Reflections

Today is my birthday, and I'm officially 38 years old. I'm not sure how I feel about that yet! It seems like I shouldn't be that old, that I should still be in my 20's! Inside, in my head, I'm 16. I acknowledge my family and my ability to legally purchase a bottle of wine, so I can accept 20's. But 38?

My first job was as a face painter in a carnival company. I was 14 years old and my mom had to drop me off at the headquarters so I could be transported to wherever the event was that the company had been hired for, and I painted faces for hours on end. My next art job was teaching at through Hobby Lobby when I was only 16 years old. I wasn't that impressed with the job, I didn't think it was that big a deal, but lots of people took my classes back then. I wonder what they thought about having a 16 year old as a teacher? Actually, maybe I don't want to know...

Even with my associates in art in 1997, it took a while to take the professional path to art. I started selling, real selling, in 2001 through galleries and this was the first painting I ever sold professionally:

"Flow" 30x40 Oil

You see, my art-roots were actually in the abstract. Oh, I had started in grade-school through high-school with drawing as close to reality as possible. Once I achieved that, I veered hard into the abstract world and spent a lot of my time there. Then, I embraced both and added my love of fairytales and mythology (my favorite class from college, hands down) to bring me where I am today.

So here I am. 38 years old. Happily married for 18 years this year, two fabulous kids that turn 15 and 13,  and a houseful of furry and feathery friends in the open fields of Vermont. I gotta say, I never imagined I'd be where I am in my life! It's not so bad, but it's all moved so fast! I just hope that with my renewed focus on my art that I can accomplish more going forward than I have in the past. That's my goal!

Here is what I am working on right now, the fairy from the video - I hope to finish her today. I think I'm just going to go sort of translucent with her wings, maybe slightly blue, if anything. The dots are from masking. At first, a couple were by accident, but when I realized how perfect they were, I splattered them all over. I'm trying to figure out what to do with them now. Bubbles? Or something? Hmm.

I added freckles. She needed freckles. 

This is where I left off last night. Her hair is very coppery, but with deep brown undertones (so, auburn?)

I just officially split my Facebook art pages into two, because I was realizing that the abstract work was not appealing to the other work that people were there for, and the reverse was also true.

So, for my pre-existing facebook page, I chose to make that my Fairytale and Fantasy Art Page: https://www.facebook.com/KyraWilsonArt

For my abstract work, I created this new page and it is where new abstract works (like those seen in previous issues of THRICE Magazine, and I have more in process for the upcoming issue) will be displayed: https://www.facebook.com/KyraAbstract

Stop by and say hello!

I don't know why it took me this long to notice the need to separate the two, but I see it now!

We're going out for Thai food to celebrate tonight (and believe me, going out at all is pretty unusual for us!) And cake. There shall be chocolate cake. It's a must!

Monday, Monday

Hello all! I've done another vlog for my Video Monday, and I've got a slew of stuff cookin' today!

First, let me clarify this after the video: you try to cover it with your thumb, and then whichever one shows the object covered when you close the other is the dominate eye.

Moving on, here is my finished Caterpillar painting:

"Cool Cat" 9x12" acrylic on stretched canvas

I like him! He's very laid back, something I'm not. I always wish that I could be more Zen about stuff, but I'm a lot more like the white rabbit than the caterpillar.

Today, minus working on the video and getting my caterpillar all squared away, I'm working on those watercolors I showed in the video. This is an earlier in progress sketch:

A friend mentioned she'd be interested in just a sketch some time, that she prefers the medium. I, once upon a time, was afraid of color and ONLY did black and white sketches (I clearly have gone whole hog on the color now, though. It's an addiction at this point. Color, and the shiny color. Shiny!) So, I'm contemplating making a nice sketch. You know, all back to my roots and all! I may try that a bit down the road when I don't have so many deadlines on me!

Have a fabulous Monday!

Pillaring

Well, between the tail end of Wednesday and getting both kids out of the house on Thursday, I managed to make some real progress on my Caterpillar for my Alice in Wonderland series!

Here's how he has developed so far:

All sketched out!

With the kids packed in the house for the slumber party this was all  I managed. Pathetic. Sigh.

Got the back filled in, working my way to the front.

Filling in those mushrooms. They started to remind me of strawberries at one point. And now I'm craving strawberries. Sigh.

