Alice

I finally finished Alice.

"Alice" 9x12x1, Acrylic on stretched canvas (original sold, prints available)

I wasn't sure I was going to at one point, given that I had sort of lost interest. I'm not sure why. Figuring out that I wanted to hang pocket watches all over the tree made a difference though. Again, not sure why. I've always been fascinated with clocks, and I'm sure that had something to do with it.

Some parts went fast, others slowly, and in my head I was already well onto the next painting. The next one up will absolutely be the Queen of Hearts. I have this image of her... she might be a bit racy though, so we'll see how that one develops.

However, until then I'm going to work on the two little watercolors (dragon and unicorn) that I'm doing a time-lapse video on, and then on to the big watercolor with the unicorn and fairy. I'm hoping those go much faster. This painting took entirely too long.

More and more, I've been contemplating the Cintiqs. The smoothness of the finish you get with digital is just not something I seem to be able to pull off in traditional mediums. I wish there was a master's class that taught that, because I would sign right up!

It's very, very hot here. It got into the 90's today with high humidity, with worse expected tomorrow. I'm wishing I had A/C right now! Especially since I have to bake a birthday cake for my daughter's party. She turns 15 this weekend. I can't believe it!

A Big Reader

I just love books. If I'm not in the middle of a book, I feel off kilter. I probably read between three and six books a week (which really makes me wish I had a library that had any selection at all, rather than being the size of a public bathroom, but that's what you get for living in the country.) I have a kindle that I read all sorts of things on, but I admit to still loving the feel of a good, solid, heavy book. I especially love the old tomes that you simply never see anymore with their amazing bindings and covers that seem to be something of a lost art.

In the studio, I really wanted to do a full-size dragon, and a friend suggested one with multiple heads. However, I wanted to tackle a full grown dragon with just ONE head first, before I started complicating matters for myself. I didn't realize my dragon was going to be a book lover too, but as I worked through what I wanted him to be doing, I couldn't shake the books, and that resulted in this:

Before I layered in the background, I realized he wasn't quite fancy enough yet. So, I finished him off and then decided on a smokey rust background.

I should note that this is on the paper that ruined my elf painting. Since I figured out to treat the dragon scales as I did the peacock's feathers, I realized the rougher and absorbent surface might actually work to my advantage. Which is good, because losing a whole block of paper hurts my poor frugal heart just a bit! I am going to order the Fabriano for my fairy paintings, but until then, I still have this block staring at me. Mocking me.

I thought I'd be able to finish the dragon quickly, because the one in my previous painting snapped into place quickly once I figured out what I was doing. I realize now that the small amount of space it took up had something to do with the quick pace of painting, because a dragon that fits a 12 x 16" surface is not a wee small beastie!

Getting the face done helped. It's my connection point with a piece, the face. I know many artists put off the face until the end, but without the eyes to look into I feel a bit lost. I did have some help, a color consultant... but he's a bit of a diva:

Figuring out the armoring scales on the front of the dragon felt good too, once I hit on how I wanted them to look.

And then he was done:

"Lire" 12x16" acrylic watercolor on hot-pressed paper.

I have to tell you that I flat out LOVE him. And it is a him, as I think a female would have a more slender snout than this handsome fellow. The entire dragon is done in iridescent paints, and it shifts and glitters in the light like it's moving just a bit. Makes it tricky for a picture, but in person? I wasn't even sure I was going to put it up for sale because I like it so much (I did, but it was a close one.) Interestingly, I accidentally flipped it black and white when I was editing the print file, and it turns out those iridescent paints work beautifully for this purpose. You can see all the brushstrokes, and how detailed it actually is when turned like this. I liked it so much that I polished it up and released it as a print option as well:

"Lire" in black and white, print only.

I've managed to come to a resting, breathing point which is nice. I have been working hard, flat out, for several weeks now. More things are stirring too - I'm starting a new company! Art based, I just filed my LLC papers. I'm not losing my current one either, but it's something new. Something more, that I'll be excited to share more about when I can.

Busy busy busy! And now I'm taking stock of things. I know I need to run full tilt into Alice. Alice needs to be finished, as she's gone on far too long, and I'm not even sure I'm half way with her. I have the Cheshire Cat in progress, but there is much further to go. Red queen, Jabberwocky, Alice herself.  Yes, I believe an "Alice Binge" is on the horizon for me!

