Catching up!

I knew I needed to get caught up here but I didn't realize I hadn't posted since October. Most of what I have painted since then has been for the monthly challenges on wetcanvas. If you ever have trouble getting motivated to do something, try to find a good challenge group. I find having an objective and a deadline can help me get started.

The theme for the acrylic challenge in October was autumn. I painted this view from the hydro line in the Duck Mountains. In the distance you can see the grain elevator in my home town. 14x11"

The fantasy/sci-fi challenge was Halloween and I painted this dragon carving a pumpkin. I believe I used Procreate on iPad for this. It still needs some work.

The November acrylic challenge was to paint something inspired by the Hudson River School. They often painted grand landscapes with a lot of distance framed by strong verticals. I wanted to use one of my own references and chose this scene. I don't think I really captured the feel of the Hudson River paintings though but then I also made it more challenging by painting it very small, 2.5x3.5".

I did another digital painting for Resource Factory Tycoon. This was a limited time painting available in the game in December.

In December I took part in a gift exchange in the fantasy/sci-fi forum. Names were drawn randomly and I painted this for a guy who had been a member in both the sci-fi/fantasy and the acrylic forums for some time. While thinking about what to paint for him I thought of a painting he had started of a lady in front of a swimming pool. I thought he might enjoy my version of  a lady by a pool. This was done in acrylics, 7x5".

In January the challenge in both forums was to paint something inspired by a song. I didn't come up with something that would really fit the fantasy/sci-fi forum but I did do something in acrylics, just a little 4x4" painting for fun. Can you figure out what the song was?

If you haven't guessed, keep reading. And yes, I own sparkly gold shoes.

The February acrylic challenge was fun with vegetables. Something made me decide to paint an owl made of fruits and vegetables. 5x7"

In March I did two challenges. The acrylic challenge was to paint something based on your favourite quote. I thought of something Monet said... I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.
10x8"

The fantasy/sci-fi challenge was to paint your true self. This is me, head in the clouds and clouds in my head. Done with Painter 2017.

In April I was doing some beadwork, trying to make beaded eggs. It was difficult because it's hard to find instructions in English and everyone else uses slightly bigger beads than I have. I just wanted to try it out though. The first one really took a long time.

This one was quicker but I ended up covering an egg with clay to make the design fit. 

Also did a quick sketch for the fantasy/sci-fi challenge, which was historical monsters. I prefer to do something cute so I drew Cerberus as a puppy.

And this month I did both challenges. The theme for the fantasy/sci-fi challenge was nature. I have been playing a game on Roblox called Fantastic Frontier which has some interesting plants, usually quite blocky in shape, and I thought it would be fun to try to paint some of the mushrooms in the game in a more realistic shape. Done with Painter 2017.

The acrylic challenge theme was Vermeer. After someone found a painting of a meerkat with a pearl earring I got my inspiration.. Dachshund With a Pearl Earring. I used my dog Diamond as the model. The hardest part was getting her to post just right. After many tries I finally got a decent reference but she was looking away so I had to make some adjustments to the eyes. This is 3.5" square.

This is how it looks in the frame.

Oh, and the song was Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes by Paul Simon.

Art Journal Page 3

 Some "springtangle", using my Derwent Graphik paint pens. I did have some trouble with leaking and had to try to cover up a few blobs with the white. The black really started giving me trouble, maybe because I was using it for so long. A few other colours leaked as well. Later I read the tip about holding the pen upright and pumping it a few times. It might be a good idea to do that when starting, and again if using the same colour for some time. Sometimes there was a bit of warning when the paint would start to flow a little faster, but other times it was very sudden. You can see a couple of black splotches at the bottom that I didn't bother fixing. It just dripped from the pen.

And if I was to do this again, I would do the black lines last instead of first.

Easter Eggs

It has been years since I last made Easter eggs (pysanky). They are very time consuming, it takes all afternoon to do two. It was always hard for me to put other things aside but this year I decided it was time to do some again. I got 12 done, though one kind of got messed up when I tried to use Folkart's acrylic gloss on it, the one on the right side with the red and white cross in the middle. Perhaps it was because it is water based. When I started smearing it on it was picking up colour so I wiped it off but wiped too much and removed some colour from one side of the egg. But I have ideas for how to still make good use of it.

My mom already bought two of these. The rest will be for summer craft sales.

I also tried something new. I painted Easter eggs on poster board with my Derwent Graphik paint pens and made polymer clay bases and turned them into pendants and earrings.

Spring is coming

It may not seem like it but spring will be here soon. Time to start some flower seeds and bring out some spring decorations. And for many it's time to think about Easter, but even if you don't celebrate it you can still enjoy the colourful aspects of it... pretty flowers and painted eggs. And you can add a little spring decoration to yourself with this Spring Chicks Necklace.

I also added three pairs of earrings to my site, including these beaded ball earrings which make me think of little flowers.

Happy Easter 2008

I have three new pictures to post. One is an 8x10 painting of a daisy which I gave to my aunt and uncle as a thank you for all the driving they did for me when I was sick.

I also painted a blank card which I will give to the other nurse who also came in on a weekend for me. The image comes from wetcanvas and was part of the Different Strokes project in acrylics.

And I painted four wooden eggs for Easter, three of which my Mom already bought.