And this is where I quit for tonight. Funny how the light changes to yellow when it's in the evening and the sun has set, compared to how clear it all is with daylight behind me in the earlier in the day photos!

And now it's Friday, and my goal is to get him completely finished today. I think it's an easy stretch (I'm hoping) since the rest went so well! I'm planning on using iridescent paints on him, and once I have him all painted in, I plan on accenting with flowers in complimentary colors to go along with him. I haven't decided whether to have any fun things in smoke around him, or just some wafting a bit.

I also figured out how I am going to do my Cheshire Cat, which is the next Alice painting I have scheduled, and it turns out that I simply cannot picture my Cheshire without my Alice in the picture too. So, the Cheshire Cat painting is going to be larger than I had anticipated (probably a 16x20) and I'm finally going to have to settle on how I want my Alice to look. I was thinking about modeling her after my daughter, but now I'm wondering whether a red-headed Alice would fly over some people's heads or be a turn-off to them in general about the series.

What do you think: Does Alice really need to be blonde?

In other news, I have made a few decisions that will involve a serious ramp up in my Fairy (and dragons!) production, with a goal to have a decent collection of them before the end of March. It's a direction I had already planned on going in a very serious way, but there are several things that have a March 31st deadline that will make a difference for me for the rest of the year. One of these things is me deciding whether or not to just take the plunge and apply for booth-space at the Fairy gathering event (like a renaissance festival, but with fairies in mind - is my understanding of it) about four hours from me in late June. My thoughts were to attend this year and see if it's a good idea. But another thought is, well, why not take the risk? I've done other venues where things haven't panned out, and this isn't overly expensive, so... Maybe I should give it a go instead of just playing with the idea of visiting?

If I do plan on doing that this year, that means ramping up prints, and supplies, and getting my silly display tent fixed (or a new one) and so on. Lots of work. I'm already planning on participating in an October art festival, but this would be one specifically for the fairies, and that would be far more targeted for me.

Decisions, decisions...

Happy Friday!

Slow Start

I woke up this morning to a little snowy surprise! I went to sleep to the patter of rain, and I woke up to this out my bedroom window:

2-3 inches of snow, I think? It's quiet, no wind. Everything is still. I dreamed of drawing dragons last night, so I had that on my brain (along with the thought that the cold-pressed texture of the paper might be perfect for a dragon, now that I was thinking about a big one!) But I know I need to knock out my caterpillar, as soon as I possibly can because I'm behind schedule.

So, instead of hitting my studio this morning, I got mired in thoughts of dragons warring with caterpillars, accomplishing nothing more than hanging out in front of the fire with my kiddos and pets, while reading a book.

I feel the pressure to get stuff done... but I'm also not moving much.  Ahh well... maybe I'll get around to it a bit later.

Nap, anyone?

Long Day

After the positive response to my awkward video log yesterday, I have decided that I will keep on with Video Mondays. I seem to have a lot of kinks to iron out though (i.e. the first time I uploaded it there was no sound, the second time I just noticed it deleted all my titles, and I have NO idea why!) Hopefully it'll be less of a laundry list of art projects, and include more interesting stuff too. If only I could figure out what would be interesting. Ahem.

It also turns out that stuffing your house full of teens and almost teens isn't the best strategy to get your work done after all. Yesterday had me pulling out my hair all day long, not over the work lost, but the drama that ensued. Sometimes, being a parent is really, really hard.

So, while I didn't get much done, I did get the Ribbon girl finished:

"Ribbon" 9x12" Watercolor on Paper

All in all, I don't feel like it totally came together. It feels like an "almost" (which is why I'm putting it up for a lot less than I normally would.) I can't explain it, and I think it's likely one of those times when some ideas from one's head doesn't translate the way you want it to in reality. I almost wonder if this was an idea that I should have explored with digital painting. I may revisit that some day. Speaking of which, I had long lusted after the Cintiq 24, even though I've never even seen one in person, but I've decided it's likely not for me. There's something about a digital painting that feels as if it loses some of the special qualities that something from scratch carries.

I figured out that I must be a purist (snob? I don't want to be a snob, but I seem to have strong opinions on this.) I remember being at an art show, and one of the other artists had made all her paintings with a projector (projecting a picture onto the canvas, tracing the lines, then painting it in.) To me, this just felt like cheating. I think it went back to grade school when someone would draw something, and if they traced it through the paper, kids weren't impressed. Anyone could trace, so it wasn't very cool. But the kid who could draw something free hand? Now that was cool! I know a lot of skill still goes into filling in those painted traced lines, but there was still a level of resentment inside me about it. I could never let myself use a projector like that.

