a cleric, (goody-2-shoes) and brings him to life with his talent for voices and roleplay. Although our characters don't always get along, he makes the game entertaining (in last weeks game he and another player had us in stitches. I laughed so hard I had trouble breathing). Apart from the awesome roleplaying, and sporting these marv...elous mutton chops, (which I am not sure I've done complete justice to), Toby is also a pupetteer and does cosplay. Check out his account @ghostpuppet_gb to see some of his Fraggle and Star Wars related shenanigans. I'm so grateful my friends with facial hair have allowed me to paint them, I'm having fun coming up with styles that suit them, and hopefully he will agree that comic style is perfect for this particular expression! I have a couple more Bearded Dudes to go before trying some different portrait types, I hope you're enjoying meeting my friends with facial hair.

19.01.2022 Do you love clouds too? I made this as part of the background for my latest illustration, and I really love it. So much I think more clouds are in order. My favourite time of year is autumn, both because my birthday is in autumn and also because here in Perth the sky starts to get cloudy, as winter rolls in, and we have the most magnificent sunsets! Sadly the trees don't tend to lose their leaves here, but at least we have marvelous cloudscapes and cooler weather to look forw...ard to. We are coming into Summer here now, so there isn't usually as many clouds to admire, although this past weekend was stormy and we had some gorgeous colours in the sky. I really love the way the clouds form shapes, and reflect the light, and I can really let my imagination go. I wonder what it would be like to have wings and be up amongst the clouds? Something to imagine.

19.01.2022 Day 30. I made it!! yay, all finished! This one was based on a photo of Cody Kay on @sktchyapp, and the lesson was by Tiffany DaVanzo (@slaybaughstudios). I decided to do the sketch straight on my ipad instead of using paper and pencil, but I'm happy with how it turned out. The most fun bit was doing the glitter I think, you can see it in the video, which I'll post after this. Ok, now that I am done with this, I'll be slowing down for a bit. I have some big assignments on the go at the moment, and need to FOCUS! This has been an amazing challenge, I've learned heaps, and created some amazing portraits, and will be continuing in this vein (doing portraits that is) during the rest of the semester, but lots more slowly. I really hope you've enjoyed the art from this as much as I have

18.01.2022 Something new! I'm absolutely fascinated by @sharongriffinart and her amazing clay figures. They feel raw and real and her work inspired this tree spirit. I'm grateful to have been doing so many faces lately, with the #30faces30days challenge, all that practice made this one more fun, and less of a struggle to create, as I used the techniques I've been learning to form her from the clay of my tablet. (too punny?) I still have 5 days to go of the sktchy challenge, but had to pause and create this one while the inspiration was strong. More to come!

18.01.2022 I finally took the time to make my next portrait. Things have been a bit busy, but since its important to take time out to do what you love, I made the time to do Day 24. At this rate I might be done by Christmas! Fabulous lesson in adding shadows by Tiffany DaVanzo @slaybaughstudios, to this lovely portrait of Kori Linzie. I didn't get the likeness perfectly, but I love the way she turned out. I finally remembered to get the video recording from procreate, so something a litle extra for you to watch this time, I hope you enjoy it. See you again when I manage to do another portrait.

18.01.2022 Digital watercolour painting, attempting to capture the happiness and brightness of Jake's face. Success or not?

17.01.2022 Day 17. Such an interesting picture from Keyasia Morris, and lesson by Nadyia Duff @nady_art. I went my own way, because the original was a little too 80's flashback for me (flouro yellow is not my favourite colour). Like in Nadyia's lesson I enhanced the light on Keyasia's face, although I used colour and sparkles instead of hatching. Since the colour in her face was so rich, I went with golds and browns to enhance the regal feel of the image. All she needs now is a crown!

17.01.2022 Have you ever experienced Synesthesia? Synesthesia is where you experience sensory input with different senses; it comes from the Greek "to percieve together"; in this case I heard sound and saw colour and shapes. It doesn't happen to me often, usually as I am just falling asleep. I'll hear a noise, a car go past, an alarm, or someone speaking, and it sets off an explosion of colours in my brain. Perhaps I only recognise it when I am in that twighlight state, as I have my eye...s closed, I'm relaxed and there's no other distracting mind chatter going on in my head. Last night at 1am I heard some sort of motorbik go past, it might have been a scooter. It was loud, but sounded like a small engine. I was drifting off to sleep and heard the noise and saw this in my head. Luckily I had my ipad nearby, so I switched on the light and quickly painted it. I'm not really sure why it happens, and I think it might only have started happening in the last year, but of course, perhaps I haven't really been paying attention? I think its worth doing some more reading on. I did find this one article already, with a really quick search - have a read and let me know if you've had this experience too. https://www.apa.org/monitor/mar01/synesthesia I hope you are having a great weekend, the weather is perfect here - not too hot or cold, lots of sun and was stunning for our Perth Arts Network Meetup. After yesterdays excitement, today, I might need a rest! Enjoy yours.

