Small Things...

I recently finished an experiment in making backgrounds using watercolors and masking fluid.  I kept fiddling with it (adding color pencil, gold ink and finally some faux gold leaf) and it turned out decent enough to present to someone.  I thought it would make a nice surprise for my Dad, so I took some photos of it and sent it to him.  At first I figured I would just take a picture of it while it was still attached to the watercolor block (see below, top)...

...but after cutting it free of the block and trimming it down to the right size (see above, second picture down), I realized that the composition of the piece had changed, so I took another picture.

I then framed it, and that changed it again (or at least made it look 'finished'), so I took another picture.

I had forgotten how much the little things affect an artwork.

Here are a few close-ups of the piece.  The title I gave it is "Quimbly the Fire Mouse."

New Ernest picture!

Here is my newest watercolor picture---Ernest with a cluster of bluebells.  This painting turned out quite well, and I added a little bit of colored pencil and a little bit of white gouache for some highlights.

Bleached Shoes

When my Mom came out to visit us last month, we went shoe shopping for Jonathan.  Mom got her grandson a pair of sandals and (joy of joys!) a cuter-than-cute pair of orange and white clown fish shoes.  Mom found a pair of shoes that she liked for herself, so she bought those and asked if I would like a pair as well.  They didn't have a pair of fish shoes in my size (I asked), so I thought it might be fun to make a pair of rabbit shoes by applying bleach to some plain black ones.  I finally got around to it yesterday during Jon's nap, and I like how they came out.

Ernest and the Carrot

The following set of sketches are a sequence shot of Ernest trying to weed the garden.  Weeding is one of the big, important jobs that Ernest got to trade his big brother for, so the event transpiring in the third sketch is a pretty big deal.  The next few lines are an excerpt from the current story text.

'It came up easily with a small "pop!"...It wasn't a weed.  It was a carrot!

...Ernest tried to push it back into the ground, but it wouldn't go.'

I've done this plenty of times--trying to plant something, only to have it snap in half in the crisp, delicate way only plants can do. 

Recent Sketches of Ernest and his Dad

This is a story sketch of Ernest, after rolling off the family car and into the bucket of soapy water. 

Sketch of Ernest's Dad painting the kitchen shelf.  I was quite pleased with

how this quick drawing came out, though I don't know if this exact part of the story will be kept.

Evan's Amazing Fruit, or Something Inconsequential

My husband and I got a white Ikea highchair for our son about three or four months ago, and I wanted to decorate the seat.  So with a permanent marker, I drew a bunch of crazy-looking rabbits that I was quite proud of, but then found to my dismay that after a few dozen wipes with a wet washcloth, the drawings came off--I don't know what kind of plastic Ikea uses to make these things, but it's good stuff.  All the food that's been smeared on it has wiped (or flaked) off with no problems at all.  (If you look closely, you can spot two of the rabbits in different stages of being rubbed off.)

A month or two later, I felt compelled to draw on the tray that came with the highchair.  I wanted to decorate something that didn't matter and wouldn't last long.  Perhaps it was because I had been working on too many projects that felt too important to make mistakes on.  Drawing Evan (the bunny-person in the beret and lacy collar) and his amazing flying 'fruit' was quite freeing.  FYI, the three different 'fruits' are (from top to bottom) a strawberry, a soybean, and a butternut squash.

My son, Jonathan, turned 9 months old yesterday. It's been just over a year now since the last entry was published (where did the time go?!), so I'd finally like to take the opportunity to upload another installment of "Ernest."
The newest picture is a watercolor of Ernest and his big brother Sam's pet weevil. This watercolor is one of my best yet, I think. Every one I complete feels richer in color than the one before it. The hamster ball was difficult--I wanted the background behind the ball to appear a bit distorted and 'fogged out' through the plastic. I think I got an okay result in the end, if not completely satisfying one. One of my favorite parts of the painting is the rug Ernest is laying on. The color scheme came from a sweater I inherited from one of my grandmothers. The sweater is old and worn, but I'm not ready to let go of it yet, and working on this painting gave me a good excuse to pull it out again.