blowing bubbles with Gerhard Richter and Dar Willliams

hi everyone!

There is no better way for me to spend an evening

than by painting.

Even when things don't go so well...

(acrylic on small canvas, 6" x 6")

The colors in these pics are way too yellow,

but i'm posting anyway.

I wanted to show how sometimes,

the process doesn't always go so smoothly.

When i was at this stage (above),

i thought the arm was too extended,

and i didn't like the face

so i painted over it.

Then i thought she was leaning forward too much,
and i hated the neck.

fixing or changing things in a painting
is really not that difficult.

You can see where i painted over the face

and the arm again...

At first, it may look messy

but in time, it's all "fix-able"!

If you're not comfortable with something, change it.

It's a painting - not brain surgery. ;-)

Finally coming together for me here...

this is closer to the actual color 
(taken by the window this morning)
although in reality, it's more turquoise than blue.

i love blowing bubbles...

In the springtime, i sit on the front porch
and blow bubbles. I do.

Who said blowing bubbles was uncool after a certain age?

After i painted this, i watched this film
on Gerhard Richter.

I wasn't sure i would like it at first -
to watch a man put paint to a canvas
and then use a squeegee to go over it.

But it's about far more than that...
He is about far more than that.

He can paint things like this:

and like this...

but he chooses to paint this...(below)

because this has more meaning to him

at this time in his life.

It's not about what sells

or what the public expects from him.

it's about what he feels.

This is what fascinates me.

Now that he has the choice

to paint what he wants

he chooses this.

And speaking of feeling,

I'll end with a little video of a song

that i love as much today as i did 10 years ago...

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.

Thanks for being here...

xox

the girl in the ocean...

hello lovely people...

eyes, eyes, and more eyes. ;-)

a few things on the go this week...

see what happens when i slow down with the blogging?

It's actually hard for me sometimes

not to post ever day. :-)

So here we go!

a painting i began recently - for a friend.

Still at the very early stages.

And this little baby i did last night.

This was so much fun to do.

I had forgotten how much i loved illustrating

I'm not sure whether the little girl is playing in the waves,

floating,

or drowning.

;-)

It's like that feeling

of just keeping our head above the water sometimes.

I bought this nice, thick, smooth white paper

supposedly for dry medium only.

yeah, whatever.

Dry, shmy.

I'll paint on toilet paper if i have to
so anything goes.
:-)

 i just knew i would add

acrylics or watercolor to this one.

i've never worked with COPIC markers, 

but i'm guessing they would've worked well

for something like this.

The paper absorbed the liquid acrylics

better than i thought it would

and it was thick enough

not to buckle the paper much at all.

a few colors and added white bubbles,

and there you have it.

i ended up doing her hair with brush markers

and i don't like it so much,

but it's done, so no regrets. 

Next time, i'll know better. 

Forgiven.

:-)

the little curious fish...

caught up in the waves of excitement. ;-)

I wanted her face a little softer than the rest

so i used colored crayons.

The coloring was so smooth on this paper...

i can't wait to do another one.

Maybe i'll do a little series?

Little girls at the beach.

By the way, i'm looking at doing a giveaway soon...

(YAY!!)

I'm not sure how it all works

to make sure it's a legitimate winner

but i'll be letting you know when it all comes together.

i may end up doing something like this illustration

The winner would get an original from moi,

hopefully to be hung on their own wall,

to make them smile when they see it,

and not sold at an auction somewhere in Minnesota

for like a gazillion dollars.

giggle.

A girl can dream, right?

Thank you all so much for visiting and commenting here...

It really makes my heart happy.

xoxo

bubbles... AEDM - day 21

ok, i  guess i must be doing the Art Every Day Month except for Weekends and the Occasional Day Here & There challenge. :-) If anything, this little exercise has connected me with some very talented creatives! So already, it's worth it.

This little drawing (in watercolor, colored pencil & white acrylic paint) was actually a f*ck up. :-)
I meant to do this cute little painting on a white background - nothing but the little girl blowing bubbles in clean, white space. I'm not even sure how i ended up adding color to the background, but i did. And before i knew it, there was way more color than what i wanted, and the cute little painting quickly became less & less of what i had envisioned in my head. Once you go overboard with something, you may as well go way overboard. So i decided to add more bubbles & artsy fartsy flowers. And there you have it.

Even if the end result isn't what we wanted or envisioned - sometimes, it's as important to learn to compromise, or be flexible - just go with the flow. Rather than rip up the page & throw it out, why not go with it & see where it takes you? The end result may not be what you wanted, but it may not be that bad either. And so what if it is bad? Maybe you're not the best judge, or maybe bad to you is good to someone else. Keep it anyway, as a little reminder that things don't always go as planned, and in the end, it's ok anyway.

love fish...

Greetings! I haven't posted in a while because for the past few weeks, most of my creative energy has gone into an e-course I've been taking called DO WHAT YOU LOVE FOR LIFE. I am not only learning every day, but I am connecting to like-minded people across the globe who share my passion for art. Every day brings me closer to what feels like "home". One of the best courses I've taken so far. I'm feeling a little cracked open these days... but in a good way. : )

So here's a little illustration I did years ago... they were actually greeting cards. This caption always made me smile (wanna make bubbles?)