Spooky

And now the revised version.

My illustration of a Wicked little Witch is nearly finished.

The trunk contents need to be stronger or darker.

This is done in clolored pencil instead of acrylic paint. I wanted to control the details

of my lady's face, fingers and toes :) , so she's not as bright and bold.

I'll be back when I have made things brighter.

I had planned this painting just as Leah at Creative Every Day had announced her theme for the month of October.
It's exciting to see how a painting progresses. I like to view it with "different eyes" so I wait a few hours or even overnight.  Viewing it on my blog helps too.
Sometimes I can't tell if I'm missing something as I work on a piece. I wonder if that improves with experience. Hmmm....
There's more to do here, so I'll work some more and then post again, soon.

Another idea that I have been working on lately, is a children's story.

A friend of mine who works at the elementary school wrote a note about a conversation she had with a little girl in kindergarten.

Something made me think that I could make a story out of it, so I created a character.

I'm not sure yet if this is the right character for the story beause it really depends on the direction the story takes.

Around her are some questions I'm asking my self (or her) about her story.

When this begins to grow, I'll post about it. If I say too much now, I think it will spoil the process.

I may need to name her and draw more settings for her to spur my imagination.

My lovely daughter gave me the name for my last children's story, Marmalade's Marvelous Methods.

I have found that giving my main character an identity and then asking her or him interview questions helps to move things along.

Now if the blog fairy would come with some "Powder of Inspiration," I'd be thrilled!

Whimsy

On a whim, I decided to sketch a peacock.

Instead of making it blue or white, I decided to use autumn colors.

One of these wouldn't exist, I think. But,

who knows?

Stranger creatures have been found!

I think the tail needs to be larger.

Back to drawing.

My Artwork

There's a new slideshow added to my blog. I decided to feature some of my recent work on the sidebar. Eventually, I'd like to revise my blog a little and add some additional pages. For now, the slideshow will be updated as I add more of my work. I'm actually considering offering some prints of this work through email contact.

I would love to hear from you if you are interested.

My latest painting is completed! I'm so pleased with the work I have done here.

This painting of Abundancia along with several other paintings of fairies and angels will go to the printer to produce notecards for sale.

I plan to leave this series blank inside so that I'll have a broader selection of choices for any purpose.

It's exciting to finish a piece and be ready to display it.

Below are some other illustrations I'm planning to have printed.

This whole process is very satisfying for me as an artist.

An Update

There are some changes here. Now the color in the background is brighter and the features and details are cleaner. Next I want to rework the frog in the flower pot. He needs to be more distinct and refined (if there's such a thing as a refined frog.) The features on my girls' faces need more definition. It's getting there, sl-ooo-w-ly!

My progress is slow, I know. Some days it's been difficult to find time to paint. Other times, I'm just distracted.

Progress...

I'm still working on this painting. I hope to complete it soon. As you can see, I have revised the background - twice!!! Some details are still a little rough and more shading is needed in the figures.
I'm going to go back to work on it for a few more minutes until the little guy's bus comes.

Best Friends

This has been a busy few weeks. I keep thinking that things will quiet down soon and I'll be able to concentrate on my painting. Right now, I have to fit it in when I have a few minutes to work.

Here is a painting that needs to be finished. I just love these two sweet girls playing in dress-up clothes. They remind me of my daughter and her oldest best friend. They would play together for hours, pretending, exploring and giggling. It was so much fun to see them together using their wonderful imaginations.

Now that it's up, I have a better feeling of the overall composition. It needs more work, but seeing it helps me use different eyes to assess the piece.

Give me an honest opinion about it. Thank you.

My Newest Work

It has been quite a while since I have posted to this blog. I have been working, painting, and creating since my last post. My work is slow but not tedious. I love it. I started painting in acrylics in January. It's more fun than I ever imagined. There are so many new possiblities to explore and I'm still just beginning to discover them. The images that I have added today will become notecards and prints.

The image at the top is "Summer Song." Because of it's size, the colors are not clear in this scan. It is the first piece that I produced in acrylics. I was a little nervous at first, but the piece took shape quickly. The whole process was amazing.

Next, I sketched and painted the image on the right, "Springtime Gift." I really had trouble with skin tones, but my art instructor helped me adjust the colors I was using. The beauty of the acrylic paints is that I could repaint the face, arms and legs of this fairy and add shading to her.

The image on the left is titled "Flower Fairy." The original painting had a flat background, with encouragement and guidance from my instructor, Virginia Freyermuth, I added texture with brushstrokes of color to the piece.

This is all quite an energizing experience. By expanding into acrylics from watercolor I feel as though a new doorway has opened up in my work. I do think that all three of these pieces need more work, but I'm proud to display them for my friends.

Re-assesing Things

I have taken a little time off from my blog. I'm not ready to return yet because there is a lot of stuff going on. My computer was failing - freezing mostly. It became rather upsetting. I now have a brand new one with lots of capacity. I very excited about this. I' trying to decide which graphic/art software to purchase: Photshop or Corel. Is one better than another? I'm going to try the Corel demo to see how it works.
Wish me luck. Any advice?

AEDM Check In, November 20

Earlier this week I went to the bus stop to wait for my grandson's afternoon bus to arrive. In our part of the world, most of the trees have lost all of their leaves. Up the street from the bus stop, a neighbor has the most colorful trees out in front. When I went home, I sketched the trees so that I could paint it later.
This week has been a little busy, so I knew I would not get to the painting right away. I have just purchased some new "Inkintense Watercolor Pencils" from Michael's. So I decided to give them a try on this piece.

Last night was the Marketplace where I was participating. I brought my Angel cards for sale along with some paintings and prints. There really weren't a lot of customers. But I did get a lot of positive feedback from the other vendors and the owner/director of the Yoga Studio.
Now that the sale is over, I can go back to my art for a bit.

Thanksgiving will be here and all of the "busy-ness" that goes along with family gatherings.
I do plan to find some small stores who might be interested in selling my cards on consignment.