17.01.2022 Don't you just love rainy days? I do, they are the best for snuggling under the blankets and watching movies, or doing something you love. Yesterday was Father's day, and we had a bit of a lazy day, because it was also pouring with rain. My roses are going to look fabulous this year! Since I also happened to have finished my assignment, I pulled the ipad out and finished this bearded dude off. I'm hoping my friend Tyron loves it, since it's him and he supplied the photo afte...r I asked for bearded volunteers to make funny faces for me to draw. I discovered that its far easier to draw faces when they have some sort of interesting expression, or laugh lines than the ones that are perfectly smooth and neutral. Something to keep in mind as I keep on playing with portraits. I hope you are enjoying the journey so far, and if you have any suggestions as to who or what I should draw next, let me know in the comments or send me a message. See more

17.01.2022 I spent the afternoon having fun with the Perth Arts Network peeps, playing with pastels.... ok I didn't play with pastels, as is evidenced by my super clean hands, but others did. My amazingly talented friend Donna Woodhouse taught us some cool stuff about Pastels, and Judith at Art & Craft World let us hang out in her Art Store... it was so hard to not buy one of everything! I managed to control my art addiction though, and came away with only some gold paint (I have an ide...a brewing). I hope your Saturday was just as awesome, I am now going to do my Uni assignment. Nope, off to the ipad to do some drawing for me. Have a great Saturday night!

17.01.2022 "I stare in the mirror and try to remember who I am, and who I am not." Katniss, Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Created for the #oneweekportraitchallenge with @paintable.cc. I struggled to use the rendering method that was taught, but I did manage to learn a few tricks that have improved my base sketching and the finishing touches. Original reference is from @sktchy. I'm thinking of doing prints of her, let me know if you want one!

16.01.2022 Procreate timelapse video for Girl on Fire. I used some of the techniques from the #oneweekportraitchallenge from Paintable, but ended up going my own way.

16.01.2022 Drawing in procreate, just the fun bits!

15.01.2022 Day 23... well thats the official day, I am still going even though the official challenge is done. Had to stop and do some study, and work on a portrait commission. That's exciting, getting to create a portrait of a loved one. I always feel I have to put in extra effort when I'm asked to create an artwork for someone, somehow if its not for me it has to be perfect! I was considering this last night, and came to the conclusion that now is not the time for perfect, now is the... time to jump in and get messy! So thats what I did today, I jumped into this one and had some fun. The squigly hair was the best, although I love her smile. The lesson was taught by Nadyia Duff @nady_art, and the portrait is from a photo by Gwen Scott on @sktchyapp. If you have someone in your life with a smile you want to celebrate, I'm taking commissions for special Christmas gifts now. When you have the idea is the time to take action, so message me if you'd love a portrait of yourself or someone special.

15.01.2022 This is a little collection of the faces I've done over the last couple of months, from the @sktchyapp challenge #30faces30days. I thought I'd see what they looked like together, and ask you what you think! Which are your favourites? Swipe through to see the full versions of each, and let me know which one you like the best. #2-9

13.01.2022 Day 20. This is Mike Wonster. Mike's pretty cool. He has funky hair and wears a leather jacket. Who doesn't like Mike? Lesson was by @margrietaasman_art, and the idea was to create some atmosphere by taking a photo of something interesting (I used some light on the walls), then use it as a background for the portrait. I had some fun with that, taking pictures of weird light sources and reflections around my house, and then playing with them in procreate to make a background. It's always good to step outside your comfort zone, don't you think? I don't often draw men, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. Another way I'm stepping outside of my comfort zone, and learning new things, and doing things differently. It can be scary, but so rewarding!

12.01.2022 Day 26... I think!! I've lost track, but still making the effort to get my #30faces30days challenge finished. I love the expression on the lovely Ali McLaughlin's face, and @margrietaasman_art did a lovely job of demonstrating her technique of digital watercolour. I'm usually hesitant about leaving my sketch lines showing, but I took a leap and left them there this time. Coupled with the digital pastel over the watercolour I think she looks pretty awesome. What do you think, would you hang her on your wall?

