Monthly Archives: August 2018

And It’s On!

View of Mingus, 8-27-18. SMD

I just love that swoosh of color. New shape of a shadow. Come and gone in a few moments time. Want to paint that.

I know I wasn’t the only one worried. Leslie Saeta posted today, time to sign up for the September 30 Paintings in 30 days challenge. In TWO DAYS!!?? I lost a week somewhere. Thought I still had a week to prep and paint a little. Are you ready for the challenge?

I have two themes in mind. But I may just go with the flow. I have decided to go small for the most part. My September calendar is full, only one week is clear of distractions.

New And Improved

I am so excited! I will be putting my new palette to use! Just finished setting it up. After researching palettes, paint colors, paint makers, and of course, how to set up a palette.

I decided on a Mijello 18-well palette. Hard decision, so many options available. I thought surely this would be big enough. HA! I like the abundant space for mixing. It takes up a lot of room on my desk. But I won’t need the multiple small porcelain palettes I used in addition to my Cotman sketchers box.

Yay!

I followed the examples of others, and washed the palette first. I made sure not to scratch it. I left space in each well to work, not filling them completely. And I made the cheat sheet.

It is not a perfect, or balanced, color wheel palette. There are some new colors that I might end up not liking, or using much. Time will tell. And already, I know of at least five colors I would like to add. A good grey being one of them.

I am clearly heavy on the light side. Not enough mid to dark values. I do have a basic red, blue and yellow, so the mixing options are wide open. Looking forward to the learning ahead.

Large storage box.

I found a great box at Michaels for storing my paint tubes. Meant for storing photos, you can find them in the scrapbook section. I bought two each of the large and small. They snap closed securely. Much better than the Ziploc I used at one time.

Pete is home!

Finished Proton Therapy on the 15th. There will be follow ups of course. They said it would be nine months before he feels 100%. He IS starting to sleep longer at night. That is a major relief for all of us! He is doing physical therapy and weight training to regain strength. And playing word games to strengthen different areas of the brain. Very happy to be home, and in his own bed!

So grateful for your well wishes and prayers!
Prayer is POWERFUL!
So blessed with your kindness and good thoughts!
Thank you!

The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26

We give thanks to God always for all of you,
constantly mentioning you in our prayers.
1 Thessalonians 1:2

Testing, Testing…

4 Replies

Light and Dark. 8-23-18, SMD

A chance of rain still. The next few days. The golden grasses are all a brilliant shade of green. Well. You might have to look closer, or just take my word for it.

Green on the hills. 8-23-18, SMD.

NEW TOYS. I MEAN SUPPLIES.

I purchased these, so excited to try new art toys. Michaels, Artist’s Loft Water Soluble Wax Pastels. It was the first time I saw them in the store here. Looking online, I found that they have been around for at least two years. Oh well. They are new to me, and I thought I would share.

Water Soluble Wax Pastels by Artist’s Loft

If I had to give these a rating, it would be a 2 out of 5. You can see below, the strength of pigmentation. The pinks and yellows all but disappear. There are 24 colors, no names though. It is hard to tell some of the colors apart. You can see it here, and in the test sheet below, that the colors do not blend easily. Most of the color stays where you put it.

24 Colors.

The pastels looked messy in the package. It also looked as if one of the purples had melted all over the wrapping. Not a big deal to me, but for gift giving that would be a disappointment. The pastels are covered with a white haze. I think it might be the ingredients separating, blooming like chocolate will. Funny, but I didn’t even notice that at the store. I must have been really excited!

First look.

I pulled a few colors to test and compare with Caran d’Ache Neocolor II. The pastels are really creamy, they go on smooth and are fun to draw with. First I laid down a heavy patch of color. For the second square, I pulled wet color from the first, to see how much color would be lifted. The third patch, I put a small amount of pastel. I added water, and spread the color. I pressed hard, to blend the color completely. But as you can see, the original marks remain. The Neocolors are the four at the bottom.

With the four samples on the right, I tried to blend two colors together. Red and Yellow. On top, I used a wet brush to pull color directly from the pastel. Very little color transferred. The second sample, I pulled color from the still wet samples on the left. The two side by side samples, I drew the colors on to the paper.

I was disappointed in the pigment levels, and how hard it was to get color directly from the crayons. But I do think that these would be great in mixed media for texture and mark making. Glad I had a 40% off coupon though.

Behind The Scenes

18 Replies

Storm Clouds, 8-3-18. SMD.

From early this month, a storm on the way. Thought I had posted it. Thought I had posted period. It’s been turbulent indoors as well. Computer issues. Photoshop. Ughh!

“Could not transform because the scratch disks are full.”

“Low Disk Space. You are running on very low disk space…”

Turns out, I had almost NO disk space. Took a full week to figure things out. Save files, and regain the use of Photoshop. That sent me down the rabbit hole, cleaning files and deleting. I still need to buy a portable hard drive and I am researching those. Suggestions are welcome! I am planning to replace my system in October. Fingers crossed. Now if I can just get through September. Fingers and toes crossed, and prayers said!

Mingus Tower, 8-3-18.

Still enjoying the monsoon season. Which I think is nearing the end. Rain is forecast the next five days. That could mean a downpour, or a few minutes of sprinkles.

Goodbye Zazzle?

I am thinking of closing my Zazzle shop. I am very disappointed in the quality of their fabric printing. I have seen different products, purchased by friends and family. And the quality on those items is great. So maybe, I just won’t offer fabrics for sale on that site.

A few months ago I ordered fabric samples from Zazzle. I compared those with swatches from Spoonflower. There is no contest. Both sets are on the basic fabric offered. For Spoonflower that is “Basic Cotton Ultra” and for Zazzle, “Custom Combed Cotton”.

Swatches on Spoonflower are 8 x 8 inches for $5.00. Zazzle 9 x 9 inches for $5.60. It might be hard to see on-screen, but there is a huge difference in the quality and feel of the fabrics.

Comparing Spoonflower and Zazzle custom printed fabric. Designs by Sheila Delgado.

It’s been a few months, but I am certain that I ironed the samples. They have sat on my desk, folded. You can see the wrinkled Zazzle swatches. That fabric is stiff, and makes a crinkly sound when you move it. I wouldn’t want to wear it. Makes me think of the crinoline skirts my Mom remembers.

The Spoonflower swatches are soft and pliable. You can also see the difference in printed details. On the sailboats, a large-scale print, the quality is nearly the same. But on the feathers, you can see that the fine detail is lost. The Zazzle feathers is even printed in a larger scale, and still, the fine detail is blurred.

Unfinished Projects

I have missed painting. And the shadows on Mingus make me want to paint even more. Hard to believe we are already at the end of the month, and I have yet to put brush to paper. There are a few more projects that need attention, so that in September I can be free to paint daily.

I have dealt with a Lupus flare this month as well. Just bone tired. I had an Esophageal manometry on the first, and it seems I have been in recovery mode ever since. It was a very quick and simple procedure. It required fasting, and it was an afternoon appointment in Phoenix. So I think the mix of not eating, not taking my meds and a long drive (3 hours there and back) just zapped my energy.

Luckily, I was able to do the test quickly. My cough did not interfere. It seemed I was in and out in less than 20 minutes. I even arrived early, and within five minutes I was taken back to start the test. WOW!

Pushing through. Napping when I can. Crossing tasks off my list. Just at a slower pace than I would like. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!