Painting - Underwater 4

Underwater
4x5"
Oil on Mat Board

Decided to go ahead and upload this painting today. Don't really have much more to say about these :P Hope to get them dried and mailed off. Interested in having me paint one just for you? Send me an email at Violinagin (a) gmail dot com!

Painting - Underwater 3

Underwater
4x5"
Oil on Mat board

Another one in the underwater series. I have three of them that fit together, and I did one with a turtle that may or may not fit  with those three. I think that this group of paintings has been quite fun! I will definitely paint more like this. Hopefully I can get some of my own photos instead of having to take coral and fish and water from different photos and combine them together.

... Or maybe I'm just thinking of an excuse to swim with dolphins!

Craft - Bookbinding

Book
Book Cloth, Japanese paper, gold paper, bookboard, rice paper, linen texture paper
4" x 10.5"

This is what I worked on for two days. Let me just say that everything was perfect. I sanded down the book board perfectly. I glued everything perfectly and there was not a drop anywhere. I hand cut each piece of paper from letter head that would have gotten chunked. Everything was lining up perfectly. And I had everything done except drilling it together this morning.

Le Sigh.

You can guess what happened from my picture. My drill decided all that work was for nothing, and skipped and made my post hole wonky. (That just sounds dirty!) But that is what happened. See the left post up there? See how it's angled down a little bit?? It's not absolutely perfect!! ARGH!

Otherwise, the book would have been absolutely perfect. Anyone want to buy me a drill press? Please? I'll give you a free book that will be absolutely perfect :D I'll even hand make the inside paper for you! I'm not above begging! No takers? Well, if you happen to know of a person who doesn't want their drill press and loves handmade books, please hook us up! I might make a person a book if they get me in touch with a person who can get me a drill press.

Also, I will soon have the most awesome website imaginable. I got tired of trying to code it myself, and I'm getting someone else to do it for me. Yay! I'll post a link once it's done. Shouldn't be too long as soon as I get the photographs ready for it. (Darn my computer for having me delete everything and making me do more work!)

Anyway, I have to go socialize at three, so I've got to head out and get ready to step out into sunlight for the first time in forever. OMG! Social interaction! I think I've forgotten what to do :D

Painting - Underwater 2

Underwater II
Oil on Matboard
4x5"

When I was three, all I wanted to do was be a marine biologist. When I thought of becoming a marine biologist I dreamed I would swim with dolphins and collect shells and study tide pool ecosystems and paint just like Lassen. Obviously I was a confused three year old, but hey, I had a dream!

I still wouldn't mind being an actual marine biologist (even knowing that they don't swim with dolphins every day), but I sort of like my painterly style a lot more than the almost photo realistic style I used to have on every folder and notebook I owned.

I'm not knocking his style! I still love it, and given the choice I'd still buy a dolphin notebook to this day. But for my own work, it's just not me! So I loved having an opportunity to try my hand at the bright, underwater world I loved as a child.

Next I will probably visit my entomology years. :)

Paintings - 13 Lucky Paintings

Paintings (some unfinished)
4x5"
Oil on Mat board

Well, here is why I've been so silent. I've just got them done today! Yay! I took some photographs of each one, but until I take the time to edit, this is it for now. I've got a few more to do from another commission and then I'm revamping my gig.

And I'm going to start focusing on my own art. I like doing my daily paintings! I want to start doing larger art for shows.

Oh, and I'm halfway done with writing another article for my blog. I should learn to write when the tv is on, because I think I'd get a lot more done. I could lock myself into the sunroom, but I don't have a comfortable chair, and my butt hurts from sitting there painting during the good light of the day.

Speaking of which, I better get to it! I've also got mail to ship!!

Drawing - SCA Couple

Couple
Carbon Pencil and Chalk on Paper
4x6"

I think this one turned out nice! I really liked the photo and I was happy to draw this one. I am not sure if it has anything to do with the Society for Creative Anachronism, but it was the first thing I thought of when I saw the photo. So that's the title of my drawing! Mostly because if I keep naming them based on the subject, I'm going to have "couple1, couple2, couple3 all the way to couple 2747" and I didn't want that to become a problem. I'm already up to couple7.

At least, I can hope I have that many commissions!

Painting - Turkey Sammich 3

Turkey Sandwich 3

Oil on Matboard

4x5"

And here is the final painting in the Turkey Sandwich trifecta. I based all of them on other paintings, and added the turkey sandwich for a foodie that I really enjoyed painting for. I wish I had done these larger though. I really love them! And I think I could have gotten some good painting practice doing master copies larger. 

All right. I've got thirteen paintings to finish and I will be doing my best to get them done in a timely manner. After that, I'm redoing my Fiverr and my Etsy account. And I will be making time for my own paintings from life, which I have neglected in the search for rent money. 

Also, if you have OCD, please get help. :)

The Giveaway! - The Winner!

And then winner of one 8x10" painting by yours truly is.....




Vibha Sharma! Yay!

I'll be emailing you shortly!


