CommissionII: Finally Finished!

Well, I say finally mostly because I used that phrase on commission the first and thought it would be a good tag line. All in all it wasn't that painful a painting for me. I took my time, didn't get over whelmed, and I think it turned out well. It's certainly not going to go down in history as one of my mature pieces or anything, but considering how I had been apart from painting I did well. Painting is a cruel mistress to those who spurn her.

I'm afraid this photo doesn't really do it justice and I plan to try to get a better photo of it tomorrow. Can't promise anything, but I do have details of the faces in the painting.

Mostly I'm used to using way more paint. This was very bare bones for me. You can see the under coat of raw sienna! This kind of bugs me even though it looks good. It looks good in the photo and it looks good in real life. I just wish I can convince part of me that it is good. The main reason I used so little paint was I got the effect I needed without adding more. The second reason is this painting is huge and I am not getting a ton of money for it and I can't afford to cover the painting with any more paint. Had it turned out bad I would have uses as much painting as needed to fix it. I was just lucky. Or skilled. Not talented.

CommissionII: Just the guy left

Only pausing from painting to take a quick shot this morning. I'll take another as soon as I finish. Trying to get done today!

CommissionII: Getting Close

I'll type something tomorrow. I'm almost certain I'm getting a migraine.

Fiverr: Civil War Man

This one was a bit difficult for me. I had two photographs, one of a teenager in civilian clothes and one of the same as an adult, but in a war time uniform. I took the older man and put him in civilian clothes.

And gave the image color.

I think it turned out all right. I think it looks like him. And it's a pretty good painting.

Food: Home Made Chicken Noodle

I know, I know, two food posts in a row! But I promise tomorrow I will have two art posts at least and a language post.

This I'm just happy it turned out all right. I thought I might have messed up, but I kept cooking and things turned out pretty much ok. I know I'm not the best chef in the world, but I like cooking with good ingredients and not out of a box.

I know I could cook fresher food, get the meat straight from a butcher or find fruit and veggies at a farmers market, and I do sometimes. But it's much easier and closer to go to the store and not hike across town or hitch a ride from my roomie people.

I suppose I'll have to get over my fear of city driving.

Nah, I'll just keep painting.

Oh, finished a painting tonight that has been giving me fits! But I'll post it tomorrow, along with explanation!

Food: Chicken Machani

For some reason, I'm really creative when it comes to cooking. With painting and drawing I have a real process I follow. With cooking. Well. I usually start with an idea and it runs away screaming by the time I break out a pan.

For this endeavor I actually had an idea and a recipe. Chicken Machni is an Indian or Pakistani dish that I have had a couple of times and I have quite enjoyed. Though of course a few of the times I had Indian or Pakistani friends telling me "that's not how it really is..."

So I really have no clue how chicken machani is really supposed to taste! I have had, however, some excellent food made by Sufian-Bahi's wife who is one of the best cooks I know, so I know how good Indian food is supposed to taste. She even taught me how to make daal ka paratha which is my absolute favorite! Unfortunately I never learned how to make other foods from her, which is one of my major regrets!

So I hatched a plan to make some tasty chicken and gravy dish "like I had at Sufian-Bahi's house" knowing full well I had no idea how to do it. I surfed online looking for a recipe that called for things I had in stock (as I'm on a budget!) and mentally went through all the things I knew about food.

Cooking was kind of fun. I spent most of the time reading the ingredients and instructions and looking at what I had infront of me, making many, many decisions on the fly. "I dont need a whole box of butter! Good lord! I need more cilantro! I'm out of milk.... Ooh! Powdered milk, and it's organic: score! I don't really have gravy yet, thank you, cousin, for the cornstarch to thicken it up."

And on and on. Finally at the end of it I had something that wasn't too hot and spicy so my cousin could eat it, but something I found uber flavorful. And it certainly wasn't chicken machani, but it really tasted like Indian chicken I have had before. I was going to make alo paratha with it, but I was just tired by the end of it and broke out the insta-rice.

Maybe next time I will have all fresh ingredients too. I like cooking well on a budget.

