Inaugural bears!

My Colourbox teddy bears are gathered together to join in the inauguration celebrations. Yes, they are inaugurating a new home in the printer's tray in the conservatory after years in a dusty box. They've even had a bath! They were happy to be reunited with their American fimo friend, sent as an ambassador many years ago by our American cousins, well mother in law actually. Much cake and ice cream, and no doubt much giggling will ensue.

Oh yeah, isn't there some kind of huge inaugural party going on somewhere else as well?!? Hope they have fun too!

The story of the yellow dress


Oh dear, should have used the scanner for this page! I was wondering what to do for yellow. Not a colour I use much. On Sunday my little boy was asking about my rings. I have a ring from my mother, grandmother and great grandmother which gets him interested in family history. We looked at some photos of the women in question and answered his questions. Sadly he never met any of them. He also divied up the rings between him and his sister! In his dreams....

But in the same box as the photos were 2 old jotters from P4 (3rd grade in the USA) which I had written. That year we had to write a diary entry every day. My spelling was dreadful and little was usually written but I loved to draw even then and drew loads. Every now and then I got quite enthused about an event. The last page has an entry about a play that was staged in the gym hall called "The ring and the rose" in which, apparently, a lady wore a yellow dress at the end! This is what I would put her in today.

More January journaling catch up ---orange, white, and green

Phew, getting caught up on the scanning and uploading. I've enjoyed the colour part of the challenge, even the yellow. Although orange proved to be my least favourite thing I've painted but hey, we can't all produce masterpieces (!/) each time we lift up a paintbrush.

White was fun. I used lots of yellow and gold under the white.

Green was loads of fun and I used lots of layers many of which I sandpapered away to reveal the colour underneath. Just can't resist the white dots....


But I really hate this profile and think I'll paint over it later and try again. Oh well.

Blue.........
Colour challenge week is certainly interesting. I found blue to be more interesting than I thought while orange turned out most unsatisfactorily. Green is going well but I need some daylight to do the skin tones. Ah, the joys of layering paint and then applying sandpaper! A revelation!

The blue page above is mainly ocean blue graphitint pencil with some paint washed through and into some doily masks. The whole feel and imagery was inspired by a wonderful Glasgow Girl artist called Jessie M King, a contemporary of Charles Rennie MacIntosh. Google her and check out her wonderful detailed fairy tale romantic illustrations - much to enjoy and inspire. I used some of her elements and cunningly avoided drawing her hand. As my bloggy friend Rhomany says, life is too short to draw hands. Excellent philosophy in life, one I apply to ironing too.

Off to paint more. White is next I believe - exciting!

January journalling catch up

During the week I have been pleased that I have managed to pretty much keep with the challenge. OK, so I have dodged the self portrait challenge as I will need to work up to that one. I am trying some new things for me such as remembering how to do bodies. When I was much younger and last drew every day, I would make detailed drawings of Elizabethan portraits and draw all the dress details. Twenty years later, I've kind of forgotten how I did that. So I've started on a new learning curve - to show more than the neck and shoulders. Well, atleast occasionally! Here they are, including the flowery page awaiting a photo.

Hands - what are they? I don't do and never have done hands. I'm going for stylistic not realistic!


Happy birthday SIL- she really is a magician. This one is for Amye.

Fun with masks! It was intended for a photo but I'm enjoying the minimimalist look at present.

She's not quite doen but I have to grab scanner time when I can get it. She needs some more detail and some words. Later this afternoon or tonight while we watch tv, I can doodle away and finish her. She's also my offering for the Embrace the Face challenge. The challenge was Grow, so this lady is GRO, the name of one of DH's Norwegian ancestors.

Take care

Fiona

Misty's January Journalling challenge days 1-3



I think my challenge to myself within Misty's journal every day challenge will be to only use my own images or photos on the pages.





Sometimes the scanner doesn't pick up the subtle detail of the backgrounds but what can you do?
This one is a bit of a cheat as I started it on Hogmanay but the first was my birthday as I knew I wouldn't have too much time. Let's hope I can keep it up when I start work again tomorrow.