But first I want to thank everyone who entered and spread the word about my blog and my giveaway! I had a lot of fun, and I was thinking about making this a monthly thing; maybe trying different prizes! So, if you didn't win this time, like my page on facebook, follow me on twitter, and follow the blog. You could have another chance to win!

Painting - Turkey Sammich 2

Turkey Sandwich

Oil on Mat Board

4x5"

So, I got a commission to paint turkey sandwiches. I also got free reign. Which was great because what I chose to do was pick still life work that I liked, and I did a master copy while putting in a tasty sammich. I love the actual paintings. So fun, and vibrant, and they have some good painting I did. At least I think so. I know they aren't exactly like the originals, but the originals didn't have turkey sandwiches, and neither were they four by five inches. So I had to play around a bit with size and proportion and detail. 

I think I came up with something that works. Though honestly, I want to try this on a larger scale!

All right, now I have to finish thirteen paintings! I've got a few started, but these are going to do me in. Wish me luck!

Painting - Kiss

The Kiss

Oil on Mat Board

5x7"

Some people ask me to paint things and they have excellent taste! They send me he best photographs and tell me to have fun and do my best! *hugs* thank you for picking out amazing things for me to paint, because I ended up and loved them all! This, and Romance, and Airstream are some of my favorite paintings now.

Each was done with a good, black and white photo. I was pretty much given free reign, and nothing was outside of the scope of the project, which allowed me to do really good work. At least I think so. But I am told I should be more modest. But really! Did you see those three paintings! I loved them!

Next up! Turkey sandwiches and other good ideas.

Still a bit of time left in the giveaway too!!

Painting - Romance

Romance

Oil on Mat Board

5x7"

Is it bad if I keep falling in love with pictures I'm supposed to be sending off to people? This one I had to send off, but I had to fight off my cousin and myself. I tried to get a good picture, but it's really hard to show how shiny the light is, actually making it seem iridescent in the light parts. At least, that's the way my cousin describes it. 

I thought this was a good one to post before Valentine's Day. I've got a few more to post that are lovey dovey.

The giveaway is still on for a few more days! Don't miss out :)

Painting - Hummingbird

Hummingbird
Oil on Mat Board
4x5"

I've been doing a lot of painting! And I've been sitting here thinking just how great it is to be able to paint and do this as my full time job.

For this painting I discovered that I love Alizarin and sap green with raw sienna and white. I know there are other colors in this painting, but I had so much fun just mixing up those for several areas on the bird. I want to go and work on mixing those colors! It's so pretty!

Well, I've got 16 more paintings to do, and a very short time to do them. :)

Head on over to my giveaway and enter to win a custom 8x10" painting!

The Giveaway! - A "How To"

Dog
Oil on Mat Board
4x5

Ok, so it's not the size of an 8x10, which is what I am giving away! But it is one of my newest paintings. And I always start with art, so, there's a puppy!

So, on to the how to! It's really quite simple, and I've made screen shots!

You do have to log into the raffle copter widget to enter. You can link it to your facebook, or just add your name and email. I do need one or the other so that I can contact you through raffle copter if you win! It's just so I'm not asking people to share their email addresses on a public blog post. (Can anyone say SPAM?! I'm looking out for y'all!)

After you log in, this screen will pop up and you will have to scroll down to post a comment on my blog.

I honestly thought the Post a Comment link was larger. I'm going to have to fix that.

After you post a comment you can go up and click on that green button (Which will now say, "Did it" or something like that. I didn't want to enter my own contest. Though I kind of accidentally did. I'm going to take my name out! I promise!)

And look! After you tell it you've done it, you now have more chances to enter! You can follow me on twitter, or post to your blog, or like me on facebook or even share the giveaway on facebook!

If you are still having problems entering, just let me know and I'll try and walk you through it. I had to learn to do it too! Which is why this is going up a day later, after I got all the kinks out! :)

So now, Go forth and ENTER the contest!

The Giveaway!

Painting - Underwater

 Underwater
Oil on Mat Board
4x5"

Well, today is a marathon painting day. I have painted four already, including this one. I will have to paint two more, and do two drawings. Can't blog now!

Don't forget about the give away coming up!

Craft - Spinning

Look at what I got! Batting for spinning yarn, and I'm very excited about this. My friend Rachel told me about a spin along she was doing and suggested I join up to, and I'm glad I did!

Basically, you don't know the batting you'll be getting, but you pick a card and you get batting dyed based on the card. I picked the card "la chalupa" for the yellow greens, blues, and oranges in the card, but the batting seemed more based on what was actually in the canoe. Doesn't matter, what I got was completely awesome.

What I can't show is the sari silk that just sparkles in this batt. Oh, it's just beautiful! I'm almost afraid to touch it, so it's a good thing I have batts to practice spinning on before I start working on this one.

I also still have about six paintings due tomorrow so I'm not starting till that is done! Might do it while the give away is going on.

Painting - Beach

Here is the finished painting from yesterday! I've got several more to do tonight, but I'm running a bit behind. It might be tomorrow before I can get them uploaded.

Also, I've received some good feedback on facebook for a giveaway, so it looks like it will be taking place either Monday or Tuesday. Hope to see you here!