Tea for two, Me and You!

Whew, finally! I started this painting the beginning of July for my sisters anniversary on July 29th. However, the weather turned too hot and being new to acrylic painting I struggled with the paint drying too fast on the canvas. I decided to put it aside until things cooled down. They didn't, it just got hotter and hotter. I ended up running out and buying a gift card to her favorite restaurant and painting a card for her and her husband. (See the last two blog entries below)

Finally last weekend it cooled enough to finish the painting. I chose the tea pot and two cups because she lives in Ontario and I live in British Columbia and one thing we miss is sitting and having a cup of tea together.

Funny how things work out though. I finished the painting last weekend and sent it off to her (It's a surprise, she has no idea) she called me this morning and told me she has Shingles (ouch) So it worked out. She got an anniversary present, the gift card, for her and her husband and now a get well gift, the painting, which is really made just for her.

EDM # 235

This is the card I painted for my sister for the gift card down below. It shows up a lot lighter than the actual card. I painted it first and then read the challenge a few days later. Purple pansies are my sisters favorite. I learned a lot about watercolors and trying to get a deep deep purple with them from making this card for her.

EDM #227 and #232

The tote bag has been my favorite bag this summer to take out on Plein Air excursions my daughter and I have been going on with a local art group.
The drawing of the last thing I purchased was a gift for my favorite sister. She lives in Ontario and I live in BC so it is difficult to get together for anniversaries. I was working on a painting for her when a severe heat wave hit and it became too difficult to work on (No air conditioning) Her anniversary was getting closer and closer and it soon was obvious I wasn't going to complete the painting in time. I found this gift card for her. It is her and her husbands favorite restaurant. She was very happy with it. She doesn't know it yet that she will soon receive the painting, her second present.

EDM's 12, 13, 15, 16 and 23

It has been awhile since last posting. I thought with having the summer off from homeschooling I would have posted a lot more. I think I am actually more organized while teaching. The summer hits, my ADD kicks in and I'm all over the place. Some of these are from back in March.
I have quite a few I haven't posted yet, I don't know why. But so not to bore you I'll just put up these few. Some I'm happy with some are horrid.

Illustration Friday - Drifting

This is my Illustration Friday Entry for Drifting. It is inspired by a book I had as a child "Tilly the Turtle".

Acrylic Course Painting.

This is a painting from a course I am taking at www.learntodo.com. Working from a photo we had to paint an under painting of black, grays and white. Then paint over it. I found it really helped with the lights and shadows and various shades of green in the painting. I also learned I need to spread my color around. I was happy with how it came out. I felt it had more depth and was more interesting to look at then my other paintings.

Cootie Catcher

This is my entering for Illustration Friday. The theme was "unfold"

Water colors for on line course

These are a couple of water colors I did recently for a on line water color course I am taking. The one with the squares was a fun exercise. We divided the sheet into nine squares and cut out the middle square. Then we were to either drop or purposely pick a section of a water color we liked and try to emulate it in one of the squares. I was happy with the results because I struggle getting light into my water colors and this helped. I particularly liked the little lady bug square, which was also one of the hardest.

Beach Rocks

I can't believe how much time has past since my last post. Whew... This was a challenge for the White Rock Art Society. The challenge was "Life on the Peninsula"
Yes, White Rock BC is a Peninsula.

Calling My Portrait Finished

I can't believe it is a month since I
first posted the portrait of my daughter
I'm working on. I worked on it, put it
away then got it out and worked on it some
more. Thanks for all the suggestions and help.
I'm sure I could do more. But for my first
portrait, I'm happy. I have to hand it in, so
I figured I would stop here. Then spend time
practicing hair and eyes and lips separately
before attempting my next portrait.

Illustration Friday Entry

This is my first entry into the Illustration Friday Challenge. This week was Impossibility. I chose my cat Moppet as my inspiration because she is always jumping to impossible heights that no other cat would think of.

Virtual Sketch Date

This is a watercolor I did for this weeks Virtual Sketch Date. I haven't done a lot of watercolor and I started to get lost in my greens so decided I better stop.

Portrait of my daughter

This is a sketch I am still working on for an art course I am taking. It is from a black and white photo copy of a school picture. It is my very first portrait and it is taking me a very long time to get it done. The lips and eyes are driving me crazy. Her eyes came out quite dark in the photocopy, almost as dark as her pupil, and they aren't as lively looking as they should be. I thought I would post it as I work on it so I can see the progression as well as letting others see it and also in case I wreck it. Any comments would be appreciated. I'm a thick skinned beginner so say what you like. I can only progress and learn from honesty.

