Paint brings out a personality

These guys were interesting when not painted, but I like the personalities that have come out after color.

In Drag?

"But he was such a quiet neighbor! " they all said when the details were made public "he wouldn't have hurt a fly"

Mardi Gras in Old Thebes

Next lesson we start to make bodies out of cloth. Should be interesting.

...the bad and the ugly.

ARGH!!


Since I show my successes - in order to maintain a humble feeling - I also must show my failures.

Last night we did portraits again. I like portraits and last week, I think I did pretty good! This week he had us work in black and white paint and it was an AWFUL night for my art. I of course, had a good time, learned a bunch but was off, off, off! We drew in Pencil and then were supposed to add paint, different black and white values. Above was my effort which I eventually abandoned. I started another which was SO bad that Tom finally came over and said "stop, stop" and proceeded to give me a lesson and fix my horror of a portrait - the results of which are shown below, painted over my attempt.



Tom is a lovely guy and very patient with his students. I would really like to take a full painting class with him - it's hard to just get snippets every friday night. But I don't know paint, don't know how to use it, don't understand it and it shows. So I'm not in the least bit worried about a bad approach with paint, I at least give myself that break. Maybe someday I'll get more proficient with it. And my other problem is seeing something in just darks and lights - I'm not trained to see that way, and my brain keeps trying to see color.

Anyway, as usual, it was a fun night. My artwork was awful, but I learned.

Animal Wednesday - Fish Face

I get involved in one medium and right now (as you all know) I've been playing with paperclay. Last night I started an ambitious project - a walking fish model. Here it is - just the beginning of the fish face...altho to me it looks like a lizard face at this point. I know that fish don't have eyelids, but I like to make eyelids so this guy will have them.

Details to be added will make this fishier - and I have to work out the details of the legs...hmmmm - should they fold backwards like a birds, or forward like us humans. I'm leaning towards frontwards...cause it might be easier to balance him. This guy will take a while to finish, so I'm keeping him wrapped in plastic in hopes that the clay will stay soft enough to work with without having to add water.

Happy Animal Wednesday - hope you have real animals in your life and not just clay one.

Oh yeah...one more thing! Last night driving home there was a lovely yellow lab in the road, an older fellow with a grizzled snout. Of course I stopped, as he was just standing there. He was SO friendly and lovely, wriggled up to me to say hello and looked like he would easily go into my car. And he SMELLED so bad! I was hesitant, it's a residential neighborhood, and while he didn't have tags, he had a collar - so somebody cared for him. Luckily a younger couple were driving down the street, they stopped and recognized the dog as belonging to someone nearby, and took him home. My hands reeked of dog, but that's no biggie. Usually I have a leash in the car, but I must have lost it somewhere which is why I was holding him with my hands. I was so glad he was rescued, as it was getting dark and I would have had to put him in my car and call the dog officer (isn't that a great title to have?) - and he was such a lovely, happy dog.
All's well that ends well.

Happy Animal Wednesday!

3 heads

The online class suggested that we make three heads to practice and you know me - I listen to instructions...sometimes. but I did want to try this more than once, so I did the three heads. It was like creating three different people. They don't even look alike at all - you'd never know they are supposed to be triplets.


First - the Eqyptian - you've seen him before.

Second - the Next Door Neighbor - rather lumpy and bumpy waiting to be sanded.


Third - the Poet. Pensive and also waiting for his sanding.




I used three different paperclays. First was Creative Paperclay - which is very soft. Second is La Doll - which I assume is common to Doll Makers. Third is Diamond Paperclay - which is harder than Creative, but smoother overall.

Note: the recommendation in the class is to make a woman's head. I tried. It didn't work. Maybe the last one might be feminine but the others - no way. They're guys. I think it's because I haven't gotten used to any kind of more delicate features - I tend towards the Hulk look in noses and ears. Hence the guy features. More practice needed.