With the Cintiq, I'm not sure what makes me think a little less of the artwork effort, because it is freehand (well, you could cheat and bring in a photo and do all sorts of things, like reducing it to a line trace and such, but for the most part I look at it as a free hand device), but I think it's perhaps the ability to always "undo". It's not like a watercolor where if you accidentally blob black on the paper, you are absolutely out of luck. It's not even like the more forgiving oils and acrylics, because eventually you can totally ruin those too (believe me, I've done it more times than I can count!) In the end, you can undo and manipulate, where in the physical world you have a finite amount of chances to get it right.

So, maybe that's what has put me off taking my business in that direction just yet. Whatever the reason, I'm no longer trying to figure out how to get my hands on one so I can demo it. That's not to say that if I win lotto or something, that I wouldn't run out and get one right away. Because it'd be on the top of my list (maybe I'm just placating my pocket book rather than my artistic sensibilities, then? It's probably good I've never laid my hands on one and really experienced it. What if I really liked it? My bank account would be in the hospital!) But for now, I'm sticking to hard traditional. Just me, my pencil and paints, and nothing else.

Anyway, at least I got her, Ribbon, off my block and done. If I ever do have one of those Cintiqs, I'll try her out there. Some day.

Later in the evening when I was ready to fling myself out the window, I snuck off to my studio and laid in the sky on my Caterpillar:

I didn't get incredibly far, but at least I put paint to canvas on this guy - finally! I really want to finish him this week so I can get the Cheshire Cat started, as well as some dragons. I have my work schedule for February, and unfortunately I'm a bit behind! It's time to pick up the pace... if that's possible with the kids on break!

Video-Monday

I'm thinking about trying to do a blog video on Mondays. Maybe. It's hard for me to be in front of the camera, or on camera, but maybe it'd be a good thing too?

So, here's my first! And no, I don't know why I have a whole Elvis thing going with my lip, but I've been assured by my family that I've always had it, and they love me anyway. *wink*

Hatchling

I hope you're having a nice Saturday!

I've been having a bit of a fight with my ribbon girl, simply because she just looks off to me. I know if her hair had been more normal, and less ribbon, I would be able to fix it. But given the direction I've gone with it, that's simply not possible. I'll finish her, but I am not thrilled.

Given that, in true artistic procrastination style I created this little one yesterday, and I simply love her:

"Bindy" 4x6" watercolor, $50

Isn't she cute? I've been meaning to do some dragons, and I finally just wanted to do a little baby one really quick. It seems, however, that "quick" is all day, not a couple of hours like I imagine. Some day I'm going to accept that I am just a slow painter. I envy those that can paint quickly with good results, but I just don't seem to work that way. It's disappointing, I must say... yet, I wouldn't want to sacrifice my vision or quality for time, either. Any time I have tried to go faster or cut corners, I have always been dissatisfied with the results. So, slow it is, because I would rather leave a wake of pieces I feel I did my best one, than ones that I went too fast on in order to make more.

Be Mine

I must admit, I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day. It seems odd really, given that I'm such a freak about all the Autumn and other Winter holidays. It might be the fat babies flying around in diapers shooting people, or the overwhelming waves of pink, but I guess I'm a bit of a Valentine's Scrooge.

The one thing I've always enjoyed about Valentine's Day is drawing stuff. It seems like there is always something that can be drawn about it, and no one gives you grief for drawing hearts on everything. However, this year (like so many others) I just wasn't feeling it and so I didn't make anything prior to the day. However, today I set aside my current paintings and made this in honor (spite?) of the day:

"Valentine" 4x6" watercolor.

I just really liked the idea of the black swan (tall, dark, and handsome) meeting up tenderly with the white one for a little quiet moment in a still pond with flowers. My nod to the pepto-pink holiday is in the petals, as well as the heart shape echoed not only in the necks of the swans, but their reflection, their shadows, and upside down from the yellow spreading into the water and the light on the water. I snuck hearts in, without actually painting any.