12.01.2022 I made time for some fun, since I've managed to do some study (its important to reward yourself right?) I love the @netflix show @lucifernetflix , and decided in honour of Season 5 I just had to paint @officialtomellis as Lucifer. I'll have to admit, I'm not sure if the likeness is perfect, but you have to know when to walk away, and I decided it was time to call him done. I love this photo* of Tom too, such a great pose! What do you think, are you a fan of the show Lucifer ...too? Let me know who your favourite character from the show is. *Original Photo reference is from Brinson+Banks for Variety

09.01.2022 So, I had another go at Bearded dude number 2. Toby is back, but this time with some more colour and texture. I even did progress shots this time. I think the colour creates more interest, but not sure which I prefer. I think I may be overthinking it... thank goodness its the weekend. I am taking a break from study and I'm off to a Perth Arts Network meetup tomorrow. Once a month a group of artists in Perth get together and talk art, art business and inspire each other with o...ur work. This week we are meeting at @lynnsglassstudio where Lynn is going to show us how to make some glass jewellry. If you are interested in joining (Perth artists only, its an in person event), subscribe to emails and updates HERE: https://mailchi.mp/c736ad0211ab/perthartsnetworkupdates I'll be sure to post some pics of our fun day in my stories too. Have a great weekend!

08.01.2022 Meet Alex the Viking. I asked my bearded buddies to make faces for me so that I could draw them, and the photo Neo sent me just made me think viking... so thats what I did. Alex (or Neo, as we call him) is another of my D&D playing friends. He seems to really enjoy being contrary, and is always coming up with clever ways to use his character. I kinda of feel bad for giving his bard character an enchanted ring when we first started our campaign that made his character say "wit...hout my pants" at the end of every sentence, but he took it with grace and humour, and it turned into an excellent icebreaker that allowed us all to get to know each other. Great idea from our GM! Its D&D week again this week for my group and I am looking forward to another night of fun, and hopefully Neo will like his portrait!

08.01.2022 This is from a commission I created a few weeks ago, the final version has gone off to it's forever home, but this is the version I loved. It's not totally realistic (I may have enlarged her eyes a little), but it captures more of the spirit of the person (I think so anyway). I really enjoy the process of trying to capture the being within, which is why I love this one so much. I tried to not just copy the photograph, but to find the essence of the person, and bring it out. Sometimes that means the result isn't perfectly perfect, but this is art, not photography, right? What do you think, should a portrait created by an artist be a perfectly accurate representation, or is artistic licence allowed?

07.01.2022 Do you hate doing the dishes and cleaning? I have to admit that its not my favourite activity, I would much rather be making art or playing games... life should be fun right? The dishes are a bit of a struggle in our house, so I instituted a do your own, and clean up after yourself rule, which works most of the time. It means there is less mess, and I can go and make my coffee without fighting a bench full of dirty dishes. But we still have bad days. So I made this little pos...ter for the wall after seeing this quote from Mother Teresa. "Wash the plate not because it's dirty, nor because you're told to wash it, but because you love the person who uses it next". It's a beautiful reframing of a chore we dislike. Reframing can help us see the other side, and find the positive in pretty much anything. And yes, I understand that sometimes this stuff makes you roll your eyes, especially when you are having a bad day, but it also helps you be kinder, to yourself and others. I hope this helps you to be kind as much as it helps me. xx Toni

06.01.2022 Day 29. I'm not sure if I did the reference photo of Jake Blumenfeld justice, it is so happy and bright. Nadyia Duff's lesson was all about creating highlights with subtraction and shadows to create depth. She used her hatching method, I chose to go with straight digital watercolour, and keep it very soft. I like the contrast of the geometric background with the softness of the watercolour and organic shape of the flower, and of course had the most fun painting his beard! I'll be posting a video too, keep an eye out for that one. Oh, I almost forgot.. Happy Friyay! How are you celebrating the end of the week?

05.01.2022 Day 14. Avonlea Sunshine (what an adorable name) served as the muse from @sktchyapp for today's artwork. I love her sweet expression, and Margriet Aasman's lesson and style compliments Avonlea's pose perfectly. I didn't go too far off track for this one, perhaps added more detail with colour than in the lesson. I had the most fun painting her ear (yup, no idea why, it was just really satisfying), and creating a textured looking background. Learning how to use colour in portraits has been incredibily valuable during this challenge, and I'm seeing more and more ways to highlight personality and emotion just with the types of colours I use. I think that's one of the biggest take aways from doing this challenge so far. And not being afraid to try new things...

05.01.2022 Our next event stars Donna Woodhouse, and she's showing us the fine art of pastel playing, ummm, I mean painting. Would love to see you there!

05.01.2022 Day 21. What a fun one this was! Not something I imagined myself doing, but this lesson by @patrick.hochstenbach has really opened my eyes. The really ordinary photo of an old man on the train turned into a comic book page that tells a story. I've always been too scared to make panels like this, and really haven't known where to start, but this was so cool and fun to do, I can see myself doing more! One of the things I love about making art is the 'picture is worth a thousand... words' idea. That is, there is a story in every picture. I started drawing to tell stories, and somehow never really got there. I mean, I tell the story to myself as I am drawing, but I don't think it translates as well as I want it to. Now I have a way of doing that! Thank you so much for this lesson @patrick.hochstenbach, you have really expanded my skill so that I am able to achieve something I've always wanted to! I will need to practice and play to get my skill where I want it to be, but it's time to tell stories.

