Altered Clothes Pin Swap

This was such a FUN project! I haven't done anything like this in more years than I can remember.
A huge thanks to Patti G for setting this swap up, and to the rest of the ArtfulInspirations ladies for... well, being inspirations. ;-)

Cairn Park Visit

I took the family to Cairn Park on Sunday to enjoy some of the sunshine before we went back to grey skies for the rest of the week. Naturally we took the camera along!

Pretty sketchy

My lovely and patient daughter sat for me last night. She's an old hand at being a reference model for me and has become very good at it.
This is how all of my pieces start out. Plain old pencil and paper. It's how the original "fairy in sweats" got started, and this is my attempt to update her.
I think I'm going to try to spread my own wings with this one and not just go with the "safe" and comfortable method I'm used to. An experiment! We'll see how it turns out.

Mild Mediums?

This was my very first attempt with oil paints.
I'd always been very intimidated by oils. In my head they were what "real artists" used, not a schlub like me.

Oddly, it was getting comfortable with digital painting that gave me the courage to try oils. Of course the reality was quite different! For one, I learned the hard way not to keep my coffee cup right next to the turpentine. In case you were wondering, no, coffee doesn't rinse oil paint off the brush. Doh!

The other thing I learned was how forgiving oils really are, because they dry slow and you can fix small booboos while it's still wet. Of course, the other side of that particular coin is having to have a side project going. They dry reeeeeeally slow especially living on the edge of a temperate rain forest, as I do.

This was my second oil, when I'd finally given myself permission to enjoy what I was doing, and I think it shows in this one.

I can see all the mistakes, but somehow I still like looking at it. Plus, he's so happy with his lily!

It's actually fairly rare that I can enjoy my older pieces. After a while I start to see ONLY the mistakes and none of what I liked about it originally. Anyone else have that problem?

Anyways, new links over to the side there! Check out some amazing medium mixers whose work is ANYthing but mild. I've discovered that simmering coal of creativity in myself once more after enjoying their sites and their art.

Thanks AI! :-D