EDM Challenges 6 and 10

Well, I was trying to draw Mrs. Beasley, my favorite doll. She was from the show "Family Affair" Something blobby happened with the nose turning her into a dog faced doll. I'll have to try again sometime, she deserves much better. The quote above the drawing,"I'm Dolly Tina... is from an episode of the old black and white Twilight Zone

The drawing of my hand looks a bit twisted but unfortunately that is what my hand looks like.

EDM #11 Draw your glasses

These are my new glasses. A little off.

ATC's

My first two tries at ATC's

Book I've enjoyed

I hadn't heard of artist trading cards until I came across this book. After placing an order on Amazon, it was recommended. It teaches a variety of techniques that could be used in other art projects. My daughter and I have really enjoyed it. She can produce so many of them so fast. I have only made a few. I tend to use them when I am thinking of larger projects. I do artist trading cards first, then I can do two or three or more look and decide which version I like the most and make it into a larger piece of art.

Art Show

Art Show

Midnight Forest

This is a happy little painting inspired by the late Bob Ross

A little critique would be appreciated

I am happy with the boot on the far right. I don't have a lot of experience painting. I do more sketching so with the black boot I applied what I know from pencil work with light and shadow to the painting and am very happy with how it came out. The shoe however is supposed to be a cloth Victorian shoe and I am not happy with it. It is a little darker in real life but you can still get the flat blah idea of it. Any suggestions would be appreciated

Happy First Day of Spring

Well, happy first day of spring! What a beginning. I was woken at 1:12a.m. to the sound of my son... um... well... not feeling so well and unfortunately his unwellness did not make it to the bathroom. A little over an hour later, I was able to climb back into bed. Tossed, turned ahhhh. Finally, I am just drifting off to sleep and hear a strange rustling sound. I go out to the kitchen to see my two cats plotting and conspiring. "Hey, if we go to that cloth gingerbread man stuffed with her plastic grocery bags and pull them all out she'll get up again and I'm pretty sure she'll play with us. It's not like she's doing anything." I get the look from them, you know, the I have know idea how that happened look. I get back to bed, well after three. (making sure to turn the alarm off) Spend the rest of the night, awake, asleep, awake, asleep. I am awoken to the sound of laughter and the t.v. I go out... it is 7:30 am. There is my son, wide awake, bright glowing eyes, laughing his BUTT off at Bugs Bunny. Oh my goodness. "Remember the rule when we wake up early dear? Close my door and keep the volume down." Well, when I finally get up, to the dull rainy day, I start ringing out the things I left soaking in the tub. Oh, I should have had my breakfast first before I started this task, I think to myself, when I am almost done. I realize, hey, it is spring, sunny days are sure to be ahead now. (Yes, I am A.D.D., thanks for asking.)So, I give a shout out to my daughter (who was kind enough to get up and help in the night with out being asked) Happy First Day of Spring. "Oh, Mom", she replied. Then we laughed and laughed and laughed.

EDM Challenge 7,8,9

A few more challenges. These were done with a new pen I got that I absolutely love. It was on sale and I wish I had gotten more at the time. It is a SumoGripII Gel 05 by Sakura. I haven't had a lot of success lately with pens. They scratch, catch, skip and run out, and they never go over top of graphite. Ahhh. But this pen is amazing, smooth and fluid.

EDM Challenge #1-4

EDM is from the book, Everyday Matters by Danny Gregory.
I recently joined the EDM yahoo group. There is a list of challenges (over 200 now) These are the first four.
They are great fun, especially for those moments I want to draw but all I draw is a complete blank.

quick sketch of Moppet

This was a quick sketch I did first for the drawing below.
I put it up because people asked me to (mainly because it frightens my husband.)

Oil Paintings

These are the first two oil paintings I ever painted.
The painting of the waterfalls (My first ever oil painting)I am entering in an Art Show in April. I was going to enter the one with the palm trees (My second oil painting) but my husband is actually afraid it will sell and wants to keep it for himself.

Moppet and the Monkey

This is our Moppet, the inspiration for the pastel drawing below. The sock Monkey my daughter made.

Moppet

This is Moppet, a very sweet, snugly, loving cat.
She is not the smartest cat. (Her brother is.) One amazing feat that Moppet has is being able to jump to incredible heights. One day while reading to my son who was on the bottom bunk of his bed we watched as she took a flying leap to the top bunk. As she jumped I noticed she makes an extra spring mid-jump. (Like she is flapping wings.) So I said to my son, "I think she can jump so high because she has wings, they're just invisible". My son (My biggest fan) loved this thought. Maybe we will make a story about her. Moppet, the flying cat.

New at this. Bare with me.

March 17th
I did this painting for an assignment to the White Rock Art Club my daughter and I belong to. The assignment was "weather". I like the sky. I was amazed that I did the sky. The rest of the painting looks a bit cartoony to me. But... I did learn a lot from this painting. I learned to relax, if you mess up you can just paint over it. It is oil on canvas, my 4th oil painting I have done.