If you're into the holiday, then Happy Valentine's Day to you. If you're not? All that candy will be on clearance in just a few hours! *wink*

Monday Blahs

So, we got a little snow with the storm, but nowhere near what we were supposed to. About four inches or so. Very disappointing. However, I did putter around and after thinking I would take the weekend off from the studio, I found myself arguing and asking why? It's funny when your fun-time activities are also your job, you can either end up playing all the time or working all the time (depending on how you look at it, or which part of the business you're working on!)

I decided to sketch out something fun for me:

I thought a fast watercolor (even if it is a 9x12, so it's clearly not going to be that fast) would be fun. Playtime.

I popped in the background, and got into a fight with the block and pooling issues (it buckled so bad, it actually popped the block in several places. I wasn't even using that much water.) I wasn't planning on salting it, but I felt the pigment might make more interesting gathered areas, so I ended up salting it in the end.

That was how far I got over the weekend, but come Monday morning I didn't want to just set it down. So, instead of starting in on my caterpillar, I worked on this some more. It was extremely slow going:

I need to fix her mouth, and her hair once I get it all filled in won't leave so much forehead exposed (she's all skull at this point and it bugs me!) and her dress will be black. I'm not sure if I like it. Her face got a bit muddy, and I'm not sure why that is. However, I feel like I have to finish her, even if I'm not thrilled. It's like going to a movie you don't like, I'm just not a walk-outer. Besides, I've turned others around before, so you never know! Anyway, with Monday being all "blah" and me in a bit of a funk, this did not help!

In other news, I wish I could have rainbow hair.

Also, this evening I went and played with my kids in the snow. Instead of snowmen, we built Jaws:

You can see the snow-swimmer behind her. He's not gonna make it, I can tell. And yes, he's already munching on someone...

We had a fabulous time, even though it was starting to rain and melt everything off. We ended the evening with a fire and s'mores. Not a bad way to end a Monday!

Not Subtle

"My Steed" 9x12,Acrylic Watercolor on hot-pressed watercolor paper

Well, I managed to finish my fairy today! I'm actually impressed, since school was called off last night in honor of the oncoming blizzard. With a house full of snow-day kids, I would have thought that finishing a piece was the last thing that would happen.

However, I woke up and immediately wanted to paint. So, I tied back my hair and just dug in. Still in my pajamas. Classy, I know. Apparently my painting was so boring, both my kids went back to bed (as they're 12 and 14, I figured they could entertain themselves and if they wanted a nap, so be it) and I had a quiet morning that ended in being productive after all!

I really like the way she turned out. I wanted an image like one you'd see with a girl and her horse, and so the peacock is my fairy's steed. I contemplated a harness or collar of some type for the peacock, but I preferred the idea that the peacock was free to roam, and just loved being with her instead.

On the paint side of things it has come to my attention, however, that I am not a "gentle painter" when it comes to watercolors. I realize that in the strictest terms, this isn't watercolor, but rather diluted acrylics applied like watercolors, but regardless, I seem to develop a heavy hand with the paint. I'm just... addicted to the "pop!" I need the drama, the contrast, the over the top colors! If a work I have before me doesn't have them, then it's just not finished.

I remember taking a watercolors class with my mom when I was about 10 years old, and the teacher trying to get it into my head that watercolors are a subtle art, a gentle art, a quiet art. It was all about the "suggestion" of shadows and curves and lines (and whatever else there was of the hokey philosophy she felt the need to impart on a 10 year old who just wanted to get on with painting the rose in the glass in front of her.)

I guess I just don't do "subtle". It just doesn't make me happy. It's not that there isn't a place for it, it's just that in my world if I can't make it practically glow in the dark, where's the fun in that?

If you're getting snowed in like me (although I hear the bulk will be missing us, we're just due to get up to 16 inches of snow), I hope you stay safe and warm! Hot chocolate, anyone?

Diving In

So, I finally sucked it up and took on my peacock fairy. I finally rationalized that even if I screw this up, I can just make another one. Why am I so invested in this one, as if I'm unable to allow myself the room to fail? Silly me, sheesh.

So, here's where I started:

I popped in the background with watercolors before I realized that the reactivation and absorption was a problem:

Then I switched to diluted acrylics and started in on her first, because I felt like if I screwed up her face, then I'd know the project was over early and be able to move on without wasting my time (I know, I'm such an optimist. *ahem* I really don't understand why this piece is so far under my skin!)

And it ended up not being ruined, so I started layering in her hair. I had intended to go a coppery red with her (and I still might), but I'm kind of diggin' the blonde, so I'm not sure now. I'm leaning towards keeping her blonde.