I have to wait a week for the second lesson to be published so these guys will just dry and wait for their buffing and polishing and painting. As usual, I probably like them better without paint - but I'm trying to learn the entire process from this class.

I had NO idea how many people are into making dolls. The amount of stuff out there for doll making is amazing. You can buy little eyeballs to put into these guys. Cheap! I ordered a package of 4 sets of eyes for $1.25. I think it'll be very odd to use them but I couldn't resist seeing how they look and giving them a try sometime.

I have to admit - it's fun to make these creatures. More to come in a few weeks.

By the way - which head do you like best? Only one of them will be chosen for the final complete treatment. The others will languish on my shelf as potential.

Art Week update

OK - here is Miss Em painted. I'm getting used to her now but she was a shock at first. Combination of not knowing what I am doing with clay and paint and liking the anonymous stature better. And I've decided that in the future, any statues of her will be blanker, more statue than personality - if you get my drift. I'm still working towards the canoe scene that I've envisioned. And to that end, I signed up for an online course in using paperclay. The course makes an art doll, which isn't what I'm looking for - but it gives hints and instructions and I like that. Here is the head that I'm working on for the course....very rough at this stage....

About 3 - 4 inches high - just so you have a perspective.





oops - those eyes are a bit bulgy - must be a thyroid problem. Nothing that some sanding won't help. I worked on him on Saturday - and it was right after a Friday Night drawing class where we worked on head anatomy, so the timing was perfect.

The instructor brought out a plastic skull and did some drawings about circles and ovals and - boom - a light went off in my head. Never thought about the back of the head before...and I think it helps in the final portrait drawings.

Proportions are off in this - it was quick as I was trying to copy what he was doing. I'm going to try a portrait with a grid - might be cheating but who cares.




And finally - KJ is heading up an auction for Childrens Hospital and I'm donating these items. I hope they make a few bucks for the cause.





That's my art week. Since it's raining today - I'll be downstairs puttering with paint and clay. Couldn't be a better prospect for a rainy day (please stay warm to melt the snow!)

Adrian

I just found out last night that an old friend passed away. He was an early boss of mine at a pharmaceutical company, an interesting, crazy English guy. Good boss, odd fellow, brilliant - who taught me alot about balancing work with family. He adored his wife and family - truly did. He was an odd duck in the corporate world - he wore suits just like the rest of them, but his were recycled from the early 60's - claimed that they were coming back in style (NOT!). Changed from his shoes to his slippers every day at work, and shuffled about in slippery hush puppies all day. We shared an office for years and he smoked like a chimney. The only way I could get some smoke free days was to bring my dog to work - he wasn't fond of dogs and would try to find another office to sit in all day, or work in the lab. I always felt that if I ever get lung cancer, it would be from him!!

And guess what he died from.

Damn - life is so short. I'd been meaning to get in touch with him after these last two secluded years...and it's too late.

I'll miss knowing he's out there - someone that I could get in touch with at any time, and know that contact would be welcome.

Go hug your loved ones...and call those old friends.

Animal Wednesday - Samson the black lab

For the past two nights I've dreamed of him. In one dream he was young and very sprightly but very loving. In the other one he was misbehaving a tiny bit - not clearly listening to me but having a good time.

I have two explanations for these dream. One is that since my mom got a dog Samson is in my mind more. The other is this...

My first best dog , Parker, was born around April 1st and had a great personality. My second devil dog was born around Jan 1st and was very difficult and we only could keep her for 14 months before we gave up. Samson, my soul mate dog, was born on April 1st and was delightful and lovely and loyal and not overly smart.

I'm wondering if Samson is sending me a message that he is going to be born again. I believe this but it's gonna take some convincing to get dh to buy into the concept.

We'll see.....

Did you ever see someone look more content than holding a fat pup?

This must be in 1987 - A whole little of puppies to choose from

My boy all growed up warming himself by the fire and probably asking "where are you going? to bed? can I go too?"

Happy Animal Wednesday - I hope you have your soul pet handy.