LIFE NTERTWINED

Good Day. I just want to make a comment. When things go wrong and people stagnate your life, please remember to keep your wits about you. You are being tested. The saying may be true..."Things happen for a reason." I thought it was cliche, but I will humor the idea. I have taken from my adverse situations what I needed within the past year. I am now moving my paddles again to get this boat back out to sea. I've been sitting adrift way too long. I want to be happy again. Free to express and experience joy. Live. Be Carefree. Be Simple. Be Interesting. Be Inviting. Good Day.

I am just going to jump into the action on this one. Frannie started out as a regular No. 2 pencil sharpened just right. No special bells or whistles. I took two photo shots of her with a nice shadowy and silky look. I sketched her with soft edges and in the second shot her lines were defined more. Below, I began adding a little blue oil pastel in the background to have Frannie appear to pop out on the page. Frannie’s hair was taking on oil pastels in a shiny sharp black sheen with highlights of golds and reds. I worked the streaks in place. Then I started adding some florals under her chin to add to her beauty. The flower lines were traced in Fuchsia and hot pink oils and smeared to create the effect of pink petals. Sepia was shadowed lightly in the groove of the flower. Pink and purple oil pastel defined the whiskers in the centers. I used a black extra fine sharpie to give the center whiskers a defined look.     I darkened the royal blue, immensely, in the ...

Today, I made my two boys pancakes with extra scoops of cinnamon (hence the brownness in color). I only photographed one of the plates. One sweetie pie had boiled eggs and the other had scrambled. Both plates had a few slices of pan-seared salami that served as beds for the halved boiled eggs on one of the plates. I wanted to try a different fruit combination for the sides. They usually get strawberries or orange slices to accompany their pancakes. Today, I sliced kiwis and bananas. It gave it a sorta 'Prince' feel and they felt like royalty. What they did next was sprinkle powdered sugar over the pancakes and drizzle lots of maple syrup. Hey, to each his own. No pancakes for me. But, it was not a complete lost. I only grabbed scrambled eggs with kiwi and bananas and  two slices of pan seared salami and one slice of buttered toast. Ooh wee! So we are welcoming the Fall season in with these dark colors and a nice centerpiece for the table. Bon Apetit

I admit this piece was one the most difficult tasks I have come up with in quite a long time. I tried to make the subjects pop on the page rather than be flat and unappealing. This is my first attempt to a mystical oil sketch. It created quite a challenge for me. I hope to experience it again but with more aptitude. Blending posed the biggest challenge. Try blending, watching tv, talking on the phone, and eating at the same time. Aaargh! What I did on this last run was mix greens, yellows, siennas, sepias, and blacks to create a background. I didn't want to make the background too eye-catching. I didn't want to take a chance and distract away from the dragon. I created a stream near the base of the mountain, some rocks behind the soldier, and some gravel under their feet. With the appearance of different pinks, purples, and blues in the skyline and darkness behind the dragon, I wanted to give the look that the sun was setting and the night was approaching. ...

Working as hard as I can. Trying to get some kind of visual. All in all it's fun. I tried blending pinks, purples, and blues along with sun yellows in the sky. I also started forming the mountains in the background. I wanted to bring them to life with different shadows and burnt siennas. This is a work in progress. The dragon took shape with a green outline in the wing sections and firey orange and yellows for the fire. I started basic skin tones on my soldier and the maiden. To make the dragon pop, I incorporated some black behind him to produce a deep shadow. I traced him with a black sharpie. I used a flesh toned sharpie to the snout section and the knee portion of the dragon. Mind you, a fine sharpie created the scales on the legs. I used a sepia oil pastel crayon to darken the snout and the scales on the knees. When I think of mystical creatures, the colors green and blue come to mind. They seem to bring a subject to life. So, I delved as much gree...

I’m starting another project. This project is difficult for me since I don’t have a mystical bone in my body. I love looking at magical scenes but cannot create one. So, I dreamed up a fair maiden protecting a dragon in which she grew very fond. The dragon is far from needing her protection. Perhaps, it is the soldier who needs the protection from the dragon. I wanted to stray away from taking photographs and getting to use my oil pastels more frequently. To create the dragon I had to watch many videos on how a dragon should look. So, I drew my special dragon from how I saw him.  Remember, I am a self-taught artist. If this scene doesn’t come together, then I will keep trying until I reach perfection. Heehaww!

Blogging about Blogging Advice! Geesh! By Catherine Ratliff   Rose by Jayden Ratliff Yes, we have a million bloggers giving advice about how to sell your art, where to sell your art, to whom to sell your art, and the mistakes you make when marketing your art.   The information I stumbled across while reading random blogs, as an artist, is extremely helpful.   It’s true that no one person is absolutely correct when speaking on the subject of selling your artwork on a blog. Marketing experience is helpful.   So, I will give props to the experts who have more experience than most people from sitting in a marketing class while obtaining their degrees or just everyday strategizing to sell their work.   I don’t believe that you will get the bulk of your sales via blogging.   However, it can pull some traffic onto your websites. This point is a common statement made on advice blogs. I was perusing through some blogs about how to sell your w...