I stopped working on her for a little while when I realized she was doing fairly (*giggle*, sorry, couldn't help myself) well, and switched to the peacock.

And that's where I ended up stopping for the night on Tuesday, because I was starting to get grumpy with the process. It's important to know when to stop. I figure that was a lot of progress for just one day (not counting the background) though, so it was a good day!

Today, I have done less. I've been in a sort of tired, grumpy mood and the drive to paint just wasn't there the same way it had been yesterday. Still, I layered in a lot more of the peacock and used some of my diluted iridescent paints over the top of the feathery marks, which created a nice (yet flashy) effect here in person. So, my peacock is nowhere near done, but at least I've gotten a little further in the process with it!

I think the painting is coming out well, although I'm still on the fence about the hair color. We'll see how it shakes out! I'm hoping to make some real progress on Thursday!

I've also realized that I do love painting these, but that I need to work bigger. I think I've been working too small. This one could have easily been on a 12x18 instead of a 9x12, and it would have made it a bit easier. Good to know! I'm also thinking about backgrounds and what sort I'd want to drop in, or do I keep them rather uncomplicated right now, given that my subjects end up very detailed. 

Lots to think about, at least! I hope everyone is doing well!

Quick-quick

As I sat there Monday morning wanting to dig in on my peacock fairy, I found my ambivalence rising. I just couldn't do it. I knew the watercolors hadn't gone the way I wanted for the peacock on the little one, and that I was going to have to try the diluted acrylics instead, but I wanted a test-run. I was also feeling the pressure of my schedule a little bit, because it says "sketch out caterpillar" for Monday, too.

I huffed and puffed my way around the kitchen, but then I got down to work. I sketched out a super fast fairy on another 4x6 (same block), and then hit the acrylics. I tried out salt with them, because I didn't remember if diluted acrylics reacted the same way as traditional watercolors with salt:

I was really hoping it would dry with the swirls of color like that. It didn't though. I wonder how to do that... maybe play with some oil too? Has anyone ever tried that?

While I was waiting for the little one to dry, I pulled out my 9x12 stretched for my caterpillar and got to work. It evolved into something else than I had originally imagined:

The thing is, with watercolors you have to be very precise in your sketch, but with oils or acrylics, at least for me, it's about roughing it out and worrying about the detail when you get the paint on the canvas. So, it's a bit of a brain switch for me to look at the canvas sketch and see how much is missing, how much it makes it look like a cartoon. And... yuck.  He'll look better painted, his face less "smiley" because it's actual panels on his body (I had a reference caterpillar that I took some liberty with) and so on. I'm thinking puffs of smoke too, perhaps in the shape of a white rabbit, or a Mad Hatter's hat or something. I haven't decided yet.

I can't start painting on the Caterpillar until I finish my peacock fairy, though. With the techniques being backwards from one another, I'd probably short circuit my brain, and frankly it's pretty fragile anyway. *ahem*

I then went back to my little fairy and I managed to finish her today:

"Breeze" $50 4x6", acrylic watercolor on watercolor paper.

It was nice to start and finish a piece in the same day, I must say! Additionally, my goal was to make the acrylics work, to figure out the hair because it was giving me fits, and to see if I could in fact play with my iridescent acrylic paints in watercolor fashion! Turns out that I can:

See her hair light up and stuff? Gosh, I just love shiny things. Love, love lovelovelovelove them!

So, score for the hair, score for the iridescent paint, and mental note: take more time in between layers of paint for drying and making the fabric look more natural and highlights, n'stuff. In other words? Remember to chill out.

That's my goal for Tuesday. Deep breath, and chill out. Oh, and paint. Paint is definitely the goal!

Little Bits and Twists

As I was getting ready to layer in my background for my bigger fairy, I realized I was going to need projects to distract me while the paint was drying or I was going to start messing with it. I think this is one of the things I struggle with most with my art; knowing when to walk away. It's even more important in watercolor because it's just so unforgiving. So, I sketched out a little child fairy really quickly, in order to have something else to occupy my meddlesome hands during drying periods!

Simple enough, right? So then I got started with the backgrounds:

Working at the kitchen table, because I can't seem to contain myself to my studio. I apparently need every available surface in my house! Oh, I also found a tube of paint under my pillow last night as well. I think I leak art stuff everywhere I go!

