Painting Again

 

This session has been really interesting and appears to be shooting off in a number of different directions. It started with four , 4 x 6 inch canvas panels taped together from the back because I couldn't decide whether I wanted to do one large image or a number of smaller ones. I just set up and dived right in.

As you can see here I kept making changes and trying to resolve those issues. The change I liked the best was getting rid of that white base under the stripe on that vase.

At this point 3 of the canvas panels remained attached together and were being worked as one.

This photo was from early in the project after I had toned the panels and begun applying paints.

This was the first finished version of the vase. I didn't like the way the bottom of of it looked here, or the background.

This is where things began to come together. When this board began to suggest a vase I detached it from the rest and began to work it on it's own.

When I looked at this end of the long one this morning it began to suggest a person so I separated it and began to follow it's path.

I saw a person in there so I tried to develop that.

Here she is? This old gal will be the face of some senior message cards in my greeting card line.

All in all this is the most productive 36 hours that I've spent painting in a long time.

Learning To Draw Dogs For Free

 I've been using videos and old greeting cards to teach myself and friends how to draw dogs. It's been interesting and a lot of fun as well.

The top of this was clipped from a greeting card. I put it on her card and then attempted to use it as a guide for my drawings.

This was part of a greeting card that I cut out and reattached to another card that I divided into boxes for myself and the gal I sent it to to practice on.

This was something we found on the internet and worked with too. you never know where you will find useful images. Keep looking and drawing. It doesn't cost anything and eventually you will learn how to draw a dog that you like.

Learning to Smile Again

 It's been a rough few years in the country that I call home so I've got to say that it feels good to get a breath of fresh air and a clean start.

It feels like a new world after the darkness and everything seems possible again. In my art, in my life and in my future. But...where do I start?

Today I just got out my colored pencils, pens, permanent markers and stickers and had glorious fun writing and answering letters both wildly colored and illustrated. The feeling of freedom was exhilarating and the nap I had when I'd worn myself out was glorious.

Soon I'm sure I'll be feeling like painting again.

There's the fabulous scent of blueberry muffins wafting in here from the kitchen and makes me sure that I'm really ready for a coffee break. Won't you join me?

The First Questions

When I was a little girl the first questions anyone ever asked me seemed to be like the same thing, they were:

What do you want to be when you grow up?

and

Who do you want to do when you grow up?

My answer was that I wanted to be a dixie cup which at that time was a brand name paper product  that most people had in their homes that was decorated with artwork. In my little brain I wanted to brighten things up and make people happy whether I was the bathroom cup to make them feel better when they were sick or the party cup to help them celebrate all of their special occasions.

For me it was a happy dream that nearly came true. I was told that the company that makes those doesn't accept outside artists but I was able to find another company that put my designs on hundreds of different products in my 50's. I've been at it for years now and love it as much as I ever have. 

These days I go back and forth between serious painting, "playing" with design ideas and drawing exercises. Anything that looks like it would work goes to merchandise and a lot of the rest of it  simply decorated my outgoing mail. The beautiful thing about it is that no matter how things work out they make some one happy and that is, all in all, what I've wanted all along. 

"Playing" with lettering ideas. This gave me a chance to try out a kit of "how to" cards and send a nice letter out at the same time.

This is just a little drawing exercise I made from an old  card. I put it on a new card and set it up for a friend and myself to practice drawing on.

"Playing" with photos and drawing on outgoing mail.

Lilac Paintings

 

After

Before

After

Before

Lilacs and Memories

 

This painting won't exist for long, so I thought I'd give you a look at it before it goes. 

I had very nearly considered the painting finished at this point and painted it into some sort of Farmhouse or camping background. I have a lot of fond memories of this old coffeepot and I want a reminder as I get older and things begin to slip away.

This is the last photo of it. Through various moves and things over the years some of the parts have gone missing so lately it's been a watering can and a vase out in the garden. There I's usually filled with lilacs, sunflowers, lilies or Iris.

Since there were lilacs in the photo I thought they should be in the painting too.

I had made one attempt before this but felt that the scale was wrong so I will include photos of that as well and let you decide what was the best approach. 

While I was thinking about this painting I thought I'd use it to decorate some of my outgoing mail and got a bit of practice painting leaves and flowers at the same time.

Projects from the Scrap Heap

 I'm cleaning up my studio area so that I can get a fresh start at the new year. The question becomes "what do I do with the odds and ends that I don't want to toss?"

The small painting had been used for a floormat design and some others. the horse pattern was left from another project. I was considering combining them to create a unicorn painting to be used on children's merchandise.

I hated to work over that painting so i found the start of another one to paint over. I tried tracing the drawing over it but it didn't turn out so I painted white over the center before I tried again

Now I'm deciding how I want to paint it.

So far it's a mess but I think it's got potential. The great thing about these scrap projects is that you can unleash your creativity without worrying how much it's going to cost you.

 

To make this project fast and easy I decided to paint the unicorn white and hide it behind bushes to save myself the trouble of drawing the rest of the body then all I had to do is paint in a sky,

After that it was just a matter of adding some flowers and painting the mane.

A few more leaves and a bit of outlining finished the look that I was going for.

So far It's being used on Birthday and Get Well cards for little girls. I'm looking forward to find other ways and places to use it.

It sure beats having thrown it out. Don't you think so?

After all you never know where your best ideas will come from.