artsy update

i think i will try and post a weekly creative update on what i'm working on or have completed recently.  although i may get the urge to do that more than once a week if time allows.  for some reason posting these things keeps me motiviated to finish the new stuff and move on to the next new thing! 

first off, FINALLY and i mean finally painting my own custom art toy.  the first 2 that i had tried were majorly botched attempts because i stupidly used the green pen that comes in the box to outline what i was going to paint. well acrylic paint does NOT cover that pen AT ALL, so after layers and layers of paint i gave up and threw them away in a fit of anger. hehe. i re-purchased the trikky because of the cat ears which i'm going to try to make look like my feather/leaf hybrid whatever you like to call it.  I don't want her to look like a cat, but we'll see how that goes.  the color palette is going to be some of my favorites, lime yellow, magenta, purple, pink, red and grey.  i like to mixed pastel colors with bright vibrant colors for some reason.  most people would probably think that's odd, but i do what i want! :o)

work in progress trikky toy (made by kidrobot)

totally got ahead of myself and there aren't any progress shots from the first photo to this last one. i'll try and remember to stop and take more while finishing it up. i really don't know what i'm doing, i didn't even have a sketch drawn up for this, i'm just going with the flow.

workin on the head details

i'll post the photos of all the progress shots when i'm done.

the next thing i'm working on is actually an assignment in my screenprinting/lithography class which i love. it's such a challenge and i'm terrible at remembering all the steps to the lithography process. anyway, this is the second print that i'm doing, the first one didn't come out as good as i hoped. but this one i have high hopes for.  this process is a little different than the last one because i'm etching away the black paint instead of drawing with the greasy crayon. this has been really fun, and i'm just hoping it comes out right.  i'm not sure what the first color will be for the print, its a toss up between lime-yellow, magenta, or red. which would be the color of the lips, hair, eyes and parts of the face. the background and the rest of it will be black.

etching away on the limestone block

the slightest error could ruin it!

i'll post some more pics of this process later on.

finished a new commision, which is a portrait of a friend of the commisioner.  it's 5x7 inches mixed medium - ink pen, watercolor, acrylic and collage on tea-stained paper.  her favorite color is yellow, which i was happy about.  also added a little purple in there of course. I hope she enjoys it.


on the left: ink pen on tea-stained paper. on the right: completed mixed media

i had the freedom to do basically whatever i wanted with this next commision.  i decided to try something a little different and not include a female.  it haven't done that in a long time!  tried to keep the color palette fairly simple with greys, black, silver, white, gold, lime-yellow and a turqoise.

starting the painting...figuring out the color palette

commision - acrylic on canvas 12x16 inches

 i'm happy with the outcome, especially after the epic fail of dropping a large canvas which tore the canvas of my first attempt at this. it was drying on the ground below my easle, stupid idea by the way! see below....

EPIC FAIL! my idle hands dropped a big canvas onto this one.

i started all over after this happened.  i have never done anything like that before, and believe me i have learned my lesson!

"Tangled in the Mangroves" acrylic on canvas 16x20 inches

this is now official...the original painting that was on the cover of the undercurrent last year sold at my last show! :) it's always bittersweet when a painting sells...this one was a real breakthrough painting for me and has been traveling with me to shows for the past 3 years! now i'll probably never see it again in person *tear* however, i'm very glad that she has found a home ♥

that should wrap it up for the works in progress and things...happy creating