Sketches: Memphis Park

So it's been awhile since I have gone anywhere and sat down and actually drawn from life. So when my cousins' decided that we were going on  picnic my first thought was. "It's way too early." But I drug myself out of bed and into the pre-noon sun and fixed us up a tasty picnic of lunch meat and cheese and hand made rolls and salad and melon and we set off toward the park.

I had no idea what to expect. In Ruston parks are trees and a lake and maybe there will be some people there. When we got to the Memphis park there were golfers and a museum and what looked like a bunch of people out for a carnival. The number of people steadily grew. There was one group practicing drums in what looked to be a giant jam session. The beats colored everything, giving the day a nice boho feel. Some people with hoola hoops and some with these strange sticks or balls and fabric practicing to the beat of them. I'm pretty sure I smelled evidence that a lot of people were high. Along the way there were people dressed up in period clothing having sword fighting lessons and gathered around. There was a team of people playing ultimate frisbee. And there were a ton of people walking their dogs and letting their dogs swim in the lake that had a very large sign: "No dogs allowed off leash or in lake" I am paraphrasing, but the idea was the same. 

So I ended up drawing the people drumming, and I started drawing the trees and the lake, but I got distracted. (You can't really see a lake!) I think it will be fun to go there again. and paint some different people. I hope more sword fighters come again, because I didn't paint them. Honestly I couldn't, I kept cringing when the shorter guy wouldn't center himself and man up and block. And the other fighter was just moving his arms without any other body movement to help. As a sword fighter this disturbed me greatly and kept me from concentrating enough to paint them. I will try to be more artist than sword fighter next time though! I can't wait to see who else will show up, and what I will have a chance to sketch and draw!

Website!

Website!

No, not one for me. I've still got a lot to do, photographing and photoshopping my work. But that will happen one day :)

No, no, my cousin has started her own blog talking about her new house and all of the projects she is doing. It's an older 1938 house and there are tons of things that need to be done, and have been done! So she's writing about her home improvement projects. She and her husband are definitely do it yourself people!

http://improvingourhome.blogspot.com/

And her husband started a blog as well. I am sure everyone wants to know how to get their own indentured servant to take care of cooking and cleaning, especially in a house like my cousins' with all of these large projects that are happening with both of them having jobs. Having an indentured servant is a great investment. He'll go through where to find one, how to pick one out, and how to trick them into offer them work. It's a blog that I read and laugh out loud! The humor is not for anyone, but I just love it. And it's a blog about me! (Sorta)

http://ourindenturedservant.blogspot.com/

Fiverr: Roxy

Roxy
Oil on Mat Board
4x6"

I thought this one was really cute. Looks just like my Jack did, except Jacks ears were always really pointed. I thought this one wouldn't turn out really well, but in the end I think it did. Especially the eyes. I had fits with those eyes...

Process: Gessoing Mat Boards

One way I like to save money is by practicing on pieces of mat or illustration or some other thin board. For larger work I use brown paper which is fun to work on, making the oil work more like pastel than paint; but for smaller pieces (less than 5x7 inches) I like something a little more stiff that is not going to roll up. Paper can be taped down to masonite and you don't have to prime it.

I guess technically you won't have to prime a piece of mat board or the like, but I prefer to prime it. An easy way to prime the board is hit it with a coat of shellac. Amber shellac can be found at Lowe's and last time I bought it, a quart cost $15.00, and lasts for just about ever. It gives the board a nice, smooth, glossy surface. It takes oil fairly well, though it will wipe completely off the surface so it's not good for rub ins, just thick wet into wet painting.

For something with more tooth, gesso works well. I always use three coats. The first one as smooth and as covering as possible. The second I make thicker so you can see the brushstrokes, all moving in one direction. The next coat, after that one has dried completely I do with thick lines going perpendicular to the first set. This gives the board a nice, woven texture, almost like a piece of canvas.

Anyway you choose to do it, it helps if the pieces are acid free. They'll actually keep then. You can use cardboard for the substrate if you wish, but your painting will not last because of the acid in the cardboard.

Anyway, it'll be good for practice if you don't want to spend a lot of money on canvas! I managed to get a ton of mat board for free, and have had it for years now! And had I not left my shellac open accidentally and ruined it I would have still been using that can.