Easter is this weekend, and every year I have planned to do Ukrainian Easter eggs, and just never manage to get the kits together. This year, not only did I not manage to get the kits together, I didn't even pull out any of my silly Easter decor either. No eggs hanging on trees, nada. Some days, I have been working so hard that I am ashamed to admit that I have often forgotten all manner of basic human chores. *sigh*

But I'll leave you with a picture I took last year of myself, and the wishes for a happy weekend for you all - whether you celebrate the holiday or not!

My Precious

I finished one of my watercolors I had been working on, and I decided to call it "My Precious". This may, or may not have been influenced by the fact that I had Lord of the Rings going on in the background. *ahem*

"My Precious" 9x12 watercolor on paper

I really love how she turned out. I think she's my favorite so far!

I still have my elf with her fancy dress to finish and then I'll have two for the week! I think it's doable! And then, maybe, I'll give the kitchen table back to the family. Maybe.

Oh, Hello!

I missed video Monday, I know. Stuff was a'happenin'! Life sometimes gets in the way, or all over the place. One of those, or both. I'll have a video this coming Monday, and we'll just pretend this last one didn't happen!

I've been busy working on several projects, as well as playing with my Zazzle store (where I made a new banner and desperately tried to organize it... which isn't going well. I'll figure it out eventually), and more. Businessy type stuff. I did paint a few things though:

"Teremaire" 4x6" watercolor on paper.

I finished this little hatchling last night as the second in my 6-dragon-hatchling series. I really like him, and he's iridescent too (gold) and is so shiny in the right light!

I thought I had several Fabriano blocks, but I didn't. So, when the new blocks showed up, I decided to just outright play and see if the flow was any different (it's not, really - but the shedding is less, which I do like and the hot-pressed is smoother than the other hot-pressed):

"Blink" 5x7 watercolor on paper

And then I've been working on stuff for Thrice Magazine. I've finished two and I'm in the middle of a bigger one right now, but I'm almost done. But, here's one of the finished pieces:

"Juice" 5x5 acrylic on canvas panel.

Once I finish the bigger one for Thrice, then I'll be off and running with a couple other projects. I think I've decided to go with a girl (maybe a fairy, maybe just a girl) meeting a little dragon, but instead of using watercolors, I was thinking of switching it to canvas for this one. Hmmm. Not sure yet, but I want to get it done quickly, so either way will be a lot of work because it's going to be much bigger (16x20, if on canvas - or 12x16 on paper.) I also have Cheshire Cat plans, and I was uncertain whether to start him or this. My schedule is all messed up for this month, and I'm desperately trying to get it back on track!

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!

Of A Feather

I finished my commission piece, and I have to say that while I started out rather ambivalent about it, by the end I was happy with it!

"Flight" Acrylic, 8x10 on stretched canvas. Original sold, prints available here.

The fairy took a great deal less time than I thought. I really was surprised at how quickly it went, once the bird was painted. It was all those feathers that got me initially. Sometimes I get a little too caught in the details and trying to put in fine lines in a smaller piece like this one, when I need to let go and let there be a suggestion of the lines. They don't have to exist, if the brain will fill it in for us.

Also, it took a while to reconcile the wings. Peacocks are just incredibly lovely birds with the most amazing tail-feathers in probably all of the animal kingdom... who knew their wings were UGLY!? I went through photo after photo completely shocked that this sapphire gem of a bird is hiding these rather dowdy feathers. No wonder they don't fly very often! It must really prick their egos to know they aren't perfect all over! I spiced them up with iridescent bronze, copper, and gold. It helped. Now it's not so dowdy.

I was happy with the mood too. I was going for, sort of an urgent, they're going somewhere, sort of thing. Maybe even running, and that's why she's looking behind her. It just sort of fell that way, I didn't plan it, but it's what I have been feeling lately on a personal level, so it makes sense that it would show up in my sketch I suppose!

I believe this year will have several fairies in it. I want them to be a bit bigger and more the focus though, and I'll likely explore that in watercolors to start with as well. But that will have to wait, because I have the contest winner's painting up next, as well as starting in on the Caterpillar for my Alice in Wonderland Series. February is going to be a big month with lots of paintings!