Word!! She's so tough and Stuff

Look at her. Isn't she the cutest thing alive? yes. yes she is. This is the wee little daughter of my very good friends Fourleafclover and V. They marinate themselves some pretty adorable chitlins.

Anyway, a long time ago, i posted on this blog about making my first ever baby sweater, and hat, and booties. Well, here they are in all her glory! She looks so warm, and gangta-ish. like she's ready to totally bust a cap in someone's diaper.

i asked her a while back for a picture to post of her wearing the gear, and she complied shortly after, but then i got busy and wasn't able to get my act together long enough to do it. UNTIL NOW!

There are more things missing from this blog, too. Now that i think about it.

There were a few crafty items that were created as Festivus gifts, and it being Festivus - i didn't want to post anything for fear of them sneakin' a peek.

But a few things are:
A Ceramic Angel that i made for my mother in law - no picture. dang.

A Ceramic Fairy that i made for my sister-in-law, again, no picture... dang

and a Watercolour of a Fairy for the same sister-in-law... again... no picture.

well.

maybe she'll be so kind as to take a picture for me so i can post it. oh, and for Festivus she gave me watercolour paper... her funny way of hinting that she wanted a painting.... lol....

and as one of my new years suggestions was to take up knitting again, maybe i'll post more stuff soon.

Sunflower

[Click to Enlarge Photos]

another gift, this time for Paige. It's her birthday.

i decided to to a sunflower for her because she loves them. Hopefully this will look nice in her kitchen.

So, here's the play by play:

Started out with a sketch


My first move was to paint the petals and the centre with a wash of Lemon Yellow
then i went in with a few darker yellows and added some shadows to give the petals shape.

i added layers of yellow ochre and mixed with browns into the centre then i added a bit of backround trying out the wet-in-wet techniques. not too shabby.
i kinda liked i like this, with the white in the back, but it seemed unfinished...


and then i added the dark background and the flower seemed to POP


the last step was to do an ink outline. et Voila! c'est fini!!
Happy Birthday Paige!!

"sunflower" watercolour and ink 5" x 7"
a gift for Paige.

my studio

Tea For Two

last month after my success with my own breast, i decided to try a different subject.


i have to say i'm quite impressed with this one. i could still improve on my backgrounds a bit, but it's getting better.

i found that my biggest downfall was impatience. I need to let the paint dry between coats or else it turns into a bleedy mess. boourns. So after figuring that one out, i brought in my hair dryer and we were in business!!


"tea for two" watercolour and ink 5"x7"

a gift for Teeni

extreme close up

a self portrait, done in watercolour... 4"x6"

vulnerable art

this is a scanned version of the card i made to send a very important letter to a very important person. God Speed little Faery.

Faery Bride

i've been working on this one for 2 nights now... i'm thinking the problem with Laura and watercolour is the lack of patience. I have a really hard time letting things dry. i just want to get the next layer of paint in. Again, i think i could do a little more work in my backgrounds.

i could probably done/do some more to this painting to make it better, but i was afraid i would wreck is...as i was just getting more frustrated.

I really love the way the Faery turned out though. the dress, the bouquet, i'm happy - except for that left eye that i just couldn't fix.

This is actually very VERY similar to my wedding dress, i didn't really realize it until i had drawn the faery. and the picture i used as a reference is one that B-rad took of me on our honeymoon... so i called it 'waiting bride'.

I only hope i'll look back at this one someday and discover i've come a long way.

in need of development...

i did some more painting last night...i've come to realize i really need to work on my ability to paint backgrounds. the green blobs behind the hibiscus look nothing like leaves. Here's the photo:

I find the pinks the hardest to do...as there is no pink, only red with water. But it's all about the learning. i tried to do some freehanded abstract stuff last night, i've been reading a book about letting the paint "dance" across the paper.... my paint was two left feet, cuz there was no dancing to be had. sigh.

oh well,

onward and upward.

Hawaiian Hibiscus

My friend Kate took the photo, i did the paint...
i'm trying to brush up on my watercolour skillz of an artist... this is the first painting done with the new paints i bought on the weekend. I'm a little rusty, obviously.