Penguin Polar Bear Present

I finished an acrylic painting!

From sketch to finished product it took me most of the week.

There were a few moments where I was pretty sure I was going to loath it, and never wanted to work on it again. Who cares if I can paint or not? But I pushed through and finished it.

Walking away is always a risk. Will you come back? Will it be worth finishing? Well, I won that round. I walked away, came back, and finished it.

When I looked at it again on the monitor, I noticed a problem with some proportion. I cheated and used Photoshop to fix it. Much happier now. I even did the "turn it upside down, flip it over, grey it out" trick. All good for the most part.

Now to figure out what I want to draw and paint next. Ideas?

Have a great weekend,

Rhoda

Learning Curve

There's always a learning curve. Always.

There are times where I feel I am just on the inside of the curve, about to make it around the bend, and then something else comes up and I never really make it around that curve.

It really must be a circle.

Because I KNOW that I make it past that bend. But there is never any "let's cruise for a bit" straight stretch.

My latest learning curve. Acrylic paints. And I'm working this circle with all the patience and perseverance I can muster. Why? Because my next set of circles will be digital painting. Bring on the curves!!

Here is my "dancing elf" that I also worked up as a digital stamp:

Kyla gave up on me. We spent about 2 1/2 hours coloring on Sunday. Her's will remain unfinished...she is already over it :) I came back to mine and worked on it for another hour Monday and then a bit on Tuesday.

I had already sketched out my 2nd drawing to try. After I get my art students settled,  I paint a little too. Modeling. I show them that I don't just give them assignments, I give myself assignments too :)

This one still has a load of work left to be done...but I'm happy that you can at least tell what it is supposed to be :)

Someday. One curve at a time....

Rhoda

Winner Winner...Turkey Dinner?

Morning :)

I promised a few free digis...and I'm here to deliver.

Hopefully you all are checking back in, because I don't have emails for a couple of you.

Winners were chosen by a random number generator and the order of your posts:

#7 - Jacq:
Hi Rhoda, these new images are just so cute! My favourite things in all the world are bunnies (I have my own little guy called Robbie) and snowmen so you know I'm lovin' these! :)

#8 - Mandy:
Loving the new images, especially the snowman, I am a sucker for snowmen, they remind me of happy days as a child. We don't have snow very often in the UK so it always seems like a special event when we have some to play with :)

#5 - Gail:
Hi Rhoda - You have such a great talent in drawing! I can only draw stick people! I like the snowman drawing - I am partial to snowmen! 

Each of you can choose 2 digis from my shop. Just convo or email me with your choice and I will get them sent.

My Thanksgiving plans have changed :( A nasty stomach bug hit the house, Hayden and I have been stuck home for 2 days with it. I know we will be feeling better by this afternoon, but I really don't want to transport the "bugs" down to my sister. I'm staying home. Super bummed about it, but it was the right choice. She doesn't need a houseful of sick kids.

Not sure what we will find to do, but hopefully something fun will pop up.

I finished a couple more paintings before the bug took me down:

And a few more line drawings. So there will be more to come :)

Happy Turkey Day,

Rhoda

Revisiting Watercolor

Happy Sunday :)

I spent the weekend drawing and painting.

Watercolors.

They used to be my favorite. The only thing I painted with in High School. Then I tried acrylic. It's okay, but without having any formal training with it, I get frustrated. Along came Copic Markers and my painting days came to a screeching halt.

But, this weekend I decided to give the watercolors another chance. I wasn't sorry. There is still a ton for me to learn and experiment with, but I'm pretty happy with the results.

Here are a couple of last weeks line drawings done up with paint:

My hope is to add a few more to the collection and then have my sister write a story to go with them. I'm going to get her published one way or another :)

Have a great week!!

Rhoda

Flowers and Barbed Wire

I was patient.

I've worked on this for a number of days.

Set it aside.

Worked again.

And now that it is done, I am thinking that my kitchen needs an over haul so that I can hang this on the wall as an accent.

I will post before and after photos. Painting door jams outside in the sun must have damaged my brain. I have never been a "design and decorate the house" kind of gal.

I feel this strange compulsion coming over me.

Bwaahhhaaa.

The paint store and I are about to be great friends!!

Rhoda

Eating and Sleeping...

I used to paint. Then I had kids.
My creative outlet became scrapbooking. Easier to contain. Easier to clean. Easier to walk away from and not worry about coming back to a mess made by creative monsters.

Now, I've found an online class for painting and mixed media collage. Bring on the mess.

Here is one of the paintings for the color class:
Fun, but not nearly as exciting as doing an image transfer. I have been dreaming of pages. Ideas are swirling. If I could just have a few un-interupted days. Can you imagine? :)
I keep thinking that this one needs more:
I was thinking about a word written in a swirly font. Not sure which word to choose. Ideas? Comments? Suggestions? Add them here. Help me get my brain moving!

I'm off to create. . .

Rhoda