05.01.2022 I love the expression on this guys bearded face. You know, I even forgot to get his name, but rest assured, the reference photo was used with permission... In lieu of his actual name, I've called him 'What in the World Could that Be?' because his expression reminds me of Vincini from the Princess Bride when he is trying to trick Pirate Wesley into drinking from the poison cup. Not that this guy is anything like that hilarious little know it all, but its a funny moment, maybe ...one of my favourites in the movie. And for you youngsters who have never seen it... go and watch it now. Art and flashbacks over, back to study! Oh, and I've included the progress shots to give you an idea of how I got there.

05.01.2022 Day 25. Two gorgeous smiles to draw from Madeline Eby on @sktchyapp and a wonderful challenge from France Van Stone @wagonized. Using a small pencil to create lots of different texture and working on pencil mark making felt like it took forever, especially since there are 2 people in the image! It didn't really take forever, only a few hours. I managed to get the process videos working too, so its on the way. Going back to my reading now.. enough procrastination! *And I think its kind of funny that art is now my procrastination tool of choice... what's yours?

04.01.2022 Some wonderful things happened today... I finished my last exam for the year (yay!) and joined in with a local drawing group with the Armadale Society of Artists for fun. The end result is this awesome pop art style piece, done of course on my ipad with procreate. The exercise was about values, selecting an image with strong contrast, then marking the highlights and shadows. I did start with a really bright palette, but ended up going with the dark purple instead which worked much better. Thanks so much for the interesting and fun afternoon guys! This one is going up on Redbubble, check here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/Tefling/shop to grab yours, it's going to look great on a tshirt!

04.01.2022 Some pieces by my Dad!! So happy to see him getting into art, I love the one on the right!

03.01.2022 Day 22. A gorgeous and fun photo to work from, Catherine Drouin Quevedo dressed up as Frida Kahlo, and Lisa Filion @pixelprincess.art led a really cool lesson on layering backgrounds and expanding on the theme suggested in the photo to create a full portrait. This one took me 3 days because I decided to draw the leaves instead of just using a ready made template. The good thing is that now I have a lovely template of leaves to use for other projects! My favourite bit of this ...one was making her skin glow. I may have lost some of the actual lighting from the reference in the process, but this isn't just a case of copying from the photo, it's about using the photograph as a basis to create something original, unique and that tells a story about the character. Ok, now back to studying, and working on my new commission (yay). Since I can't share the commission progress right now, as this one is a gift (thanks to my new friend who asked me to create something special), and I'm seriously needing to study, these updates might be slow for the next few weeks, but I'll pop in some progress shots of the remainder of the challenge in my stories as I go. Yes, I am happy to do portrait commissions, message me if you'd love one for yourself or as a gift for someone special, I will always have time to make art for my friends!

03.01.2022 Day 28. I love this one of Erin from @sktchyapp, and Lisa Filion's (@pixelprincess.art) explanation of how to do the tattoo easily was fabulous! I have to say, this is the style I prefer the most... realistic with some painterly aspects. There is a lot of detail in these though, and they take a long time, but the results (hopefully!) speak for themselves. I'm off on a little mini break, going to visit family for a couple of days and rest up so I can come back refreshed and focused. You might see some beach spam in my stories, other than that I cannot promise I'll post anything interesting! Thanks for following my journey so far, I hope it's been fun. I can't wait to try some of these techniques on faces I choose next.

02.01.2022 Drawing comes to life in proceate, not one but 2 people in this portrait, that celebrates love. Single brush, the procreate pencil was used, so tiny, but mighty! I hope you enjoy the video.

01.01.2022 Day 19. Baby Kohler, lesson by France Van Stone, @wagonized. I'm not sure I did this one justice, making this baby look like a baby and not a grumpy old man was a challenge. And it took me 2 nights of sketching to get this far. I could do more, but I decided to call it done! First day back at Uni today, so less drawing and more studying on the cards for me, but I'll continue until I finish the @sktchyapp challenge, no matter how slowly I have to go. What do you think does he look like a baby, or a grumpy old man?

01.01.2022 At the ASA Annual Art exhibition with my entry today. Was a fabulous day. If you missed it, the Armadale Art Society has a Pop Up Shop in Armadale Shopping City, open weekdays. Diver in the Deep is available to purchase for only $110 AUD + postage. Delivery for free in Perth, WA. Message me for more info. I hope you have had/ are having a wonderful weekend.