Woo Whoo! Here we are again. I am so happy to hear that so many of you are as excited as I am. It’s going to be a fun, and productive month!
There is a variation of greens and blues in the background of this Moon Cactus. Layers of texture that are not showing well here. I will continue working on this. The stones need help and the head needs attention as well. I did not add spines. They are so tiny, and on the yellow , they look dark and sort of dirty. I may just add some white spines around the edges.
You can see some of the texture here.
Gesso Texture
I found a basting brush at the dollar store awhile back. Made use of it in the first layers. Additional layers were added with a brayer, and there are small splatters as well.
I’ll be trying this one again. My first thought was to do the background in the dark blue I used on Day 20. I am tempted to go back in and do that. The reference I used was a huge plant, so my second thought was to just do layers of pads, and play with the colors in each one.
I was reminded by Val van der Poel, that Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils are permanent. That sort of slipped out of my brain. For the first layer of this, I used a stencil and Inktense. I applied the color with a small make-up wedge sponge. (Thanks Natasha!)
First step.
Well, you know watercolor. WET, watercolor. Made a mess even though I dried the sponge. But I like the result. I grabbed a #2 pencil and used the eraser to add more color.
Next time I will try to remember to plan better. To plan period. Haha. Painting this is always fun. Might see one or two more this week.
Scenes from my neck of the woods. There was a fire a couple of days ago. The second in as many weeks. The smoke came in over Mingus late in the afternoon. No one was in danger, and it was a distance from us. I always jump into research mode when I spot smoke.
Fire in the valley. SMD 2019Glorious rain this afternoon. SMD 2019
We had a lovely, gloomy afternoon. I watched as the white clouds rolled over Mingus. They moved in very quickly. Soon after we had thunder and a downpour. Yes!
Several months ago I bought a snake plant. I have been a doting plant mother, eager to watch new leaves grow. They seem to grow quickly at first, then they sort of rest for a bit. And before I realize it, they are the same height as older leaves.
In day 1, I used a honeycomb stencil. I thought it was perhaps too soft. On today’s piece, I think it is too dark. Tomorrow I should get it just right. Ha ha ha. There is white pen outlining some of the circular shapes on the top left and right. It shows up more in life. I also used it to define the line of the table.
I am so inspired by the work of Janet Bradish. She has taken part in previous 30-day challenges, and each day I could not wait to see her piece. She often uses patterns in her paintings. Her blog shows her work for the challenges. Great textures!
The Creative Challenge group is 73 members strong! Thanks to everyone for making it a success. Your enthusiasm is awesome!