I ended up masking and salting the peacock fairy one, which made the drying time stretch even further, so I started in on more with the child fairy. I felt like it was a good practice run, since I really don't want to mess this bigger one up. As I got going, I started having some problems. My paints just weren't going where I wanted them too, the paper was shedding a bit (which was very odd) and I realized I was having problems seeing what I was doing.

I finally realized that the last part was something I should do something about. I got my first pair of glasses last year, and I don't like them. Every time I have tried wearing them while painting, they make me a little motion sick. I don't know how people wear these things! Still, because I was painting at the table, that meant less back-n-forth, so it should cut down on the motion and glasses should actually, you know... help me see what I am painting.

So I put my glasses on. Under protest.

You know, you really can see those little details better with these suckers. Sigh.

Seeing clearly what I was trying to do only helped part of the problem. The rest was a materials issue. The paper was shedding fibers. It's the hot-pressed 100% rag (cotton), and I normally don't have a problem with it, even though I'm a horrible scrubber. More, the paint was just... absorbing, not moving, not looking the way it should. In the end, I was not thrilled with the flow and that just made my ambivalence even higher in regards to the bigger painting.

I chose to focus on completing the little one, and seeing if it was just me. I did finish it:

"Little Bit" 4x6, watercolor

However, while I like it, I feel the materials aren't going to work for my bigger fairy. I've decided, I think, to go with diluted acrylics for her instead, in the hopes she'll turn out the way I want. I've used them before, but the difference between them and watercolors is that they don't reactivate and absorb pretty much immediately. In other words, you have to be darn sure you are putting the paint where you want it to be because you have about .003 seconds before it's set, and you can't take it back regardless. The upside is that the colors are more... hmm... smooth, maybe is the word I am looking for? Vibrancy isn't a problem with watercolors or acrylics, but I just want this fairy to come out right, and I think the acrylics is likely the way to go.

Here's hoping!

I Believe in Fairies!

Happy Friday everyone!

I spent Thursday watching my power fluctuate in and out, and working on my first of (at least) 12 in my new fairy.... series? direction? genre? Hmmm. Well, anyway, I love drawing them, and the response to them in the short amount of time I posted little online updates of my drawings (I post them on my FB art page, and I'm trying to remember to post them on my Google+ - which I accidentally deleted and then recreated, but I'm still trying to figure that out) was all good. It feels like I'm on the right track.

I was itching to start this painting since December! I received the commission for the peacock, fairy and a key, and my brain came up with two paintings. The first, I went with for the piece, Flight. The second I bashed about in my brain, thinking of how I wanted it to look. I knew I wanted a fairy and her faithful steed sort of image, and I had envisioned a sort of moonlit garden... but then I realized I was over complicating things.

I just needed to sketch out my fairy and take it from there. Then, suddenly, I found I was extremely nervous to do just that. You see, I had finally gotten her right in my mind after all this time... sometimes it doesn't reflect that when it takes physical form on paper.

After talking with a friend who asked how my sketch-booking was coming, I realized when I told her I had accomplished nothing that it was because I do it in my head. I was always that kid who did math in her head and got in trouble in class for not "writing the problem out with all the steps" because I could see it all so clearly in my head. It seems that I have carried on that tradition (for which many an hour in detention was spent, while I argued "But if it's correct, why do you care?!?")

I'm pleased to say she mostly looks like I wanted her to. This is where I stopped at mid-day and went for a run (inside, so I didn't get blown away to Oz):

Her hand was bugging me, it just never looked right. So, after I sketched in her feathered friend, Mr. Peacock, I reworked her hand. Again, and again. Argh! Hands aren't usually such a bother for me, but they were on this piece! Looking at the two pictures I might even like her hand positioning better in the first one (even if in person the second hand looks better.) I may rework it once more before I paint, but I have to be careful; the paper is only going to take so much.

All sketched out and ready to get painted!

I was also contemplating a harness on the peacock, but I rather like the idea of him being free, so I think I'll leave that out. Now it's a process about background, which I'm also mulling over, as well as color choices. I had thought about doing her hair in blue or purple, but her wings are going to reflect the peacock strongly, and purple might be weird. She may end up a redhead. (heh)

Anyhow, I plan on posting in progress updates daily, when I can (and likely shorter than this one. I'm very chatty today, I'm not sure why!)

Anyone have big plans for the weekend?