Have a Creepy Day...

Happy Halloween, everyone. That bowl of candy on my kitchen counter has GOT to go away tonight before I eat myself into a stupor...

This my mom. MY MOM!! Wow. Mom - I don't remember you being this cool when I was young. Sorry. But, you're cool now, and really - isn't that what matters?

A change is coming...

Fall Break Trip 045, originally uploaded by diahn.

For the month of November and the NaBloPoMo, this blog is going to look a little different - I'm just letting you know in advance.

Expect lots of photographs and text - not so many sketches and paintings. November is a time for gathering in all the things that have made the year special and celebrating them. It is a month to be thankful and breathe before the rush to Christmas and the New Year begins. I always get a little philosophical this time of year and start pondering on the way life has gone and what could I do to change what I didn't like and improve what I did.

I also start trying to figure out how to make a chore schedule for my kids that works, but that's a topic for another day...

So, I hope all 20 or so of you that drop by here on a regular basis will stick with me on this daily blog extravaganza. I hate to take this little side trip alone.

A Little Blurry

October 001, originally uploaded by diahn.

The picture, that is...but it was the best we could get with all the people milling about and such. This is Contemplation #7...Judgment, hanging in the juried member show at the Fountain City Art Center. No prizes this time, but that's okay - it was a really nice show and I was glad to be among some fantastic paintings!

Meerkat Mindfulness

Meerkat Mindfulness, originally uploaded by diahn.

Not sure what they're teaching over at the zoo, but the animals seem remarkably calm.

Omphaloskepsis

Omphaloskepsis, originally uploaded by diahn.

Who knew?

Sketching Away the Weekend

I found some time to sketch while on Fall Break...

Fall Break

Can it possibly be late October already? My word, time does fly. As our school system seems to think it necessary to break every three weeks for some reason or another, we took a little trip up to the Indian Boundary Campground and Lake in the Cherokee National Forest over the weekend. The weather was just perfect, the leaves were putting on a show, and a good time was had by all. You can flip through some images here, if you're interested, or just click over to flickr and see them there. Or not. Completely up to you...

Happy Autumn, everyone...

Playing

I'm still playing - for some reason this past week or so has been very creatively charged. A lunar anomaly? Solar flares? I dunno. Not complaining.

I really liked the contour drawing of the man I did yesterday, but I wanted to see what it would look like with a little color added. I DIDN'T want to change the drawing I had made, however. So, I scanned the original drawing and printed it out on a 4x6" watercolor postcard. Then, I added a little water to the lines to start the process, then a little watercolor, and voila..

And now, for something completely different...

...I've been way to serious lately, what with Contemplations and Stop Injustices, etc. So...for a little lighter fare...

A little pretty...

...and yes, I realize I have reached and, in fact, surpassed my daily allotment of ellipses, but it's Friday, and Fridays are "use up your leftover ellipses" days. Didn't you get the memo? Sheesh.

the technical stuff...acrylic...6x6"...canvas...

...

Blind Contour** Friday??

Haven't seen any in a long time - but they used to be pretty popular...

From the WDE at WetCanvas





**a blind contour drawing is done while looking only at the subject, not at your paper.

Stop Injustice

16x20"
acrylic on canvas

Contemplation #7: Judgment

Finished, I think.



is it possible that we judge most harshly what we fear we will become?

Contemplation #7 - WIP -update 10.3.07.12:00 pm

This is the 4th painting in my Contemplation series. Yes, I realize it says #7, that's because it is Contemplation #7, not painting #7. They're mine, I can paint them in whatever order I choose. :-) I've already done #s 1, 5 and 6.

It is on a 24x24" gallery wrapped canvas, in acrylics, and it is a long way from complete, but I wanted to put it up in stages. This is just after toning the canvas with quinacridone magenta and transferring my drawing over, then using quin. magenta to establish some darks and lights. The white is gesso where I've had to go back in an get some lights back - they'll be toned down later. I'm planning on doing this painting in my modified Flemish technique, so the next thing (after I'm pretty happy with this stage) will be to create the dead layer and then start glazing.

Then, of course, I'll have to start adding the things in that make it a contemplation rather than just a portrait.

And I need to fix the left (viewer right) eye.

Okay, I'm going to try to update in this post, so it stays in the correct time sequence. We'll see if that works...

I'm kind of breaking the rules, because I decided to do my "dead layer" in the pink as well, just to experiment a little and see what will happen when I start adding layers. Will it work? I don't know...but here's where I am in pinkville...

The left eye is much better, but there is now a really hard edge on that side of the nose that I need to take care of before I start glazing. I'm trying to really even out the skin tones before I put on the first layer of color, so I have a little more work to do in pink.

rollin along...

Well, the wine and chocolate gave me a migraine, but trooper that I am, I pressed on. Now I'm kind of stuck. Should I leave the background my favorite (yet slightly obnoxious and disturbing) quinacridone magenta? Another color? Hmmm. I'm just not sure, yet. This contemplation is on Judgment - that is...how we judge others, not on exercising good judgment...that's pretty harsh, so maybe the harsh background fits. I think I'll let it sit for a while before I decide.

If you like seeing all the in-between steps, click over to my flickr account - they are all there. I'm going to update the YouTube movie later so it will show the complete progression until now.

If you have an opinion about the background - feel free to share it.

And could someone bring some excedrin?

Me Tube!!

I just had to try this to see if it would work - it's like time lapse painting!